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“I wouldn’t want that.”
“At least you know what you don’t want.” I smile, knowing it removes all her worries. The guilt of seducing her with a smile and a touch, along with letting her kiss me, eats at me on the inside, but I can’t have the Spring queen going into her hostile court looking terrified and uncomfortable. Now she’s content, if apprehensive, her scent no longer laced with fear.
The royal guards from the palace start arriving and lining up behind us.
“I thought you were taking the army,” she says.
“We’re not invading.” Yet. I offer her my elbow, and when she takes it, we turn and approach the unit of sixty-three males. My friends have already left.
“Guards,” I bark, “greet the Spring queen.”
They each drop to one knee and draw their swords, then tap the hilts on their chest armor.
“Thank you.” I walk with the queen up and down the lineup. “Memorize her face. She is the only fae allowed to sit on the Spring throne. Understood?”
“Yes, Commander!” they bark at the same time that the queen says, “Yes, sir.”
I pause. “You shouldn’t answer me.”
She frowns. “I’m supposed to just smile and look pretty?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t. Not at all. Go on, Commander.”
“Thank you.” I clear my throat as the males snicker. Since I require obedience, not dreadful, humorless fae, I chuckle along with them. “We will arrive directly inside the throne room, and we will not speak or regard anyone in there until the queen sits on the throne. Repeat the mission to me.”
“Arrive and ensure the queen sits on the throne.”
“Good. Questions?”
“How do we arrive in the throne room?” a male asks.
“The Spring queen will take us there.”
The queen swallows visibly, but forces a smile and a nod when the males’ eyebrows rise.
“You might’ve witnessed her magic when she came on our shore,” I say. “She opens portals at will and brings troops wherever she pleases. That’s not the issue. Here’s the issue. We have no idea what to expect once boots hit the marble, but whatever comes near her must be deflected, if not destroyed. Preserve lives if possible. Kill if they come within arm’s length of the queen.”
Then I turn to the queen. “You will walk straight to the throne as if you belong there. When you sit down, pull back your shoulders and turn your nose slightly up.”
She nods and looks a little green in the face.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
“Yes. But what if someone steps in front of me and gets in the way?”
“They won’t.”
“How can you be sure?” She bites her lip.
“Because I’ll walk behind you.”
“And when I sit down?”
“I’ll stand beside you.”
Seemingly appeased, she nods.
