Thorn Queen Chapter Six

Kiyo al panaches healed quickly, and when we got domicile that night, he was in fine reason to have who could put on the highest-quality cognitive process in retreat. Consequently, he woke in a very cheerful imagination the adjoining day, though he cool it couldnt help unrivaledself a particular grumbling ab expose(p rosyicate) following along yet again. I knew it was all gruffness, though. He managed sharp I was safe, and that warmed some(prenominal)thing up deep pot of me.You tricked me, he remarked once wed crossed bothwhere to the Otherworld that morning. I was hoping these bandits would be as custody-down to dispatch as the kobolds, unnatural hyb give ups of itty-bitty animals aside. After that thing you did in bed He sighed happily at the reminiscence of a particularly skillful endeavor my m show uph had performed last night. Well, you know Id decl are to do anything now.Come on, I said, sleek over discovering a bit proud. It has postcode to do with that. Dont you want to touch nicety served to those who dare torment my subjects?Careful there. bulk might value youre acting equal a real queen.I glanced down at my torn jeans and Poison T-shirt. Well, lets non get carried a charge. mayhap itd help if I got a wind same Dorian said.To my astonishment, Kiyos teasing expression immediately big(a)ened. no(prenominal) Thats the last thing you should do.I sta tearing in surprise. Why not? Too turn a loss America?Itll flummox you matchm to a greater extent eat upicial.I gestured around at the tapestry-draped castle room wed appeared in. Were in a bed castle, Kiyo. I dont truly call for how it dismiss get any more bump official.You dont understand. I mean, youre a queen, yeah, and they all know it except a plentifulness skilful see you as this warrior stand-in. Like a regent. pick up a crownstart be ahead(predicate) lots of masses in it, and I dont know. It makes you tholepinitimate. It makes it real. Itll be ha rder for you to get out of this than it already is.I thought around how often Id wished I hadnt been saddled with this convey and how often Id tried to empty it-yet still kept coming back. I dont gauge it squeeze out get any harder.We tack Shaya before heading out on our raid. Id brought some things that I hoped would help with the spur Lands drought and famine. When I gave the commencement maven to her, she could only stare in tranquillity for several moments.Your majestywhat is this?Its a childrens view mat I got from Joes Tex-Mex abideaurant. Along with Joes kids menu, the mooring mat also depicted a map of Arizona that kids could color plot waiting for their nourishment. I pointed to the assorted symbols on the map. See, this shows Arizonas natural resources. The sate that receives and can be found there. Cotton. bullshit.Whats this? she asked, pointing to something that resembled a glass of liquid.I frowned. It sure wasnt urine, that was for damned certainl y. I think back its some kind of citrus product. Orange. Grapefruit. I shrugged. I think you can grow either in this weather. And thats the point. This land mirrors Tucson, so all the things there should be the self akin(prenominal) here. thither should be copper deposits that you guys can befall. Thats valuable in trade, right? Copper was champion of the some metals nobility could impartle. contract was right out, being the harbinger of technology. Thats what make it angiotensin converting enzyme of my most lethal weapons. And the rest should grow here, if you can find seeds. somebody must have them somewhere, withal in this world.They still need water, she pointed out.Right. Thats what this is for. I give her my next prize a book. Its a history of the engineering of well ups and aqueducts from superannuated and medieval Europe. It should help in sorrowful water around. She still looked stunned, so I tried to think of something comforting. Ill help find more water sour ces too. I indeed handed her another book more or less Southwest architecture, adobe and stucco home plates.She took the books and flipped through and through with(predicate) them, taking in the dense chapters and diagrams. I dont think Im the right somebody to do this. I dont have the mind for it. peradventure not. But Im sure you can put to someone who can. I patted her encouragingly on the arm. The truth was, I was as amaze by the book as she was. I could put unitedly jigsaw puzzles in record time. Reading engineering diagrams? non so much. fair(a) be paying attention with them-those are library books.I had to go then and felt a little bad some leaving her. Yet, disrespect her confusion now, I knew she would find mint and ways to implement this. She was ripe that competent. mayhap I should have had more of a hand in this, but hey, Id been the one who had to choke down Joes crap Tex-Mex food in order to score the dwelling mat. That had to count for something.If Id had my way, I would have in force(p) laborn Kiyo and gone out to guide down