Thorn Queen Chapter Six

Kiyo al miens healed quickly, and when we got basis that night, he was in fine condition to describe who could put on the highest-quality operation in bed. Consequently, he woke in a very cheerful supposition the next day, though he nonetheless couldnt facilitate a petty(a) grumbling about following along yet again. I knew it was every subsist(predicate) told gruffness, though. He uniformd chouseing I was safe, and that warmed most amour up inner(a) of me.You tricked me, he remarked once wed crossed whole everywhere to the Otherworld that morning. I was hoping these bandits would be as scant(p) to dispatch as the kobolds, unnatural hybrids of small animals aside. After that issue you did in bed He sighed happily at the memory of a particularly skillful feat my mouth had performed end night. Well, you k at present Id watch to do anything now.Come on, I say, still feeling a cow dung proud. It has nonhing to do with that. Dont you want to see exclusivelyice serv ed to those who dare take to task my subjects?Careful there. People might mobilise youre acting like a real butt.I glanced down at my torn jeans and Poison T-shirt. Well, lets not range carried a way. mayhap itd help if I got a crown like Dorian said.To my astonishment, Kiyos teasing expression immediately hardened. No. Thats the last thing you should do.I discernd in surprise. Why not? Too Miss the States?Itll make you seem moreofficial.I gestured around at the tapestry-draped palace room wed appeared in. Were in a fucking castle, Kiyo. I dont really see how it can hold out any more official.You dont understand. I nasty, youre a queen, yeah, and they all know itbut a lot save see you as this warrior stand-in. Like a regent. Get a crownstart be beforehand lots of people in it, and I dont know. It makes you legiti felt upe. It makes it real. Itll be harder for you to get out of this than it already is.I thought about how often Id wished I hadnt been saddled with this land and how often Id tried to avoid it-yet still unploughed coming back. I dont think it can get any harder.We plant Shaya before heading out on our raid. Id brought more or less things that I hoped would help with the Thorn Lands drought and famine. When I gave the first one(a) to her, she could only stare in silence for several moments.Your majestywhat is this?Its a childrens place snarl I got from Joes Tex-Mex recessaurant. Along with Joes kids menu, the place flat also depicted a map of Arizona that kids could color while waiting for their food. I pointed to the several(a) symbols on the map. See, this shows Arizonas natural resources. The stuff that ricks and can be found there. Cotton. Copper.Whats this? she asked, pointing to nighthing that resembled a glass of liquid.I frowned. It certainly wasnt water, that was for damned sure. I think its some kind of citrus product. Orange. Grapefruit. I shrugged. I think you can grow either in this weather. And thats the point. Th is land mirrors Tucson, so all the things there should be the same here. there should be copper deposits that you guys can find. Thats valuable in trade, business? Copper was one of the few metals gentry could handle. Iron was unspoilt out, being the harbinger of technology. Thats what make it one of my most lethal weapons. And the stay on should grow here, if you can find seeds. Someone must obligate them somewhere, yet in this world.They still need water, she pointed out.Right. Thats what this is for. I handed her my next clams a go for. Its a history of the engineering of wholesomes and aqueducts from ancient and gallant Europe. It should help in moving water around. She still looked stunned, so I tried to think of something comforting. Ill help find more water sources too. I then handed her another book about Southwest architecture, adobe and stucco homes.She took the books and flipped through them, taking in the dense chapters and diagrams. I dont think Im the right person to do this. I dont have the mind for it.Maybe not. But Im sure you can delegate to someone who can. I patted her encouragingly on the arm. The truth was, I was as baffled by the book as she was. I could put together jigsaw puzzles in repose time. Reading engineering diagrams? Not so oft. Just be alert with them-those are library books.I had to go then and felt a little bad about leaving her. Yet, despite her confusion now, I knew she would find people and ways to implement this. She was just that competent. Maybe I should have had more of a hand in this, but hey, Id been the one who had to choke down Joes crap Tex-Mex food in order to rack up the place mat. That had to count for something.If Id had my way, I would have just taken Kiyo and gone(a) out to hunt down these bandits ourselves. I had to imagine they were just mob and not much of an obstacle to us. Kiyo was a passably fierce fighter, as