Reign of the Stone Queen

by Jayne Faith

  Shivers cascaded up my spine, over my scalp, and down my arms.

  The door opened again, and I glanced at it, still trying to process what Eldon had said. When Jasper appeared in the doorway, all I could do was gape for a second or two. He gave me a broad smile, and I pulled my lips in between my teeth and clamped down to hold in the little squeal of happiness that wanted to leak out. Warmth spread through me.

  “Glasgow here reported a strange phenomenon around the time Finvarra would have been making his appearance in the fortress,” Oberon said.

  “Yes,” I said. “He has some stone blood, even though he is—was—a Duergar subject.”

  My eyes followed Jasper as he joined us. I wanted to run to him. I pressed my hands to my sides, my fingers itching to reach for him and tangle in his hair. I still hadn’t completely gotten over seeing him dead on the lawn outside the castle. I was forever in Melusine’s debt for bringing him back.

  “Aye, Your Highness,” Jasper said, his Old World accent a much milder, softer version of Eldon’s. “I felt myself leave my body. I stood on a hilly green holding an unfamiliar sword, facing people I’d never seen before. The armor I wore was in a very, very old style. Primitive, almost.”

  “The descriptions match,” Eldon said. “From the reports, it sounds as if it may have affected all those with enough stone blood to form armor.”

  “We need to discover what this so-called god blood can do,” Oberon said. “And we need to do it quickly.”

  Something suddenly occurred to me. “Your Majesty, Marisol Lothlorien spoke of more New Gargs. She said there were more of us in hiding, waiting to be brought back into the fold. To be honest, I wasn’t sure it was true. But if it is, that means there could be even more of us who can invoke the power of the Fomoire.”

  Oberon clapped his hands together sharply a couple of times and let out a low laugh. I drew back a little, his sudden joy taking me by surprise. “Petra Maguire. Do you have any other lovely surprises for me?” The gleam had returned to his eyes, and I realized that it had probably been a very long time since the High King had felt he might have the upper hand against Finvarra and the looming threat of the Tuatha.

  “Uh, nothing more that I can think of at the moment, Your Highness,” I said.

  But the handsome High King’s grin was infectious, and I felt a small tugging at the corners of my mouth.

  “Well, I suppose that’s understandable, and I shouldn’t be so greedy,” Oberon said. He wagged a finger at me. “But you are now my lucky charm.”

  I glanced at Jasper and Eldon. Jasper’s golden eyes glinted with amusement and pride. But Eldon’s face was guarded. He peered at Oberon with tight lines bracketing the corners of his mouth, distrust that wasn’t quite disguised. That cooled my mood. Was there some bad blood between these two men? Or was there something more I should be wary of?

  “I know you must return to your own realm and attend to things there,” Oberon said to me. “You’re free to depart, if you wish. I’ll be in touch again soon as we learn more about this untapped power and how we will use it.”

  Not waiting for Jasper and me to bow and curtsy, Oberon turned to Eldon and placed his hand on the Fae sorcerer’s shoulder, drawing him toward the far side of the room. They began talking about scholars and libraries, presumably trying to come up with resources who might help them understand the power of the Fomoire that supposedly flowed through those with stone blood.

  Something prickled at the back of my mind, leaving me slightly unsettled. Maybe it was the nearly fanatical glint in Oberon’s eyes when we spoke of the potential power of the god blood.

  My unease dissolved as I walked toward the study door at Jasper’s side.

  “I figured you were treasure hunting in the far reaches of Faerie, looking for the Chalice of Dagda,” I said to him.

  He tipped his face toward me, his golden gaze flickering to my crown and then fixing on my eyes. “I’ve been searching, but so far only to run into dead ends,” he said. “Nice hat, by the way.”

  I reached up to firm the crown down on my hair. “I left in a hurry. Finvarra interrupted my coronation.” And various attempts on my life.

  We exited the study, and Jasper took us down the hall to a door. He held it open for me. I knew I couldn’t stay long but couldn’t resist stealing a minute or two with him before I faced my failed assassins in the fortress. When I realized he’d taken me to a small resting room with a vanity, a chaise lounge chair, and relaxing music, I turned to him in confusion. He flipped the lock on the door and then with cat-like swiftness had me pressed up against the tile wall with my wrists pinned over my head. Aurora’s scabbard dug into my back. But I didn’t care.

  Jasper covered my mouth with his. My lips parted, inviting, and the tip of his tongue swept over mine. A hum of pleasure vibrated low in my throat as the kiss deepened.

  He pulled back, his tri-colored eyes filling my field of vision. “Congratulations, Your Majesty, on officially taking the throne,” he said, growling the words in a way that made me want to grab the front of his shirt and rip it open.

  “Considering a significant portion of my subjects didn’t want to see me live to the end of the ceremony, I’m not sure that’s the appropriate sentiment,” I said, the heat of my attraction to Jasper chilling as I recalled the events in the auditorium. The coronation had been the first step in the plan to fully take on the role of queen and begin gathering support for my reign. It’d survived it, but I wasn’t sure I’d really count it a success.

  He stepped back and curled his hands around mine, peering down at me with concern etching lines across his forehead and around his eyes.

