Page 43 of The Nightmare Queen

“Looks like we both have been dishonest since your return.” He’s right. We didn’t tell him the whole of what happened in Obsidian yet either. My reaction wasn’t very fair.

The two of us stare at each other, “we’ve been at this too long.” He says helping fill the silence. I nod my head and drink the last sip in my glass before filling it another two fingers.

“Hey princeling — oh, you’re still here.” My eyes widen when a very damp queen appears just to the side of my friend. Bennett’s mouth drops slightly as he scoots out of her way. When her back is completely to him he looks over to me and mouths,“Oh my gods.”

Indeed…I say to myself.

“Didn’t realizeour room,” She gags saying the words, “involved other people coming and going as they please.”

I prop my leg up on top of the opposite knee, reclining in my seat. “As you can see, Your Highness, this is an office. That means people often come into it seeking me out.”

She rolls her eyes at my tone. “Right…well I am seeking out food. So can we wrap this up, and go fix that scenario?” She folds her arms over her chest, her breasts threatening to burst out of her towel at the new position. Bennett’s head rolls against the door jam as he avoids looking over her shoulder like an immature schoolboy. His blatant ogling in front of me spurs an unsettling feeling of discomfort. I push up from my desk, slyly adjusting an unwanted reaction to her toweled body.Fucking thing has a mind of its own.

“We have a brief to go to first.”

She groans, her head dropping back, further threatening the integrity of that towel. Bennett’s eyes finally pinch shut at her brazenness - but I fear that’s more because he doesn’t want her to catch him staring and less because he feels uncomfortable.

“Fine.” She spins on her bare heel, pushing her finger under Bennett’s chin and closes his mouth that is still open, “you dropped this.”

I slap Bennett upside the head following after her. “Ow.” He yelps, rubbing the backside of it. “I guess, I’ll just leave you two…” His words trailing off as he waggles his brows at me.

“Out.” I say, pointing to my doors. He leaves making obscene hand gestures on his way out while I stick around waiting for Eveera and nursing another bourbon. She finally comes out of my bedroom with her hair wound into two loosely braided plaits and a green and black gown that might as well be another layer of skin it’s so tight. The slit in her dress is nearly to her hip bone, leaving her thigh holster clad with two daggers and a throwing star visible. The serpent tattoos her skin boasts are on full display tonight. I cover up my dropped jaw by taking a large gulp. She walks over to me and props up her foot in mid air.

“Planning on holding that position all night, Nightmare?” I ask, still hiding behind my glass.

Her expression feigns innocence, “help a lady out, will you?” She throws in a bat of her eyelashes and a smile. Anyone who didn’t know her, would probably swoon.

“Devilish woman.” I chide. Moving slowly towards her to close the gap, her chin raises to keep the eye contact. I drop down on one knee, my hand fitting around her right ankle and guiding it to rest on top of my pant leg. My fingers make quick work on the laces and switch to her other foot. “Satisfied?” My head cocks up at her, my hand settling on the back of her calf. It takes conscious effort on my part to not rub slow circles on the incredibly soft skin with my thumb while I hold her into place.

She tilts her down head at me, her grin turning mischievous. “With you on your knees? Very.”

I shove her foot off my knee, the tension cutting through like a knife. She stumbles a little due to the lack of stability. It takes all of my self resolve to walk away from her and out of my apartments. “You are anything but a lady by the way.”I quip into her mind.

We made our way outside and back to the stables. I notice her saddle is lacking a certain new adornment, which can mean one of two things, she either put him away or he’s sitting in my apartments.Where I have to sleep…great.

Eveera doesn't bother waiting for Bennett and Will to lead us towards camp, taking off on her house at maximum speed.

Blasted woman doesn’t even know where she’s supposed to go.I gripe to myself.

Our group chases after her, Bennett racing to get ahead. We could hear the camp before actually seeing any tents. The noise of all the soldiers overwhelming.I’d forgotten how raucous war camps could be.Soldiers mill about in between the different tents barely sparing us a glance as we dismount from our horses. That is, until they catch sight of awomanin their midst.

Bennett doesn’t allow us to stall as he winds us through them and deeper into camp. The further we move through the base, the closer I find myself moving towards Eveera. Armond does the same, taking it one step further and pushing her directly behind him, sandwiching her between the two of us. His push knocks her off balance and my hand grips underneath her ribcage, steadying her.

She shoves off my palm once she has righted herself, whipping her braids back into my face as she struts in front of me.

The large eight paneled briefing tent is hard to miss at the center of camp. Once inside of it we all fan out around the table, the four different captains filing in shortly after us. “Captains, thank you for meeting with us.” I greet, my voice carrying loudly throughout the canvas room. They all murmur their hellos, only one of them raising his eyes to look atme. “It’s good to be back, gentlemen. And this time I came home with something special. The army of Obsidian.” At that, the other three snap their heads up eyes narrowing on the queen beside me.

The captain closest to Bennett flicks his stare from the queen and then back to me, “Sir, I mean no disrespect in asking this question, but where in the hell are we meant to house another military force?” Bennett places a hand on his shoulder and pushes him back to his place in line.

“We come with our own provisions. You won’t have to worry your gilded heads about a thing.” She answers for me, not bothering to look up from picking at her nails.

I had the captains reprise us on recent events, giving Eveera the shortened version of what we’ve dealt with for years. Hadar’s Guards continued to test our resolve by inching their soldiers closer to the border which lead to a few night ambushes. The men however, seem to have recovered as far as I can tell.

“I want to go to the front lines.”She states into my mind not leaving any room for arguing as she takes off out of the tent. Axel and I drop our heads in defeat, already hot on her heels. We find her standing at the edge of the trenches. A focused expression planted on her face.

“They’ve been advancing closer and closer every few days. Some bizarre intimidation tactic.” One of the soldiers who’d taken notice of us shares.

Eveera leans forward. “It’s not bizarre. It’s bold, but not bizarre. The way your camps are set up you can see each other clear as day. Very little room for any element of surprise or ambushing. See that ridge over there?” She points over to a steep hillside overgrown with trees and bushes. That area bridges between the two militaries. “You’re not using that enough to your advantage. Buttheyare. By the time they’re on you with their full force, it won’t be a simple ambush. You’ll be so distracted by adirect hit on your front that you’ll never see the rest of them coming from behind that ridge. They’ll envelop your camp from two sides and you won’t stand a chance.”

---