by K. M. Shea
I glanced at the window. Even though I had heavy draperies, I could see the light around the edges. It had to be mid-morning by now.
And even though the queen had invaded my space within an hour of falling asleep, I hadn’t woken her up.
Why not?
The answer was pretty simple: because I didn’t want to.
She’d looked wrecked the day before. The failure of the wards had all but debilitated her.
I’d been surprised she’d taken it that hard.
It’s only the second ward failure she’s been in power for, and it’s an incredibly difficult thing to withstand.
The other Courts only managed to minimalize the loss when their barriers failed. As far as I had heard in the whispers of rumors, Queen Rime was the only one who managed to hold her barrier strong, and that’s because her siblings—the Winter monarchs in other North American regions—came and helped her.
Leila was trying—which is more than I expected after the rule of Queen Nyte.
That had to be the reason why I was willing to support her—and play along with the little jokes she liked to make. She was a legitimately good monarch. Although, yes, I found her amusing to spend time with on a daily basis as well.
It helps that she’s clever. I don’t mind doing a few small acts if the payout is an interesting life.
There was a faint part of my mind that understood that despite the fact Leila liked to burrow like a fox, the night had been one of the most peaceful few hours I’d experienced in a long time.
But as I’d always known, those kinds of thoughts were dangerous. It was an easy thing to identify them as such and silence them, but the process was greatly aided by a giant wolf head.
One of the shades—Kevin, I think—rested his head on the mattress and soulfully watched me.
The shade wagged his tail like a dog, even though he was roughly the size of a small pony and looked capable of biting a man in half.
He whined in the back of his throat and licked his chops.
I shook my head.
Kevin set a paw on the bed and whined again.
“You wake her up, then,” I said.
Kevin slid his paw off the mattress and sighed.
Why am I fighting with a dog?
There was a quiet knock—not on my door, but hers.
Must be Indigo or one of her people.
The door creaked when it opened, and the tap of steps crossed her room. The footsteps hurried through her room, then left as abruptly as they came.
It really must be late if someone came to look for her—though she is an early riser.
I wasn’t going to extend myself to notify them of her presence. She’d either wake up, or they’d eventually figure it out. The staff’s stress levels were hardly my concern anyway.
Whispered voices filled the hallway, but they were muffled through the doors, and I couldn’t quite make them out.
The mattress dipped as the gloom, Muffin, jumped on top and sauntered up to Leila and me.
I would have rolled away, except as I started to move, Leila popped an arm out of her cave of blankets. She grabbed on to my shirt, loosely holding it.
Yes. An interesting life.
Muffin—her mouth open and panting—breathed on me with breath that stank of fish. She licked the top of Leila’s head, arousing only the faintest noise from her victim, then turned with the clear intention of giving me the same treatment.
I stared the oversized cat down.
She flicked her tail back and forth then grumbled in her throat as she turned around and hopped off the bed, hitting the floor with a thump.
I shifted, intending to see if I could slide my shirt from Leila’s grasp. As soon as I moved, she tightened her grasp and burrowed deeper so she was almost entirely underneath me.
I was pondering my new position when footsteps pounded up the hallway.
Someone flung my door open—without even knocking.
“We can’t find her!” the faun, Eventide, shrieked.
Indigo elbowed her way past him. “Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Consort Rigel, but the queen is missing!”
“We’ve looked everywhere—someone’s taken her!” Eventide moaned. “She’s not answering her cellphone, and Chase can’t find any trace of her leaving the premises.”
“Maybe she went to visit her parents, we should call them,” Indigo said.
Eventide nodded vigorously as he yanked his cellphone out of his pocket and started tapping away on it. “I’ll send Chase a message suggesting such.”
I stayed in my bed, waiting for one of them to actually look and see the unlikely menagerie that had taken up residence in my room, but neither seemed inclined to do so.
“But her truck is here—as are the night mares—or I’d say maybe she left for a coffee shop.” Indigo tapped her foot on the floor.
“But this is Queen Leila—there is a very distinct possibility she befriended a wild night mare and has gotten a ride from it,” Eventide said.
It is a little maddening that they barge into my room without hesitation considering my reputation. They fear Leila’s absence more than they fear facing me, I reflected.
The second shade joined the far side of my mattress and wagged its tail as it peered at me. It whined, finally getting Indigo’s and Eventide’s attention.
Their eyes, wide with curiosity, flicked from the shades to me.
I sat up—being careful not to crush Leila under me—revealing the queen’s headful of eye-catching black hair.
Indigo sagged with relief. “Thank goodness—she’s here. Tell Chase that she’s here.”
Eventide briefly planted a hand on his chest. “My heart is beating again—it was terrifying to search her empty room, you know.”
Indigo fanned her face with her hand. “I didn’t know what we would have done—but it’s okay. She’s safe.”
The duo glanced back at me, but I was finished with the peep show.
“Out,” I said.
To my pleasure, they both turned pale and fled, leaving so fast they slammed the door behind them.
I haven’t completely lost my touch.
