“Fuck you–four.” She slashed Merrick a wicked grin before reaching into her pocket of space to pull out a full bottle of red wine.
“You seem more out of breath than you were at the waterfall,” Merrick challenged, crossing a leg over his knee, earning a sarcastic eye roll from the Queen.
“They were all very highly trained fae warriors from Adara’s private circle,” Esmeray admitted, pulling the cork out with her teeth and spitting the stopper onto the table. “It wasn’t a fair fight. They all attacked at the same time. It was good practice though.”
Merrick narrowed his eyes. “If you were fighting Adara’s warriors…I hazard to guess you just strolled into the Opal Kingdom, horns and all, to make a statement?”
“I had to pick up a package from an old acquaintance in Baubble,” Esmeray innocently corrected as she drank deeply from the bottle. With a half swallow, half cough, she passed the bottle toMerrick. “I wasn’tinthe Palace. And I used an illusion of well,youactually, to pick it up. Oh, and do I have news.”
Esmeray filled Merrick in quickly as they passed the bottle back and forth. Adara was indeed up to something sinister for the full moon celebration. The townsfolk were confined to their homes unless they had royal blood. Those who did had been forcibly ushered to the Opal Palace to stay until after the Soul Moon.
Queen Adara dispatched her entire standing army to patrol the closest towns, with a strict lockdown in place. Apparently, Adara was no longer hiding her power, and the beings living in the towns surrounding the Palace were either terrified and trying to escape, or extremely thankful to have such a fearsome and powerful Queen Absolute. There had been no mention of spell work from what Esmeray gleaned–the townsfolk were under the impression Adara feared Esmeray would try to usurp her rule on the night of Carra’s holy celebration. And that the armies and lockdown were to protect the surrounding towns from the murderous Queen of Nothing.
“The ones that are scared–those could be allies.” Merrick pondered the new information, swirling the wine in the half-full bottle. Esmeray hadn’t been keen on sharing the information with only him first, but he threatened to tell Sparrow that Esmeray got blood on the living room rug. So, she begrudgingly relented.
Esmeray rolled her shoulders and rubbed her neck, her black horns glimmering with the light from the stained-glass lamp propped next to her on a thick stack of books. Merrick glanced quickly at her horns again. He had never seen horns like hers before. The curled horns with the deadly points never came up during any of his gargoyle lineage studies, but the beauty and cruelty that they embodied was mesmerizing. The pointed ears in the center of the curl were especially individual. Whilehalf fae, half gargoyle beings were not uncommon, they usually had a much smaller set of horns.
“Potential allies–or they think Adara and I are both evil, cut from the same cloth. And they’re trying to stay out of both our warpaths.”
She had snuck to her room and changed into clothes that were thankfully blood free, but Merrick could tell she was still riding the high of killing Adara’s loyal guards. “How did Adara’s warriors find you?” Merrick asked.
“I had just picked up a package from an old friend, and apparently, the neighbor of the fae male I visited decided to rat me out after he saw me cast an illusion. He found those four dipshits getting drunk at the nearby tavern and thought his loyalty would be rewarded if he told them I was in town.”
“I’m assuming it wasn’t.”
“No,” Esmeray scoffed, “the guards killed him immediately. They feared the consequences of Adara finding out that I slipped into town without her knowledge. Those bumblefucks came to find me… But I found them first. Two of the guards were stronger than I anticipated–fire magic–but they were still no match for me. Got my blood pumping though. I hate being burned. Even with my fast healing abilities, the new skinitches.” Esmeray leaned further into the couch, her black wings draped at her sides like a royal cape.
“You are bat shit crazy.” Merrick shook his head. “What was so important that you decided to wane to the Opal Kingdom?”
Esmeray, grinning like a fiend, reached into her pocket of space. With care, she pulled out a soft drawstring pouch. A small clinking sound made Merrick’s ears perk up as she shook the bag tantalizingly before opening it.
Six thin, gold bands, with six evenly spaced gems fell into her open palm. “I figured we all needed an upgrade,” she announced, plucking one ring up to pass to Merrick. Wide eyed, Merrick twisted the ring around the tip of his finger. The six gems–a black onyx stone, a bright green emerald, a shiny ruby, a gold gem, a grey stone, and a purple amethyst were embedded into the band, each twinkling in their own snug casing.
“These are mind speak rings.” Merrick’s voice filled with wonder, thumbing the band between his fingers. Esmeray gave him a mischievous grin in return.
“I figured this would be easier than us all talking through the same ring. I am so tired of hearing you and Laurent silently bicker through yours. And you both do it so frequently, I think I have a burn mark on my chest from the damn thing heating up every two minutes.” She pulled Keerian’s ring out from the bodice of her white sweater, the ring zipping along the chain. “Each gem is magically linked to one person. So, if you want to talk to Laurent only, touch the amethyst and only he will hear you.”
“Woah.” Merrick whistled low, thoroughly impressed. The rings Laurent, Keerian, and himself had cost each of their yearly salaries. These rings, with the ability to mind speak directly to one being or all of them through a system of jewels… The price would have been astronomical.
“I’m a Queen with no Kingdom, literally a Queen of Nothing. If I can’t spend my money on my friends, what should I spend it on? There’s only so many bottles of wine I can drink.” Esmeray shuffled through the pile of rings in her hand before finding the one that was made for her finger.
Merrick grinned, slipping his old ring off and his new one on. The bright gems sparkled. “Adara isn’t going to know what hit her.”
Esmeray chuckled, the sound both cruel and divine. “That, my friend, is the whole idea.”
Chapter forty-nine
Esmeray
Sparrow,Lenna,andLaurentrejoined us after an hour. Lenna was positively beaming with pride as she confirmed the mind projection worked, and she felt confident enough to do it on a larger scale.
Merrick had forgiven me for slipping off, although I think it had more to do with the fancy new jewelry adorning his finger. I presented Sparrow, Laurent, and Lenna with theirs, the latter titillated that one had been made for her. I watched as she slid it onto her finger, next to a gold wedding band that seemed to draw a scowl to her lips for a beat. For the next hour, we tested out the rings’ capabilities, memorizing what gem got through to whose mind. If I got any solid sleep tonight between my Adara problems and Sparrow’s incessant tapping of my golden gem on her ring, I would fully consider it a miracle.
Now, Laurent stood in the center of the living room, crafting the portal that would take us to the Opal Palace. I had only ever heard rumors of his magic, and was intrigued to see a portal’s creation. The give and take process of the fae feeding out bits of hisacatto weave into the bobbing and twisting smoke was breathtaking.
Sparrow kept one eye on the back of Laurent’s head, while engaging in conversation with Merrick, who stretched out his legs next to her andlazily rested his arm above Sparrow’s shoulders against the back of the couch. I knew my friend well. If she’d convinced them both to come to bed with her, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But the awkwardness Merrick exuded, even though I could tell he was trying to besosmooth, made me believe the offer had been given, but the two males were still thinking it over.
Sparrow didn’t have a mate, but that never stopped her from taking home her fair share of partners–usually rotating between a couple of them at a time. I asked her once why she never chose one sole partner and settled down, and the answer I thought I would get was not the one she supplied.It’s difficult to choose–like there are two parts of me that each needs different things,she’d confessed.
