The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Retaliation

“Is there a reason you’re looking at me like that?”

“You know why.”

Scraping the sides of the bowl for any traces of oatmeal, I shook my head, “I didn’t do anything to you.”

“Oh, you didn’t do anything to me? I thought we were best friends.”

“We are.”

“Then why,” Dani exclaimed, slapping her hands against the wood. “Did I have to find out you and Cillian were fucking, by catching you sneaking out of his tent this morning?”

Snorting, I kicked my feet up onto the desk, “I didn’t sneak out of his tent. I waved at you.”

“Same thing.”

“No. It’s really not.”

Throwing her hands in the air, she slumped back against the chair, “What the hell happened? Last time we talked you were alright with him and then you go on this week and a half long trip and…what? You’re suddenly in love?”

Taken off guard, I slammed a fist against my chest as I started choking. Hacking up the little piece of oatmeal, I panted, “Love? We’ve slept together, sure. Do we like each other, I’m...pretty sure. Do we trust each other, yes. But love? Gah.”

“Then what’s that?”

Confused, I looked down and then around me, “What’s what?”

Pointing a finger at my chest, she gave me an unamused look, “That gigantic ass diamond that screams ‘I’m special to someone’ hanging around your neck.”

Grinning, I lifted it with the back of my hand so she could see it better, “Isn’t it gorgeous? Lilly bought it for me.”

Gorgeous….Why did that feel so familiar? Like I had said or someone else said something similar...Gorgeous? A faint feeling of deja vu tickled the edges of my mind but I couldn’t quite grasp it…

“Are you listening to me?”

“Huh?” Shaking my head clear, I locked eyes with narrowed pink ones, “Sorry, I had the most random sense of deja vu.”

“I was saying that I was happy for you both. You and Cillian, whatever you’re doing, you look happy.”

Tipping my head, I tapped the spoon against the bowl with a smile, “Yeah, I am. Can’t speak for him though.”

“Oh, shut up.” She laughed. “Bria said she heard you guys laughing last night. I mean, I can’t even imagine Cillian laughing.”

“Aren’t Bria and Puck dating? Why is that girl always nearby at night?”

Dani shook her head, sending pink curls bouncing, “They’re dating but their relationship isn’t sexual. It’s all about the emotional intimacy for them.”

I huffed before nodding, “I could see that.”

“So, back to you and Cillian….What’s he like?”

“Oh no. Go get your thrills somewhere else.”

Pouting, she drummed her hands against the table, “Come on! Throw a mated woman a bone.”

“Isn’t that your husband’s job?” I replied, blandly.

Dani opened her mouth to respond when a shriek of surprise came out instead.

Jumping back and out of my chair, I had a sword pulled and pointed up at the person who had just traveled on top of my desk in a matter of seconds. Grabbing their ankle, I gave it a harsh tug that had their back slamming into the desk and drove my sword down towards their chest.

“Macha, wait! It’s Puck! It’s Puck!”

Sword stopping millimeters away from cloth, I flicked my eyes up to find a pair of wide golden eyes pinned to my hand on the handle of the sword. “Puck?” I snapped, in angry bewilderment. “What the hell are you doing? I could’ve kill you, you fucking walnut!”

Slowly his eyes trailed over to mine as his chest rose and fell rapidly, “Walnut?”

“I don’t know! I’m angry! I almost killed you! You dumb little piece of flower dander!”

“Okay, okay.” Dani interrupted, batting my sword away so she could press a hand to his face. “ Are you alright, Sweetie? You really need to be more careful traveling, especially near Macha.”

Pushing up onto his hands, he swallowed between pants, “Y-yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry but I needed to get to Macha as fast as I possibly could.”

“Well, what’d you need? Besides giving Dani a heart attack.”

“He did not.”

“Bitch, the entire camp heard you scream.”

Launching himself at me, he gripped the collar of my tunic and shouted, “You need to get to the Dunn’s Estate immediately.”

