by A. M. Hardin
It takes a half hour before the King and Queen are able to see us. Queen Sana's eyes narrow slightly when she sees me, clearly still sore about our last chat.
"I see things have been cleared up for you, Queen Cherish," King Cyran says with curved lips.
"They have," I confirm. "I hope I find you well, King Cyran, Queen Sana."
"We're very well," Sana sneers at me. "Yourself?"
She doesn't look or sound like she particularly cares but I take the opening anyway.
"We are all in good health," I answer, keeping my answer vague. It's our Kingdom's business and they don't need to know what happened yesterday unless it pertains to them. It doesn't. "But I didn't come here to gossip, Queen Sana."
"Very well then," Sana says, barely keeping the sneer out of her voice as she eyes me and the guys.
"What is it you've come for?" Cyran asks.
I look to him and give him a thankful smile. "I came for two reasons, really. The first was to thank you for your aid when we were going against my brother. Your help was greatly appreciated."
Sana makes a rude noise in the back of her throat but otherwise doesn't say anything as the King nods. "And the second reason?" he asks, sounding curious and bored at the same time. It's honestly a weird combination.
“I also came to ask if we would have your aid, if it’s needed, against the Ikishri,” I state bluntly.
The King’s eyebrows shoot up, surprised. The Queen’s eyes glint calculatingly, as if she’s trying to decide how to use this to her advantage.
“Well, now,” Sana says, her tone excited even though it’s clear she’s trying to mask it, “isn’t that interesting, my love?”
“It is indeed,” Cyran agrees as he watches me with narrowed eyes. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because if the Ikishri don’t stop in their little plans then I’ll be forced to confront them,” I tell him. As soon as the words leave my mouth my guys start speaking to me at the same time, their words meshing together until I hold my hand up to stay them. “You all know it’ll most likely come to that anyway,” I point out gently as I meet each of their worried gazes.
“Doesn’t mean we have to fucking like it,” Andrei rumbles, his eyes brimming with anger.
“Queen Cherish,” Cyran starts, gaining all of our attention again. “You will have the backing of the Meryn Kingdom.”
I open my mouth to respond but Sana opens her mouth, interrupting me. “If you will marry our youngest son. I just know that you’ll love him, my dear.”
Cyran looks at his wife as if she had just grown a pair of antlers. Apparently, she didn’t run that by her husband. Oops.
“Queen Sana,” I respond, keeping my voice polite despite the frustration I’m feeling, “you already have my answer to that. I will not marry your son.”
“But surely-“
“No, Sana,” I snap, dropping formalities. “I told you when we were here before that I was already involved. I won’t marry someone that I don’t love.”
Sana gives me a condescending look. “Oh honey, you’re a Queen. Love is something that will elude you for the simple fact that the only reason anyone would want to be with you is that being with you gives them a clear path to the throne you now sit on. At least with this you know our intentions. Simply to unite the Kingdoms completely.”
“Sana,” Cyran hisses at her. “Enough.”
He doesn’t get anything else out before I stalk toward Sana. “Your intentions aren’t to unite the Kingdoms, Sana,” I accuse. Her eyes flash. “You want to be the ruler of both Kingdoms. With your son by my side as King, you’d be able to control him, thus control my Kingdom.”
“Why, I never!” Sana gasps, clearly lying as she places her hand over her heart.
“You will have your alliance, Queen Cherish,” Cyran says. “Please, disregard anything my dear wife has said during this meeting.” He shoots her a nasty look that makes color rush to her cheeks. “You have not and have never been required to marry any of my children. I apologize for the insult my wife has given you.”
I smile sweetly at Cyran. “Thank you, King Cyran. I accept your apology. And I’m truly sorry, but we must go now. I have other places I must visit before heading back home.”
“Of course,” Cyran nods his head respectfully towards me. “Safe travels to you and your men.”