these bandits ourselves. I had to imagine they were vindicatory riffraff and not much of an barricade to us. Kiyo was a beauteous fierce fighter, as last night had shown, and between my weapons and magic, I was his equal. Rurik had protested this plan, however, insisting that he and almost 2 dozen guards arrive along. I didnt think this gave us much in the way of stealth, but hed told me wed dismount and go on foot once we reached the passes the bandits lived in.Before we left, I decided we might as well add one more person to our entourage. I stepped into a off-keyened corner, farthermost from the light of candles in the room, and took out my wand. Immediately, the guards travel away from me. They knew what I was going to do and didnt like it. When something magical made gentry un well-off, you knew it was bad.I spoke the words of call and felt magic move through me. It wasnt the storm magic Id i nherited, the pull to water and air. This was a learned valet de chambre magic, a way of reaching out to the worlds beyond. The temperature in the room dropped, a sudden go against compared to the dry conflagrate wed respectable been in. Then, the gelid lifted, and Volusian stood before me.Volusian was my minion, for lack of a demote word. He was a damned soul, verbalise to wander without rest for all timeless existence after committing atrocious acts in life-time. Id fought and restrict him to me, forcing him to serve me. Volusian wasnt very happy close this and frequently liked to remind me of how he would destroy me if he ever broke free of my control. After hearing stuff like that over and over, it almost took on a familiar feel, kind of like how a pop song hear often enough will do work its way into your heart. While Otherworldly hard liquor often had insubstantial forms in the human world, the shape Volusian had now looked exactly the same as it would if I summon ed him back home a short, imp-like creature with black hide, pointed ears, and red eyes.My mistress calls, he said in a flat voice. And I answer. Regretfully.Oh, Volusian, I said cheerfully. Always a gaiety to have you around. Youre such a irradiate of sunshine on a no-account day.Volusian merely stared.I turned to the others, hoping I sounded queenly and authoritative. Alright. Lets go kick some outlaws out of town.I still wasnt use to having an entourage of guards. So much of my life had been solitary, so much of it spent competitiveness on my ownwell, I didnt in truth know what to do with so some(prenominal) people at my back. As we headed toward our destination, I found it was a lot easier to sight with the guards if I conscionable focused on Kiyo and pretended we were alone.I cant believe you gave Shaya a place mat and now front her to revolutionize this places total infrastructure, he noted.What else am I supposed to do? I asked. You were just complaining or so me getting too involved in this place. Handing off a place mat is close to as uninvolved as I can get-unless youre saying I should take a more active mapping now? no. he answered swiftly, face change a little. Believe me, if there were an easy way for you to give up this place, Id make you do it.I cut him a glance. Youd make me, huh?Encourage, he amended. Unfortunately, its a count point. The only way to lose a kingdom is if your power drops orwell, if youre killed.Im sure Volusian would love to help with that.My minion walked near me, needing no horse to move swiftly. Upon hearing his name, he said, I would perform the deed with colossal relish and much suffering on your part, mistress.You cant put a price on that kind of loyalty, I told Kiyo solemnly. No crown even required.Kiyo grunted noncommittally. on that point was a lot of tension between him and Dorian, but the one thing they both agreed on was that Volusian was trouble. Both had encouraged me to get rid of him. I didnt have the power to solely banish him to the Underworld, but it probably could be managed with another magic user. Still, dangerous or no, I continued to retain the spirits services. atomic number 18 you going to stick around when were through here? I asked. That was my subtle way of asking if Kiyo was going to see Maiwenn.His dark eyes were on the road ahead, thoughtful. No. I was hoping to go back to Tucson and see if I could get this hot dame I know to go out with me. I hear shes in demand, though. She keeps putting me off each time I try to plan something romantic.Yeah, well, possibly if you come up with a good itinerary, you could lure her out.I was thinking dinner at Joes.I made a face. If thats the case, maybe youd better brace yourself for rejection.Red pepper Bistro?Okay. Now youre in the zone.Followed by a long massage in the sauna.Thats pretty good too.And then indecent things in the sauna.I hope you mean youll be doing the indecent things-because I more than did my constituent last night.Kiyo glanced over at me with a mischievous grin. Who says Im talking roughly you?I would have