Page 16 of The Queen’s Shadow

“Coming!” I called out, before making my way deeper into the house.

Raven

Rycon hadn’t been kidding. Conrad was absolutely butchering the potatoes. I took his place and shooed him away. He chuckled softly, and shrugged as I took the dagger away from him. He was wearing a heavy knit ugly Christmas sweater that I was sure Clair had pushed him to put on the moment he had arrived.

“Tank yuh, gya’al, mi nuh know why mi so bad wid it.” He laughed, giving me his signature two finger salute. As his fingers left his brow, the golden ring that he had been gifted when he had been officially named a member of The Board suddenly slipped off and fell to the ground with a ping before shooting away. I jumped, startled and Conrad’s face crumbled.

“Oh no,” I said, looking around frantically on the floor. I couldn’t see it anywhere.

“Don’t worry Conrad, it will come back. Lost things always return when the time is right.” Clair smiled at us as she prepared some fat, buttery brussel sprouts.

Conrad frowned, but seemed to take her words to heart.

He joined Jeremy and Dossidian, who were watching a basketball game in our living room. The room itself currently looked as if one of Santa’s elves had puked all over it. Every single tacky piece of Christmas décor you could imagine spilled over any available surface. The blanket and pillows on the ugly couch, or ‘chesterfield’ as Clair always called it, had been swapped out for kitschy Christmas versions of their counterparts.

Even the art on the wall had been traded for those personalized Christmas illustrations you could buy at kiosks in the mall.

When I had finished saving the potatoes from a violent death by dagger, I approached one of the little pieces of art and smiled. This one had nine stockings drawn on an illustration of a fireplace, each one boasting one of our names. Clair, Jeremy, Raven, Amon, Conrad, Meredith, Rycon, Kasha, and Dossidian. I frowned slightly as I looked closer. Clair’s stocking seemed to disappear when I looked at it for too long. I touched the frame, wondering if it was a trick of the light.

“Raven, would you like to help me with the Yule Log?” Meredith asked, distracting me from my examination of the illustration. I turned, smiling at her before settling down on the floor with her next to the coffee table.

“Sure, I’ve never made a Yule Log before. What can I do to help?” I asked. A tiny child-like version of Kasha sat in Meredith’s lap, her blue hair pulled into tiny pigtails on either side of her head. She was wearing a flower crown made of white orchids.

“Hi Raven!” Baby Kasha beamed at me, and I smiled at her, straightening her tiny crown.

“Hey Kasha,” I said, “want to show me what to do?”

She nodded eagerly and launched into an explanation about how we needed to put five candles into the holes Meredith had drilled into the Kapok log. The next step was to then decorate it with the collection of feathers and fir tree branches they had collected from the park earlier. The candles were moulded into the shapes of different animals. I picked up the first one, which was carved to resemble a grizzly bear.

“I wanted to do six, but the serpent didn’t want to help us.” Kasha informed me, sounding annoyed.

I was still listening to the tiny Kasha’s excited explanation as Amon came in from hanging up our coats. I watched him slide into the kitchen and greet a smiling Clair with a hand on the small of her back and a suave kiss on both cheeks. I grinned at him.

He was perfect.

He slipped into the living room and made sure to greet Jeremy first with a firm handshake and a smile before settling into the armchair behind me. He leaned forward and pulled me back to rest between his legs. Placing a soft kiss on the side of my head, he ran his fingers through my long hair, making my scalp tingle with tiny bursts of pleasure.

“We should introduce this sport to our people back at court,” Dossidian bellowed from next to Jeremy, who gave him an approving smile. “These little men have excellent control and aim. It is impressive.” He continued, watching the screen with intense interest.

Jeremy chuckled, eyeing Dossidian’s hulking form next to him. “Well, I wouldn’t call those men ‘little.’ Many of them are nearly as tall as you are.” He explained, “They just look small on the TV. Do you like basketball, Amon?” Jeremy asked, from where he sat on the couch on the opposite side of the room.

“I’m familiar, but have never followed it seriously,” Amon admitted, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “I fear we do not get the sports network in The Court of Pride.”

Jeremy laughed and nodded. “I suppose that’s fair.” He said, taking a sip of his beer.

The wail of sirens suddenly pierced through the discussion and the flash and bounce of emergency lights spilled in through the windows as an ambulance screeched down the street. Sirens in the city were common background noise and I barely noticed them until the tiny Kasha started to suddenly cry.

“Ey, likkle one, dun cry,” Conrad scooped up Kasha and bounced her on his hip, taking her to look out the window with him. He pointed to the ambulance that was making all the ruckus so she could see. “Dat’s just a siren. See? Dey goin tuh save someone in need.” He explained to her patiently. Kasha sniffed and reached out to touch the window, her tiny toddler fingers leaving smudges on the glass.

“I hope somebody saves me soon,” she giggled, and I frowned. Save her from what? I was about to ask her what she meant when Rycon called out from where he had been helping Clair in the kitchen.

“Okay you ass hats, thanks for all the help.” He snapped sarcastically, and I tried not to laugh out loud. He was holding a casserole dish full of stuffing, with big red oven mitts and the green counterpart to Clair’s red ‘Mrs. Claus’ Christmas apron. His apron said ‘Mr. Claus’ on it and jingled with tiny bells when he moved.

“Language,” Jeremy scolded him and Rycon rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Dinner is ready, you lazy S.O.B’s,” he amended and Jeremy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. I bit back another giggle. I was familiar with that face. I had made him make that face many times myself.

“Let’s help set the table,” Amon whispered into my ear from behind as he stood up. I got to my feet and took his hand as we made our way to the kitchen. I jumped as his warm hand slid into mine.