I give him a curtesy and my guys bow low to the King and Queen. Sana must decide to say screw decorum because before we even walk out of the room she’s screaming at the King, bitching about how he ruined her plan to marry off their son. The doors cut off after that, but her muffled shouting can still be heard through the large doors.
* * *
I look around, frowning at the desert like look of the area we portal to after leaving the Meryn Kingdom. “Where are we?”
“We’re at the Phentis Kingdom,” Andrei announces his voice full of distaste. I peek at the other two and my frown deepens because they both look just as unhappy about being here.
“Why do you all look like you’re sucking on a sour lemon?”
“You’ll see,” Andrei says cryptically.
Xander shoots Andrei a look. “She needs to know beforehand, Andrei.”
Andrei sighs. “Fine.” He looks to Kade. “Will you explain?”
Kade nods before meeting my eyes. “This Kingdom is different than the Tira or the Meryn Kingdom. The Meryn people and Tira both don’t like half-humans. The Meryn are a little more strongly against them than we are. The Phentis, though? The Phentis don’t like half-humans or women. At all. They’re treated as possessions. Objects. They don’t have any real rights here and are treated as nothing more than servants or breeders.”
I stare at Kade open-mouthed. “Are you being serious, right now?” Kade just watches me so I turn to the others. “Please tell me he’s kidding.”
“He’s not,” Andrei answers.
I sigh. “So they won’t even take me seriously, will they?”
They all hesitate and Xander’s the first to speak. “It’s not likely,” he says apologetically. “You’ll have to leave the talking to us or it’ll all be completely disregarded.”
“Lovely.” I take a deep breath and remind myself that I have to remain calm during this meeting or things can easily go the opposite way we want them to go. “Alright. I’m ready. Let’s go.”
The guys all exchange glances before shrugging and leading me to the gate.
“Halt!” one of the Phentis guards shouts as we draw closer. “State your name and your business.”
“I am Andrei, one of the royal guards for the Tira Kingdom. I have two other royal guards of Tira with me, Kade and Xander.”
“What of the girl?” the guard sneers, making me frown.
“The girl is Cherish, Queen of Tira,” Andrei announces.
The sneer doesn’t leave the guard’s face. Instead he looks disgusted. “A girl leading a Kingdom on her own,” he mutters. “Stupid.”
My back straightens and I glare at the idiot guard as I open my mouth to snap at him. Kade coughs, the sound fake and catching my attention. I look at him and he barely shakes his head. Got it. Can’t tell off people for being dicks.
Shit. I haven’t even lasted a damn minute in this Kingdom without almost snapping at some jackass.
“What business do you have here?” the guard snaps.
“We need to speak to your King,” Andrei states firmly. “As soon as possible, please.”
“Sure, sure,” the guard says. His eyes run over me, making me uncomfortable. “Make sure you keep the little girl’s mouth shut.”
My eyebrows go up and I grind my teeth together to keep myself from snapping. Fucking seriously?
Xander clears his throat and I don’t fail to notice his mouth twitch in the corner. I walk up behind him and pinch his side, making him twitch for a second. He looks down at raises an eyebrow at me. “Yes, ma hai?”
“Don’t think I didn’t see that mouth curve up, Xander,” I hiss un
der my breath, making a soft chuckle escape him.
“Sorry, it’s kind of funny.”
“Not really,” I counter.
“It is, but only because you can’t really say anything back and I know that you’re just dying to snap at this asshole,” he murmurs, his mouth close to my ear.
“Dick,” I grumble at him, making him laugh.
“You can have it later,” he whispers conspiratorially to me.
My mouth drops and I stop walking as I watch him walk ahead of me, completely in shock. I kind of expected that kind of line from Kade, to be honest. Never really figured Xander to respond that way. Ever.
Kade turns back when he realizes that I’m not following so closely behind them anymore. He frowns. “Everything alright, mia?”
Xander laughs silently beside him as they wait for me to catch up.
“Yeah, all is good,” I mutter when I make it to their side.
It doesn’t take long for us to get in front of the King. Well, the King and his thirty-six mistresses.
