Page 1 of The Queen and the Half-blood
1: PROMISES
West of Doure, The Uplands
The Realm of Albia
A PROMISE MEANT nothing, if you didn’t keep it.
Lara had made herself two, and she intended to honor them.
Wincing, she pushed wet hair off her face and shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. Her arse was sore, and her leathers chafed. Rain had drifted down in a soft, thick veil all day, soaking through her layers of clothing. Cold, tired, and grumpy, she longed to sink up to her neck in a hot bath with a cup of sweet plum wine in hand. Unfortunately, such luxuries wouldn’t be forthcoming.
Ahead, a horn’s mournful wail shuddered through the damp gloaming, announcing that the day’s long march had ended.
Lara heaved a sigh, drew upher horse, and glanced around. They’d stopped in a shallow glen bordered by woodland. The sky pressed close. Mist wreathed like smoke between the nearby press of pines. It had been wet and grey ever since they’d departed from Duncrag days earlier. She, like everyone else who traveled with her, was sick of the weather.
But she wouldn’t let it douse the fire in her belly.
No, she’d make the Shee taste iron.
That was the first of the promises she’d made herself.
Swinging down from the saddle, she gritted her teeth as her booted feet hit the ground too hard. On the first day out, one ofher Guard had tried to help her off her horse, but she’d brushed his assistance aside. She wasn’t an invalid. Even so, she hadn’t yet mastered an elegant dismount.
“How far are we from Doure, Captain?” she called out, trying to ignore her stinging feet.
Ahead, a big man with shaggy red hair turned in the saddle. Cool blue eyes settled on her. “We shall reach it before noon tomorrow, My Queen.”
Acknowledging Roth’s answer with a nod, she then glanced over at where Bree was also dismounting, although with a lot more grace than her queen. Lara’s warder was now surveying their surroundings, hazel eyes slightly narrowed.
“All is well?” Lara asked.
Bree nodded. “As far as I can see … although this close to Doure, Shee scouts will be watching us. They’ll have spied our approach a day or two ago.”
Her stomach tensed. “I’m sure they did.”
The moment she’d been building up to for so long had finally arrived. Doure had fallen to the Shee eight turns of the moon earlier. But the enemy would go no farther. The reckoning her people cried out for was beginning.
Her pulse quickened then. So much depended on this campaign’s success. When her father had lost the North, and his life, he’d left his daughter with a massive task. Lara’s reign hadn’t been easy so far, for there were many who believed a young, untested woman shouldn’t wear the crown. This campaign wasn’t just about victory—it was about proving herself. She couldn’t return to Duncrag defeated.
“Bree!”
A tall, broad-shouldered figure clad in black strode toward them: Cailean mac Brochan. A striking man with close-cropped black hair and startling woad-blue eyes, his brawny arms covered with druidic tattoos, Lara’s chief-enforcer could beintimidating. A massive dog with a shaggy dark-green coat and glowing amber eyes padded behind him. Skaal.
Once—years ago now—Lara had been infatuated with Cailean. He’d never returned her interest, and just as well too, for her father would have forbidden a union between his chief-enforcer and his daughter. Those days of girlish infatuation were far behind her though.
It felt like someone else’s life.
“What is it?” Bree stepped forward to meet him. In her Shee form, she’d been tall, towering above most Marav women, yet these days, she had to crane her neck to meet her husband’s eye. It was foolish to underestimate her though, for even in a ‘weaker’ body, Bree Fellshadow was a force of nature.
“I’m going out to patrol the approach to Doure,” he rumbled. “I need you with me.”
His announcement didn’t surprise Lara. This close to the enemy, Bree would provide valuable insight. She’d likely notice things others would miss.
However, Bree frowned. “I shouldn’t leave the High Queen’s side.”
“Aye, you can,” Lara cut in before Cailean could respond. She motioned then to where Roth had also dismounted. “Captain mac Tav will accompany me while I see to my horse, and escort me back to my pavilion afterward.”
Bree looked unconvinced. “Are you sure?”
