Page 115 of Knight's End
And with that, my sister turned and fluttered her wings through the door, which she slammed shut behind her.
Declan cocked his head and looked at me over his bowl of crab legs. “Was that a teenage temper tantrum or was she serious?”
I stared at the slammed door. “I don’t know.”
* * *
Avia somehow convinced the guards to kick us out the following day. I don’t know how she got them wrapped around her winged fins so quickly. But she watched as they escorted us to the door. Posey and Lizza stood beside her, supporting her as she gave us the boot.
“Thank you kindly for visiting. But I have a kingdom to get in order. As do you.”
“We rescued you!” I protested, as the short dress the sea creatures had lent me floated up around my thighs. I shoved the lacy mess back down, irritated that I looked like I was in my underthings, irritated that my younger sister was trying to get rid of me.
“Yes, thank you. That rescue will be considered in the terms of our alliance.”
“Alliance?” She had to be kidding. I turned to exchange a ‘what-the-sard’ look with Connor.
“That look will also be noted,” my sister said dryly.
Behind her, Lizza and Posey cracked up.
“What is going on? Did you put some kind of spell on her?” I asked Lizza. Undead or not, I’d rend her limb from limb if she had meddled with Avia’s mind.
Lizza shot me a bland glance. “We simply told her we’d lend her our support for a bit.”
“And, suddenly, she thinks this makes her a queen?”
“Her heritage makes her a queen,” Posey countered. “Her mother ruled before her.”
I couldn’t help it. My hand smacked over my eyes. “Donaloo would sarding love this,” I muttered, as frustration boiled in my belly.
“Fine. Be a queen.” I snapped. She wanted to make a foolish decision? So be it. Ugh. I wanted to smack her.
“I don’t need your permission.”
I bit down on my temper long enough to ask an important question. Something my sister had clearly forgotten. Her heart. “What about that other—thing? The feminine matter?” I asked, my eyes flashing meaningfully toward Lizza.
“That other thing is now a confidential matter of national security,” Avia trotted out big words. Posey patted my sister on the back, and I had no question about who’d fed her those lines.
“Don’t do this,” I whispered. “Avia, I’m just here to help.”
Avia descended the stairs. She looked up at me, shorter in her new form. “I know. But you have a kingdom to run. You have your own life to live. And I’ve spent weeks in a stupid cave, making countless wishes and plans and promises for what I’d do with my life if I only got the chance. I have the chance. You gave it to me. I’ll be forever grateful for it. But I can’t waste it. And I need to start now. Thethingdoesn’t give me a lot of time.”
Then she’d hugged me. And my sister had whispered, “I’ll see you again,” before she leaned back. Something zoomed in front of my face, and suddenly my vision went black.
I screamed. The air in front of me tasted foul. Awful. Horrid. Had my own sister poisoned me?
But Avia laughed.
And then my knights started to laugh.
The black cloud cleared, and I saw a squid hovering next to Avia. Its nasty tentacles fluttered in the current. “That,” she smiled smugly at me, “is for the ink you put on my tiara.”
And my sister then sent me off with a face covered in squid ink.
Ungrateful chit.
