Page 84 of Marked
Ace hesitated, his gaze shifting to the side. “I don’t hate you as much as you think I do.”
“What?”
“I didn’t leave by…” Something dark flashed in his gaze and he leaned forward. He opened his mouth to say more when the door to the tavern opened and the room grew quiet.
A woman in a hooded cloak walked into the tavern and let the door slam shut behind her. Along with the heavy winter cloak, she wore riding boots, black leather pants and a woven shirt, but something told me this woman lived a life of luxury. Her boots and the hem of her cloak were too clean, the weave of her shirt too tight.
I sucked in a breath. The hooded cloak drawn up around her face did little to hide her identity from me. Whisps of magic flowed off her like the seductive caress of a late-night lover. I’d recognize the potency of the power anywhere.
“Queen Titania,” I whispered.
30
The queen’s magic curled around me as I swallowed a number of conflicting emotions along with the piss-tasting beer. Queen Titania always elicited a mixture of feelings. She’d saved me and Paul from a life on the streets, but as I learned over the next few years, she never did anything with purely altruistic motivations. She helped us because it benefitted her in some way. Sure, having an immortal guardian helped her protect the familiars in the forest, but Dita or Shona could’ve done the job as well. My aim was better, but they could be just as deadly, surely.
To this day, I waited for the reveal—for the queen to finally share why she’d saved us all those years ago.
Ace stiffened in his seat beside me, his grip on his glass tightening. His knuckles were white from the pressure.
I scanned the sparse crowd, but after the initial moment of silence to observe the newcomer, the locals went back to their quiet mutterings and stared down at their near-empty pint glasses.
There was something different about Queen Titania tonight, her usual air of regality was gone, replaced with something else. Not quite urgency, but unease, maybe. Her gaze, a piercing shade of blue, darted around the room, searching for something or someone. Then her gaze locked onto mine, and a shiver crawled down my spine.
Oh no.
“Looks like you get to meet her after all,” I said.
“Fantastic,” Ace replied, his tone flat and devoid of emotion.
The Queen of Wast approached our table, her steps quick and purposeful. The air grew heavy, as if burdened by her presence. The queen always had a way of making me feel small and insignificant.
Like a mouse.
I grimaced and forced my face and body to relax.
Ace slowly released his grip on his glass. His face was etched with an indecipherable emotion. He certainly didn’t look happy.
The queen left her hood drawn up, but long cascades of her moon bright hair had escaped, and the hood couldn’t hide her pale and regal features—the same features the musician quietly crooned about no less than ten feet away.
The queen glanced over at the stage and her lips quirked up briefly. “I like this song.”
Of course, she did.
“Greetings, my?—”
The queen pinned Ace with a fierce glare and her magic wrapped around him as a silent threat.
He snapped his lips closed.
She wanted to keep her identity secret. In addition to using a cloak to cover most of her face, she’d ditched her scandalous dress and entourage from earlier. Had she spent this time searching every pub in Wast or did she come straight here? She’d come here to talk to us, that much was obvious, but how did she know where to find us?
Ace cleared his throat and tried again. “How can we help you?”
“Help?” She sneered. “I don’t need help from you, boy.”
“Yet, I highly doubt our meeting is a coincidence,” he said.
She squinted at him and pressed her lips together. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one he annoyed. “May I join you?”