Thorn Queen Page 0,86

an unexpected direction.

"Do you want to go hunting fire demons?"

I regarded him with surprise. "Really?"

"Well, if you've got Jasmine and your new tricks, you've got more of a fighting chance, so I figure you might as well make it a slam dunk and bring me along. You've been wanting to get rid of them, right?"

We'd come to a stop in the hall, and the scenario was eerily parallel to when we'd been in my castle earlier. There was no chastisement or echoes of that argument now, and I was grateful. "Thank you," I said, leaning toward him. I placed a light kiss on his lips-or at least, I tried to make it light. His hand reached out and grabbed my shoulder, bringing me closer still and intensifying the kiss.

I pulled back, wondering just how weird it would be for a servant to see the father of their queen's child making out with someone else. Of course, among the gentry, that kind of thing was probably pretty typical.

"Go," I said, stepping back before I was tempted to kiss him again. "Go see your beautiful daughter. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Thanks, Eugenie." His face split into one of those wonderful grins. "And thank you for...I don't know. You understand me. I don't think anyone else does."

I smiled back and then watched him turn around. A few moments later, I turned as well. As I stepped outside into the balmy spring air, I wondered if anyone truly understood me.

Chapter Eighteen

The village I'd passed earlier was called Marmant, and I had to get directions from Maiwenn's guards to make sure I didn't accidentally take some twisted Otherworldly path in my attempt to return. I rode there with troubled feelings, still replaying the events with Kiyo and trying to decide if our assorted arguments today had qualified as true fights. I soothed myself a little by reaching out and manipulating the air, creating gusts and eddies and attempting to see how big a blast I could make. At one point, I made a scrubby tree bend pretty far, but it tired me out. I had to practice more to sustain true gale-force winds, and lightning still remained out of my grasp.

The people of Marmant greeted me with that same mix of fear and awe I had come to expect. Word of the changes being wrought in the land was getting around, so they were grateful and allowing themselves optimism at last. Yet, my fearsome reputation always lurked on the horizon, so they spoke gingerly around me, fearful of enraging the dangerous monarch who had forced this dangerous land upon them.

"How is everything?" I asked, hoping I seemed concerned and nonthreatening. Rather than a mayor, this town had a council of five that made decisions, and they'd invited me inside for a private meeting. They were ordinary-looking men and women-still with that peasant feel so common in the Otherworld-but there was an air of competence around them. "You've got water and food now?"

"Yes, your majesty," said a middle-aged woman who seemed to be the speaker of the group. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Good. I'm sorry it's been so hard on you. Things should be better now." There was a brief silence in the group, one heavy with unspoken meaning. I looked from face to face. "What?"

"We don't want to trouble your majesty..."

"Trouble away. It's what I'm here for."

This got another round of exchanged looks. It was still apparently an odd concept for these people.

"Well," began the woman, "near the outskirts of our town's boundaries, there have been some attacks."

"What kind?"

"Bandits, your majesty."

"Son of a bitch," I said. We'd known the group had moved, but they'd been quiet thus far, allowing me to hope I could take Kiyo up on his offer and deal with them before they caused more trouble.

"We actually have many fighters and strong magic users," she said with some pride. "But we could not stand against their monsters."

"You mean demons."

She gave a nervous nod.

"Son of a bitch," I said again. This had to be dealt with, and at this point, I really was willing to be a bastard and hold a gun to Jasmine's head. "Don't worry. They're going to be taken care of. Soon. Very soon."

The woman looked startled at the menacing tone in my voice, but her words were grateful. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Anything else I should know about?"

This time, it was a man who spoke up. "We don't want to trouble you..."

I groaned. "Just tell me what it is."

"We heard your majesty