“What are you talking about? Why? Erick’s there.” I asked, trying to keep my face away from his while also trying to yank him off my tunic.

Golden eyes filled my vision, “They’re all going to be slaughtered!”

Slapping a hand to his forehead and the other across his face, I shouted back, “Make it make sense!”

“Mab heard about what you did to her soldiers on the way to the MacDuffy’s Estate and Aoife has been making a lot of noise about supporting you in the war! Mab’s sending troops to her estate in retaliation!” He rushed, releasing me with a relieved sigh.

Blurting out an ‘Oh, shit’, I called my metal to me as I rapidly pulled my hair back into one long braid. “When, Puck?”

“Now.”

“How many?”

“Around fifty.”

Chains and swords snapping into place on my body, I raced over to the side of the bed and dragged the bag full of metal chunks out. With a barked command, half of the blue metal began slithering up my hands to wrap around my torso in a thick breast plate. Blue metal covered my forearms and once I felt it stop moving, I was stalking back over to Puck.

“Where’d you get this information?”

“My inside man, I came straight here after he told me.”

“And you trust him?”

“With my life.”

Raising a brow, I asked, “But do you trust him with mine?”

“Without question.” He replied firmly.

Nodding, I made for the door, “Tell Dougal to hold things down here and tell Cillian to meet me at the Estate.”

“I don’t know where they are!” Puck called back frantically.

“Then you two better start looking.” I called back as I stepped outside. Pointing at the soldiers stationed on either side of my tent entrance, I barked, “You two, roundup a troop of soldiers and tell them to get their weapons and armor. We’re headed to defend the Dunn Estate from Mab. Meet at the front of camp. Go, go, go!”

The moment they disappeared, I closed my eyes and pictured Afric. My feet left and then hit the ground hard as my concentration was split in my haste to get over to the Dunn Estate. Stumbling a little on the landing, I got my feet underneath me and looked up to see Afric and a few Banshees inside his tent. They were huddled around his desk that had a dead Scrot Squirrel with its belly split open and Afric’s bare fingers inside. Five pairs of identical yellow tinged eyes stared at me unblinkly until four of them dropped to their knees.

“It worked! Our sacrifice to the Death God has summoned her here! What gift will you deliver upon us this day?” Afric cackled, bloody fingers raised to the ceiling of the tent.

With one last wide eyed look at the dead orange furred squirrel that they were apparently sacrificing to me, I blinked and started barking orders, “I need a troop of your Banshees out in the front of the camp and ready to go immediately. Mab sent troops to attack the Dunn Estate.”

“You bring us death and opportunities of glory! Go, brothers and sisters! Collect the worthy and bring them to the front of camp!” Afric shouted causing the four to rise to their feet and disappear into the shadows of the tent.

Without waiting, I closed my eyes and traveled to my next destination as quickly as possible. Hip slamming into something hard, I planted my feet firmly on the ground and gazed around the training grounds. Trolls were scattered about sparing or throwing boulders at one another while Coaimhe watched on from the sidelines. Striding over to her, I side stepped a boulder lifting Troll and dodged another’s wayward throw.

She was halfway turned towards me when I started talking, “I need a troop of your Trolls at the front of the camp right now. We’re going into battle against Mab.”

Instead of continuing to turn and face me, she looked out at the training field and gave a sharp whistle.

I felt the ground shake as they stampeded in before I traveled one more time to the front of the camp. Shaking off the slight dizziness from my unfocused traveling, I waded through the Faekind adjusting their weapons. The Banshees were here along with the Fae soldiers so now we were just waiting on the Trolls. Scanning the area above their heads, I tried looking for a flash of silver anywhere in the crowd.

Where are you, Lilly?

Biting my lip, I tapped my fingers against the side of my thigh and nodded at the soldiers I passed. However when the Trolls came stomping up, the time to wait or look for him was over, we needed to move out. Pushing back up to the front of the crowd, I looked over the large mixed species group with pride. Today their training was finally going to be put to the test and hopefully they’d work together as well as I hoped.

