Warrior Queen (Skeleton Key)

by Shona Husk

  His eyes were narrowed as he took in the army at her walls. Was he wondering when he could use the key to get home? She wished he did have a magic that would give her allies.

  “You have burned other cities on your way here, but you will find this one does not break so easily. Enjoy your new life, Nadri.” Keleti stepped back. She had nothing more to say, only a war to win.

  “Who stands with you?” Nadri stepped closer.

  Keleti looked at her cousin. She didn’t owe her a reply.

  Bryce leaned on the wall and stared down. Then he smiled. “The Ambassador from Australia. A place so far away, I had to use a most powerful magic to get here.”

  The soldier pulled Nadri back, and there was some conversation. Nadri touched her ear. Keleti had seen the gold in Nadri’s eyes as she’d used her magic to get a good look at Bryce. If the city fell, they would want him and his magic. Keleti couldn’t allow that to happen either.

  The soldier looked decidedly annoyed. His forehead furrowed and he squinted up. He wouldn’t be able to make out the details, though. “You will regret choosing Australia over Vertaland.”

  “I doubt it,” Keleti muttered.

  “I will be Queen.” Nadri called over her shoulder as the small group rejoined the army.

  In a voice that she knew was too soft for Nadri to hear, Keleti responded. “No one will ever bow to you. If this city falls, another Heavenly will be queen before you. They will all know what you have done. I will spread the word.” Keleti tuned away. Her cousin didn’t need to hear the words. She would already know her fate should this fail.

  Bryce lingered for a moment as if transfixed, then followed.

  Seven

  Every time Bryce blinked he saw the sun glinting on the shields. There had to be over a thousand of them lined up like ants waiting to attack. This was no snatch and grab, this was a planned battle. He’d see documentaries on the Vikings and Romans. He knew a bit about historical battles—as well as the kind that happened in games. Somehow he doubted that his skills as a warrior online were going to help him swing a real sword.

  He glanced back and a sick sensation swelled in his stomach.

  He’d done crowd control, but here he had no gun and no body armor and no backup. He had nothing. And he was wearing a fucking skirt.

  There was certainly no great magic.

  He caught up to Keleti, he still didn’t know how he should be addressing her so he went with the honorific. “Heavenly, your cousin can shapeshift?”

  “Yes.” She kept striding along, her skirt whipping around her legs. Unlike most people’s, hers reached the ground.

  He knew that Keleti had the power to lift a man off the ground as a hawk. That meant her cousin would be able to do the same. The invaders could fly soldiers over the wall. “So how many men could you carry over the wall before you got tired?”

  She stopped. “The archers have orders to shoot anyone coming over the walls.”

  “Even your cousin?”

  She was silent.

  He pressed on. “Will they shoot the hawk?”

  “They will not shoot a Heavenly. That would anger the gods.” Keleti’s face was grim.

  “Then your enemy knows your weakness.” Bryce had no doubt that her cousin had already shared that piece of intelligence.

  “I know. Speak when you have something useful to tell me.”

  “I’m still getting a grip on what is happening. There is an army at your gate. This is like a Medieval battle. In my world, we don’t do this.” Not like this anyway. Not anymore.

  In the cool shadows of the corridor, she stopped and turned. Servants were lighting lamps and closing some of the ornate shutters. Keliti’s face was hard as the polished wood. A mask of perfection with golden eyes. She was using her magic to do something, he didn’t know what.

  He felt like he should look away or blink or something, but he couldn’t.

  “And how do you fight in Australia?” There was a different tone in her voice. One he’d heard before when she’d questioned him.

  “With guns and bombs and planes.” The words tumbled out and he couldn’t stop them. She was making him tell the truth with her magic.

  “What are they?” she snapped.

  “Guns fire projectiles rapidly, faster than a bow. Planes fly over the enemy and drop bombs…” he looked at her. They drop bombs.”

  “The bomb kills? What does it do?”

  “Yeah, it kills.” He hesitated, aware of the words but unable to stay silent. “Have you invented gunpowder…black powder?” She was looking blank. That didn’t mean that they couldn’t make something. “We fill a pot with something that will make it explode, and it needs shrapnel, nails, bits of metal.”

  The gold faded from her eyes, and they went back to unreadable brown.

  He was able to blink and look away. He knew what he’d said and wished he’d been able to bite his tongue. Introducing new weapons was wrong, wasn’t it? “What did you do to me?”

  “Made sure that you were telling the truth. Your idea is interesting. Cowardly, but interesting.”

  “Modern warfare means you don’t have to look the enemy in the eye and get covered in their blood.”

  “And you have done this fighting?”

  “No. I was a cop, but I’ve seen homemade bombs. Arrested plenty of people. However, the only battles I’ve ever fought in were in computer games.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. He had no idea how to explain that.

  “We have mock battles too. Perhaps you should train with our warriors.”

  He groaned. “My battles weren’t mock, they were pretend…we have technology…” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. They might be able to communicate—he was putting that down to magic—but he still couldn’t explain vast chunks of his life to her.