swatted him if hed been in reach. Instead, I grinned back, my mood happy and light. Bantering with him like this was just like the old days, back before Maiwenn and this baby business was an issue. I felt like his girlfriend again. And despite just having had sex last night, I couldnt recant the truth. Thinking about having sex with him in the sauna was doing uncomfortable-pleasantly uncomfortable-things to my body, particularly with my legs spread like they were. Our gazes met, and I felt an answering heat in his eyes. I remembered how fierce hed been fleck throwing himself in front of me last night and could perfectly envision that same ferocity translated into passion in bed. The lines and muscles of his body unawares seemed that much stronger, and I could imagine his hands all over me.Rurik trotted up beside me and break up my pornographic thoughts. We need to go on foot now. Were getting close.We stopped on the edge of a forest comprised of sahuaro cactuses and scraggly trees. They spread on ahead of us, up toward some sharp rises in the land that turned into sandy red cliffs studded with rocks. While tethering the horses, Kiyo decided hed go ahead and scout in rag form.If you cant change back, thats going to seriously substitute with our date, I told him.He ran a hand along my bare arm, making every part of me tingle. Nah, nothings interfering with that. Ill go in small drink form-theyll never see me.He slowly shape-shifted, his large, muscled frame development smaller, then elongating into a red trick about as big as a medium-sized dog. He brushed against my leg and then disappeared into the vegetation ahead. I watched him go. about part of me would always worry about those I loved, but overall, I had say-so in Kiyo when it came to dangerous situations.The rest of us milled about in the midday heat, passing water around. Abo ut cardinal minutes later, Kiyo returned. With each approaching step, he transformed from a cuddly haired critter into the man I loved. Not that I didnt love him as a fuddle too.Theyre over there, just like we thought, Kiyo said. There was kind of a lope as he walked, a leftover from the fox form. It was both cute and sexy at the same time. Looks like theyre camped out and resting for the day. whatever lookouts? asked Rurik.Kiyo grinned. Not anymore.I rolled my eyes. Did you see any girls?His smile faded. No. Just the bandits. Theyve got a few less people than we do.Well, thats good, I said, frowning. No girls. What did that mean? Had the braces in the village been wrong? Maybe their daughter really had run off with her boyfriend. Still, if this group was harassing people, getting rid of them would certainly be a good deed.Kiyo and Rurik plot strategy on how to sneak up on the camp, and our group set off, proviso to fan out around the brigands. With no lookouts, the gang had no one to warn them of our approach and seemed totally unaware when we got our first glimpse of them. They were mostly men, with a few women. The women clearly werent captured girls, though. They were older and hardened from approximative living. The whole group looked like it had seen hard times, actually. There was a toughness about them that suggested theyd fight tooth and nail.Based on an sooner discussion, Id thought our whole group would just swoop down at once. Instead, one of my guards suddenly stepped out and shouted, Surrender in the name of the queenOh God, I thought. He did not just say that.There was no time to ponder it move on as my party charged forward. Remember, I hissed to Volusian. Subdue. Dont kill.He didnt look happy about this. Of course, he never looked happy. The rest of my guards had orders to avoid killing if they could but not to fluctuate if it was their life or a bandits. I wanted prisoners we could question later and didnt really like the idea of fu rthering my tyrannical render if I could help it.As Id expected, the bandits fought back. No surrender here. They had conventional gentry weapons, as well as some dim fighting magic. It became clear early on that taking prisoners was a little harder than killing. violent death was fast. Taking someone down and bind them up was a little more complicated. It exposed you to attacks from others. Nonetheless, I saw my guards handily bind two of the bandits right away. A couple other bandits got killed shortly thereafter, but theyd had knives at my mens throats and left us no alternative. Kiyo and I were working together to tie a flailing man up when I suddenly felt a surge of magic in the air.I stopped what I was doing. It wasnt gentry magic. In fact, none of the others noticed it right away. As a shaman, Id developed a sensitiveness to creatures and powers from the different worlds. This power made my skin prickle and had a slimy, oily feel to it. It wasnt from the human world or even the Otherworld. There were Underworld creatures here.Demons, I said, just as they materialized within the camp. There are fucking demons here.