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from commenting when I see that his mistresses are treated more as slaves than actual consorts.
“What do I owe the pleasure of the lone Queen,” he sneers, “and her knights?”
Andrei takes the lead in speaking, his body language protective as he stands slightly in front of me. “We came to ask if you would honor your alliance with the Tira Kingdom now that King Leander has passed and his daughter has the throne.”
The King narrows his eyes as they lock on me. I have to fight the temptation to squirm under his intense gaze. Even though the King looks greasy as fuck he’s still a bit scary looking and intimidating, even sitting down on his throne. He’s huge for an elf. I’ve never seen an elf with that kind of build.
“Queen Cherish,” the King barks, forcing me to meet his narrowed eyes with a glare of my own. “What do you say about this? You are a Queen, are you not?” His eyes run over me and my guys. “Or maybe you’re simply a Queen in name. Not in deed.”
A low growl seeps out of each of my guys while I bite out, “Excuse the fuck out of me?”
“You let your guard speak for you. Is that how things are done now?” His mouth twists into a patronizing smile.
“He spoke for me because he knows how things are done in this Kingdom,” I snap with more attitude than would be recommended. But, damn it, this guy’s pissing me off. “My guards knew that you wouldn’t listen to me so they suggested to take the lead and I didn’t argue.”
I look the King up and down, my lip curled in disgust. “Not that I really give a shit if someone like you joins us anyway,” I admit, knowing damn well I shouldn’t but I can’t just grin and bear it around this guy and his attitude.
The King’s eyes widen, and his eyebrows go up in surprise for the briefest second before settling back to his snobby expression. “What do you mean someone like me?”
“Someone who treats women the way you treat the women lined up behind you. Who sneers at the thought of a female ruling a Kingdom. Sorry to disappoint, but things change. Tira has a Queen. A Queen who is more than a Queen in name as they have been in the past. I won’t be allied to someone who views me as less than him for the simple reason that I don’t have a dick swinging between my legs.”
Andrei chokes and starts coughing, almost as if he’d inhaled his own spit. Kade and Xander snicker but try hiding the laughs behind coughs. “Cherish,” Andrei hisses as he clears his throat. “Was that necessary?” he mutters quietly so only Xander, Kade, and I can hear him.
I shrug. “Not like it matters anyway,” I mumble.
The King stares at me for a minute, his mouth gaping wide before he starts laughing and laughing hard.
I exchange a confused look with each of my guys and notice that we aren’t the only ones who seem confused. His guards and even his mistresses look confused by his reaction.
Once the King gets himself back under control, he wipes a tear from the corner of his eye as he grins at me. “I like you. You’re very blunt, little Queen. It’s an admirable quality.” He watches me with a small smirk on his face for a long moment before he speaks again. “I will honor the alliance with your father. If for no other reason than you amuse me,” he admits.
“So, does that mean that I’ll have your backing against the Ikishri?”
The King hisses, disgust clear on his face. “Of course. Ikishri bastards deserve to die.”
I raise an eyebrow at that, but otherwise don’t comment. “Thank you for your support.”
He grins. “I have a feeling you will be a force to be reckoned with, child. It is my pleasure to watch and see how things play out.”
“Whatever your reasons, I’m still thankful,” I say with a shrug.
Chapter 14
Cherish
“She likes you,” Aila says, her voice soft.
I grin down at the baby dragon squirming, trying to get comfortable in my lap. I give her neck a quick scratch with my finger, loving the almost purring sound she makes. “I like her, too. We really should name her,” I tell Aila.
“I’m no good at naming anything,” Aila admits. “Why don’t you come up with a name?”
I frown at her. “You’re not just saying that because I’m the Queen, are you?” I ask. “Like, you don’t think you’ll offend me if you don’t let me name her?”
Aila’s eyes widen. “Oh, no. That’s not it at all. I really am terrible at it,” she insists. “I also have never named any of the dragons we’ve found and brought back here to nurse to health. Your father, he didn’t really care if the dragons had names or not.”
