Auwei swept through me, taking control. The next moment, I was walking forward in a sexy swagger. The eyes of the three guards were all on me. I wasn’t even dressed in anything particularly provocative, but that was the trick to Auwei’s walk. I’d never quite learned to move like this. I’d always been a bit of a rough-and-tumble girl, not the flirty type, but Auwei had been all sorts of people and this walk, though it felt extremely odd, was doing the trick. The guards seemed mesmerized by my swaying hips and long legs and shifting shoulders.
Trust me it’s not your shoulders they’re looking at.
I reached the first guard, pressed myself against him, wrapped my arms around his neck and laid a kiss upon his lips. I could tell he enjoyed it. I felt his body respond his mouth open… then… he went stiff.
Oh, right!
I moved away from him and was kissing the second guard, not even paying any attention to the first. Apparently, Midnight caught him, lowering him gently to the ground. The third guard had the benefit of seeing the other two go stiff and fall. He backed a step away from me before I reached him. Still, somehow, he melted at my kiss, responding before going stiff himself.
I stepped back, catching the last guard as he fell.
Too easy, especially with your body. Auwei was purring with glee.
Thanks?
It’s the legs, they make all the difference in that walk.
Oh…
She giggled as she receded from controlling me.
“And what did that get us?” Ahmaia asked coming over to us.
Yes, what did that gain us?I asked Auwei
Then I repeated her answer verbatim to Ahmaia. “Now those guards are going to be seen up here, guarding things and no one should bother us. Just lean the men up against the side walls so others can see them, and from below, they may seem a bit stiff, but hopefully no one will notice.”
Ahmaia cocked her head to one side. “That might work. How long will they remain like this?”
“About an hour.”
“Will that be enough time?”
It was just past dawn and the queen’s speech was to be mid-morning. “No, I’ll have to kiss them again from time to time to keep it up.”
“You have a… stunning kiss?”
I laughed. “Yeah… some time remind me to tell you how Alvere and I met.”
She raised a brow at that. “I have time now, it seems.”
Why, so we did. I told her. The shocked-strangled sound she made when I told the story of kissing and abducting Alvere was one of the oddest sounds I’d ever heard.
The sun rose, crowds gathered, the square below filled, and others could be seen on rooftops. We had to keep low, as there was a contingent of guards on the roof on the other side of the alley. They called over to our guards every now and then and Fin and Eorthan did a decent job of mimicking the guard’s voices to call back. Luckily no one else came up to the roof to check on these three.
Then it was time.
We spotted the queen and her escorts moving down the cleared path, which had been made for the parade toward the platform. The queen’s white-blond hair was easy to spot, flowing free, waving slightly behind her as she walked. With her was her second, Lady Merlin, a small woman with an intensity of nervous energy. But my eyes were drawn to the massive form of Lord Hale, even larger than Ant. And seeing him I suddenly seethed with rage, remembering what he’d done to me, but more importantly, what he’d done to Dove.
“I’m going to kill you,” I whispered.
Ahmaia looked at me askance. “The queen?” she whispered.
“No, the large man behind her. He… hurt my sister and tried to have me killed. He’s marked.”
“Ah… it seems you’ve marked many people.”
No, only him and Lady Claw, who I’d already dealt with.
