and puffs of smoke drifted from his nostrils before he broke off in that piercing cry that could make your blood freeze in your veins.
Lady Chrysanthe went quiet, but she mashed her lips together so tightly they were white with strain.
“Never harm one of my people,” I repeated—I wanted to make sure I drove the point home as I raised my gun again. “Understood?”
Lady Chrysanthe scoffed, but I saw the fear in her eyes.
She’d keep bullying me, but at least she had learned her lesson.
“Queen Leila!” Lady Demetria’s cheeks shook like an angry bulldog’s, and her hat had come off in the scuffle. “That was extremely inappropriate!”
“You shot at a noble—with a gun!” Lord Myron’s face was tight with anger as his horse wildly rolled its eyes and pranced—frightened, this time, by Solstice.
“Yes.” I held up my gun, looking at it with mock contemplation—I’d already switched the safety back on, but they didn’t have to know that. “I decided it would be smart to bring a gun to a bow and arrow fight.” I smiled widely at him. “Call it a side effect of my fae blood, but I’ve never been overly fond of fair fights.”
“Y-you!” Lady Demetria was too angry to talk.
The lords and ladies bristled with anger, but as I watched them with half lidded eyes, they could do nothing more than turn their horses in tight circles and shout at me.
I had won this round—they couldn’t outright hurt me, after all. I’m sure that’s why Chrysanthe targeted Indigo.
I’d pay the price eventually. They just needed time to plan ahead and get around the magic that kept them from harming me by making it seem accidental.
But it was worth it. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt my people.
“Queen Leila!”
I twisted around in the saddle just as Chase and two guards—riding in a golf cart that the werewolf was flooring—and, surprisingly, Lord Linus riding a black horse, came careening down one of the trails.
Chase skidded the golf cart to a stop, spraying dirt and making the horses spook all over again. “I got Skye’s texts, but we heard a shot.” His yellow eyes flicked from the nobles to me, and he narrowed in on the gun in my hands.
“What kind of crazy person is wielding a gun out here?” Lord Linus demanded, his eyes flashing.
“That would be me.” I secured my gun in my shoulder holster.
“Oh.” Lord Linus relaxed, losing the slight edge I’d seen briefly in the set of his shoulders. “In that case—good shot!” He gave me a loose smile and a thumbs up.
“Lord Linus—how could you encourage her?” Lady Demetria shrieked.
“She is my daughter and, importantly, the queen,” Lord Linus said. “And some debts are too big to get rid of on one’s own will…”
I rolled my eyes with disgust, then turned around. Indigo and Skye were both staring at me, their eyes wide and faces smooth with shock.
“What?” I asked.
“You just shot at Lady Chrysanthe,” Indigo said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was there, you know.”
“But…you—” She shook her head, and her cat eye glasses skidded down her slightly upturned nose.
I shifted back to Chase—who was sending out a text message. Probably to his people to update them on the gunshot. “Chase, can you help Indigo and her pony get back to the stables? The pony was injured in an accident.”
“Yes, Queen Leila.” Chase gave me a bow before he took over, packing Indigo in the golf cart and tying the pony to a complaining Lord Linus. With his brisk efficiency, he managed to get Lord Linus moving, and he followed behind with the golf cart.
By this time, Lady Chrysanthe had moved on with her people, so Skye and I were alone.
“Shall we get moving?” I asked.
Looking a little windblown—and maybe even a little ill—Skye nodded. “Yes, Queen Leila.”
I pointed Solstice in the direction I thought we’d be least likely to meet someone, and nudged him forward.
“Where did you learn to shoot like that?” Skye asked.
“The Drakes.”
She briefly held her stomach, but she said nothing more as she reined her reluctant horse closer, and we walked off.
I uncomfortably shifted in the saddle. “Remind me to give you, Chase, and Indigo an increase in your salary,” I said.
Skye rubbed her stomach one last time, then straightened up. “Whatever for?”
“Call it hazard pay,” I said.
Skye knitted her eyebrows together and still managed to look elegant and professional in her confusion. “We were aware of the risk when we accepted our positions.”
I answered with a shrug.
I liked Skye and