Page 11 of Faerie Hunted

The moment the three of us made it into the safe room, she closed the door behind us and locked it tightly. There were only a handful of people in the room.

Four guards watched over them, with the queen seated comfortably on a pile of pillows nearby.

“I’m glad to hear you’ll be joining us back in the kitchen soon. We’ve missed your incompetence.” Raelynn fell into step beside me, careful not to jostle the IV stand. “Although I’m sorry to say you’ll no longer be welcome at the breadmaking station. We’ve found another girl who is rather a whiz with the yeast. Still, I’ll be happy to have you back. Despite your troublemaking.”

I grinned. “It’s good to see you.” And much to my surprise, itwasgood to see Raelynn.

Although the reunion wasn’t enough to get the bubbling nerves out of my veins.

Mike pressed an assuring hand to the small of my back before he shifted over to check on his mother, their heads bent together and their conversation too low to hear.

Besides them and the guards, there were six others in the room and only one of them was familiar, a courtier I’d seen at several balls in the past.

The visiting dignitaries must either be in a different safe room or they’d left sometime during my sickness.

“Captain Hezarwick?” Mike called out. He hadn't left his mother’s side. “What’s the status?”

One of the guards straightened his shoulders at being called upon. “We’re awaiting updates. My men are in the process of securing the palace from all outside threats.” His square chin jutted out. “Once it’s safe to return, Your Highness, you will be the first to know.”

What size threat had set off the alarms? It had to be big, because I’d never heard them go off before.

Mike’s quick thinking had got me to this safe place but how long would we have to stay?

The space was large enough to house double the number of people who were present, and a quick glance around showed all the comforts of the castle overhead.

Two small doors were sunk into the stone walls. One of them probably led to a bathroom, and if I had to guess, the other stored enough supplies to keep the monarchy alive through a siege.

And here I stood with my knees clacking together in a room full of people who wouldn’t hesitate to cut off my head. Except for the queen, and Mike.

Baldric stood at my back and pressed me toward a thick pillow several feet away from the queen. “Come on, Tavi, let’s get you comfortable,” he said in a voice like falling leaves. “It’s no good for you to stand this way, not after exerting yourself.”

Raelynn drifted away as Baldric helped me seat myself on the pillow.

I glanced up at him, a question in my eyes. “You know me?”

“I’ve been assisting you through your recovery.” Baldric bobbed his head. “You can trust me. I understand the delicacy of your situation.”

My chest clenched and I automatically wanted to tell him that I didn’t trust anyone. I couldn’t.

“Sir? We’ve just received communication that they’re unable to locate the threat.” Captain Hezarwick bent his ear to a small garnet-colored stone at the neck of his uniform. He paused, listening, and then said out loud, “They’ve cordoned off the south wing and are proceeding to the west wing as we speak.”

A knot formed in my gut the longer we sat. Several more dispatches came through while we waited, tensed, straining to hear whatever it was the captain heard.

This wasn’t how I wanted the day to go, and although Mike remained perched nearby, the room separating us might as well be a chasm.

I wanted to talk to him. I wanted?—

Suddenly the captain stiffened and the blood drained from his face.

“What’s happening?” Queen Laina asked. “Hezarwick?”

He straightened. “The radios have gone silent.”

A moment later, a large boom rocked outside the steel door and the room shook. I froze, Baldric in a similar state of terror at my side, my hand reaching out for a direwolf who wasn’t there.

A questioning howl rose from right outside and I gasped.

“It’s Noren!” I struggled to my feet in an attempt to get to the door and let the direwolf inside. “He trailed us down here.”

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