Page 12 of The Shifter's Queen

“I may have had the displeasure of meeting him… briefly,” she stiffly replied.

The woman’s harsh laugh startled her, and Elizabeth looked up to meet the amused eyes. Dark humor, tinged with a slight bitterness, stared back at her. The woman’s ruby red lips looked out of place against her pale flesh, making her look like a marionette doll instead of a living creature.

“This is too rich. The shifter king and a human? Not just any shifter, but one enchanted with the power to live forever has fallen for a mortal human,” the woman cackled.

Confusion once more swept through Elizabeth and she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Or’Ang doesn’t want me. We hardly know each other,” she said.

The woman shook her head. “A shifter knows when they meet their soul mate, unlike a simple, primitive human.”

Elizabeth stiffened when the woman took a step closer to her. Her features were distorting into that of her fox. Small, razor-sharp teeth were now visible along with claws that would leave a horrible scar.

“Please, my father and I just want to continue our journey. We are going far from here. You have no need to worry about me,” she defended.

“It is too late for that, I’m afraid. Take her.”

The scream on Elizabeth’s lips was muffled by a beefy, callused palm. She dropped the reins and fought against the hands dragging her off the bench seat of the cart and onto the ground. She kicked wildly, trying to escape. Near her, she heard her father yelling and struggling before his voice was suddenly silenced.

Rough hands jerked her hands in front of her and tied them together with a coarse rope, while a silk handkerchief was used to gag her. She tried kicking the guard when he bent to tie her ankles. A whimper of pain slipped from her when she felt a sharp kick to her side. The woman stood above her with a savage expression of satisfaction on her face.

“If I can’t have him, then he can’t have you,” the woman snipped before she looked at the guard. “Put her in the carriage. I want to be away from here before Or’Ang realizes what’s happened to her.”

“What do you want us to do with the old man and the cart?” a guard asked.

The woman shrugged. “Send them over the cliff. Let the fish enjoy his corpse.”

Elizabeth released a smothered cry of outrage and struggled against her captors. Her eyes frantically searched for her father. Tears burned her eyes when she saw two guards lift his unconscious body and carry it toward their cart. Her view was blocked as she stumbled into the carriage and landed against the far door.

She scooted back as far as she could and pulled her knees up as the woman and pompous man entered. The woman settled on the seat to the back of the carriage while the man sat facing across from her. Elizabeth watched with despair as the woman smoothed her vivid ruby-colored gown out around her and sat back as the carriage began to move.

“What do you plan to do with her? If Or’Ang finds out what you’ve done—,” the man blustered.

“Oh, shut up, Father. By the time I’m finished with both of them, Or’Ang’s magic will belong to me and both of them can enjoy eternity in hell together,” the woman snapped.

Or’Ang’s heart pounded in time with the huge black stallion’s pounding hooves that he was riding. Beside him, Polar kept pace with him while the rest of the royal guards followed behind. He cursed the delay that had hampered him leaving earlier. If Bobbin had demanded one more urgent request this morning, he would have sent the man to the kitchens for the rest of eternity.

As it was, it was well after mid-morning before he had escaped the castle and traveled to the human village. The villagers had greeted him with cheerful smiles and an abundance of offerings, which he had graciously turned down for news of the traveling bard and his beautiful daughter, Elizabeth. After several false starts, they finally found the location where Elizabeth and her father had camped.

The coals from the fire had been cold, but the tracks were still fresh. Following them, had resulted in another hour of delay. He slowed when he noticed tracks veering off the main road. Tugging on the reins, he drew his horse to a stop and studied the ground. The horses pranced, sensing their masters’ unease.

“There are additional foot tracks, as if the cart was being guided,” Polar said, his eyes sweeping the ground.

“Sire, I found this,” a guard called.

Or’Ang tapped his mount forward. The guard held out a petite blue shoe. He recognized it as Elizabeth’s. His eyes moved from the road ahead of him to the faint line of tracks leading to the west.

“Beo, I need you to track this,” he requested in a tight voice, pointing. “Polar, you follow those tracks,” indicating the others.

“Yes, sire.”

Polar motioned for four guards to ride with him and rode off while the wolf shifter slid from his mount and handed the reins to another guard. A minute later, the guard had shifted into his wolf and was weaving back and forth along the faint trail. Or’Ang tapped his heels to his mount’s side and took off after Beo when the wolf bolted.

Darkness was falling by the time Beo slowed to crouch. He motioned for the others to dismount. Drawing his sword, they spread out and began to approach the spot that had been set up. He held up his hand and motioned for everyone to crouch. With a rotation of his finger in the air, he instructed three guards to shift.

Seconds later, the soft swoosh of wings and the silhouettes of three owls swept across his vision. Owl shifters were unheard of among the shifter population. He, Polar, and Oliver had determined the magic in the tome given to him by the red panda had caused the mutation. There had been a passage in the tome that spoke of the Guardians that would appear. These would be wise creatures, able to blend in to their environment and shift from one form to another using the magic entrusted to them as guardians. There were other guardians, such as Beo, gifted with the ability to disappear into the shadows.

The red panda had explained that the guardians were necessary to protect the magic of not only the tome, but of the king and his loyal advisors. He cautioned that once gifted with these powers, they would be handed down and must be protected to ensure the survival of humans and shifters alike.

“The Goddess gave this magic to protect. It must never fall into the wrong hands.”

---