Chapter 19
Plus-one
Lowering my gaze yet again, I heard the swish of the Queen’s stunning dress as she glided towards me across the grass.
“Rise, human,” she ordered when she stopped by the bed. I could see her toes below the dress’ hem and the gold rings decorating most of them.
“I–I’m not sure I can.”
I didn’t want to admit to a weakness when I was clearly being assessed. But getting up and falling over if my ankle turned out not to be fully operational yet would be worse.
“She is lame?” the Queen asked, scrunching her nose.
“Just injured,” I specified before Karim could reply for me.
Her pretending I couldn’t speak for myself awoke something in me. I didn’t want to cause further trouble for Karim, but I had kept my head down and taken her royal attitude in silence long enough.
“I’ll recover fully,” I told her as I lifted my gaze. “Queen Mesia.”
Laughter as gentle as the sound of raindrops on leaves, filled the room. “Bold, is she not? Addressing me directly, and when she has not been allowed to speak, at that.”
“Sister, leave her be.”
“You may have convinced me not to execute anyone for today’s transgressions, brother, but you cannot stop me from talking to your chosen one. She seems fully capable of defending herself. At least, as far as words go; she wouldn’t last two seconds in a fight against me.”
Her eyes locked with mine, and I felt my heart stutter. Her gaze, met full-on, was as loaded with power as Karim’s. But while his eyes held warmth when he looked at me, hers were a black void of coldness.
“Now tell me,” she addressed me personally this time, her gaze unwavering, “are you the human my brother took from her gardening duties at noon yesterday?”
If she expected me to break eye contact first, she was up for a long wait. “Yes, I am.”
“Did you go to the surface together?”
“Yes.”
“To retrieve a rare specimen?”
“Yes.”
“Were you injured while trying to escape from the Kingdom?”
“No. We were attacked by werewolves.”
“The pack of dead moon-cursed my warriors had to clean up last night,” the Queen noted with distaste. “So much trouble because of your presence, human. What happened next? You couldn’t run to save your life, slow and clumsy as your kind are?”
Her disdain toward humans was palpable. Nothing I said could change her view, so I might as well be frank. “I ran as fast as one could after being restricted to a cave and gardening on my knees for hours on end for a month.”
The corners of her pink-painted lips tipped up, but the smile never reached her eyes. “Your human is not just bold but also strongly opinionated,” she told Karim without taking her eyes off me.
Mine started to water, but there was no way I would lose this staring contest. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Tell me then, what do you think you’ll achieve by getting my brother wrapped around your short braid? Freedom from the gardens and no hard work?”
I hesitated for just a second. “Yes, I want freedom. Both for myself and the other humans here. But I’m not trying to wrap anyone around my finger–braid.”
She nodded more to herself than me. “What else do you want? Power?”
“No!”
“Do you wish to replace me as Queen?”
“No, why would I?” What was she getting at? Karim and I had just kissed for the first time, and she was acting as if we were getting married and becoming the royal couple tomorrow.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why would you not?”
“It would be foolish to want something that would drain the joy of living.” She wanted the truth? There it was. One look at her face in the mirror would tell her everything she needed to know.
The Queen turned abruptly toward Karim to her right, her jaw clenched tight. I didn’t think she realized she’d lost her own eye challenge. “What have you told her about me?”
“Nothing. Jasmine is very perceptive. Just leave her be, Mesia.”
No such luck. She went back to grilling me, and with renewed fervor. “What could you possibly want from my brother, then? You enjoyed his touch so much?”
“Uhh…” I instinctively looked his way for guidance, but he looked as interested in hearing my answer as the Queen was. “We haven’t actually… interacted–”
“You desire him, then?”
Did she notice the tips of my ears grow darker? “Yes,” I confessed awkwardly.
“You find his looks, so different from a human’s, attractive?”
“Yes.”
“You find his personality attractive?”
“Yes!” This time when I looked Karim’s way, I saw the ghost of a smile soften his features. At least, something good came out of this interrogation.
“Final question, human. Are you fertile?”
I gaped. So in addition to marrying us off, she was already planning our children?
“That’s enough,” Karim interfered.
Thank heavens.
“I’m simply looking out for you, brother.”
He gave her a pointed look. “This is about the Kingdom, not protecting me from heartache.”
She lifted her chin. “Can you blame me? Someone has to put our Kingdom first. And that someone obviously isn’t you.”
Karim sighed. “You’ve made your point, sister. Now that you’ve gotten your answers and everything has settled between us, you may leave.”
