Page 4 of Queen Takes Triune
Gina would know, of course, or I could check the legacy’s journal. She and Frank had taken the jet on ahead to Eureka Springs, giving me time alone with my Blood.
Three queens. Could the dead Triune court be revived with me, Mayte, and Carys? Or Gwen? At least that way I wouldn’t be stuck working with Marne Ceresa day in and day out…
Winnifred squawked and I didn’t need to speak owl to hear the bird’s snort of disgust in that sound.
Carys guffawed like I’d told the bawdiest joke she’d ever heard in her life. “I’m not strong enough,” she wheezed out in between another round of laughter. “Nowhere near strong enough. Neither is Mayte, at least from what I can feel in your bond with her.”
I crossed my arms, waiting for her amusement at my expense to calm down. I knew I was strong, but surely it wasn’t that funny… “What about Gwen? Could she be on the Triune?”
“If she called all her Blood, maybe, but even the original Guinevere wasn’t Triune.” Carys wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “Strength alone isn’t always an indicator, though that’s generally the first common item among Triune queens. And it’s not common for sibling queens to sit together on the Triune. That implies an alliance beforehand that basically puts one goddess and Her line in control.”
So if not any of my queen siblings, who else could the lost Triune intend to call? Leonie, maybe? She was the New Orleans queen, but I had no idea how strong she was. “I guess I still don’t have a good understanding of my strength compared to any other queen. Maybe I need to see more queens in action first.”
Involuntarily, I shuddered at the thought. Meeting Marne through the mirror had been bad enough. I didn’t want to stand face-to-face with her so I could gain a better comparison of her strength to mine.
Carys stepped closer, and her owl suddenly hopped onto my shoulder. Surprised by the weight of the giant owl, I staggered a little, though G and Rik were quick to steady me. Her wings buffeted my face as her weight steadied. Then I felt the press of her talons on my shoulder. I had a feeling she was trying not to break my skin, which was why she kept fluttering her wings, keeping some of her weight off me.
“Winnie says a weak queen is like a sparrow on your shoulder,” Carys said. “A strong queen is like her weight. Impressive, isn’t she?”
Now that I had shifted my balance to accommodate the owl’s weight, she stopped flapping her wings and settled on me even heavier. I turned my head, awed to see an owl so close. Her feathers were a snowy white mixed with gray and black. Even hunched down in a resting position on my shoulder, she was at least two feet tall.
“May I touch you, Winnifred?”
She made a low whirring sound that I took as acquiescence. Lightly, I stroked my fingertips over the soft, downy feathers of her chest. She tipped her head, inviting me to scratch beneath her chin.
“A Triune queen would be like Leviathan sitting on your shoulder,” Carys said softly.
I gulped and met her gaze. When Mehen shifted into his dragon, he was massive. He’d easily clutched me in one big foot and had been too large to fit down the large hallway of my new tower once I’d eliminated Keisha Skye.
“A pebble to a mountain,” Guillaume said softly. “And you, my queen, are the entire weight of the earth.”
* * *
RIK
With all immediate outward threats conquered, I felt a shifting in the balance of the world and my queen’s place in it. Shara Isador had faced every threat presented to her so far with courage and grace. I knew that she would face the Triune the same way despite her misgivings. A Triune call would be a gift from the goddess, and yes, the most dangerous threat she’d faced so far.
Power was a heady threat to everything she’d built.
As her alpha, I felt the rising pressure intensely. She would need us more than ever, even as our roles shifted. She still needed physical protection, but a queen of her power could protect herself much better than we could. Now, she would need us to lighten her load. To remind her to smile, and breathe, and enjoy the world she had wrought with her own blood.
I was a relatively young Blood and had never served a queen until Shara. Let alone a Triune queen. Luckily, I had a close second to assist me with the coming challenge.
Rightfully, Guillaume should be her alpha. He had the age and experience that I lacked. He’d served Desideria, who’d been the strongest and oldest queen on our Triune, for centuries. No easy feat.
:She has the alpha she needs.:Lightly, so as not to upset our queen, Guillaume whispered in my bond.:Protect her back as always, but now protect her heart. The power and responsibilities of the Triune have a way of grinding down a queen’s emotions until they forget who they are.:
Pain in her bond jerked my awareness back to her. Notherpain, though she felt it acutely. I listened unobtrusively to her bond and felt her reaching toward her new queen sibling. Gwen Findabair had been a Skye sibling, but I hadn’t known her during my short stint in Skye Tower. With Keisha Skye’s demise, the tower now belonged to House Isador, and Shara had claimed Gwen as her sibling and left her in charge of New York City.
She was supposed tohelpShara. Not cause her to feel pain or add another worry to her list.
I listened a moment to her bond, only to ensure that there wasn’t any immediate danger to my queen. Only a nightmare, though terrifyingly painful.
“Nevarre, I need my phone.”
He brought it to her immediately and she called her sibling queen. “Gwen, are you alright?”
Guillaume caught my attention and shook his head imperceptibly.:When she’s Triune, you’ll likely need to curb such eavesdropping.:
