Page 84 of MidKnight
The elder queen slowly stepped forward and took the rabbit from Donaloo’s hands.
Then she whipped around, marching swiftly to her bears.
I watched her mount. The bears wings extended. Then, with military precision, her entire entourage rose as one into the lightning-riddled sky.
“What the hell happened to your rhyming?” I asked Donaloo.
“There’s a time for rhyme and a time to speak clear. Time’s running out, have to face what you fear.”
“You do it to annoy me, don’t you?” I narrowed my eyes at the old wizard. “This whole senile bit is a ploy to amuse yourself.”
His eyes glittered with mirth, but Donaloo didn’t answer me. The wizard just straightened his red eye patch, clicked his tongue, and walked in a zigzag up the stairs.
I stared after him.
Gods, I hope the senility is a ploy, I thought.
I stepped into the main hall, glad to be rid of one enemy, only to be confronted by another.
Jorad sneered at me. “Your Majesty, I need a moment.”
The butler turned without waiting for me to answer, assumed I would follow, and strode down the main hall. He opened the door to the rose parlor.
I took a deep breath and stomped down on my inclination to smack him. Then followed him.
When Jorad had shut the door behind me, he turned on me in a fury. “You told him to sleep with Aiden!”
“What?”
Jorad pointed. Over in the corner of the room, Willard cowered. The sweating, fat, pig-of-a-noble spy widened his eyes and stared hard at me, willing me to back him up.
Oh, no he didn’t try to throw me to the wolves. My eyes widened in rage.
Willard pleaded silently.
I turned to Jorad and said, “I told him to keep an eye on Aiden. To stick with him. I didn’t tell him to stick the duke.”
Willard’s wobbly cheeks grew red with fury.
“You’d better have something useful for me,” I glared. I was furious Willard would try to use me to justify his cheating.
Jorad slammed the door as he went back into the main hall.
Willard, turned to me, red in the face.
I held up a hand. “Don’t. That’s your problem to deal with. Tell me what you know.”
Willard clenched his hands. He tried to calm his own temper. The entitled shite had expected me to fall on the sword for him.
“Donovon’s been snooping in the halls,” Willard said. “Even wandered toward the royal wing.”
“He’s been taken care of.” With any luck, Ryan’s men had already locked him in the dungeon. “Anything else?”
“Malia has plans to go out this evening,” Willard stuttered. “I-I-I … she said that the weather change was giving her a headache.” Willard swallowed and leaned closer, his foul breath far too close to my face. “Mother offered her a compress. She suggested mother feel the same shortly after the meal.”
“You were in the room?”
He shook his head. “Mother’s dressing room. I was selecting her dress for dinner.”
