JUNIPER
The wood witches and the dragons were both spoken to. I wondered who else that left for me to delegate with as I dodged Alric’s punches. They still didn’t trust me to leave me alone so they could do whatever they needed to to reconcile, but I knew I needed to be strong. Stronger than I’d ever been before. A war wasn’t going to win itself and I wasn’t going to get allies from sitting around reading romance novels all day.
I would lead my people to battle. I would lead them to success whenever the time came. I couldn’t expect them to fight a war that I wasn’t willing to be a part of. Before Rey, the dragon leader, said anything about the war, I hadn’t thought of it. I didn’t have an army. Queen Ender’s people weren’t even banging at the door yet. I doubted they waited at the now burned-down wharf for our return either. They’d chased us off and killed most of our people. They’d spread a message that they weren’t to be messed with, that rebels would be taken out at all cost necessary. Who would march for me now? Not the people left over, that was for sure.
I dodged the wooden sword Alric swung at my head and spun away from him. My foot-work was getting better and the sloppiness I’d allowed before was almost gone. I was faster,stronger, and could think clearer in the ring. I knew now, at least a little bit, what the gods were planning for me. They knew I needed an army and a magical one was better than nothing. Seven hells, a magical one was probably better than the army Ryven assembled before. Dragons instilled enough terror. Many of Queen Ender’s army would abandon post the moment they saw them in the sky. But would the dragons fight for me? I wasn’t so sure. The wood witches didn’t seem to be keen on it either. What was left?
Elves. The gods were back in my head. The voice distracted me just enough that Alric jabbed me in the belly with his wooden sword and I went down. The back of my head smacked the ground and I let out a soft grunt with the impact.
“Finally. I’ve been trying to get a blow in since we started. You’re distracted but your body knows what to do. Who do I need to thank for the little interruption there?” He reached down to help haul me up and I rubbed the back of my tender head with my hand.
“The gods.”
His lips curled in triumph. “They were tired of watching you dance around too.”
I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. I needed a bath now.
“We will be meeting with elves next.”
“This island has it all, doesn’t it?” His eyes were wide.
“Apparently so.” I dusted off the front of my leathers and pulled my braid free to shake it loose.
“What do you think they look like?” He swung the practice sword around a few times and I wondered if he would strike again. I kept my guard up and watched him closely.
I shrugged. “I have no idea what an elf even is. My mother never told me stories of them and in all the books I’ve read, they were never in there.”
“I think they live in holes in the ground,” he said matter of fact.
I wrinkled my nose. “Does everyone live in holes? First the Rebel’s Keep, then the dragons, and now elves?”
His lips turned down into a frown. “I guess you’re right. I wonder where they live. Hopefully something more interesting than holes.”
“I’m sure we will find out soon enough.”
Soon enough wasthe next day. The gods informed me that I was to dress homely. Nothing revealing, intimidating, or flashy. They loved their jewels and would rob anyone if given the chance. They sounded… lovely.
My beige dress cinched in the front with a simple corset but was thick under the skirts to keep me warm in the winter climate. My boots were lined in fur and looked brand new. All of the clothing looked brand new and I wondered if that was another gift of the magic the gods kept around. Which was another problem entirely. It was slowly going away. It was bound to happen eventually but I wasn’t anywhere near ready for it to be now. The food no longer magically appeared on my table in my room, which was fine, it was always a bit excessive. But it also meant Edna putting in double time in the kitchens, which I guessed wasn’t a horrible thing. She needed to get into the swing of things sooner than later. I couldn’t imagine her trying to figure all of this out with an entire staff to feed plus guests occasionally. When that happened though, she would hopefully have an entire kitchen staff to do most of the work. Luica was helping her as much as she could around her other duties and the other women were doing whatever it was they did… They didn’t owe me anything and if they didn’t want more for their lives, that was fine by me but they wouldn’t be livingfor free in the riches of the castle either. All of the other families lived in the village and Alric insisted they owed me for building them homes, but I didn’t see it that way. They were refugees. They were survivors and eventually, they would contribute to the economy that would flourish here. If they lived off of the food they needed to hunt and gather, that was fine by me.
As quickly as I could manage, I braided my hair down my back. I could hear Reva and Alric beginning to bicker in the halls and I knew what would happen after that. He would either try to shut her up with his lips or she would end up threatening his life with a knife at his throat. It could honestly go either way and I didn’t feel like diffusing either situation this morning. My legs ached from the long ride on the sky beasts and the training we did the day before. I was hungry and grouchy from lack of sleep the night before wondering about elves and they just had to act like children. It was honestly the last thing on my list I wanted to deal with. I would have rathered dealt with feral, cursed wolves than listen to them fight today. When I pulled the door open they both smiled at me like they hadn’t been fighting again and I rubbed my temples.
“You both need to sleep together to get this tension out of your systems. I’m beyond tired of waking up to the bickering, fighting, and almost kissing. Either you’re going to kiss and makeup— on your own time— or you’re going to shut up because I don’t have the capacity to deal with children today.”
Both of them stared at me as if I’d grown a second head and maybe I had. I didn’t care. I wanted to get this over with so I could soak in my tub and try to forget some of the problems plaguing my every waking moment because I knew as soon as we returned from meeting the elves, we would have something else I would need to address. I could feel it in my bones that things were only going to escalate from here.
When the firstelf swung down from the trees on the opposite side of the island, Alric let out a very feminine gasp. It was not like him at all, but I also understood his shock. The entire walk to this side of the forest, he gushed about all the stories his mother told him as a child of the elves that lived on the isle that housed the Last Fortress. His mother’s recount of them was that they were short, fat, and stubby. They all housed big, fluffy beards—even the women and their children were born full-grown.
The elf before us was nothing of those things, he towered over us by a few feet easily and two midnight horns curled up from his white hair. His eyes were void of any white and instead were completely dark purple. When he smiled at us his canines poked into his lush, plump bottom lip. His features were sharp and angular. Reva could only stare and blink at his beauty. I didn’t blame her, I wasn’t prepared for him at all. He wore a button-down long-sleeve shirt that was rolled up at the elbows and a beige vest over it that matched my dress. His leather pants were tucked into boots that extended over his knees. He tucked a lock of white hair behind a pointed ear and his smile only continued to grow. He was sex incarnate. He was nothing like the gods described. He would rob me? Of what? My virtue?
I almost wondered if I would freely give it up.
“Not what you expected, brother?”
Alric shook his head.
The elf let out a melodic laugh. “No one is ever expecting a shadow elf. It’s nice to make your acquaintance, humans.” His gaze swept over Alric, Reva, and then, at last, me. “You must be my queen.”
He bowed low before he reached forward to take my hand in his. When his lips met the top of my hand, I was speechless. “And you are?” It was the only thing I could think of.
