Her fist bludgeons the third one’s nose. As he stumbles back, she drops low, then sweeps her leg into his. He topples to the ground, hitting his back. She continues her swing and lunges up to punch Face-kicking Cherub in the chin. With her knocked out, she focuses back on the girl she kicked in the knee. Her fists fly.The girl falls to the ground on her face, and Frances kicks her over onto her back. Looking at me, she waves.
Gallagher whistles once Stevie also gets her opponent on her back. Running at each other, the two girls embrace with a squeal before heading towards Nolan and me.
“You’re so old and useless,” Stevie chuckles as she slings a little fist into my hip. The blood on her knuckles is a tad discerning, but her smile chases my worry for her away.
“And you’re so small and vicious,” I say, rubbing her hair.
She grins under the praise, puffing out her chest.
Gallagher calls two more teams to fight, and as they deck it out, I turn to Stevie to ask her who’s who.
We’re Squadron Griffin – second only to Raven. As the evening wears on, the children around me talk about each person as they take to the circle, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. The Phoenix who kicked me in the face, sidles up to me.
“You’re really slow,” she says. “I kicked you twice and you just stood there. You should get more fast.”
Scoffing, I shake my head. “No, you’re just devilishly fast already.”
She stares up at me, then a slow smile fills her face as she giggles.
When the final whistle blows, I look over at the castle.
My king is somewhere in there, and it hurts being away from him. But as the vicious cherubs usher me into one of the barracks and Fabia comes over to slap me on the back, I know that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
At least until I get stronger.
Too strong for him to say I don’t belong here.
Because Raza, damn him,ismy home.
Even without a crown, I am her queen.
Forty-Five
A queen does not let her personal issues get in the way of ruling the kingdom.
Nicholas can fucking handle it.
- King Richard
A whole day has passed, and I still haven’t found her. A stack of urgent papers lie on my desk, a handspan thick, but I don’t look at a single one of them. Instead, I’m studying a map of the city, trying to figure out where she’s hiding.
“Daily report on Arienna,” Jace says as he walks into my office and makes himself at home in the chair across from me. I glance up at him, my body tight despite his smile. “She is alive.”
“And?” I demand.
“Well.”
I clench my jaw, pissed at how little he’s giving me. “Is she eating?”
“Yes.”
“Is she… happy?” I bite out.
“No.”
Thank gods.I don’t care if that makes me an ass. It’s not going to be long before she comes to her fucking senses and realises she can do a lot better than me.
“Are you going to tell me where she is?”
