Page 91 of Faeling
She stared out at the sea of tusked faces, not sure if she could believe it.
Ravenna dropped back down into his arms with anoof, leaving her heart somewhere up above his head.
That head dropped down to claim a big, overblown kiss that got the column cheering even louder.
When he pulled back, it was with a smug little grin. She met it with a scowl.
As the cheers continued to ring, filling every gorge and ravine for leagues, Ravenna poked Vallek’s chest and whispered, “If I’m going to be queen, then from now on, wediscussthings like thisbeforehand. Yes?”
Vallek grinned down at her, breezily agreeing. “Of course,skala.” Of course, because he’d already gotten what he wanted.Ravenna rolled her eyes. Fine. Starting now.
An idea came to her then, making her lips curl with evil delight.
Well, starting in a moment.
Oberon, are you near enough to make a dramatic entrance?
Yes, but you have much explaining to do.
Oh, she was sure. She’d told Oberon the rudiments of what happened, and while he’d wanted to charge in to help last night, she’d warned against it. The orcs would be especially wary without their king, and Vallek was wound tight as an orc defending his mate.
Now, though, she welcomed Oberon’s help.
When the cheers finally began to abate, Vallek called, “Let us leave this place. Move out!”
His order sent the camp into a frenzy of activity. More quietly to her, he said, “I don’t want to linger in this place. We won’t travel far, though, and I will carry you.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
His brows arched in surprise, but before he could say anything, gasps rang out from the back of the column.
“Unicorns!”
Vallek’s gaze lifted to see Oberon charging up the line, the three younger unicorns close behind him. Herazaisighed mightily.
This time, it was her who grinned and him who scowled.
Vallek jumped down from their perch in time to meet Oberon. The gray unicorn pawed the earth, horn bobbing through the air.
“Another lift, if you please, mate.”
Vallek huffed a laugh, doing as she asked and boosting her onto Oberon’s back.
She’d just gotten her seat when the unicorn warned,Hold onto me.
Ravenna threw her hands into his mane and leaned forward as Oberon reared onto his hind legs, letting loose a thunderous whinny. His front hooves punched the air, and his horn glittered in the sunlight.
It was a dazzling sight, she was sure, but it was a relief when he came back to standing.
“This is Oberon,” she announced to the stunned orcs. “He is my guardian and means you no harm.”
That remains to be seen.
Please behave. This is all very new to me.
Is that an order from the queen?He snorted a horsey laugh.Now, tell me all about these scrapes and who I need to stab.
They indeed didn’t travel far that day, not by their usual standards, but the landscape was different when afternoon found them, and that was good enough for Vallek. He called for a halt, and as the camp began to spring up around him, he helpedhis weary mate down from her lofty perch.
