My Warrior (Bewitched and Bewildered #12) - Alanea Alder Page 0,3

absolutely sick as he stared at his mate. "What's that, baby?"

"I'm gonna take over Éire Danu."

Boom

"Oh gods above, please give me strength," Aiden prayed fervently.

Meryn sat back, looking positively pleased with herself.

Ari looked over at Rex, who was convulsing with laughter. "Can she do that?" he whispered.

Rex wiped his eyes and reached for the spoon to the bowl of fresh berries. "Brother, you will quickly learn there isn't much this amazing child can't do." He turned to his father. "I'll be at the palace if you need me. I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world."

Aiden looked over to Ari. "After breakfast, get Tau assembled at the palace ASAP. I'm going to need back up."

Ari just stared. "We're going against the queen?"

Aiden shook his head. "No, we may need to bodily remove my pint-size terror of a mate from the palace quickly."

Meryn popped a piece of bacon in her mouth. "Yeah, good luck with that," she said, chortling.

Ari shoveled his eggs into his mouth a quick as he could. Gods only knew when he'd get a lunch.

*****

It had taken them nearly an hour to finish breakfast and assemble the rest of the Tau unit. The men followed them, smiling. He couldn't bring himself to tell them what was about to happen. He'd let them remain blissfully ignorant for a bit longer.

He watched as Aiden, Rex, and Meryn, along with her squire and Pierce walk into the queen's chambers. He hung back, and his men paused alongside him. "No matter what happens in there, follow Aiden's orders," he said, in the barest of whispers. He felt like he had kicked a puppy when the happy-go-lucky-smile slid from Kincaid's face to be replaced by a look of sheer terror.

They stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. They silently moved to stand against the wall. Around the small dining table everyone smiled at Meryn and Aiden.

"Meryn, darling, where were you at breakfast? We missed you," the queen said, smiling at her niece.

"I was making some hard decisions," Meryn replied, in a serious tone.

Gods! The little nut was going right in!

Aiden exhaled, and the men around Ari tensed.

The queen frowned. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Meryn nodded. "Yup. You can step down as queen, and let me take over." She looked over at Darian. "You don't mind if I skip ahead of you in line for the throne, do you?"

Darian just blinked and slowly shook his head, clearly confused as to what the hell was going on.

The queen stood sputtering. "Wha…wha…what?"

Meryn just nodded. "I've been thinking. You never really had heirs and stuff before, so you've never been able to take a break. Therefore, since you're throwing a temper tantrum regarding the ferals, I'll step in and help." She looked at Cord. "We're gonna make some major changes, especially to the menu."

The queen pressed her lips together. "That is enough, Meryn, you've had your fun. What you speak of is treasonous."

Meryn shook her head. "It's only treason if I was a citizen, but I'm from Lycaonia, so this is a…" She paused. "Like a friendly sedition minus the rebellion."

Cord nodded. "I've been thinking we could do with a change in the dishes served."

The queen simply stared at her squire. "What?"

Meryn looked at her aunt. "It's simple. You want to avoid the truth and cover your ears like a child being told no. So, I'm going to put you in time-out, and I'm gonna be queen."

The queen inhaled sharply looking mortally offended. Darian stood. "Meryn, maybe this isn't…"

Meryn held up her hand. "During my reign, you may address me as High Queen Meryn."

Darian gave her a flat look and sat back down, frowning fiercely.

"How dare you!" the queen screeched, inventing new octaves.

"I dare, because I love you. Your people want to abandon the city because they are afraid. They are waiting for their queen to take action, any action! If you can't, then I will. I won't let everything you've built crumble to pieces."

"They would never…" the queen started, then turned to Rex, who nodded.

"The only thing that has kept them here is the visible efforts of the Unit Commander. The fact that he is now related to the royal family and staying in the palace have most feeling that he is acting on your orders, so they are patiently waiting for word on what is going on, but that patience has almost expired," he reported gravely.

Meryn's face softened. "They are afraid."

The queen straightened her shoulders. "There's nothing to be