Yew Queen Trilogy

by Eve A Hunt

  I was about to try once more, but Lucus held up a fisted hand, our signal for someone approaching.

  Ten fae guards filled the henge. The one at the front pushed silver hair away from his high forehead and addressed the group.

  “Queen Arleigh demands your presence at the feast day tournament. All will participate in the game for the gold. For the jousting, the human will compete against a wing-bound fae. Lord Lucus, you will face Queen Arleigh in an alpha duel.”

  My knees nearly gave out. Silence roared in my ears.

  The guard continued, “We will lead you from the mage camp to your preparation rooms when the sun is two fingers from the horizon. Do not be late.”

  Numb, I walked over to Hekla and gripped her hand as the guards left. “You grew up with horses, right?”

  She glanced at me, her chin trembling a little. “Yeah,” she said faintly.

  “You’ll be able to handle your mount, then. As for jousting, it’s just pointing a stick at someone. You’ll be armored, I’m sure.”

  “Horses are probably a touch different from dark unicorns.”

  I forced myself not to freak out. I had to help her be brave. “Four legs. Hooves. So they have a horn. Big whoop.”

  Lucus looked at the ground, then up at me through his thick lashes. “They have an unseelie magic of their own.”

  “And you’re going to tell her all about how to use that to her advantage.”

  “Of course. Hekla, the animals are bloodthirsty, but they don’t hunger for human flesh.”

  “Bonus,” Hekla whispered.

  “The animals will attempt to gore one another.”

  “Oh,” I said, “they use their horns like lances.”

  “Yes, but the riders will also be outfitted with the weapon. And I doubt the unseelie’s lances will break like ours did during the seelie jousts. They want to hurt. They thrive on pain. If I had to guess, I would say their lances will be crafted to hold up against a hit and to unseat the opposing rider.”

  I shook Hekla’s shoulder gently. “You’ve been tossed before. You learned the proper way to fall in Titus’s self-defense class. You were great at keeping your chin tucked while rolling back.”

  She smiled weakly. “I am so much better than you at the falling thing.”

  “You really are.”

  Hekla’s smile grew, but then it fled, and she bent to vomit. As I spoke comforting nonsense into her ear, Lucus discussed the game with the Binder and Nora.

  We returned to the mages’ camp to wash at the nearby stream and eat. Hekla went to help Nora put the remnants of our quick meal away while the Binder rummaged around his chamber.

  At the campfire, Lucus stood and held out an arm. “Walk with me.”

  I took his arm, marveling at the peace that wove through me. “I’d love a long stroll and talk, but are you sure we have the time?”

  “We won’t go far.”

  Newer saplings stretched toward the sky between ancient oaks in the forest that bordered the mages’ camp. The sounds of the Binder’s mutterings and Nora and Hekla’s conversation faded as we followed a deer path through bushes covered in berries that sparkled like gemstones.

  “Coren, I want you to know I trust you. Fully.”

  “Really? What changed your mind?”

  “When Corliss attacked, something inside me snapped. I can’t explain it… My heart trusts you, and I will follow its lead.”

  I let go of his arm and instead wove my fingers through his. My own quiet laugh surprised me as I realized I trusted him too. I wasn’t sure when that switch had flipped, but I was more sure about him than anyone, save Hekla of course. “I trust you, too.” Of course, I hadn’t been at war with his kind like he had been with mine, so my trust had been won more easily.

  Lucus stopped and turned to face me, tucking our linked hands between his chest and mine. “Tell me what you’re thinking. You’re outspoken, but you seem to keep your dearest thoughts to yourself.”

  I laughed. “Maybe. I’m not good at this kind of thing.” My cheeks went hot. I was afraid of saying too much and not having the feelings returned on the same level. “This whole thing with us has moved so quickly. It feels ridiculous to say this, but I feel super solid about you. I’m incredibly thankful you’re the one who realized I’m a mage and you’re here to help me figure that out. Someone else might have taken advantage of how clueless I was about the magical side of the world. You always put others’ needs before yours, and you’ve been doing so consistently here, helping me first like a true partner.” I swallowed, feeling like an idiot. “We have some incredibly awful tasks coming up, and I couldn’t be more thankful you’ve got my back—and Hekla’s, too. And that you’re here if we get a chance for a happy ending.”

