“Long live the Queen,” came a few echoes amid some grumbling.
It was all just noise to me, until horrified understanding came with the weight of metal on my head. I tried to pull the crown off, and the band seemed to tighten with each tug. “No, I’m not your queen,” I protested.
“Hush,” Anweena whispered harshly in my ear. “Be quiet if you wish to live.”
Wild-eyed, I checked her face. She was completely serious. There were at least two dozen attendants and guards in the room, along with Twist. Their expressions ranged from excitement, to anger, to apathy.
Twist, at least, appeared concerned for me. He made his way to the other side of the bed and bowed deeply before me. “I am at your service, Queen Meghan of Gwynmorga.”
Anweena regarded him coolly and a few guards scoffed. Twist glared at them.
“Send them all out of the room,” Anweena spoke for my ears only but Twist also heard. “She’s right, do it now,” he whispered, then added sheepishly, “not that I’m giving you orders.”
I would have laughed but was still too stunned. But they were right. I needed to think what to do next. “Clear the room,” I ordered. “All of you, leave until I call for you again.”
A few belligerent ones stood their ground and Anweena asked if she need remind them of who she was. Apparently, it was enough to make them go. I made a mental note to ask her about that later. I knew I still hadn’t gotten the full story on Dame Anweena.
“You, too, boy,” she said to Twist.
I pulled him to my side. “He can stay if he wants.”
“No, it’s all right,” he said. “You two probably need to speak in private. I’m just going to go back to my workshop.”
I wavered. I didn’t want him to feel excluded, and I needed to get us ready to leave, with or without that traitor, Puck. “Why don’t you go to your room and sleep?”
“That is where I’m going.”
“You sleep in the workshop? You don’t have a bedroom here?” Outrage burned through me.
“I didn’t want one,” he said. My doubt must have shown because he clarified. “Truly. I wanted privacy.”
I understood, and it added more fuel to my righteous indignation. Once more, I silently vowed to get us out of there and give him a decent home. Somehow, give back the normal life that was stolen from him. “All right. I’ll come for you later.”
He kissed my hand. “I’ll wait for your summons, Majesty.”
I ruffled his hair as he left, and Anweena shook her head.
She bent to arrange the satin cover over Grainne’s fragile body to appear as if the queen only rested, and regret hollowed my chest. We’d had so little time, and now I would never have a chance to try to understand her—if I ever could—nor get the answers I needed.
Blinking back tears, I tried to remove the crown again and it finally came loose. I moved past Anweena and placed it on my mother’s pillow.
“Shame that git Nonagon left,” Anweena mumbled. “We could use his flying skills.” She turned briskly to face me. “Now, pick up your crown and go gather some clothes. This is not the time to lollygag. I’ll see to it Grainne is taken away safely, and I’ll get what you’ll need from here.”
“That’s not my crown, and what are you talking about?”
“Think, girl! There several here who heard Grainne announce you as her child, and a few who just saw you crowned. But it was also well-known her illness had damaged her mind.”
“So?”
“So, you ignorant twit, not all fae will accept your rulership since you weren’t officially presented during the ball as your mother had planned.”
“It doesn’t matter, since I don’t plan on ruling.”
She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Furthermore, the official word had been that Grainne had given birth to a male child who died, hence no changeling would have been necessary, though now we have one – a male.”
“I’m still not seeing the issue, unless you are concerned about Twist, which I am as well. I plan on getting him out of here.”
“Don’t be so narrow minded and selfish,” she snarled as she hurried about the room throwing jewelry and documents into an empty pillowcase. “You are a fool if you believe loyalty will ever be a weakness for the Unseelie. It won’t be just the boy in danger, it will be all of us. With the power vacuum created by the king and queen’s death, and the inevitable challenge to your claim to the throne, there will be a horde of Unseelie contenders advancing on the castle even as we speak.”
“How would they even know? It just happened.”
