Page 6 of The Queen’s Shadow

I glanced at Jeremy and tried to lighten the mood with a rueful smile.

“He’s… an acquired taste.” I admitted and Rycon scoffed, looking offended.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” he snorted before flipping me off and shoving me into the door frame as he made his way out of the room. I stumbled slightly as he swiped the violently shaking box out of my arms with a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

Asshole.

“You coming, Pops?” Rycon called over his shoulder. “You’ll probably like the Obeah Man better than me. He’s a lot less fun.”

I paused, waiting to see what my dad would do. After a beat, he finally shook his head in defeat.

“Fine.” He mumbled. “Let’s go.”

Raven

Isummoned the team with my aura, asking them to meet me in the common room, the way I had seen Amon do countless times before. By the time we arrived, Dossidian and Conrad were already waiting for us. Meredith and the daemon I had brought back from The Origin’s palace were missing. I frowned, concerned.

“Is she still unconscious?” I asked Dossidian. He immediately knew who I was referring to and nodded solemnly.

“Aye. Meredith is tending to her. I will update her after.”

“What are we going to do after she wakes up?” I asked, pursing my lips. I didn’t want to have to say it out loud, but she was a slave. I wasn’t sure how the slavery bonds worked but I assumed that meant Ash Nevra could use the daemon as a weapon against us while she was here.

Dossidian frowned. “From what Meredith tells me, at this stage we will be lucky if she wakes up at all.”

I cringed at the bite of guilt that shot through me. Her death would be on my hands if she doesn’t wake up. I had stabbed her in the chest while escaping the palace, thinking she was an animated corpse sent to attack me.

“Rayven is right, though,” Conrad said. “Wi need to find a way to free har. Not just her, but for when wi save Prince Amon an’ Kasha too.”

I smiled at him, appreciating the fact that he said ‘when’ we save them, and not ‘if’.

“Agreed.” Nodding resolutely, I gestured to the box in Rycon’s arms before continuing. “We also need to dispose of the widowmaker. I’m taking its head to Mount Frira. If that doesn’t kill it, then I don’t know what will.” I announced, and Dossidian raised his eyebrows.

“Perhaps I should take it. You have matters here that need your attention.” He informed me, and I tried not to look as shocked as I felt.

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t think of anything more important than disposing of the monster that had cost me my mate and my friend.

“You are Queen of The Dominion, Raven. Amon has been captured and his court needs someone to rule. You are his mate, and we are on the brink of war. You need to start thinking about gathering allies. One of our sentries has informed me that there are already rumors that The Court of Gluttony has declared allegiance to Ash Nevra. This is a massive blow. They have a considerable army and are responsible for a large percentage of our food imports. When they inevitably cease to trade with us, we will need to figure out how we are going to feed our people. It would also be wise to cease our restructium exports. There’s no sense in sending our enemies armor.”

I felt like someone had just dumped an entire bucket of cold water on my head. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I would need to worry about things like trade deals and building an army.

“Jesus,” Jeremy cursed softly, rubbing his hand down his face. “This is really… real.” He said, almost as if he were trying to convince himself he wasn’t dreaming. I touched his hand gently. I remembered how overwhelmed I had been when I had learned how the world really worked.

“Told ya,” Rycon said. “She’s Queen of the world. Literally.” He flopped down into the conversion pit and frowned at the empty table. It was normally piled with food. Another wave of grief rolled through me. Amon was not here to magick the food to the room. I didn’t even know how he did that.

“I don’t know how to do any of that,” I admitted to Dossidian, feeling lost and overwhelmed. “I don’t even know how to magick food onto the table.” I did know how to throw the widowmaker’s head into a volcano. That felt like a much more achievable goal.

Dossidian smiled at me kindly and waved a hand at the table. It filled with a bountiful spread of bread, meats, and cheeses. Rycon smirked and immediately started making a sandwich. I wrinkled my nose at him. How he had an appetite after flaying that monster for hours was beyond me. I also suddenly felt a twinge of anxiety. If what Dossidian had said was true, and we would be facing a food shortage, perhaps we should start rationing… watching Rycon bite into his sandwich made me feel a pang of guilt.

“I am here to help while you learn.” Dossidian told me. The box that Rycon had dropped into the pit jumped again as the widowmaker’s head thrashed around inside. Jeremy looked a bit pale.

“Still, I would like to be the one to take it to Frira.”

Dossidian pursed his lips, “I don’t think that is wise. There is much we need to do that should take precedence. Ash Nevra has The Flute. As long as she has it, she will always have the power to disarm and incapacitate us. We need to start campaigning to the other courts for allyship sooner rather than later. Ash Nevra will waste no time building her army. We also need to research ways to sever the slavery bonds, as Conrad mentioned. Otherwise, any battles we fight will result in the loss of thousands of innocent lives.”

The box shook again, and I felt a strange pull in my chest. I turned to gaze out of the cavernous hole in the wall that afforded us such a breathtaking view of The Court of Pride.

“I will not be able to sleep unless I see it go in with my own eyes.” I told him, trying to be honest. During the last few months, while I had been falling in love with Amon, the angry beast that lived in my chest had been absent.