The Queen's Crown (Court of Midnight and Deception Book 3)

by K. M. Shea

He finally let go of the little girl, who tumbled to the forest floor.

  I was about to figure out how to put a ward around Amaranth, when to my surprise she picked herself up and ran, pumping her little arms as she raced around the side of the ward. Her face was red and wet with tears, but she fearlessly ran up to me, zipping past the terrifying night mares standing guard.

  She flung herself at my legs and clung to me, sobbing in fear.

  I heard the biker scream as Kevin and Steve pulled him into the dark shadows of the forest—which was now dim enough that the bike headlights were blindingly bright.

  That’s three down, three to go.

  My determination burned, and I had to hold back my rage that these monsters would try to take this scared little kid from her home.

  I stared at the leader in the back of the group, which was how I saw the glint of silver in the darkness of the forest.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Leila

  Rigel stepped out of the shadows, holding a sword. He nodded when he met my gaze, then lashed out with his blade.

  Gray magic encased his target, and the biker screamed before falling in a boneless heap.

  The two remaining bikers glanced behind them and saw Rigel.

  They stopped shooting and slung their guns onto their backs, then fiddled with their bikes, revving them to get the engines roaring again.

  They’re going to run. But this is the first chance we’ve had to get some information on the enemy!

  “No!” I shouted.

  I dropped my gun and gripped my staff with both hands. By instinct, I started to form the rune required for a ward. And then, as I watched the bikers turn their bikes in opposite directions, I made a string of those runes.

  I didn’t stop to think if I could really pull it off. I channeled my magic on an impulse, taking as much as I could and forming a ring of wards that closed around the bikers.

  I activated them, and the ward sprang to life, forming a purple barrier that entirely encased them.

  One of the bikers tried to ram it, but I’d been practicing wards and barriers for months in an effort to save the Night Realm.

  My ward stood. His bike crumpled on impact.

  Holding the barrier together was a weird sensation—it was like weaving live threads of magic through my fingers. It was tough to juggle. Feeding magic equally into every section that held a rune so they remained stable made my mind feel split.

  The biker with the ruined bike groaned and dragged himself from the wreckage.

  The second biker abandoned his vehicle and tried to shoot Rigel.

  The forest was almost as dark as night. It was easy for Rigel to step into a shadow—the whole place was one enormous shadow—and step out behind the biker.

  A flash of his sword, and the biker went down.

  Rigel—his silvery hair glittering in the low light—swiveled to face the remaining biker who’d rammed my ward.

  The biker staggered backwards, but Rigel was on him in an instant.

  I sweated hard as I struggled to hold the ring of runes. One side got away from me and dropped, but it didn’t matter—Rigel had the last guy pinned.

  Rigel rested the edge of his sword on the biker’s chest. “Surrender,” he ordered.

  The biker said something—I couldn’t hear what, it was muffled by his helmet, and he was too far away to really hear—then collapsed.

  My knees shook a little—holy cow did keeping multiple runes up take it out of you, no wonder no one told me to try this—and I squinted in the darkness. “Did he pass out?” I shouted to my consort.

  “No.” Rigel turned to me, and I was surprised by the rage I saw boiling in his dark eyes. “He activated a rune that killed him.”

  “He what?” I let the wards drop. But that means we can’t get any information…

  “Are any of them alive?” I asked.

  I took a step, but couldn’t go any farther—Amaranth was still clinging to my side.

  She looked up at me, and I could see both Flora and Birch in her—it was in her heart shaped face, her button nose, and her summer-sky-blue eyes. She was slenderer and more delicate—almost fragile—than a human kid. I thought she was maybe about five or six, but I was never good at guessing ages, and fae aged slower so it was possible she was way older.

  I wanted to crouch down in front of her so I didn’t loom awkwardly above her, but she didn’t seem like she was going to let me go.

  I glanced at Rigel, but he was checking on the rest of the bikers.

  Guess I get to be the child-whisperer.