“They’ve been ready and waiting for notice of any failure of the queen. They would have been alerted by the servants before you were even sent for tonight. My spies told me there are armies nearing the gates already, and they will kill everyone here connected with your mother.”
She shoved me toward the door and tossed the crown over my head before I could stop her. Once more, it tightened its grip. “Now, go get some clothes while I make arrangements for food.”
“Forget the clothes, I’ve got to get Twist!”
She made a disgusted sound. “Fine. Meet me by the stables. You know where they are?”
I nodded. I vaguely remembered seeing them when we first came in.
As she left, and I made my way toward the exit, I saw a swarm of dragonflies racing toward her head. My heart kicked up a notch, and I hurried toward the gardens.
The night had deepened, and I wondered about the time. How much longer until daylight? Fortunately, there was still enough glow from the bioluminescent paths to lead me around the pond and toward the maze. Unfortunately, as before, the side of the pond where the maze sat was not as well lit. I fumbled through several false turns, panic increasing with every dead end, until I gave up and called Twist’s name, hoping Anweena was wrong about the nearness of the danger.
Clouds had moved in to cover the moon, and darkness transformed the hedges into menacing shapes. The silence was eerie, as if the maze were listening for every misstep.
“Twist! Can you hear me?” I called out, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear it, but not enough to bring unwanted attention.
A twig snapped behind me and I jumped. “Twist, is that you?” I whispered. I could have sworn I heard snickering but nothing more. “If you’re playing a game, honey, now is not the time. I have something important to tell you.”
Silence.
I carefully tread deeper within the maze. “Twist, please, I need you to come out now.”
I jumped again when a soft growl rumbled. Had the Cu Sith found me? Tears blurred my vision and I blinked frantically. ‘Now is not the time, Meghan,’ I silently admonished. Another rustle of leaves sent my heartbeat into overdrive. I whirled in the direction of the sound and was relieved to see a light heading my way, until I wondered if it came from friend or foe.
“Meghan, did you call me?”
Relief weakened my knees. “I’m over here!”
Twist’s silhouette appeared around a corner, the lamp in front of his face, and I ran toward him, nearly knocking it out of his hand when I hugged him fiercely.
“Why didn’t you come before? Didn’t you hear me calling?”
“I wasn’t sure I’d heard anything until you got close. Come, I’ll get you out of the night air.”
I followed him through the maze. Once we were inside his workshop, I bent to his face level and put my hands on his shoulders. “Twist, listen to me very carefully. We have to leave here. Anweena is getting transportation ready for us now.”
“Why? Did something happen?” His large eyes filled with worry, and I could have kicked myself.
“Just a precaution.” I softened my tone. “Gather up some of your clothes and your favorite books and toys to take with us. We can come back for the rest later,” I promised.
“Okay,” he said meekly, breaking my heart. The poor child had been through so much already, I hated lying to him.
He methodically p
laced items into a large burlap satchel, stopping to consider each one before deciding whether to add it. After several minutes, I started to get impatient. I wasn’t sure how long Anweena expected this to take.
“Here, let me help you darling. Shall I gather your clothes while you do that?”
“No need, Your Highness. There isn’t much. I’ll put them in with these.” He shook the bag.
I smiled tensely. “Twist, you shouldn’t call me that. I’m just Meghan.”
He laughed as a dragonfly zipped in through a crack in the wood. “You’re not ‘just’ Meghan, see.” He pointed to the insect buzzing next to my ear.
It spoke in Anweena’s voice. “Get out here, now.”
“Twist, I’m sorry, but we have to go right now.”
“All right,” he sighed. We’d almost made it to the front door when he stopped again. “Wait,” he yelled. “I can’t leave without my pet.”
“Pet?”
A whimper came from under a cloth-covered table. It sounded almost mocking. Nails clicking on wood tightened the skin on the back of my neck.
“What kind of pet?” I asked nervously.
