journey. Just put her at ease."
The young woman looked me over like I looked a little travel-worn to meet the Grandmothers, but then she just said, "Then, come, my lady."
"Ansel will come with me," I said. "He is my consort." I was being bold, and I knew Ansel wasn't sure he wanted to be my consort, but I decided right then and there that I wasn’t messing around. I'd never felt a connecting like this with anyone else, except Alistair. I also knew that if you wanted anything done, as a rich or powerful person, you had to demand it.
Sure enough, the woman looked uncertain but she didn't argue, just started leading the way. Viktor and Decker stayed back, but Viktor's eyes had a slight gleam of approval. Not that I cared if he approved.
I followed the young woman down a corridor that felt ancient and eerie, lit by just a candle here and there mounted on the wall. “A candle on the wall sure doesn’t give out as much light in real life as it does in a video game," I murmured.
Ansel laughed. The woman gave me a slightly bitchy look.
Okay, if I'm the savior of the entire shifter world, I'm not going to join in the mystical temple cosplay thing they have going on, I thought. I'd had enough of Alistair trying to ruin my fun to put up with it from a total stranger.
We stepped into the stone doorway that led to a smoky, warm room where a group of positively ancient ladies, dressed in many different types of traditional clothes and eye-catching jewelry, were clearly awaiting my arrival.
The words swept the room in a whisper. White Queen.
"You are lovely," said the most elegant of all the ladies, standing up and giving me a small bow. She was wearing a long white gown with long white sleeves and loads of gold jewelry that covered her chest and forearms almost like chainmail. Her long white hair was braided in coils. I could tell she was a bird, and probably a water bird. "All grown up. Ready to ascend."
"All grown up?" I said. "Have you been watching me?"
"Oh, no. It is just that, the last time we saw a queen...she was just a girl."
"The Red Queen," said a tough-looking woman in a fur-trimmed outfit, with admiration.
"Oh! You know where the Red Queen is?" I immediately felt better about meeting the Grandmothers and being in this dangerous place. If the Red Queen was here...
"No," the bird woman said. "I'm afraid we do not. The Red Queen came here ten years ago when her powers first stirred, to learn her destiny, and she did not take to the idea well."
"She's a wolf," the woman in furs said. "A good, old-fashioned wolf who doesn't want to be tamed. Fierce and brave. You dumped too much bird talk on her and she rebelled,” she said to the water bird.
"We will not rehash this argument again, Rusa. In any case, the Red Queen stole something of great value from the temple--well, sentimental value, that is. It isn't like she stole a piece of jewelry! She stole the mummy whose tomb we are standing in! Who does such a disrespectful thing?"
"I don't know, she sounds kind of fun," I said. "I mean, I wouldn't go that far, because of curses and stuff, but..."
"Where do you put a mummy?" Ansel asked. "Once you've taken it? Just...in the spare room?"
"Viktor, did you teach your queen any manners?" the bird woman asked.
"I don't think that is my job," Viktor said. "I brought her here to learn her history, as requested. In fact, I'm not sure how polite we really want our queens to be."
He was defending me now? I couldn't figure him out. "I do want to know my history," I said. "I just really want to meet the Red Queen."
"Don't listen to Linette," Rusa said. "The Red Queen was quite young. She'll come around. But we have failed to find her, once she fled. Her mentor is a great sorceress who I'm sure took her side and helped her elude us."
"Too bad, because the Red Queen sure sounds prepared," I muttered. "Well, I would very much like to hear the history."
"Maybe you should introduce yourself before chattering on," said a very withered but sharp looking little woman in black sitting to Linette's right.
"I am Linette, of the Order of Horus. This is Samorn, of the Order of Bastet. And this is Rusa, of the Order of Anubis."
"Oh!