Page 45 of Kill the Queens

Ace

"I assumed you would be the girl we've been waiting an entire year for," the Fae said, his voice as smooth as silk.

He looked more human than the brutish Fae she'd run into at Queen Sienna's castle. He had a long oval face, a soft smile despite the scary number of teeth in his mouth, and his gaze held a gentleness she would have never expected from a creature like him. His pale moonlight skin looked as though it was stretched thin making all the blue veins underneath stand out more. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he'd lost sleep as he'd waited for her. Hair as black as the darkest night with hints of blue undertones was brushed back away from his face the ends curling at the nape of his neck.

"Were you just sitting around twiddling your thumbs in my absence?" Ace blurted before she could tame her tongue. Instantly she regretted it as those ocean eyes flared with displeasure.

"She's upset because her friend got left behind," Rehan informed the Fae whose hand was still hovering in the hair, albeit a bit more impatiently. "King Osiris, this is Ace." He paused. "Just Ace. Ace this is King Osiris the oldest son of King Rome and current ruler of Tarshton. It would be considered offensive if you do not take his hand." He tacked on the last part on under his breath.

Ace sighed, setting her hand into the Fae King’s. "I apologize, I was just surprised by the sudden way I waswhiskedthroughthe wall."

Rehan handed the reins to another Fae that appeared next to them before his hands were on her waist lifting her off the saddle and helping to lower her off the ground. King Osiris gave her a tense smile.

"Yes, that little ability to travel through the wall is what we've been working on for the past year instead oftwiddling our thumbs." The king lifted Ace's hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.

Ace shivered as the memories she had as a child came rushing back. Fae had made humans do unspeakable things with the way they could poison their minds. They'd tell parents to kill their children and they would. They'd force someone to dance until their body gave out or their heart…whichever came first. Not just that…there were much more terrible things that the Fae found entertaining that Ace had witnessed.

All those memories faded as the king turned toward the camp and Ace caught her first view of it. Tents, rows and rows of tents. Hundreds of tents, maybe fucking thousands. All of them black like the trees, black like the clothing the king wore.

Ace's eyes darted from one Fae to the next as she tried to count how many she saw. They wove between the tents and around their small campfires. Many of them watched her carefully, but just as many, if not more, were pointedly ignoring them.

"Your camp." Ace swallowed trying to appease her suddenly dry throat. "It's so large."

"This is only one of my several legions." King Osiris stood a little taller, leading Ace toward the largest of the tents directly ahead.

"And it's so…close to the Pasia border." It really was. It had taken her and Rehan like what…thirty minutes to ride here? That was nothing. Ace had known that the Fae were in Pasia,assumed that several had slipped into the borders somehow but never had she realized that they were so close.Entire legions of them.

"That is true." The king nodded.

There was a distinct thud behind them that Ace could only assume was Rehan hopping off his horse. That much was confirmed as he appeared at Ace's side a moment later.

Guards held open large black tent flaps allowing them to step inside. Lanterns were lit on a large table, holding down scattered maps. There were chairs scattered around it as though whoever had been here moments ago had been quickly dismissed. King Osiris dropped her hand and motioned to a seat. Ace stood there staring at it. Finally, with an exaggerated sigh, the king himself lowered into a chair across from her at the table.

"What is it that you want from me? I'm assuming you sent the letter." Ace placed her hands on the back of the chair and leaned forward to meet his gaze.

"Hand delivered by yours truly," Rehan chimed in.

"Thanks for that," Ace added bitterly, still waiting for King Osiris to respond.

The king settled into his seat, running a hand across the curling edge of a map. "I want the same things you want." He grinned and a smile from the Fae was SO much more unnerving than when a human smiled. Too many teeth. "I want war. I want the queens dead."

Don't we all.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Rehan sat himself into the chair between Ace and the king.

"Somehow I feel like you might have taken that a little bit too far. Pasia doesn't want Fae rulers again." Ace shook her head at Rehan. "Did you forget about the Impelling? Did you forget about all the terrible things that happened under their rule?" Then because she didn't know what else to say and knew a kingwas present, she added. "No offense."

"Just because you say no offense doesn't mean what you said wasn't offensive." Osiris lifted a well-manicured brow. He certainly looked the part of the pampered spoiled prince—err, king.

"The Fae do not want Pasia, at least not in the way they once had it." Rehan's voice softened. "And the Impelling isn't what you think it is."

"What are you talking about?" she snapped.

Osiris folded his hands in front of him. "We want you and Rehan to defeat the queens and take the throne. From what I've been told, it's what the gods want and who are we to deny the gods?" His smile was mocking.

"Me?" Ace squeaked. "ME?" She pointed at Rehan. "And him?!"

Osiris blinked then looked at Rehan. "Did I phrase it weird?" Rehan shook his head so the king looked back to Ace. "You and he take the throne and work as an extension of our kingdom."

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