Page 29 of Queens Will Play

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing, Your Majesty,” she said, gathering up my cloak. As she carried it to the closet, she seemed lost in thought.

“Something is wrong. Tell me, Vine. What’s going on?”

“My sister’s ill. We’re not sure what’s wrong, but it seems bad,” she said, turning to me.

“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you on your way home?” I took the cloak out of her hands. “Go. Tell Eldabé that you’re taking some time. Let me know how things are, but you don’t have to hurry back.”

She stuttered. “But…my job…”

“Will be here when you get back. And you’ll be paid while you’re gone. Now go—help take care of your sister. And let me know how she is.”

Vine took the cloak back and hung it up, then turned to me, her eyes wet. “Thank you, Your Majesty. We don’t know if she’ll live out the week. The medics can’t figure out what’s wrong.”

As tears began to trickle down her face, I pulled her into my arms and she rested her head on my shoulder. She was young—at least among the Fae—the equivalent to her late teens. I had deliberately chosen someone who hadn’t been trained, who would be open to other ways of doing things, and Vine had become everything I could want in a ladies’ maid. Her shoulders shook for a moment, and I felt her relax.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I…”

“No words. Do as I say. And stop by the office first. I’ll call ahead.” I took out my phone as she wiped her eyes and headed toward the door. “Mallory? Yeah, Vine will be there in a few minutes. I want you to advance her a month’s pay. Wait,” I added. “Make it a bonus, not an advance. She’ll be on leave for a while but you’re to continue to send her pay. I’ll be checking to make sure she receives it.” I didn’t trust them not to skimp—the Fae weren’t hoarders like some dragons, but they could get pretty stingy.

As Vine left, Trevor tapped on my door. “Bran is here,” he said.

I sighed. Time to get this over with. “Thank you. Show him into my office.” I glanced in the mirror. Ready or not, it was time to see if I could secure his mother’s help.

As I entered the room, Bran jumped to his feet, bowing. Even though he was a trickster, like his mother, he still acknowledged my rule. One of my Keraastar Knights, he had chosen to bind to me instead of his mother, and it had been a big mess. But now, I was about to ask a bigger favor than he might be willing to pay.

The son of the Black Unicorn, Bran had curly shoulder-length black hair, and he was around five-ten. He was pale, almost vampire-like, with dark eyes. He was wearing all black, with a smoky quartz emblem around his neck—it was one of the Spirit Seals. He’d been one of the lucky ones, during the war. Lucky in that he was immortal, unlike Chase and several other knights who had given their lives.

For the most part, I left the knights alone to go about their lives. At some point, I might need them again, given we had all parts of the spirit seal and needed to keep the parts separate. But for now, I wanted a reprieve from dealing with all the havoc Shadow Wing had wrought.

“Bran, thank you for coming.” I motioned for him to take a seat.

“Of course, Your Majesty.” The words didn’t roll off his tongue. Ever the same old Bran.

“Oh for…call me Camille, you dork,” I said, rolling my eyes.

He snorted. “You’re tired of the crown already? I could have laid a wager and won.” He leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. “So, how goes life on the throne?”

“Don’t even ask,” I said. “If one more person asks about my life as a queen I’m going to hurl. But I do need your help,” I asked.

Bran frowned his smirk vanishing. He straightened. “What’s wrong?”

“Plenty. Or, there will be plenty wrong before long,” I said. “I need a favor from your mother but she wasn’t happy with me last we spoke. I need you to talk to her for me.” I might as well be upfront about it. I had no intention on trying to butter up Bran.

Bran gave me a shrug. “Why should I talk to her? She wasn’t too happy with me, either.”

I sighed. He wasn’t about to help unless he knew what was going on. “All right, it’s like this. You remember Shadow Wing?”

“Of course,” he said, his look of apathy slowly shifting.

“The Moon Mother warned me that we have another danger coming our way. A demon named Desanguas, who can⁠—”

“Desanguas?” Bran interrupted. “Don’t tell me we’re on his radar now?”

“So you’ve heard of him?” I let out a long breath. “Yeah, apparently so. He’s headed our way, and he can turn others into demons. I’m not sure why he’s coming, but the Moon Mother showed me a vision of him the other night. Apparently, others have had precognitive dreams about him, and portents that he’s on the way. Even Aeval’s frightened because of him.”

“Well, I suppose forewarned is forearmed. What do you need?” he asked.