AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Chimera!” I cried.
“Hold on tight, your majesty.”
Dirt blasted up in puffs when the bolts struck. The Chimera swerved, dodging the onslaught. I clung even tighter to the bleating goat head, not daring to breathe. A whoosh sounded in my ear as a bolt breezed past, narrowly missing the Chimera’s serpentine tail.
“Cease fire!” the lion roared, coming to a halt just outside the gate. “You dare shoot at the Chimera?”
“You were racing toward the city like the demon’s own wrath is driving you. Did you expect us to stand here and let you attack?” a voice shouted from over the wall.
“Behold who we bear,” snapped the snake tail. “It isss Queen Morrigan, hersself. Lower your weapons.”
I was glad the guards on the wall didn’t have faerie guardians, since mine was still out of commission.
A faerie man standing at the gate stepped forward. “I am Liam of the Royal Guard.” He bowed. “The queen is at the castle. I have no idea who this imposter is—”
“The Chimera is not as easily fooled as you, faerie.” A growl issued up from the lion, claws extending. “The imposter currently resides in your castle. This is the true queen.”
I slid off the Chimera, dropping to the ground. “I am Queen Morrigan. My sister, Badb, pretends to be me so that she can make Dagda fall and take over.”
“Get the captain,” Liam called up to the man on the wall.
The doors to the city opened and out walked a woman dressed to the hilt in faerie armor.
I gasped. “Raedia?”
The young woman looked almost exactly how I last saw her when she fought alongside us at the Battle of the Fomori with her gray eyes and long braid that whipped behind her when she ran.
Raedia’s eyes narrowed at me. “You look like the queen, but so does the one up at the castle. How do I know you’re who you claim?”
“You want to play this game?” I snapped, annoyed. “I’m a damn faerie. I can’t lie. It's amazing how often you guys forget your own silly rules.”
Raedia’s mouth twitched. She turned to the guard. “Let her through. She is who she says.”
The doors opened, and I hurried to catch up with Raedia’s fast strides. “Seriously? That’s all it took?”
Her head dipped in a nod. “It would take a master actor to mimic that attitude you cop when you are annoyed.” She gave me a contemplative glance. “And if you are a master actor, then it’s above my pay grade. Besides, it’s been…oddhow locked down everything has been since the queen returned from that bog.”
She stopped and faced me. We’d walked a ways from the other soldiers. “Now, what do you need?” she asked.
I heard the gates bang into place behind me. I hadn’t even thanked the Chimera.
“Badb is on my throne. Dagda is scheduled to fall at sundown. I must stop it.”
She cast her eyes to the orange streaked sky. “You have very little time if you want to save his majesty from his falling ceremony.”
“I know. I need to get in fast.”
Raedia signaled to a soldier. “Prepare a horse and escort right away. You will accompany the queen through the city with haste.”
The guard bowed. “Yes, my lady.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “Badb has switched out the guard around the castle. No doubt with ones she knows will be loyal to her. She’s done it quietly. Dagda probably doesn’t even know. They won’t let you in. They won’t even let me in until the ceremony is over.” Her lips pressed. “Okay, I‘ve got an idea. Go with the guard through the city, but don’t approach the gate. Wait for me there.”
Every faerie who had come over to the human world for a time had a gift. Mine was to see the future. Palon’s was strength. And Raedia…
She turned and then became a blur as she ran off at an impossible speed into the city streets.
