Page 38 of The Nightmare Queen

“Your Highness.” I jump at the intrusion, my hand clutching at my chest.

“Shit, Monty you scared me.” I rasp.

He nods towards where my head guard stands. “You and Ezra have it out?” He asks, his face and tone serious.

Not you too.“UGH. Please, Monty, I am begging you - and I never beg - for this conversation to be over before it starts.” He nods while tacking up my horse for me. “You’re not mad at me too, are you?”

“Your Highness, I don’t have any place feeling anger when it comes to you.”Highness.His tendency for formality makes me laugh.

“Mond. The title.” He glances down at me. The look in his eyes is tender, so much softness these men hold for me. It’s disconcerting.

“Eveera.” He says slowly, testing it out. “I don’t think I need to tell you how proud I am of who you have become. For the queen you are now,” I smirk, “but even with the growth you’ve made these past ten years - you’re still at times that same headstrong,obnoxious,and reckless young queen I was forced to train.” He laughs to himself, “I still remember the rage you came at me with. Your powers were in full swing, you had zero control. You were terrifying. Maybe more so back then. And I was your magical punching bag, trying to navigate the both of us through all of that. But we did it, because you chose to have a clear mind with everything.”

My brow cocks at him. “Are you saying I am not in control? That my mind isn’t clear? Or that I am behaving like a twelve year old with no manners.”

He drags his hand across his chin, thoughtfully. “I am saying - we are here foryou.Not him. You made this deal. We simply follow.” My gazenarrows at him, this speech sounding eerily similar to my argument with Ezra. “I am saying,do not losecontrol.Not around them. He is sneaking us into his own territory to fight a war that is not ours. You can’t afford to slip or to have a clouded mind.” His hand falls to my shoulder. “I trust you. Find that control. Nobody believes in you more than I do, little serpent.”

Little serpent.At the call of that name, the serpents on my skin slither slightly, a memory of him taking me into Oriya after my Wielding nearly killed us both surfaces and I smile. His hand has slid down my arm, tracing one of the markings. The same look of reminiscing flits across his features. He was the first person aside from Felix to show me familial love after my parents died. Someone I can count on still to be willing to do anything for me. Even if it’s walking directly into the mouth of a beast we aren’t prepared for. I shrink away from the tender moment, not wanting to dwell in it for too long. At the shift in my demeanor he switches back to his professional persona and leaves me and my horse.

Rorin and Mousy announced they’d be leading the rest of the journey. Not giving any of the rest of us a choice in the matter. Apparently their faces need to be seen first to prevent any “accidents” as Mousy says.

I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for any other hordes that may have decided to become self-aware and attack. So far in the few hours we’ve now ridden there has been no issues. The terrain is starting to get more unfamiliar the closer we get to the border. The only times I have been out this far have been with Vada to deal with the outer land situation.

I’ve tried reaching out to her since last night but it’s been silent.Big lizard baby.

“Where’s your head at, Evie?” Axel asks, sidling up to me.

“Oh you know, just the impending shit storm we are probably walking into. I’ll kick ass, of course.” I wink at him.

That same goofy grin of his spreads across his face, “Of course.”

“Who’s ass are we kicking?” Orem’s voice pops in.

“Yours.” We say in unison earning us a frown from him and a laugh out of his brother.

He puffs his chest out. “I could kick your ass, Mecham!” He points back and forth between Axel and Maxwell. “Bothyour asses!”

“Nobody is kicking anybody’s ass. Enough with the immature banter.” Ezra barks.

Axel lets out an exaggerated gasp. “Evie, I think he just called you immature.” He looks over to his head of command mischief already brewing behind those deep brown eyes. “Hey Ez! Does the immature banter include the queen? Because if so, I wouldn’t count on keeping your head for too long.”

Ezra doesn’t respond - resuming his sulking at the back of the party. Petulant bastard. The two brothers and Axel chose to continue their argument of who would kick who’s ass while my attention switched to a very silent princeling and his comrade. A dangerous idea plays in my head as I saunter up to the two of them. “You’re both very quiet. No snide comments, no gasps of disgust or disapproval?” I hum.

Mousy’s jaw clenches at the sound of my voice. “I’m going home. So no. Today there is nothing you or your lot could do to irritate me.”

I smirk, “oh?” I ask, leaning down and reaching into my saddle bag. He eyes me warily as I fish around for the package Seth handed off to me before we left. “Absolutely nothing?”

He tilts his chin up and stares straight ahead. The prince gives me a dark look as he watches my hands deftly unwrap the parcel. With the final piece of wrapping falling away, the item rolls around in my palm, revealing itself. Rorin’s eyes widen and he gasps causing Mousy to whiparound his head and look. I fasten the string of the item around my fingers, allowing me better mobility and access to dangle it near Mousy.

He shrieks so loudly he almost falls off his horse. “WHAT THE BLEEDING GODS IS THAT?!” His voice shrill as the tone of his skin goes from beige to green.

“I thought it obvious?” I play dumb as I hook the item to my saddle. When neither party gives me a response, I sigh, “well, traveling with the full-sized head would have been preposterous. So I had it shrunk. Now Percy is travel sized! It’s so convenient!” I wave my wrist around, shaking the now shrunken version of their fallen comrade’s head around violently.

Mousy gags, his face can’t decide if he should look enraged or disgusted. One thing is for sure, his hatred for me has deepened. “You could have done literally anything else. Burned him, buried him, but to desecrate a man’s corpse?!” He shrieks.

Looking down I pat Percy’s head with my opposite hand, the action causing the soldier to gag a second time and speed his horse up to move far away from me. My chest rumbles with amusement. Much to my disappointment however, Rorin barely gave me much of a reaction. He quickly resumed his broody silent ride once Mousy’s horse was out from between us. Naturally, with the gap now there, our two animals gravitate closer.

“I’m guessing your father won’t appreciate my handiwork?” I ask, testing out our newfound telepathic capabilities. His shoulders roll backwards, the tension rippling through his back.

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