  A smile tugged at one side of his full lips. “You’ve handled yourself admirably. I can’t imagine what it would be like to discover the world was nothing like you had thought it was. You’ve learned of magic, wars, and new creatures, and you’ve been thrust into deadly scenarios. Through it all, you’ve been brave as a lion, my love.”

  “Just call me the magical honey badger.”

  He chuckled, confusion twisting his features. “Honey badger?”

  “They’re underrated, let me tell you. They eat freaking cobras.”

  “Indeed?”

  “Seriously. And I—”

  Lucus pressed his lips to mine, his mouth simultaneously soft and strong. I gave up my badger lesson and leaned into the moment. We might or might not get our happy ending, but life was made up of moments. I was sure I’d read that on a chocolate wrapper at some point. I was going to enjoy this one moment of happy and tuck it away for safekeeping. I would need all the happy I could muster to get through Hekla’s ordeal and Lucus’s duel.

  Arleigh was no joke, and this was her kingdom, filled with all her loyal subjects. There was no way she would play fair if Lucus got the upper hand during a battle between them.

  Fear shunting through me, I tightened my hold on Lucus and kissed him harder. I whirled around and threw him against a tree, my lips devouring his.

  Would this be our last moment alone?

  Like he sensed what I was feeling, he leaned into the kiss, no longer gentle, but urgent now. He pulled my shirt out of my belt, his hot hands riding up my sides. I did the same, yanking his tunic out of the way, circling his trim waist with my arms and drawing him against me. His mouth on mine was demanding, his tongue sweeping over mine. I gasped as his teeth grazed my upper lip and his hand slid into my pants. With a grip on my ass, he growled and pressed his body against mine.

  “I must claim you, my mate.”

  I sucked his pointed ear as I worked his trousers past his hips. “How barbaric,” I said, teasing.

  “Now, Coren.”

  My body fully responded to his demand even though we were were behind enemy lines and preparing to face death yet again. “Yes,” I said huskily, longing raging through me like wildfire.

  His scent rose, and his lure dragged over my tingling skin as he thrust into me roughly. I bit my lip to keep from screaming in ecstasy as he claimed me and left no room for any doubt that he was mine and I was his. When the wave of pleasure peaked and crashed over us both, he pressed his lips over mine and whispered, “Forever.”

  I hoped forever would last a lot longer than I feared it would.

  Chapter 18

  After a hurried and silent meal at the mage camp’s fire, Arleigh’s thugs led us into an area packed with maple trees. The fae must’ve made the trees grow; the trunks lined up side by side to create rooms and ceilings of red leaves. We were each escorted into a room and ordered to put on new clothing. Once I’d dressed, I left my room to find the others. We all wore red tunics and black trousers, but there were unseelie fae here and there dressed in black tunics and red trousers, the opposite. I asked Lucus what the colors meant, but he didn’t know.

  They corralled us toward a field draped in the afternoon’s amber light. An oak grew in the
center of the meadow, and a big basket sat in its branches, the gold pieces inside catching the light.

  A male unseelie smirked, then handed me what I had to guess was a fae sword. It looked just like the fae knife Nora had shown me, amber and glittering with magically inset and activated metals like gold and copper. The hilt was wrapped in leather and studded at the top with rubies and sapphires. It was gorgeous, but it only made me want to puke my brains out.

  “I’m sensing a theme,” Hekla said as she glanced from my sword to the swords the Binder and Nora now held.

  Lucus gripped the wooden club they’d given him. “They want their mages whole at the end of the game.”

  “And the rest of us?” Hekla asked.

  I tried to hand her my sword, but a strange nausea swamped me. “I think they’re cool with you getting sliced and diced.”

  “Awesome.”

  “The sickness you feel is part of a spell, if I had to guess,” Lucus said, watching me as I rubbed my stomach. “We won’t be permitted to trade weapons.”