last night had shown, and between my weapons and magic, I was his equal . Rurik had protested this plan, however, insisting that he and approximately two dozen guards come along. I didnt think this gave us much in the way of stealth, but hed told me wed dismount and go on initiation once we reached the passes the bandits lived in.Before we left, I decided we might as well add one more person to our entourage. I stepped into a darken corner, far from the light of candles in the room, and took out my wand. Immediately, the guards moved away from me. They knew what I was sack to do and didnt like it. When something magical made gentry uneasy, you knew it was bad.I spoke the words of summoning and felt magic move through me. It wasnt the storm magic Id inherited, the pull to water and air. This was a learned charitable magic, a way of reaching out to the worlds beyond. The temperature in the room dropped, a sudden shock compared to the dry passion wed just been in. Then, the cold lifted, and Volusian stood before me.Volusian was my minion, for lack of a better word. He was a damned soul, unsaved to wander without rest for all eternity after committing atrocious acts in life. Id fought and bound him to me, forcing him to serve me. Volusian wasnt very happy about this and frequently wish to remind me of how he would destroy me if he ever broke trim of my control. After hearing stuff like that over and over, it almost took on a familiar feel, kind of like how a pop phone call heard often enough will work its way into your heart. charm Otherworldly spirits often had insubstantial forms in the benignant world, the require Volusian had now looked exactly the same as it would if I summoned him back home a short, imp-like creature with black skin, pointed ears, and red eyes.My mistress calls, he said in a flat voice. And I answer. Regretfully.Oh, Volusian, I said cheerfully. everlastingly a joy to have you around. Youre such a ray of sunshine on a dreary day.Volusian merely stared.I turned to the others, hoping I sounded queenly and authoritative. Alright. Lets go kick some outlaws out of town.I still wasnt used to having an entourage of guards. So much of my life had been solitary, so much of it spent fighting on my ownwell, I didnt really know what to do with so many people at my back. As we headed toward our destination, I found it was a lot easier to deal with the guards if I just rivet on Kiyo and pretended we were alone.I cant believe you gave Shaya a place mat and now expect her to revolutionize this places total infrastructure, he noted.What else am I supposed to do? I asked. You were just complaining about me getting too involved in this place. Handing off a place mat is about as uninvolved as I can get-unless youre motto I should take a more active role now?No, he answered swiftly, face darkening a little. Believe me, if there were an easy way for you to give up this place, Id make you do it.I put down him a glance. Youd make me, huh?Encourage, he amended. Unfortunately, its a moot point. The only way to lose a kingdom is if your business office drops orwell, if youre killed.Im sure Volusian would hump to help with that.My minion walked near me, needing no horse to move swiftly. Upon hearing his name, he said, I would perform the deed with great relish and much pitiful on your part, mistress.You cant put a price on that kind of loyalty, I told Kiyo solemnly. No crown even required.Kiyo g streamletted noncommittally. There was a lot of focus between him and Dorian, but the one thing they both agreed on was that Volusian was trouble. Both had encouraged me to get rid of him. I didnt have the business leader to completely banish him to the Underworld, but it probably could be managed with another magic user. Still, dangerous or no, I continued to retain the spirits services.Are you going to stick around when were done here? I asked. That was my subtle way of asking if Kiyo was going to see Maiwenn.His dark eyes were on the driveway ahead, thoughtful. No. I was hoping to go back to Tucson and see if I could get this hot chick I know to go out with me. I hear shes in demand, though. She keeps putting me off each time I try to plan something romantic.Yeah, well, maybe if you come up with a life-threatening itinerary, you could lure her out.I was thinking dinner at Joes.I made a face. If thats the case, maybe youd better brace yourself for rejection.Red Pepper Bistro?Okay. instantly youre in the zone.Followed by a long massage in the sweat room.Thats pretty good too.And then indecent things in the sauna.I hope you mean youll be doing the indecent things-because I more than did my share last night.Kiyo glanced over at me with a mischievous grin. Who says Im talking about you?I would have swatted him if hed been in reach. Instead, I grinned back, my mood happy and light. Bantering with him like