“Your hospitality is touching.” The Queen headed for the exit. I nearly exhaled in relief–until she paused at the door. “You may wish to offer better hospitality to our guests tonight.”
Guests?
“What guests?”
I caught a flash of satisfaction in the Queen’s eyes.
“If you hadn’t been taking a bath at the time of Katsia’s visit, she would have told you.
” At Karim’s sharp look her way, Mesia went on.
“Katsia was supposed to pass on the message I received earlier today. The gargoyles have agreed to hold the negotiations here.”
Surprise and excitement flickered across Karim’s face. “They will come to our territory?”
The Queen nodded.
I could only listen and strive not to gape. This was the second time I was hearing of gargoyles, and they would be coming here? Just how many types of monsters were out there that I knew nothing about?
“They’ve also agreed to adhere to the ancient tradition of hostage exchange,” Mesia went on. “Since officially you are the highest-ranking elf in the Kingdom after me, you will serve as one of the hostages on the surface during the negotiations. Katsia was supposed to be the second one, but now–”
“Why two hostages? Isn’t my life in their hands enough proof that you won’t stab their King in the back?”
“Because, dear brother, the tailed monarch will bring a plus-one to the negotiations.” The Queen’s expression turned smug, as though she had checkmated Karim. “He wants to show off his newly found mate. A human. You’ll have to bring yours.”
Karim clenched his jaw.
“Your poor choice today may work in our favor. As far as the gargoyles are concerned, that is.” The Queen directed an eerie smile my way. “One human enters the Kingdom, one human exits it. The gargoyles will be more than pleased with their second hostage.”
Hoo boy. Couldn’t I get just five minutes to rejoice over the fact neither me nor my new friends were getting executed? But no, I was being thrown immediately in yet another life-threatening situation.
Karim’s piercing look at the Queen showed his opinion on our latest predicament. Well, at least we’d be hostages on the surface together.
“Make sure your human is dressed properly and can accompany you by sundown.”
Whoa. The Queen upgraded me from the human to your human–I was growing on her already. Like a weed.
“Join me in the Great Cavern shortly to discuss the details. You wanted us to accept the gargoyles’ offer for alliance talks–now you will come up with my speech for the negotiations tonight.”
Karim’s lips were pressed into a hard line but he nodded. He’d won the fight for my life and Deidre’s, but his half-sister had scored a victory nonetheless.
With a final assessing look my way, the Queen left.
Phew. Alone again at last.
Karim came to kneel in front of me by the bed. “Jasmine, do not worry.” He didn’t touch me, but his soft tone and expression as he looked up at me, melted my heart just the same. “I do not have time to explain anything now, but please know all will be fine.”
I let out a shaky breath and nodded.
“I will send for Deidre. She will get you ready for tonight.”
“But what are we preparing for?”
“We’ll spend some time on the surface in the company of gargoyle warriors. Their kind is protective of humans. You have nothing to fear.”
He paused for a second there, and I thought I knew why. I had nothing to fear… as long as the Queen didn’t turn on the Gargoyle King during the negotiations.
Karim being a hostage might make her think twice about taking such backstabbing actions. But wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity for her to eliminate her half-brother without breaking the no-siblicide law?
No, I had to believe she wasn’t an evil person.
She’d sworn to their father to rule jointly with Karim, and was doing so in secret, meaning her subjects would not judge her if she broke her oath.
But she didn’t. She actually wanted Karim to ascend to the throne after her.
She even spoke the language of his mother with him.
Besides, I had the feeling she cared for him, in her own way.
Then again, I was an expert in plants, not humans and least of all elves.
“Jasmine.” Karim’s lyrical voice took me out of my own head. “Tell Deidre she has nothing to fear either. But she and I will have a serious word.”
“O-kay…”
“And one more thing.” He grew even more serious. “What you just overheard stays in this mosschamber. No one in the Kingdom but Tisvali and Deidre knows about me ruling alongside Mesia. I trust no one else with this secret.”
“You trust me?”
He rose to his feet and cupped my cheeks, fingers sliding in my hair as his eyes regarded me with warmth. Then his lips caught mine in a quick but deep kiss.
I panted, greedy for his taste, but the kiss was over as unexpectedly as he’d started it.
“We will continue where we left off later tonight, temptress,” he promised over my lips. Then he pulled away abruptly, as if one moment more of touching me would make it impossible for him to stop.
I wasn’t sure what awaited me tonight in the company of gargoyles. But as I watched Karim leave with a final look my way, I was sure that later tonight couldn’t come soon enough.