  Hekla blew out a breath. “Okay. But if I die, who will they get to joust on the unicorn? I can’t believe I just said that.”

  I shrugged, fear making everything look too bright. “I suppose they’ll find someone else to torment. Maybe they’ll bring Kaippa out here.”

  A hysterical laugh bubbled out of Hekla’s mouth. “I think dark unicorns and vampires would get along nicely. Both sound pretty bloodthirsty.”

  I shook my head. “Please stop talking. You’re making this worse.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.”

  Hundreds of fae carrying long, wooden staffs and clubs like the one Lucus held edged the clearing where we were meant to fight for the treasure.

  “How do we know when to begin?” Nora asked.

  I shrugged. “Maybe Arleigh will blow a whistle. Probably one made of her enemy’s femur.” The number of those clothed in black tunics or red tunics seemed fairly even. I turned to Lucus. “Do you think we’re on teams?”

  His gaze darted over the crowd. “We didn’t play that way. But maybe the unseelie do. One team to defend the treasure—”

  Arleigh flew into the clearing and shouted something in the fae language, something the magic cast over the ground couldn’t translate. Whatever it was made Lucus shudder like it sickened him.

  “Red tops to claim the treasure,” Arleigh called out. “Black tops to defend the oak. No flying, my darling fae. Not for this game. Healers will aid our mages to protect our sacrifices. No killing yet tonight. Remember. Begin!”

  The field erupted into chaos. An unseelie turned on Hekla, and Lucus flew to her side to help her fight.

  I had to get this thing over with. Sure, Arleigh had said something about not killing, but there had to be a crap ton of accidental slaughter in a thing like this. Hekla was toast. Ugh.

  The basket of gold high in the oak taunted me with its glittering insides.

  I ran hard for the tree. If I could use my advantages—bladed weapon plus healers—and end this game, Hekla, Lucus, and the others would be safe. At least, they would be for the time being.

  My muscles screamed as I zipped past unseelie running the same direction as me. Throwing elbows and swinging my sword wildly, I crossed the flat meadow. Roots like anacondas surrounded the area near the base of the oak. I leapt from one root to another, getting closer to the tree’s trunk. I reached the oak’s wide body and stretched, grasping for the lowest limb, a branch large enough to be a tree all on its own.

  An unseelie crashed into me, knocking me down between two roots. It was a female, and she wasted no time in trying to clock me with her club. I raised my forearm to block her blows. My sword had fallen out of reach, or I would’ve stabbed the bitch. I set my feet on the root and launched my hips up, throwing her off me. Scrambling for my sword, I ducked under another fae as he tried to tackle me. He collided with two other unseelie, all of them snarling like wolves. I tucked my sword into my belt behind my back. My heartbeat clanged my teeth around as I gripped the limb again and began to climb the oak.

  The treasure was a dark shape about fifty feet above.

  I longed to peer over my shoulder to see if Lucus and Hekla and the mages were surviving, but I denied myself the luxury. I had to get to that gold and finish this madness.

  Strong fingers grabbed my ankle and jerked me to the ground. My head knocked against a root as I fell. A male unseelie with a broad face that made me think of a lion swung a club at my knee. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike.

  Blood buzzing through my veins, I threw myself to my feet and aimed my blade at the spot between the unseelie’s neck and shoulder. I didn’t give a care in the world if I killed the bastard. My blade bit into him and stuck. He shrieked and bared viciously sharp teeth and a blood-red tongue. Stumbling back, he took my sword with him, jerking the hilt from my shaking hand. I lunged to grab it, and the fae used the opportunity to smash his club against my exposed side.

  Pain shot through me, and my breath left in a rush. I crumpled to the ground and curled around myself. I was shocked that the fae had taken the sword slice to the shoulder without dying or at least passing out.

  A circle of red light shimmered in the mossy earth around me. The unseelie avoided me then, attacking the others instead as they vied for a spot at the base of the treasure tree.