I purse my lips. “Well, we’ll just have to change that, won’t we?” I ask with a smirk, earning a smile from Aila. I lean my head back, closing my eyes as I think of a name. Once I have one, I turn back to Aila and can’t hold back my excited grin. “How about Tempest?”
Aila tilts her head, her eyes unfocused as she considers the name. “I like it!”
I look up at the sound of grass rustling and smile at Andrei as he enters the area in the garden we’ve claimed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going around talking to guards and everything.”
Andrei smirks. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think you weren’t happy to see me.”
I stick my tongue out at him. “Of course, I’m happy to see you,” I correct. I carefully lift the dragon out of my lap and hold her out to him. “Do you want to have a hold?”
Andrei eyes the dragon before shaking his head. I shrug and cuddle Tempest close to my chest. “Did you sneak off without your other guards?” he asks, though his voice makes it clear that he already knows the answer.
I make sure I keep my face innocently blank. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Xander, Kade, and I assigned a couple other guards to be with you today since none of us could be,” he answers with an eyebrow raised at me, his mouth twitching.
“Oh, did you?” I ask, deliberately missing the point. We’ve all been way too damn serious since I became Queen and I want to enjoy some time just being silly.
“Cherish,” Andrei chides as Aila giggles softly beside me. “You know damn well that we assigned them to protect you. They weren’t going to smother you. You didn’t need to give them the slip.”
I poke my bottom lip out into a pout before laughing. “Fine.” I hold up a finger before he says anything and explain, “I also didn’t actually give them the slip. I told them to go do something else. Then I came here.”
“Which gave them the slip,” Andrei says, fighting a laugh.
“Well, okay, yeah, I guess I did. You can’t really blame me though.” I start bouncing the now sleeping baby dragon gently. “Tempest is just too damn cute to stay away from for long.”
“Tempest?” Andrei asks, looking from me to Aila then back again. “You named her, didn’t you?” He accuses with a tired sigh.
“Yeah, I named her. I didn’t want to just keep calling her baby drag
on or dragon baby. It didn’t really fit.”
“Calling her that actually does fit, because that is what she is,” Andrei points out.
I narrow my eyes at him playfully. “Why do you have to add logic to this conversation. I wanted to name the damn thing, so she now has a name.”
Andrei snorts. “Alright, whatever you want, Baby. Why don’t you give Aila the dragon back and come with me?”
Faking a put-out sigh I hand Tempest back to Aila after giving the scaly baby a peck on the head.
Once we’re a good distance away from Aila, Andrei chuckles softly. “I never expected you to bond with a dragon.”
“What do you mean?” I frown at him, confused.
“I mean that I honestly expected you to run screaming when you first encountered a dragon. Although, that could still happen if you ever meet a full-grown one,” he adds as almost as an afterthought.
I snort. “Hell no. I’ve wanted to see a dragon ever since I learned about them when I was a kid, Andrei,” I explain. “Mythological creatures were some of my favorite things to draw. When I had the time to draw, anyway.” I miss being able to draw whenever I wanted. I shake my head, clearing it of any thoughts that could potentially make me cry. “Anyway, how did you manage to find me?”
“I figured you’d have been in the garden anyway. Eventually, I kind of stumbled on to you. Honestly though, the last thing I expected to find was you cuddling up with a baby dragon.”
I laugh. “Yeah, I can see how that would be a bit of a shock.” I glance around as we continue walking further away from the castle but still in the gardens. “Where are we going, Andrei?”
Andrei peeks at me and flashes a reassuring smile before taking my hand in his. “You’ll see soon enough. We’re almost there.”
“Okay?” I murmur, officially confused.
We walk for another five minutes when we get to a little patch of woods that’s placed in the middle of the garden. I frown as Andrei keeps leading me into the woods. “Relax, Cherish.” Andrei softens his voice, keeping it to a soothing tone, relaxing me instantly.