  “Hi, Amaranth,” I said, trying to sound nice. “My name is Leila. I’m friends with your mom and dad.”

  Tears still leaked out of the corners of her eyes, and snot dripped from her nose. “Mommy and Daddy don’t have any friends.”

  My heart threatened to break at the certainty in her voice.

  How screwed up is fae society that she even knows that? And why did we get to this point? This isn’t a matter of power or superiority anymore, it’s a total lack of simple kindness!

  But I could rant against fae culture later. Now I needed to get one possibly traumatized little girl back to her royal parents.

  “Well, they have friends now,” I told her. “Because they have me—though your dad might blow a gasket if you say that to his face.”

  I was hoping to get a giggle out of her. I failed.

  “What’s a gasket?” she asked.

  I need coffee. It’s been a terrible day.

  “Why don’t we head back to your place?” I asked. “You can ride with us.”

  I was starting to wonder how Rigel had reached us, when light disrupted the darkness of the forest.

  Fax, his fiery mane glowing with flickers of blue, white, and orange, picked his way through the forest.

  “Fax, darling! Come on over—you too, Nebula, Comet. And yes, Kevin and Steve,” I said.

  My animals converged on me, and I was relieved to see none of them looked injured.

  Nebula had her ears pinned, but that was a pretty normal look for her. Kevin and Steve were both panting happily, thumping their tails on the ground as they sat their rears on the mossy forest floor.

  “We’ll have to ride back. Your parents mobilized their guard, but I don’t hear anything—though we are pretty deep in the forest,” I said.

  Amaranth kept staring at me. Feeling more than a little awkward and eager to set out, I spun around to call out to Rigel. “Any luck?”

  “No.” Rigel was going through the pockets and jacket of one of the bikers. “They didn’t carry any kind of identification on them, and it seems all of them had the spell prepped in case they were caught.”

  “In other words, we still have no new information to work on?” I asked.

  “Correct.”

  I groaned for about twenty seconds.

  “I’ve sent Chase a message,” Rigel said. “Skye was talking to him on the phone and informing him of the situation when I left. He’s on his way over with Eclipse and Solstice and two squads of guards.”

  “Great. I need to get Amaranth back to Birch and Flora. Are you going to stay here and wait for Chase?”

  “No,” Rigel said. “You shouldn’t travel alone.”

  “Yeah.” I looked around the forest—which was so dark I had to wonder how much time had passed since we entered it. “It’d be pretty easy to jump me when it’s this dark.”

  Rigel laid a hand on Fax’s neck. “You say that as if it isn’t under your control.”

  “Huh?”

  “What do you mean ‘huh’?”

  “I mean I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

  “You have no idea that you made it night, even though it’s in the early afternoon?”

  “Oohh, I did that?”

  Rigel gave me a flat look. “Yes. You did.”

  “It’s not like I mean to make it night.”

  “No. You can’t possibly help flashing around enough power to change
the laws of nature.”

  “Exactly! Wait—I don’t have that much power, or the Night Realm would be doing a lot better.” I felt a wet hand grasp mine—reminding me we weren’t alone.

  Focus! Stay focused!

  I squeezed Amaranth’s hand and beamed down at her. “Okay, Amaranth! Do you want to ride with me, or with Rigel?”

  Amaranth took one look at Rigel and pressed her head into my side.

  I tried not to smirk in triumph at him—winning over Rigel, who was wearing all black and looked pretty deadly, was not much of a win at all.

  “You mount up first. I’ll hand her up,” Rigel said.

  “Okay. Did you hear him, Amaranth?” I asked.

  Amaranth nodded into my side. She let me go and backed up a few steps, throwing her arms around Kevin and mashing her face into one of his ears.

  I grabbed my handgun and emptied the chamber—I didn’t like walking around with a bullet loaded, even if the safety was on—then handed Rigel my staff to hold while I got on.

  Comet waited patiently as I awkwardly scooted my way onto her back—it was a lot harder to get on her when I wasn’t greatly aided by adrenaline.