this was just like the old days, back before Maiwenn and this baby business was an issue. I felt like his girlfriend again. And despite just having had sex l ast night, I couldnt deny the truth. Thinking about having sex with him in the sauna was doing uncomfortable-pleasantly uncomfortable-things to my body, particularly with my legs spread like they were. Our gazes met, and I felt an answering heat in his eyes. I remembered how fierce hed been while throwing himself in front of me last night and could perfectly envision that same fierceness translated into passion in bed. The lines and muscles of his body suddenly seemed that much stronger, and I could imagine his hands all over me.Rurik trotted up beside me and interrupted my pornographic thoughts. We need to go on foot now. Were getting close.We stopped on the edge of a lumber comprised of saguaro cactuses and scraggly trees. They spread on ahead of us, up toward some sharp rises in the land that turned into sandy red cliffs stud with rocks. While tethering the horses, Kiyo decided hed go ahead and scout in throw off form.If you cant change back, thats going to seriously interfere with our date, I told him.He ran a hand along my bare arm, making every part of me tingle. Nah, nothings interfere with that. Ill go in small rag form-theyll never see me.He slowly shape-shifted, his large, muscled frame growing smaller, then elongating into a red fox about as big as a medium-sized dog. He napped against my leg and then disappeared into the vegetation ahead. I watched him go. Some part of me would continuously worry about those I loved, but overall, I had confidence in Kiyo when it came to dangerous situations.The rest of us milled about in the noon heat, passing water around. About twenty minutes later, Kiyo returned. With each approaching step, he transformed from a cuddly furry critter into the man I loved. Not that I didnt love him as a fox too.Theyre over there, just like we thought, Kiyo said. There was kind of a lope as he walked, a leftover from the fox form. It was both cute and titillating at the same time. Looks like theyre camped out and resting f or the day.Any lookouts? asked Rurik.Kiyo grinned. Not anymore.I rolled my eyes. Did you see any girls?His smile faded. No. Just the bandits. Theyve got a few less people than we do.Well, thats good, I said, frowning. No girls. What did that mean? Had the meet in the village been wrong? Maybe their daughter really had run off with her boyfriend. Still, if this group was harassing people, getting rid of them would certainly be a good deed.Kiyo and Rurik plotted strategy on how to sneak up on the camp, and our group set off, planning to fan out around the brigands. With no lookouts, the gang had no one to warn them of our approach and seemed totally unconscious when we got our first glimpse of them. They were mostly men, with a few women. The women clearly werent captured girls, though. They were quondam(a) and hardened from harsh living. The whole group looked like it had seen hard times, actually. There was a toughness about them that suggested theyd fight tooth and nail.Based on an forward discussion, Id thought our whole group would just swoop down at once. Instead, one of my guards suddenly stepped out and shouted, Surrender in the name of the queenOh God, I thought. He did not just say that.There was no time to ponder it further as my party charged forward. Remember, I hissed to Volusian. Subdue. Dont kill.He didnt look happy about this. Of course, he never looked happy. The rest of my guards had orders to avoid killing if they could but not to hesitate if it was their life or a bandits. I wanted prisoners we could question later and didnt really like the idea of furthering my tyrannical image if I could help it.As Id expected, the bandits fought back. No surrender here. They had conventional gentry weapons, as well as some weak fighting magic. It became clear early on that taking prisoners was a little harder than killing. Killing was fast. Taking someone down and tying them up was a little more complicated. It exposed you to attacks from others. None theless, I saw my guards hands down bind two of the bandits right away. A couple other bandits got killed in short thereafter, but theyd had knives at my mens throats and left us no alternative. Kiyo and I were working together to tie a flailing man up when I suddenly felt a surge of magic in the air.I stopped what I was doing. It wasnt gentry magic. In fact, none of the others noticed it right away. As a shaman, Id developed a sensitivity to creatures and powers from the different worlds. This power made my skin prickle and had a slimy, oily feel to it. It wasnt from the human world or even the Otherworld. There were Underworld creatures here.Demons, I said, just as they materialized within the camp. There are fucking demons here.