  “I will take your bomb idea to the war council.”

  “Will I get time off for good behavior?” He forced a smile. Was giving them weapons going to help him get home? Was he interfering and somehow damaging this world? He didn’t know. But he hoped that if he helped, it would make her hand over the key sooner. His fate and future was tied to hers, so he was going to do whatever it took to make sure she survived.

  Her eyebrows drew together. “I will know when the time is right for you to go.”

  “Ah, right. The gods.” He tried not to sound like a skeptic and failed.

  “You do not believe.”

  “No.” He wouldn’t lie to her. Not when she could tell when he was lying…unless that was a trick.

  Keleti touched his cheek. “What kind of a man doesn’t believe in gods after stepping through a door and into another world?”

  He had no answer. He’d never believed in any god. As she looked at him, the lamps flickering and making shadows jump, he thought that she might be able to make him believe in magic.

  It was late by the time she’d finished meeting with her advisors about the coming siege. They had discussed Bryce’s bombs, and while the idea sounded good, there was a risk that no one was prepared to take: she’d be the one flying the bombs out.

  There hadn’t been a major war in several generations. The cities had unified into clusters when there was no new Heavenly to take over ruling a city. It was seen as bad luck and a lack of favor from the gods, but after a private chat with the priest who had spent the day with Bryce, she knew there was more to it. It would be beneficial if every city had a Heavenly.

  Flight was a gift.

  But did she dare spread the idea, or would people think she was interfering in the business of the gods? She didn’t know. And for the moment, it wasn’t something that she could think about.

  Bryce had brought new ideas.

  Too many at once would be a bad thing. She made her way through the palace, the insects chirping away, her servant following softly behind in case she needed something. Two guards a little further behind in case she was attacked. Somehow Keleti had ended up at Nadri’s room. For a moment she sto
od there and stared at the door. Then she threw it open.

  The room was as it had always been. Everything as if her cousin planned on coming back. Keleti drew in a breath. Never. “I want this room cleaned out. Give away the clothes and jewels. I want no trace of her left.”

  “Yes, Heavenly.” Her servant inclined her head. By this time tomorrow there would be no sign of the traitor.

  The anger simmered in her veins. What tricks would Nadri use to ensure her success?

  She knew that Bryce was right. Not shooting a Heavenly was a weakness. One that she was sure her enemy didn’t share.

  Nadri knew everything about her and the city down to the last grain store. The only thing she had that Nadri wasn’t expecting was Bryce.

  She could wait for the reinforcements from the other cities. Or look strong by implementing new techniques and winning on their own.

  At the end of the night, the decision was hers and hers alone. Her advisors and priests could speak their minds, and yet all their words were like sand that she could brush aside.

  She left the door open. The room was no longer Nadri’s. While she didn’t know if he’d be up, she wanted someone to talk to who wasn’t expecting her to have all the answers.

  No, he just wanted her to hand over the key so he could get home. As long as she had that key, he was on her side. That didn’t make him a trustworthy ally.

  She should go to the temple.

  But her heart was empty and she couldn’t place the city in the hands of the gods. They had placed it in her hands when she’d accepted the gift of flight, and it was her responsibility.

  She remembered the old tales where the Heavenlies from each tribe would take flight to defend whoever was threatened. And they had also fought against each other. Perhaps peace couldn’t last, and war was inevitable because people were never happy with what they had.

  There was a man guarding Bryce’s door as she’d ordered. He nodded at her then knocked on the door for her.

  “Come in,” Bryce called.

  The guard opened the door and she went in. He had the lamps lit and sat on the bed, looking at something in his hand. He’d been holding it this morning too. It was obviously precious to him, and while she’d picked it up and looked at it, the black rectangle didn’t seem to do anything. Nor did it look like anything precious.

  He glanced up. “Did you want to see some of my world before the battery dies?”

  “Yes. What is a battery?” She sat next to him.

  He swiped his finger over one face of the thin rectangle and a picture came up. “This was at the end of a training exercise.” The picture changed with every swipe of his finger. “My house. Some new games I bought. Sunrise after being up all night.” He sighed. “A battery is stored energy. Here I have no way of charging my phone here. Oh, that’s my brother before he moved to Germany with his wife.” He smiled. “I may never see any of these people again.”

  She didn’t know what to say. He was mourning a loss. She was trying not to mourn Nadri’s betrayal. “I didn’t bring you here.”

  “I know.” He pressed a button and the screen went blank. “I might get a few more days out of it if I leave it off. Ration how often I look at them.”

  “They will miss you.”

  “Yes. They will be wondering where I am. How many missing persons picked up a key and vanished to another world? All those police resources spent looking, when there will never be anything to find, and no logical explanation. Even though I am here, I still don’t believe it.”

  “I see the things you have.” She pointed to what he’d called a phone. “And I know you aren’t from here, even though I cannot imagine such a place existing. I saw the pictures of your people and all those rat ears and I know you aren’t one of us, but you aren’t that different either.”

