Crown of Shadows (Court of Midnight and Deception #1) - K. M. Shea Page 0,61

ladies. “Skye,” I said in a lowered voice.

“Yes, Queen Leila?”

“Send for Chase—tell him Indigo needs an escort back to the stables.” I didn’t take my eyes off Lady Chrysanthe as she leaned over the side of her horse to say something to Lord Myron.

Meandering behind them rode Lady Demetria, another elderly fae lady, and two lords. They were smirking openly, as if Indigo’s fright was amusing to them.

“Yes, Queen Leila.” Skye slipped off her horse and made a call on her cellphone, speaking in a quiet murmur.

I glanced down at Solstice.

Just how much can I trust him?

Solstice chewed angrily on his bridle bit, then curved his head around so I could see the eerie yellow of his eyes.

I felt a spark of my fae magic, and I knew from deep in my blood that he’d stand as long as I asked him.

I nodded to him, and he swung his massive head back around to the front.

“Lady Chrysanthe,” I called out to her in the strongest voice I could muster. “You shot at my companion.”

“I would apologize, except she’s just so dowdy looking, one could mistake her for an animal.” Lady Chrysanthe smirked as she tossed the braid of her hair—today she’d tinted it a light purple that matched her loose, sleeveless dress—over her shoulder. “You can hardly blame me.” She adjusted the white chrysanthemum tied around the tail of her braid and glanced at Indigo, her unearthly beauty making her almost ugly combined with her words.

I clenched my jaw. “You frightened her and hurt her mount.”

Lady Chrysanthe picked at the purple flower chain that served as the belt to her dress. “She’s not injured, and the pony can walk just fine. But wasn’t it deliciously hilarious?” she asked her groupies.

Yep. Now is a good time to reveal my ace in the hole—and teach them to never harm my people again.

I dropped my reins and started unbuttoning my coat.

They all twittered in laughter.

“She nearly fell off her mount—if it could be called that,” Lord Myron laughed. He’d gone full-blown Jane Austen fashion for the day with high waisted white breeches, a blue hunting jacket, and a black top hat that almost covered the low ponytail he’d pulled his long hair back into.

“You must forgive these youngsters, Queen Leila.” Lady Demetria wore an enormous bonnet-like hat that was covered in flowers and bobbed with every word she spoke. “They get restless in their excitement—such is the spirit of the hunt.”

“Indeed,” Lady Demetria’s female companion said.

“Hear, hear,” one of the lords said.

I pulled my pistol from my shoulder holster. I already had a magazine in it, but the safety was on and the chamber was empty.

My movements were hidden by Solstice’s massive neck as I very carefully pointed the gun over his side, aiming it at the ground.

Just as Josh Drake had endlessly drilled me in the week before I came to the mansion, I calmly pulled back on the top of the handgun, wracking it and filling the chamber with a bullet.

I switched off the safety and looked up just as the fae ladies stopped the worst of their laughter.

Lady Chrysanthe had stupidly drawn near enough that Solstice might have been able to kick her mount if he really tried.

That’s why I didn’t waver as I raised my gun and shot at Lady Chrysanthe.

I’d purposely aimed to miss her, but the bullet may have passed a wee bit closer to her than I planned—so close, in fact, that it stirred the fabric of her dress on her shoulder.

Lady Chrysanthe screamed.

Like, hysterically.

I’m pretty sure they heard her screams all the way back in the apartment buildings near the neighborhood entrance.

Her horse understandably freaked. It reared, and her groupies and minions scattered as they also struggled to control their horses.

In fact, all the horses in the area—except Solstice and Indigo’s pony—spooked.

“Lady Chrysanthe,” I shouted over her screams and the worried neighs of the horses. “I would advise you in the future not to target one of my people. You’ll find it will have a poor effect on your health.”

“Are you insane? She’s just a companion!” Lady Chrysanthe screamed. Her eye makeup was just a tiny bit smeared, creating a crack in the image of her perfection.

I batted my eyelashes. “What do you mean? It was just a mistake—and your reaction was…how would you say it? Deliciously hilarious.” I held her gaze, letting my fury escape so my voice grew dark with an unspoken promise.

Solstice did his part to add to the image. He snorted,