Catching sight of Dani running towards me from the corner of my eye, I turned to face her as she got closer, “What is it?”

“We found Dougal but he said Cillian went to speak with his brother, something about a girl. He’s going to try and tell him what’s going on.”

So he was right about that little brother of his. “Okay, we can’t wait so we’ll have to go in without him.” I replied, brushing my fingers over the pendant he gave me. “Project my voice to the crowd will you?”

At her nod, I turned to the crowd of soldiers buzzing with excitement. Dani pressed her fingers to my throat and raised her other hand to the sky as I cleared my throat. The sound caught their attention and almost instantly I had multiple eyes pinned to me and my every move.

“Listen up!” I called, hardening my voice. “I know in the past our species haven’t been the best of friends. Hell, who am I kidding? We were out right killing each other a few weeks ago.” Chuckles rose from the crowd as interspecies friends nudged at each other. “But in a few minutes, we’ll be sharing a battlefield. So, I don’t care who hates who and who doesn’t like working with who. When we’re fighting, we’re family. I want to see you blocking, killing, backing up and protecting each other like your blood. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Queen!”

“Travel in groups of five to ten to the Dunn Estate and don’t forget to make a trail, a short one this time. Land in the courtyard and have your weapons out when you do. Remember, we don’t know what we’re dropping into. Move out!”

A roar of adrenaline and voices rolled off the crowd before they started disappearing in large chunks. Breaking out from the mass of Faekind, Afric and Coaimhe came walking out towards me. Grinning, I pulled the swords from my sheaths and gripped them tight as they both placed a hand on my shoulders. Closing my eyes, I pictured an old tavern I used to frequent and the moment our feet touched the ground I was already thinking of another one.

When our feet hit the ground on the fifth destination, I told them the next would be the Dunn Estate. Coaimhe tightened her grip while Afric began to giggle and my grin got bigger. The first thing I noticed when we landed was how strong the wind was howling over the Estate. Pieces of the roof went soaring off into the distance as the Estate guards ran around the courtyard trying to get things in order. Raindrops hit the skin like hail from how sharply the wind was ripping across the angry sky.

Dirt turned to mud and I could hear the distant ringing of clanging swords as I jolted into action. Spotting Erick, I quickly weaved my way to his side and demanded, “What’s happening?”

Turning, the General sagged in relief momentarily before screaming over the wind, “My Queen, thank Divines! Mab’s soldiers are cutting through the town on their way up to the Estate! Aoife and her men are getting ready to go down and meet them! Their forces have already hit the houses in the inner city!”

“Where are the people!” I yelled back. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Pushing his soaked hair back, he leaned closer to shout, “In the Monks of Divinity Abbey! Just outside the Estate!”

“On my cue, open the gates!”

Squinting to see through the harsh weather, I trekked through the mud up to the front of the crowd testing their weapons. The energy in the air was rife with anxiety and excitement that was infectious to my own mood. Bouncing on my toes, I twirled my swords and paused for a second in surprise when the tips caught fire. Smirking, I watched the flames race down the blades to the hilts and heat up my cold hands.

Once I was in front of my troops, I raised the flaming swords to grab their attention, “We’re going to rush these sons of bitches! And when we do, I want the Trolls in front, the Fae in the middle and the Banshees bringing up the rear! From there, do what Dougal’s been training you to do and work together!” Satisfied with the way they screamed back over the rain in agreement, I released one of my favorite war cry’s, “No Survivors! No Mercy! No Fear!”

“No Survivors! No Mercy! No Fear!”

—-

I don’t care what realm your from, dropping in on anyone unannounced can lead to awkward situations. Lol. Also, seems like Macha might be remembering something important.....

Drop a comment or a like if you want toooooo!

Smooches, Verbage💋

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