Page 109 of The Shrouded Queen
FORTY-FOURSAMIRA
When we eventually arrived in Frostguard two days later, Siv took one look at my limp and turned into a fussing hen. She moved quickly, disinfecting and stitching my ankle before checking my shoulders, which had healed some over the past few days. Still, I was grateful for the numbing salve.
After Siv left, I hobbled to the mirror.
The girl looking back was me, but not. My cheeks no longer caved in, my collarbones no longer jutted out of my skin, and I thought with a few more well-seasoned meals, I might even have curves.
But like always, the green runes, stark against my tan forehead, pulled all my attention.
I ran my fingers over their shapes. It was like they had always been a part of me. Smooth and even, no sign of that strange glow. And no tingling.
With a sigh, I lowered myself into a chair, intent on thinking over everything that had happened in the past few days. I waited for feelings of guilt or horror to bubble up at my blasphemous thoughts about the Gods-Chosen, but they never came. All I felt was hollow. The empty center of a reed stalk just one harsh gust away from snapping.
Someone cleared their throat.
I jolted awake. I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep, but Imust’ve been there awhile, because my neck ached from the odd angle, and someone had draped a blanket over me.
When I lifted my head, Keir stood in my doorway.
Instantly, I was thrown back to the night of the Lunar Feast. It felt so long ago now, and yet, I could still hear his gravelly voice in my ear as he’d buried his nose against my neck, his fingers flexing against my hips, his hard length digging into my back. The heat that had bloomed in my stomach, that had settled between my legs.
His lips tipped up in a knowing smirk that made the tops of my ears burn. But he only said, “I have a message.”
No apology for waking me. No explanation for his behavior at the Lunar Feast—or his subsequent absence. I tried not to let it bother me. “From Rade?”
“Obviously,” he said, and I bristled, heat banking. “The king has decided that you will dine with the Seven once you’ve recovered.”
“What? Why?”
“Ask him yourself.” And he left. Just like that.
Gods, he was infuriating. The new moon must have been an exception. But sit through a whole dinner with him? Maybe it was time for me to start praying again.
I stood outside Shifters’ Lodge and fisted my hands at my sides. I’d managed to put the dinner off for several days, hiding out in my cabin as my wounds slowly healed. But by the fifth day, it was obvious to Siv that I was well enough to walk on my own, and she told Rade as much. The dinner couldn’t be avoided any longer.
Rade had said this dinner was to help me connect with the Seven, to let them get to know me, so they would accept me as their queen once the Merging was over. I’d done my best to weasel out of it, but I couldn’t very well say it wouldn’t matter if they accepted me since I wouldn’t survive the last trial.
With a deep breath, I pushed open the heavy oak door to Shifters’ Lodge.
It was filled with children.
I stared in stunned silence as they ran past me, chasing each other and giggling. I recognized them from Netherridge. The older townsfolk sat at the long table, or on the extra cots that had been moved in to accommodate them all.
“Queen Amunet!” I turned just in time to see Milena come barreling toward me. She slammed into me hard enough to knock the wind out of me, my still-healing leg giving an angry throb, which I ignored as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’re back!”
I chuckled softly and hugged her. “What’s going on? What are you all doing here? Where are the Seven?”
“We were moved here while you were gone.”
“Really?” Rade and I had spoken about Netherridge and the Shroud a few times on our journey, and I’d mentioned the unfit conditions of the tent, but he hadn’t told me he’d already seen to it. Though I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Milena nodded. “The warrior said we’d like it here, and he was right. It’s a lot better.”
I frowned. “Which warrior?”
“The really big one with the runes on his neck.”
Keir. “Well,” I said, surprise evident in my voice, “that was nice of him. Where is he now?”