“Just a dog.” He laughed when I backed up. “Don’t worry, he’ll like you.”
But would I like him? My experience with dogs lately hadn’t been good.
The tablecloth began to move, and I held my breath. It came out as a scream as the big green beast appeared.
I grabbed Twist by the arm. “Run!”
“He won’t hurt me. Will you, boy?” He turned his attention from the dog to me, and grinned. “I can’t say the same for you, though.”
My brain refused to process. Only survival instinct led me to the door, and I grabbed the handle, then recoiled in pain. It was enough to give the hound time to leap and pin me to the ground. I tried to blast it with magic, but one of its massive paws covered my left hand, and Twist’s foot stomped on my right.
Hot drool dripped on my face, and Twist laughed as I gagged from the worst dog breath imaginable.
“You know, I almost feel sorry for you, sister. I’d even considered making you my consort when I became king, but you are too stupid to appreciate what you have.”
“What are you saying?” I cried.
“Do you honestly think I would ever leave this place? And look at you.” He sneered and kicked the crown I’d forgotten I was wearing. The reverberation of the metal rang in my ears and skull.
“You wear a crown you don’t deserve, and whine about wanting to return to the human world.” He ground his foot harder on my hand, and I moaned. There was an unnatural heaviness to his foot. He either weighed much more than he appeared, or something was strange about his shoe.
“I spent too long developing the perfect poison for Boran and Grainne to have you just swoop in and take my prize!” He gave me another kick in the head, and I saw stars. “I’d end you right now,” he said, “but I promised Cu he could play with you before finishing you off. He’s not too happy with how you have treated him so far.”
“Twist, please, we can talk about this. I know you’ve been treated badly, but that wasn’t my fault,” I begged.
“Oh, not directly, perhaps. Nevertheless, you shall pay.” He stretched out his arm, and to my shock and terror, a hammer and spike flew into his open hand.
“You have magic?” I gasped. “How?” I hoped to keep him talking before the awful beast did whatever it had planned.
He laughed. “Ah, you don’t know? Same as Anweena. I made some bargains.”
“What kind of bargains?” Anweena had given the impression it wasn’t good but refused the details.
He chuckled and bent down, digging his knee into my arm, and slammed the iron head of the hammer into my hand. I screamed as he positioned a spike over my palm. He was going to impale me on the floor.
A howling wind roared above us, and Twist’s gaze flew to the ceiling. “What are you doing?” he snarled.
“She’s not doing anything.”
Puck wrapped the hound and Twist in a tornado tail, flicking them up and off me like swatting a fly. Within a second, I was airborne and tucked into his arms. “I believe it’s time we made a hasty exit.” He grinned and I held on.
We’d made it several feet over the maze when Puck jolted and suddenly descended. As we fell to the ground, I saw the issue.
He’d been shot with an iron bolt.
We crash-landed in a heap, still inside the maze, with Twist’s mocking voice floating over us. “You have to do better than a little wind to best me, Seelie scum.”
I silently cursed that kid as I hooked my arms under Puck’s shoulders and hoisted him to his feet.
Twist called out, “Fetch, boy!” and the sound of a four-hundred-pound beast crashing through the bushes followed us as we ran.
We hunkered down by one of the hedges in a darker part of the maze. There was no way we could outrun the hound, and Puck was in bad shape. Hiding wouldn’t last long, either; the dog already had our scent, and the taste of my leg.
I flicked my hands out a few times, but nothing happened. Swear words I normally didn’t use flowed freely from my mouth until Puck put a hand over my lips.
His hand was hot, and his blazing neon blue eyes were dulling. I felt his forehead, and it was hotter than his hand. Crap. The poison was burning him up inside.
He reached for his pocket and took out a thin piece of wood. “Use this,” he whispered, shoving the wand into my hand.
“How?”
“Focus your energy. The hound is just playing with us right now. Use this, now.”
