Chapter 16
W hat are we going to do?”
Bink shushed the stupid human as he tried to think of something, anything to get them out of this. So much for having control of the situation.
He had control of nothing.
“We have to stay hidden,” he whispered to Fort, forcing the human to crouch down. They were in one of the lower rooms of the palace, doing their best to stay out of sight and away from the hearing of the centaurs.
At this point, he didn’t know if Keryna was alive or dead. Nor did he care. Meara had tortured her for the wand that he still had in the pouch at his side.
A part of him wanted to use it to barter with the queen. But the saner part of him knew better than to try. There was no reasoning with her. She was even more ruthless than Dash.
The one good thing about the High King was that he didn’t believe in torture. He punished those who deserved it and at times he made an example of them. But unlike the queen, he didn’t relish cruelty.
She did.
Even now, Bink heard the screams of those who were begging for mercy. Begging for death.
That evil bitch enjoyed the sounds of it. She treated it like a symphony and even dined while they suffered.
How had he lost control of this so quickly? He still didn’t know. He was supposed to be king. Not hiding like a rat in a sewer.
Fort was supposed to be a celebrated dragon slayer.
Now...
They would be lucky to escape with their lives and appendages.
Think, Bink. Think.
He still had the golden wand. That meant that, at the worst, he had something with which to bargain. Meara was tearing apart the palace and everyone she could in her efforts to find what he had.
That gave him an advantage.
You can’t negotiate with crazy.
He knew that, too.
But the stupid human didn’t. He glanced over to Fort as he considered his options.
Humans did have their uses.
“Fort... I have something you can do.”
“What?”
“The queen wants what we have, right?”
He nodded.
“Let’s give it to her.”
Fort scratched his head. “I thought we were going to sell it and be rich.”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re going to offer it to her and be rewarded.”
Fort screwed his face up. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re going to take your dragon skull and the spell to her. Show them to her so that she knows you’re serious. I’ll stay behind to keep the wand safe until we have a bargain.”
Fort scratched at his nose. “I don’t know, Bink. It seems like a bad idea.”
But it was the only shot they had at getting out of this mess. “You have to trust me.”
After a few seconds, Fort nodded. “All right. What do I need to do?”
Bink pulled out a copy of the spell and handed it over to the human. “You’ll need this. Take it to the queen and make sure you repeat everything I tell you.”
Meara was in a rare tantrum as she paced the floor of Dash’s office. Honestly, she was homesick. She hated being in these lands. They were too...
Happy for her tastes. What was wrong with the unicorns? They really were an inferior species. All they wanted to do was sit around and write poetry and philosophy. Play music. Discuss ideas.
Respect each other. Have laws...
It was nauseating. Where were the blood sports? Criminals in need of punishment?
At least Dash’s father had believed in a good round of gladiatorial games.
Dash had learned nothing from his time in her lands.
How many more unicorns would she have to kill to learn something more than what she already knew?
While the killing should make her happy, it was beginning to just piss her off. Were they all really this stupid?
How could none of them know where Renata’s body was?
Or her horn?
They were all useless. Absolutely useless.
“My queen?”
She stopped pacing as Adsel came into the room. “Yes?”
“I have a human here who wants to speak with you.”
A human? How novel. She hadn’t run into that many of them here in the palace. Although, she’d been told there were quite a few of them in the town. “Why?”
“He says he has knowledge of the wand you seek.”
Now that got her attention. “Then by all means, show him in.”
She turned toward the door to watch the pathetic little wastrel enter. He had a weasel-like quality to him, which wasn’t helped by his scraggly beard. She waited a moment for him to speak.
Instead, he shook so badly that she expected he might piss on the marble floor.
“Do you have a reason for being here?” she prompted.
“I... I...” He cleared his throat.
“You what?” she said testily. Are an idiot? That was a given, and she wasn’t sure how she held the insult in.
“I am a great dragon slayer.”
Meara laughed. Him ? He was quaking in fear of her, and she was about half the size of a dragon’s claw. How could he face down a dragon if she scared him this badly?
Imbecile.
Yet her laughter made his cheeks flush with color. “I know where the wand is.”
That killed her laughter instantly. “You know what?”
“The wand you seek. I know where it is.”
Now, she was paying attention. “How? Where?”
He swallowed audibly. “I took it from Keryna.” He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and held it out to her. “I also have a spell you can use to kill the unicorn king.”
She glanced to Adsel who quickly took the missive and read it.
“It appears to be so, my queen.” He handed it to her.
Finally, she found a modicum of happiness.
Taking it from her advisor, she eagerly read over the items.
Which then eroded her joy. Seriously? Was this a joke? Or madness? “Who the hell has the skin of a flayed murderer? Virgin troll... what? This is the dumbest spell I’ve ever seen! Who came up with this?”
The human actually raised his hand. “I don’t know who made the spell. But we have all those items.”
“ We ?” she asked.
“My partner and I. We collected them.”
That was beginning to lift her spirits a tad. Meara arched a brow at Adsel. “And where, pray tell, is this partner?”
“Guarding the wand or horn thing you need.”
She carefully folded up the spell. “Well, we’ll just have to find that partner of yours, won’t we?”
“Uh...” The human began to panic as he looked around the room. He backed up and ran into Adsel. “He... he... said?—”
“I don’t care what he said, human. You’re going to tell me everything I want to know.”