  I shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’m handling it. It’s just going to take a while to sort things out in the Carraig Sidhe kingdom.”

  He reached up to smooth a strand of hair behind my ear. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”

  I allowed myself a small smile. “That would be nice. But you have more important work to do.”

  He puffed his cheeks as he blew out a frustrated breath and mussed his sandy hair. “I’m nearly at my wits’ end. Every lead has been a dud.”

  “What about Morven?”

  “Morven?”

  “Yeah, the Ghillie Dubh who knows just about everything about everything?”

  “Oh, I knew who Morven is,” Jasper said. He frowned. “I just don’t trust him.”

  I shifted my weight.

  His gaze sharpened on me. “You’ve used his, ah, services?”

  I nodded a bit reluctantly. “On more than one occasion. It’s not fun, but I’ve always found it was worth it. Saved my ass at least once.”

  He pressed his lips into a line of displeasure. “I’ll go to him. If ever there was a time, it’s now.”

  I couldn’t disagree. I’d used Morven’s services for far lesser needs than what Jasper sought.

  Someone rapped on the door, and we both jumped guiltily.

  “Occupied,” Jasper called out, giving his voice a gruff edge.

  Our eyes met, and I sighed. “Can’t we just stay in here a while?”

  He arched a brow. “You want to hang about in the restroom?”

  “I think we could figure out how to have a good time in here,” I said, eyeing the wide, upholstered bench set up against the wall.

  “I have no doubt,” he said, heat growing in his eyes.

  He bent in for one more kiss, and then all too soon we were back out in the hallway. He walked me to the castle’s foyer, where there was a doorway I could use to return to the fortress.

  “Please send word about how it goes with . . .” I glanced around at the bustling room and lowered my voice. “With the man who knows things.”

  “Aye. And be on guard, Petra. I can’t lose you,” he said simply, his eyes full of intense sincerity.

  My insides melted a bit, but standing there in such a public place, all I could do was nod.

  Jasper turned to go, and I was just about to face
the arch in the stone wall when someone came running through the foyer.

  “Your Majesty, Queen Petra,” a woman called.

  It took me a moment to recognize Eunice, Finvarra’s companion who’d come with me to the Summerlands seeking refuge.

  She stopped in front of me, breathless. “Oh, my, oh. Thank the gods I caught you.” She spoke and curtsied at the same time. “Please, Queen Petra, I know I have no right to ask anything more of you, but oh my, I just must make a request.”

  “What is it?”

  “Allow me to come back to the fortress with you,” she said. She swallowed, her eyes pleading. “There is nothing for me here. It was sheer luck I was even able to escape my room to catch you. They don’t trust me.”

  “You’re not a Carraig Sidhe, Eunice,” I said. “I’m sorry, I can’t take you back to the fortress. We don’t allow non-subjects to reside there.”

  “What if I could help you?”

  I crossed my arms. “Help with what?”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper. “The Unseelie High King. I know his habits.”

  My eyes narrowed, and I took in her desperation. “Did you extend your offer to King Oberon?”

  “I tried, but he never deigned to allow me audience with him.”

  “Okay,” I said. “You may come as my guest. I can’t guarantee you permanent residence in my kingdom, though.”

  Maybe I was making a mistake in bringing a virtual stranger back with me, but I believed her. And if she could give us an edge with Finvarra, she was more than worth the room and board in the fortress.

  Her head was bobbing in fast nods. “That’s fine, Your Majesty, that’s fine.”

  I nearly asked if she needed anything from her room before I remembered she’d arrived here naked, with only the sheet from Finvarra’s bed.

  “Then to the fortress we go,” I said, turning to the doorway.

  She heaved a grateful sigh and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. I traced the sigils and said the words, and together we stepped forward. The solid stone wall dissolved, giving way to the netherwhere.

  Chapter 13

  AS I STEPPED with Eunice from the void and into the foyer of the stone fortress, it occurred to me that I had no idea what I would come back to. I hadn’t been gone long—less than two hours—but enough time had passed for my enemies to stir up trouble if they’d caught wind of my absence. It also occurred to me that I needed to find more private, secure doorways through which to come and go. Surely Marisol had one or two tucked away in discreet places where she was able to slip in and out without attracting notice.

  But with the situation as it was in the fortress, I really wasn’t in the mood to hide or skulk around. If someone wanted to come at me, they weren’t going to get a second chance.

  “Oh! Oh, dear my,” Eunice exclaimed beside me. “This place is just lovely. The granite, the tiles, and oh, so many gemstones.”

  The fortress foyer was indeed beautiful, but I barely saw the intricate patterns of inlaid semi-precious stones. I was immediately on alert, trying to take in the entire grand room at once, but without appearing worried about my own safety.

  To a large extent, it looked like business as usual in the fortress. Clerks were sorting notes into cubbies in the mail room to one side of the foyer. Pages scurried around. Most notable to me was the pair of soldiers—one full-fledged member of the battle ranks and the other a youngster I recognized from Emmaline’s troops—who rushed to me as soon as they noticed my presence. I tensed, but they simply came to stand by me, one on each side, as if it were planned. Oliver must have stationed patrol pairs around the fortress with orders to protect me when I appeared.