  Sure, I probably had a broken rib, but I had to get up there to that damned gold. Was I still allowed to participate? What did the red circle mean beyond the fact that the fae weren’t permitted to injure me further? Would that rule be forgotten if I left the circle?

  I tried to see over the teeming mass of fighting bodies, swords flashing in the setting sun, and clubs swinging like handless arms. There was no point in trying to get Lucus’s or anyone’s attention. I was invisible to them this far away.

  Well, I couldn’t just sit here and nurse my broken rib or whatever it was. If only I could heal myself like Nora had healed Hekla.

  A female unseelie rushed over and set warm hands on my side. I began to fight her but realized she was a healer. Her tunic was half red and half black, and she bent her head to her work, magic tingling across my injury, and a sigh left my lips. I forced myself not to look at her. I knew if I did, her lure would distract me. It was hard enough sitting still for this instead of leaning into her herb-like scent and the thrilling delight of her closeness.

  Before I could thank her, she was up and gone along with most of my pain. The red circle that had protected me disappeared, and I wasted no time dashing for the tree and starting my climb again, this time without my sword. I didn’t want to waste precious minutes retrieving it and didn’t want to have to carry its weight as I worked my way through the dense branches and clusters of dark leaves.

  I was sucking wind by the time I was within arm’s reach of the treasure. On tiptoe, I grasped for the bottom of the basket, but my fingers found only air. I was so close, but not quite high enough.

  An unseelie female with chestnut braids was only one branch beneath me. The branch I needed to reach was too far away to simply climb to. I’d have to jump and grab for it. Taking a breath, I went for it, throwing myself through the air and praying I wasn’t about to give every branch I’d passed on the way up a full-body high five. My hands hit the branch, and I gripped the gnarled wood, my knuckles cracking with the effort. I slung my leg over and raced to beat the female fae to the chest.

  I gripped the bottom edge of the gold-filled basket.

  Vines shot from the basket, and cheering erupted from below. More vines grabbed both me and the gold with a surprising gentleness. As I was lowered to the ground, I scanned the playing field for Hekla and Lucus. Hekla was there. Not far from where we’d started with Lucus standing over her like a guard. Blood ran down her face, but she was saying something to him so at least she was alive. Fae healers were working on the Binder as Nora stood beside them, her gaze pinned on me. Her eyes seemed to say Please let you and yours be the key to gettin
g us the hell out of here. It was the most normal expression she’d shown yet.

  Arleigh swept through the air, the leaves on her wings undulating and her hair floating around her otherworldly face. “Congratulations, Mage Coren.” She held out a hand, magic flared around her fingertips, and the vines holding me and the treasure retreated. Speaking to a guard with wide-set eyes, she said, “Take the gold to the mages’ camp.” Facing me, she smiled. I fought a shudder. “You’ll have the opportunity to use your winnings in games of chance in the near future if you so choose.” She glanced at Lucus. “We fae will do much for gold, won’t we?”

  Lucus looked like he wanted to gnaw her head off, but he lowered his gaze respectfully. “Of course, Queen Arleigh.”

  The queen clapped her hands and flew above the crowd. “To the list!”

  I remembered in the medieval times people had called the joust the list or the lists. It was a derivative slang thing that branched off the words they’d used for the walls in the jousting area.

  It was time for Hekla to meet her dark unicorn.

  Chapter 19

  The fae began moving across the bloodied meadow toward another section of the forest. I fought the flow of bodies—there were so many that they couldn’t all take flight—and headed for Lucus and Hekla.

  Hekla, blood caked along the side of her face, was on her feet by the time Nora and the Binder walked up. “Your guy here is a gem, and that’s not sarcasm,” Hekla said with a shaky voice. “I’d be long gone if he hadn’t hung out here with me. An unseelie tried to take my head off with a club. Lucus healed me though. I feel okay. Not one hundred percent, but I’ll make it. Thanks, Lucus.”

  Thankfully, Hekla just had a small knot on her temple. It could’ve been so much worse.

  Lucus waved off Hekla’s praise, but I touched his arm and whispered a thank-you. The place where our skin met tingled, and I longed to fold myself into his arms.