As I waffled, he pressed my hand again. “Do it, now.”
A chuffing to my left brought my attention around, and I prayed to any deity that might listen.
Please let this work.
Just as I caught my breath, the Cu Sith crashed through the hedge in front of us, leaves and twigs caught in its shaggy fur, its unholy red eyes trained on me.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pointed the wand.
A bang and a yelp opened my lids. The hound was running away from us, braided tail between its legs.
I grinned at Puck. “It worked!”
His return grin wobbled at the edges.
“Here, let’s see if we can get that out of you,” I said. “We still need to find our way out of here and get to Anweena.”
He staggered to his feet, and I pushed through my squeamishness to try to remove the bolt through the hole in his tunic.
“Cover your hands first,” he warned as I reached for the iron.
I’d forgotten, in my haste to get it out before Twist reappeared with the hound. I tore strips from the ruin of my thin gown and used it to cover my hands as I pulled at the spike. After a couple of failed attempts, I tried the wand. The light dissolved when it touched the iron.
Crap.
“Try to ask the flesh to expel it if you can’t force it out,” Puck suggested.
“Shouldn’t you do that? You’re the Entreater.”
“Told you before, I think you’re both,” he said, his voice getting weaker by the moment.
I closed my eyes, focusing all my energy into my hands and the wand.
An image of Puck’s body as I’d seen it when he arrived—naked but for that ludicrous cape—formed in my mind. I couldn’t make it go away, so decided to use it. I imagined my hands caressing and coaxing the flesh and muscles to do my bidding. I was maybe getting a little too into it when his voice, much stronger, wryly suggested I could stop now.
My eyes flew open and he stood grinning before me, the bloody bolt on the ground and his side almost good as new.
“Wow,” I whispered, impressed with myself. And him.
“Indeed. I promise we’ll discuss this later, but for now, let’s get out of here.”
“Anweena said to meet her on the west side of the stables.”
Puck took me in his arms and flew us toward the castle before the boy and his dog could do more harm.
We had made it
out of the maze and landed near the stables when Twist swaggered onto one of the castle balconies. Dozens of winged guards appeared in the sky and dropped an iron net over us.
We were surrounded.
Twist yelled from the balcony. “Arrest them for the murder of Queen Grainne!”
Chapter Seventeen
“H
ide the wand, crouch down, and act scared,” Puck whispered urgently.
No acting needed. I followed him to kneel on the ground. The crown caught on the iron net and sparked. Fiery flashes of pain from hot metal burned my head and sparks smoldered on my chiffon dress. Screaming, I dropped the wand to pull at the crown. It came off easily that time, but took a few strands of scorched hair with it and burned my hands.
“You see,” Twist called out. “The crown rejects the pretender to the throne!”
I whimpered from pain and blew on my hands. Puck wrapped his arms around me, and gently nudged the wand with his leg until it was hidden under the fabric of my dress.
“Move away from the woman!” one of the advancing soldiers ordered.
As Puck moved away, I felt him slide the wand up his sleeve. I didn’t know what his plan was, but with his wound almost completely healed, he would be far better with the wand than I.
He made a show of grabbing his side. “Damn you, Twist. I’m still bleeding!” He held up a bloody fist and Twist laughed.
Startled, I checked and was shocked to see blood seeping from the newly reddened wound.
“You thought you were clever, didn’t you? You can’t get away from me and my superior devices, Nonagon,” Twist mocked.
The name sent a ripple of reaction throughout the soldiers, whispered echoes of Nonagon accompanied some growls.
Puck laughed. “I see my reputation precedes me. How delightful. Which of you dung heaps think you’ll be the one on the path to glory from taking me down?”
A rush of sound followed as armor rustled and swords were unsheathed.
“Don’t listen to him,” Twist commanded. “We’ll all be making history tonight.”
“And how do you think my father, King Joban, will respond, you human git?” Puck emphasized his relationship with the king.
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