  I gave my guards subtle nods.

  “Where to, Your Highness?” asked the older one.

  “I need someone in housing to find quarters for Eunice, here, a friend of the kingdom who will be staying with us for a while,” I said. I could only hope that Amalie, the newly appointed Head Administrator, actually had someone to help her with housing.

  The soldier flipped his fingers at a nearby page, beckoning the girl over. She curtsied to me, and he spoke a few quick words to her. She looked curiously at Eunice.

  “Please follow me, madam,” the page said.

  Eunice glanced at me, her face tense, and I gave her an encouraging nod. “You’re safe here. Make yourself comfortable and let this young lady know if there’s anything you need right away. I’ll call for you when I have a moment.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a young man arrive at the far end of the foyer. He stopped short and peered at me with narrowed eyes and then wheeled around to go back the way he’d come.

  The page and Eunice bobbed quick curtsies and then headed away.

  As we’d been standing in the foyer, more and more people had taken notice of my return.

  “Did you see that man who turned around and left when he saw me?” I asked my guards.

  “Yes, Your Highness,” the younger said.

  “I’m guessing he’s not one of my supporters?”

  “You guess correctly, Your Majesty,” the older solder said, his face hardening in a way that reminded me of Oliver. “I suggest we make our way out of the public’s eye. Your new quarters have been prepared. We’ll take you there.”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  As we moved through the hallways, more pairs of soldiers joined us. They didn’t say anything, they just fell in step with us. By the time we’d reached a gilded door in one of the residential wings, I was surrounded by ten guards. I appreciated the protection, but it irked me that I even needed it. And more significantly, it made me look weak. What kind of ruler needed to be protected in her own home? My mouth twisted as I silently answered my own question: One who’d taken the throne against the wishes of her people.

  Four of the guards accompanied me inside my new home and made a sweep through the rooms. I trailed behind them, trying to orient myself in the unfamiliar space. Ten minutes later, I was alone, though I presumed some of the soldiers had stationed themselves outside my door.

  Placing my hands on my hips, I turned away from the front entrance and faced my living room. Digging into my memory of the fortress’s layout, I recalled these quarters were in an area usually reserved for foreign dignitaries. As long as it wasn’t Marisol’s old apartment, I didn’t really care where my new place was.

  The furniture was opulent, but not brand new. Amalie, or whomever was helping her, probably hadn’t a chance to actually move anything around in the short time there’d been to prepare these rooms.

  I did a quick exploration and found a library, a small office, an entertainment room with a large darkened screen on the wall, a master suite with a ridiculously cavernous attached bathroom designed around a raised spa tub, a small formal dining room, two spare bedrooms, and a kitchenette.

  I snorted and shook my head. Who needed this much space?

  I couldn’t help a little inhale of delight when I discovered another, less formal living room with French doors that opened into a private courtyard. It featured a little circular winding stream that fed into a pond with a tinkling waterfall at the far end. I heard the low hum of the pump that recirculated the water. A frog sprang from the tall grass and plopped into the water.

  For a moment, I just stood there in the Faerie sunshine, taking in the chirp of birds, the soft breeze that subtly stirred the leaves of the miniature Japanese maples growing on either side of the waterfall.

  The ring of a phone jarred me from the serene moment. Reluctantly, I went back inside and pulled the French doors closed. I found a phone on a side table and picked up the handpiece.

  “Yes?”

  “Your Highness, this is Amalie. I’m having your personal tablet delivered to your quarters, and also, Lord Lothlorien wants to meet with you immediately, if you’re available.”

  My brows lifted in surprise. Not at what she’d said, but because she was the one calling me.

  “Of course, tell
him to come to my rooms as soon as he can,” I said. “And Amalie?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty?”

  “I don’t claim to be an expert on these things, but I’m guessing that fetching my lost items and attending to my schedule don’t normally fall under the duties of the Head Administrator.”

  There was a pause.

  “Well, they are my duties in the strictest literal sense,” she said, clearly choosing her words carefully. “In that all pages, assistants, and similar support staff are officially under my department, so anyone managing your schedule would report directly to me.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes briefly. “Have you not been able to find anyone to work under you?”

  “Oh, I have,” she said. “I’ve got a handful of employees. It’s just . . . I’m not completely sure who I may be able to rely on without worry. I can only question potential employees about their trustworthiness so much before seeming like a tyrant.”

  Stifling a sigh, I thought for a minute. “How about employing some of the younger Carraig?”

  “Your Majesty?”

  “You may have noticed that I have a contingent of young volunteer guards,” I said. “To be blunt, they showed up at my door the first morning I returned here as Queen, and they were the only ones to so publicly demonstrate their support. I seem to have quite a fiercely loyal faction among the senior academy students. Perhaps some of them would be willing to help you. They also may have like-minded friends who would rather fulfill administrative duties than carry swords and wear armor.”

  “That’s a fine idea, and I’ll follow up on it right away,” she said, her tone brightening.

  A cheery chime rang through the quarters.

  “That’s the page or Maxen,” I said. “I’ll let you go.”