Leila stirred, then popped her face above the blanket line and yawned. “Something wrong?” she sleepily asked.
I watched her for a moment. “No.”
“M’kay.” She pulled her other arm out of the blankets and stretched. “Good morning.”
I pushed off the bed, giving her more space to stretch. “Good morning. Feeling better?”
“Yeah. I’m still disappointed, but I can’t really sit around and mope forever, or things will just get worse.” She rubbed her eyes then blearily opened them as she smiled up at me.
I was unwilling to move away from my bed—it was oddly peaceful to look at her like this. “Focus on the next thing,” I advised.
“Is that how you got through all of the trouble in the Night Court—with the previous rulers and everything?”
I nodded.
“Hmm. It’s good advice. But my brain is a little too addled to remember what’s next.” She sat up in bed and frowned, her forehead wrinkling deeply. “Wasn’t I supposed to sleep on the other side of the bed?”
“You were,” I acknowledged. “Once you were asleep you didn’t seem to care much for the rules—such a surprise considering your obedient day time persona.”
That got a grin from her.
“And the next thing you should probably most focus on,” I continued, “is the annual hunt.”
“Ugh, that thing. It’s in about a week, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful. Are you going to come for that?” Her hair was silky and soft, but all the blankets had mussed it a bit. She was trying to push it back behind her shoulders, but it still spilled around her.
I had the strange desire to reach out and brush at some of the lines her mashed pillow had left creased on her cheek, but I strangled it. “Yes, I’ll come,” I said.
There was no way I
was going to miss the hunt.
Not because I cared about the results—no. But because I was interested in seeing just how my mischievous queen would next bait the other monarchs.
Chapter Fifteen
Leila
Although the annual hunt had all the trappings of a fun and beautiful event, I was pretty sour as I adjusted my riding glove and picked up my helmet.
Indigo took one look at my face. “Don’t you look just jubilant. Am I to interpret by your puckered face that you disapprove of hunting?”
“No, not really,” I said. “My dad hunts every year, and every Wisconsin kid knows deer will have huge over-population problems without hunting. But that kind of hunting and this sort of hunt are two totally different things.”
“Then it’s the chase you are dissatisfied with?” Skye asked.
Since the hunt was just for royals, both she and Indigo were dressed seasonably for this mid-October weather with bright blue sweaters. Skye was wearing a gray-colored knit cap, while Indigo had chosen a complimentary shade of purple.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I can’t say I’m super excited about the idea of running after a poor creature until it drops from exhaustion.”
“It is a common-held feeling about fox hunts here in the USA,” Skye acknowledged. “Most fox hunts here are called fox chases because the actual purpose of the hunt is typically to chase the fox until it returns to its burrow. Unfortunately, the annual hunt is more in the ancient tradition, which is why it ends when the prey is slain.”
I let my helmet dangle from my fingertips as I tried not to openly shiver. And yet again I really, really believe these monarchs need better hobbies. Or they should just be working. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how they have all this free time! I mean, what the heck?!
“You can release it, though,” Indigo piped in. “Queen Verdant of the Spring Court wins most years, and she always releases the prey.”
I brightened. “Really?
“Yep.” Indigo nodded and impatiently pushed her curtain of red hair over her shoulders.
I relaxed. “That’s fantastic. Good for Queen Verdant. I never would have guessed she had a kind bone in her body, but that just goes to show me!”
Indigo and Skye exchanged glances.
“Well…” Skye slowly started.
Before she could continue a few dryads emerged from the trees, bearing gleaming trumpets.
“Anyone want to take bets that King Fell arrived?” I asked.
The dryads blew the trumpets, and yep, King Fell came striding through the trees.
He was extra festive today, with some kind of bronze paint or makeup artfully swirled around his eyes and his temples. He was more armored-up today, too, since he was wearing a fancy bronze chestplate, copper colored pauldrons covering his shoulders, and leather bracers that covered his forearms.
The King of Summer, Birch, with quiet Consort Flora, were just behind him. The Summer duo were dressed in long sleeved tunics that were a bright blue in color, though it had fancy golden leaf embroidery, and they also wore leather doublets over their tunics.
Huh. I wonder if hunting “accidents” are common based on the way everyone is dressed?
I was really starting to regret my choice of a breathable long-sleeved shirt—and before my fashion choices get questioned let me stress just how much work it actually is to ride. The chances that I was going to be a sweaty mess once this was all over were really high.
I glanced at Queen Rime—she and her underlings had already set up shop in the nature preserve we were holding the hunt in by the time I had arrived. At the moment, she was lounging on a pile of white furs under a gauzy white tent her people had built for her. She was wearing a gorgeous blue and gray dress that seemed like it was going to be a pain to ride in, and I didn’t see her mounts anywhere near her tent.
The Day King’s people had built a tent for him nearby, as well. His was bright and golden and was much bigger—it probably had to be, because King Solis stood under its awnings not by himself, but with five sun stallions that all nickered and perked their ears as they pressed into their clearly adored ruler.
