Page 107 of Fae Farewells

Ruby hurried the guards along. “Go, go. We can’t wait much longer. It’s time to move.”

“We’ll meet you there,” Stone told her as he bumped my shoulder.

I wrapped my hand around Palmer’s arm, pulling him onto my back as I sped after the demon. We might need his offensive magic if we ran into the army before we had backup, or that was my thinking.

“A warning,” the mage growled when I stopped behind Stone.

Lashul, the sage green woman we met with Sarge, stood in the center of the corridor, her hip cocked like she’d been waiting for us.

“Vaughn and Sloane are in the throne room,” she stated. “You’ll fight here, but you’ll go to them, Vampire. When you do, watch for the black blood. Move the prince.”

“When do I go?” I inquired.

“You’ll know when to go.”

And then she disappeared, leaving the scent of sweet and tangy flowers in her wake.

“Does she smell like the blooms on a grapefruit tree to you?” I asked Palmer and Stone, baffled by the woman.

“I don’t know what they smell like,” Palmer commented, equally confused as I was.

“Either Freya’s group is making a ton of noise, or we’re about to meet the summer soldiers,” Stone murmured as the palace doors blew open.

An older man climbed through the rumble, then two men came behind him, then two more, and two more... Until a tiny army stood opposite us. The throne room was closer to them, but they wouldn’t make it before me.

Freya stepped up beside us, dipping her head in their direction.

“The man in front is Bowers. He’ll be the strongest,” she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

I nodded, searching for thoughts, as Ruby moved to stand before our group.

“Leave,” she commanded.

“We can’t do that, Princess,” the older man, Bowers, said. “Our Queen has called—”

“She isn’t your queen,” Freya interrupted. “We’ll give you the same ultimatum we gave the winter guards. Where does your allegiance lie? You are either soldiers of summer or you stand with Alania.”

Curiously enough, several of those men already knew Alania sat on the throne. Some were perplexed. The accusation outraged others. There was also a little disbelief sprinkled into the mix.

“Choose wisely,” Ruby implored them. “But choose now. Return to your kingdom, your families, or die here in this abomination of a palace.”

Four.

Four men turned to leave.

Bowers tried to stop them. “Your queen will see you sentenced for running.”

“If this is true,” one man responded, waving his hand toward us. “Then I never pledged loyalty to Princess Alania. I thought I was serving Queen Vex.”

“You will die when she finds you.”

“Then I die with my loyalty intact.”

Freya shook her head. “Alania will be dead before you make it back to the summer kingdom. With the rising sun, a new ruler will stand.”

No more soldiers walked away.

Their thoughts solidified around lies and betrayals, duty versus morals. I tuned them out, but picked up the slightest hint of claws on the stone outside.