Page 47 of Highland Lords of War & Thunder: The Prequel

“We could simply tell the guard we're here to see her,” Torden said, moving impatiently from foot to foot.

“And miss all this?” Creagan asked with a teasing grin.

Legion stood on Creagan's other side, arms folded across his chest as he watched two farmers arguing before the queen. “He has a point.”

Torden glared at him.

Legion shrugged. “It's entertaining.”

The three of them stood among those waiting along one side of the Great Hall, attracting an occasional curious glance but little more. That suited Creagan. He'd already learned a great deal simply by listening to the people around him while they waited.

He'd also had ample opportunity to study the woman they'd come to see… Queen Eudora.

She sat straight and tall in the carved chair upon the raised dais, her dark hair intricately braided and secured at the back of her head, the front drawn smoothly away from her face. The severe arrangement left nothing to soften the regal features or the unusual violet eyes presently fixed on the two men standing before her.

Creagan had seen beautiful women before, but the queen was something altogether different.

Her purple gown was elegant without being overly adorned, and everything from the tilt of her chin to the way she held herself seemed intended to remind anyone approaching that this was her hall, her kingdom, and her word that mattered.

She probably intimidated most men, but he wasn’t most men. He found himself wondering how long her dark hair was when she let those braids loose and if anything else loosened within her when she did.

“Your sheep were in his field, Griffin?” Eudora said.

“They wandered there, Your Majesty,” he insisted.

Her brow went up. “For the third time?”

Griffin had a quick excuse. “They favor Milo’s grass.”

Milo snorted. “Your sheep don't know one patch of grass from another.”

“Then they're smarter than you,” Griffin shot back.

Laughter broke out among those waiting.

Creagan chuckled as well.

Torden glanced at him. “You really are enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

“Enough!” The queen’s sharp voice silenced the laughter.

Both farmers immediately turned their attention to her.

Creagan's amusement faded slightly.

“You will repair the fence between your properties,” Eudora ordered.

“My fence is sound,” Griffin protested.

Eudora's violet eyes settled on him. “Then your sheep have learned to fly.”

Creagan laughed again, earning a look from Torden and, this time, one from the queen, though only briefly. But enough time for her to catch his smile.

Her eyes moved on as if dismissing him.

“Together,” Eudora continued, looking between the two farmers. “You will repair the fence together.”