  He pressed his lips together. “Maybe people have crossed between our worlds before. We have stories about elves with magic. They have pointed ears like you.”

  “Do the elves ever get home?”

  “I don’t know. The stories are so old. They are fairy tales, stories for children that no one actually believes. Maybe there is some truth in them and there are magic doorways and other worlds…obviously there are other worlds because here I am.” He looked at her, not with the sliding glance he’d first had, but one that lingered. “You were less surprised than I was.”

  “I thought you were a spy.”

  “You still don’t trust me.”

  “No. Would you?”

  “No.”

  They sat in silence for a while. He was still holding his phone, staring at the now blank face. He was obviously thinking about home.

  “What if the key never works again and you must remain?” It was something that she had considered. What if it was a single journey? She couldn’t turn him out, that would be unfair—plus he had knowledge and ideas that she could never have imagined.

  He closed his eyes. “I’m trying to not think about that.”

  “You couldn’t be happy here?”

  “I don’t know. This isn’t my home. I don’t know your customs…I don’t belong here. I will always be Rat-ears.”

  “Even rats have a place. They are opportunists and scavengers.” Rats didn’t curl up and die. She didn’t think that Bryce would either.

  “So, what now? What other meaningless jobs do you have for me to keep me out of the way? You call me Ambassador, but put a guard at my door. My room is in a tower with no escape. I gave my word that I would help.”

  “Because you want the key.”

  He nodded. “Is that not a good enough reason?”

  “If Nadri stole the key, would you then help her?” Keleti held his gaze. His eyes were dark in the lamp light. With the magic in her blood she would be able to feel the truth in his words. It was the same gift that had revealed the invaders’ true intentions.

  “No…while I don’t know the full history, stealing someone else’s city doesn’t seem right.”

  “But that could be your only chance to get home.”

  “I can see the gold in your eyes and I know what you are doing. What do you want from me? I am here. I am doing what I can. Which isn’t much.”

  “It might be enough. At the moment you are the only thing that Nadri doesn’t know about the city. You are the only surprise we have. Your room is secure.” She pointed to the metal lattice on the window. “Because I don’t want her to steal you away.”

  He glanced at the window. “I hadn’t thought about that. You could’ve stuck me back in the cave or kept me hidden.”

  “I wanted to see how you and they reacted when you saw each other.”

  His lips curved. “I passed that test then?”

  “I am here.”

  “I am sure that if anything happens to you, the key will be destroyed, so it is in my best interest to make sure you survive.”

  She stood. “Yes, perhaps that is it.”

  His head snapped up so he could look at her. “I have to think about getting home, and you have a war to win. We cannot think of anything else.”

  “You allow yourself no fun? Is life always one quest followed by another?”

  “Yes.” He paused. “It’s about reaching certain goals.”

  “And then what?”

  “Making new goals.”

  She lifted her eyebrow.

  And he shook his head. “Very clever. You are right. I had quit my job because I was chasing the goals and not enjoying the process.” He sighed. “I should be making the most of my time here. How often do humans get to travel to other worlds?”

  Keleti didn’t say anything. That wasn’t a question for her to answer.

  “Did you want to watch the first attack with me? Or you could go back to staring at your phone.” She took a step back. She was inviting him deeper into her life and city, but if he was going to leave, she didn’t want to waste his knowledge, or him. He wasn’t like any other man. They might look her in the eye, but there was still a re
verence, as though she was an actual god not just descended from one.

  Bryce may not always look her in the eye, but there was a defiance there, as though he didn’t trust her either and was on guard. She liked the clash and the tension. It was exciting. She hadn’t felt this kind of thrill in a long time.

  “What attack?”

  She held out her hand. “Come and find out.”

  Eight

  It had to be close to midnight, not that he had a sure way of knowing, but it felt late. The moon was high and full and rather more violet than he was used to. The stars were in patterns that he didn’t know, and the city was quiet.

  The castle walls were not.

  Shadows moved along the walkway, the archers silent as they kept to the dark. They communicated with hand signals that rippled down the line. He stood with Keleti in one of the ornate corridors. There were no lit lamps here, it was dark or darker.

  “They are waiting for the archers on the outside to be ready.” Her voice was soft as she explained the plan.

  “You have people on the outside?” They’d get slaughtered, and yet he still admired her tactics. Was it any different to having heavily armed cops circle a building ready to rush in? Probably not.

  Keleti nodded. “They have been out there for several days, waiting.”

  “What is the signal?”

  She put her finger to her lip and for a moment he couldn’t look away. She’d come to his room and sat with him and had made what he thought was a suggestion or invitation. He didn’t want to make the wrong assumption and end up over the edge off the cliff. But it wasn’t the first time she had made a comment or given him a look that he thought could be attraction. He tore his gaze away from her lips. He didn’t see any change, but the archers had stopped their silent chatter.

  Even the insects had gone quiet. The night was waiting. From somewhere beyond the walls, a flaming arrow arced out of the darkness. It struck a tent which caught alight. That was obviously the signal.