  Once I was on—not very comfortably, since the night mares were still skinny despite all the extra feed and fat supplements I’d been giving them; Comet’s knobby spine was not a super cushy seat—I took Amaranth first.

  After she was settled in front of me, I took my staff.

  Rigel shrank his sword and effortlessly leaped onto Fax’s back—I was very jealous to see he’d had the presence of mind to throw a leather strap around Fax’s neck, which gave him something to hold on to.

  As we headed back in the direction we’d come from, moving at a fast trot—I didn’t think I could hold Amaranth and my staff and keep my seat if we went any faster—the forest started to lighten up.

  Kevin and Steve led the way back, easily able to keep up with the horses at this slower pace.

  I had assumed we’d run into guards on the way, but it wasn’t until we reached the edge of the forest—where I saw the blazing blue of an afternoon sky mingle with the velvety darkness of night—that we saw anyone.

  “Queen Leila.” A captain on horseback saluted me, but her eyes were fixated on Amaranth. “I am glad to see you are all uninjured.”

  “Yeah. We’re safe,” I confirmed.

  “And the child?” the captain asked—I wasn’t sure if she knew just who Amaranth was before the kidnapping, but it was pretty difficult to miss on seeing her in person.

  “I want Mommy and Daddy.” Amaranth clutched Comet’s mane and slumped back into me.

  “Okay, Kiddo. We’re almost there—you can see their castle from here.” I pointed to the Summer Palace. “All we have to do is cross the big field and we’re there.”

  Amaranth nodded.

  I frowned up at the sky, feeling better as I watched the patch of darkness shrink—though the stars that glittered in the remaining patch seemed to shine extra bright. Three of the colossal hawks were still flying above us, marking the forest.

  “There are six…” I glanced down at Amaranth and wondered how to phrase this without upsetting her. “bodies,” I settled. “Six bodies back in the woods, with motorbikes. Please refrain from moving them. My director of security, Chase Washington, is on his way over, and I’d like him to take a look. The kidnappers used a specific kind of magic we’ve been trying to track for months.”

  “Of course,” the captain said. “We were instructed to leave things as they are until the Paragon arrives—he’s coming as well.”

  “Perfect, thanks.”

  “Indeed. I’ve already received word that your director and some guards have arrived. I believe they will be here shortly given the vehicle he brought.”

  “Ahhh, yeah, he probably brought the truck over,” I said.

  Chase had a truck in the Night Realm, and one in the mansion that he used when he needed to transport a lot of his people and quickly.

  He probably drove the one parked in the Night Realm through the gate. The night mares can make bigger gates so he could easily get in and out.

  I was ready to move on—I was sure Flora was half sick with worry—and nudged Comet forward, but stopped when I realized Rigel hadn’t moved.

  “Is there a reason why you did not move into the forest earlier?” Rigel narrowed his eyes at the captain, thinking more strategically than I had. “Even though you were mounted on horseback, you should have caught up to us.”

  “Ahh, yes.” The captain pressed her lips into a thin line. “We attempted, but in the unexpected darkness of the forest it seems we kept making wrong turns.”

  Oops?

  Rigel stared the captain down, who squirmed in her saddle. “May we escort you back to the palace?” she asked.

  “That would be great,” I said.

  I half expected the captain to try to take Amaranth, but she merely glanced at Comet, then my staff, and seemed satisfied with the princess’s safety.

  The captain gathered her squad, who rode around us as we trotted down the road that would lead us back to the castle. I noticed two of the hawks flew with us, while a third stayed soaring above the forest.

  Half of the squad peeled off when we met Chase—I waved to him to show I was fine—and followed the truck back to the forest on horseback. The rest stayed with us.

  When we stepped through the courtyard gates, I heard Flora shout.

  “Amaranth!”

  “Mommy!” The little girl kicked herself free—her heels digging into my thighs—and jumped off Comet before I realized what was going on.

