Page 109 of The Iron Flower

The warrior freezes midstep, eyeing the small, glinting blade.

Averysmall blade, I note, heart hammering, compared to Alcippe’s terrifyingly huge weapon.

Valasca raises her palm. “Stand down, Alcippe. You are outmatched.”

Alcippe laughs contemptuously and glances around at the women encircling us, the crowd mirroring her hostility. “I think not,” she counters, taking another threatening step forward.

“Queen Alkaiamusthave the final say!” Valasca insists, standing her ground. She’s a good deal shorter than Alcippe, slender and sinewy in her build. I wonder if she’s completely given leave of her senses to take on this monster of a warrior.

Alcippe’s eyes cut to mine, blazing with ferocity. “I will not have thatevil creaturedefile the air Queen Alkaia breathes! Move aside, Valasca!”

“Alcippe,please, stand down,” Valasca persists, rune-blade still out, refusing to give an inch. Alcippe’s eyes dart toward the knife again as she hesitates, looking both hell-bent on murder and deeply conflicted.

Then, to my overwhelming and blessed surprise, she lowers her rune-axe and steps aside with angry reluctance.

Diana, who always amazes me with her ability to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time, gestures haughtily toward Alcippe’s heavy weapon, her expression contemptuous. “You think you can subdue us with that toyof yours?”

“Toy?”Alcippe lurches forward and growls through gritted teeth. “You will not think it a toywhen it splits your head down the middle, Lupine!”

In a flash, Diana is crouched, her eyes bright and feral, lips pulled back to expose her teeth. Claws form and fur spreads over the hand she now has arced over her head. “Take one more step, Amaz,” Diana says very slowly, flexing her wickedly curving claws, “and I will addyourhead to the collection I’ve ripped from the necks of my former enemies.”

Just as all hell seems about to break loose, Marina launches herself between Diana and Alcippe, her gills flying open. She opens her mouth and lets out one of her unearthly, flute-like tones. Everyone turns to look at her, caught off guard by the eerie sound.

Marina pulls back her hood, and the crowd gasps in surprise. She looks around worriedly, then tenses her neck and pulls her gills in flat. “We are here to beg for your help. To rescue my people.”

Murmurs of “The Selkie speaks!” can be heard all around, as well as cries of astonishment in a multitude of languages.

“We need your help.” Marina looks to Alcippe entreatingly. “Please. I beg of you.”

Alcippe stills, then turns to glare at Diana for a good, long moment, a storm of rage in her rose-colored eyes. Diana, never one to back down from a fight, is more than happy to meet the warrior’s glare, her lips curled into a scary smile.

Alcippe’s mouth tenses, her hands so tight on her weapon that her knuckles have paled, but she steps back and stands down. “Out of respect for the Selkie,” she announces, her eyes tight on Diana, “andonlybecause of her, I will not kill you right now, Lupine.”

Valasca, Marina and I breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Diana gives a disdainful snort. “And I will let you keep your head for another day, Amaz.”

Alcippe’s posture stiffens, and Valasca shoots Diana a look of fierce censure.

“Thank you,” Marina says gratefully to Alcippe. She sends Diana a desperate glance, as if silently pleading with her to stay silent, before turning back to Alcippe once more. “Thank you for your compassion.”

This showing of respect seems to mollify the rose-haired warrior. She nods curtly at Marina and storms into the Queenhall, the others in the crowd slowly filtering in after her.

I round on Diana. “Do youreallycollect the ‘heads of your former enemies’?”

Diana waves a dismissive hand. “That is irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?”

“Yes, irrelevant.”

“Diana, she’s the biggest, scariest soldier here. And you threaten to tear her head off?”

Diana flips her long blond hair over her shoulder and brings her hand to her hip.“She. Was. Rude.”

“Youpromisedto be diplomatic!”

Diana straightens her posture and glares at me imperiously. “Iam the daughter of Gunther Ulrich. There is only so much I am willing to put up with.”

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