For the record, King Solis was also wearing a sort of minimalist kind of armor—a gold chestplate and metal wrist bracers.
“I find it interesting that everyone is apparently concerned about protecting vital organs, but it seems like—once again—I’m going to be the only person smart enough to wear a helmet,” I said.
Indigo shushed me.
“The day of the hunt has arrived—and such a perfect day for a hunt it is!” King Fell laughed as his trumpeters retreated and some more of his servants scrambled forward, hurriedly erecting a tent just behind him.
Other summer servants were similarly building one for Birch and Flora.
Skye had mentioned something about tents, but I thought even the fae couldn’t possibly want to act that asinine and lounge around like French nobles just before the revolution. It seems I overestimated them.
“Good day to you, Queen Rime,” King Birch said. Behind him, Flora curtsied.
Queen Rime flicked her eyes up from the book she was reading. “Good day.”
King Birch scoffed at me and turned his back to me, so I was surprised when Consort Flora gave me a small curtsy.
“Good day, Queen Leila,” she said in a soft but pleasant voice.
King Birch whipped around to stare at her.
I was half prepared to throw my helmet at him if he yelled at her or something, but all he did was stare at her. I smiled. “Good day, Consort Flora. Are you joining the hunt today?”
Consort Flora shook her head. “My presence is not required.”
“Huh.” I rested my hand on my hip and glanced at Skye. “Did we tell Rigel that? I just assumed he had to come.”
“Consort Rigel is aware,” Skye said. “He opted himself to ride with you.”
Very briefly, King Birch’s ruddy complexion turned pale.
Ah, I thought with satisfaction. Maybe I don’t have to worry about wearing armor. Having Rigel riding around me should be a good deterrent!
“Ahh yes, where is Consort Rigel?” King Fell asked with a bit of a sneer as he finally deigned to look in my direction.
“Here,” Rigel said, stepping out of the shadows behind Fell with my seven shades—Kevin, Steve, Bob, Larry, Barbra, Mary, and Tom—whom he’d taken off for a quick bathroom break since they seemed to make Queen Rime’s servants upset.
Fell managed to keep his expression calm, but he revealed his touch of fear based on how fast he swung around to face Rigel.
Surrounded by flickering shades and wearing his assassin coat, Rigel looked exceedingly deadly today.
Larry and Bob peeled their lips back, baring their stained teeth at Fell and Birch as they obediently followed after Rigel, who slipped between the two rulers on his way back to me.
“You’re going to use those monsters in the hunt?” King Birch sputtered.
I frowned. “Yeah. They’re dogs.”
“You won’t be able to control them!”
“Sure I can. We’ve been working on obedience ever since they came to live in the mansion. Watch.” I snapped my fingers, and my shades all looked to me. “Sit.”
Obediently, they sat.
A few of the over exuberant shades—Tom and Barbra specifically—couldn’t help but enthusiastically wag their tails as they watched me.
“Down,” I said.
The shades dropped to their bellies.
“You’re so good! Who are good puppies—you are!” I went down the line, petting each shade so none of them would feel left out.
King Fell watched in disgust. “Wild creatures such as shades cannot be trained. They are almost certainly biding their time so they can turn on you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re just jealous.”
“You cannot possibly think you can control them when they scent the prey,” King Fell said.
I sighed deep in my throat, which made
my shades all peer at King Fell. Their eyes were slightly narrowed and their ears were flicked to the side in what I thought of as their “judgy” pose, because they were usually hardcore judging whoever they were looking at. But when I thought about it, they probably looked pretty scary to those who didn’t know them, because Consort Flora backed up and hid behind King Birch.
“If you insist on using them, I will not be held culpable if one gets injured because it goes mad in the hunt,” King Birch said.
“What creatures are you using that are oh-so-superior, then?” I asked.
“We honor the ancient tradition of the hunt and use hounds,” King Fell said.
“This hunt is not an ancient tradition.” Queen Rime turned a page in her book. “You were the one who founded it.”
“Yes, because we’re following the traditions of our ancestors, who were known for their hunts,” King Fell snarled.
“Ooh, someone’s defensive,” I told Mary as I scratched her throat for her.
King Solis finally left the adoration of his horses and joined us in the meadow. “Well met, King Fell, King Birch, and Consort Flora.”
The usual round of unnecessarily wordy greetings were exchanged between the Day King and the other monarchs.
“Hey, Solis, what animals are you using in the hunt?” I asked when it was all over.
“Hounds,” Solis supplied. “And my sun stallions, of course. Most of us will ride sun stallions—they’re best suited for this sort of thing.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
King Birch sputtered. “You dare refer to King Solis without his title?”
“Because he’s my friend, yeah,” I said.
King Fell narrowed his eyes. “Do not ever endeavor to refer to me without the respect of my title.”
“No problems there,” I assured him. “I would never mistake you for a friend.”
King Solis made a hacking sound that seemed suspiciously musical like his laugh. “Queen Verdant hasn’t arrived, yet, has she?”
“She’ll be here,” King Fell declared. “The hunt cannot proceed without her.”