  But Flora was there, catching the little girl with a surprising amount of strength considering her fragile build.

  I slid off Comet’s back and patted my mare on the neck. I glanced at the crying mother and daughter, but figured it was a moment I shouldn’t intrude on.

  I walked into the courtyard, wondering if I was going to have to grovel to Skye for forgiveness and maybe bribe her with a bottle or two of antacids, and was instead run over by Birch racing to sweep his wife and daughter up in his arms.

  I grabbed onto Comet to keep from getting tossed to the ground, and after I righted myself I glanced curiously back at the trio.

  Amaranth was smashed between Birch and Flora. I could barely see the little girl as the king and consort clung to each other and her.

  As awful as fae can be…they can love—deeply and fiercely.

  Solis was waiting with Indigo and Skye in the courtyard, his sunny expression downcast—though he straightened when he saw us.

  Skye, following his gaze, turned to look at us, and the tension in her face melted away. “You’re safe.”

  “Not from lack of trying,” Indigo said. “You ran out there after six guys! You didn’t even wait for Rigel!”

  I winced. “Yeah, I figured out it was a trap when I was in the middle of the forest.”

  Indigo snorted. “You think?”

  Skye looked ready to rip into me, but she glanced sideways at the Day King.

  “Birch and Flora’s daughter?” Solis asked.

  I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “Safe, and with her parents.”

  Skye inspected me from head to toe. “And you?”

  “I’m fi—”

  “If you say you’re fine I’m going to load your schedule with enough work to keep you tethered to the mansion for weeks,” Skye said.

  I winced. “I wasn’t injured. Kevin, Steve, Nebula, Comet, and Rigel did most of the work.”

  Rigel and Fax stopped next to us. Rigel slipped from the sun stallion’s back and patted his neck.

  “Did you learn anything from the kidnappers?” Indigo asked.

  “No.” I stroked Comet’s sweaty side. “They all died before we could get any information out of them. One of them even activated a spell to kill himself rather than answer any questions.” I scowled, frustrated with the lack of progress.

  “Maybe Chase will uncover something,” Indig
o said.

  “Not likely. Rigel went over them pretty well,” I said.

  My consort looked surprisingly…frustrated? I didn’t quite know how to interpret the emotions burning in his eyes, and the tension settling in his shoulders.

  I can understand that he’d be irritated that we didn’t get any new information, but why would he be frustrated?

  His reaction didn’t bother me per se, but it nagged at me in a way I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

  “Maybe we’ll be able to learn something once Birch figures out how they got into the Summer Realm? Assuming it’s not an inside job,” I said.

  “It almost certainly isn’t,” Rigel said.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked.

  “The kidnappers used motorbikes. Fae scorn most human tech inside the fae realm,” Rigel said.

  “Why?” I asked.

  Indigo shrugged. “The oldest fae blather on about human inventions mucking up the magic in the realm.”

  “Because that totally makes sense.” I scratched my neck and glanced at the sky, noticing the two hawks that had split off from the forest were now circling above us. “I’m still not ruling out an inside job, but based on the way the kidnappers reacted, I think I was either their main target or their secondary target as well.” I told them about the few lines the kidnappers had shouted at me, and how prepared they had seemed.

  While Skye, Indigo, Solis, and even Rigel mulled over that information, one of Birch’s servants approached us and bowed to me. “May we care for your steeds, Queen Leila?”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty sweaty. Could you hose them off, maybe?” I asked hopefully.

  “Of course.” The servant bowed slightly to the animals, then motioned to the lean-tos. “If you would step this way, please.”

  The night mares and then Fax each nuzzled my cheek before meandering after the servant. Kevin and Steve trailed behind them and were immediately presented with bowls of water, while two naiads started dumping buckets of water on Nebula, Comet, and Fax, lowering their temperature and cooling them off.

  “If they really were after you, this is a notable departure from previous attempts on your life,” Skye said, drawing my attention back into the conversation.