To Catch a Queen (28 page)

She knew from the gasps behind her that she’d succeeded. The Huntsman looked like something on the cover of a paranormal romance novel—the kind of hot, not-entirely-human guy who’d fall madly in love with an ordinary human woman. If he had any self-esteem issues at all, maybe this makeover would change his perspective.

“This is what you could be if you served me. Or, rather, if you chose to offer your arms in my service.”

He couldn’t see himself well, but she could already tell he was carrying himself differently, and the other members of the Hunt were looking at him the way women side-eyed another woman who’d just had a spectacular makeover.

The Huntsman raised his hand, signaling to his colleagues, who moved closer to him. Lights flashed and the clouds thickened, momentarily obscuring them. When the clouds cleared, the leader bowed his head and said, “We will serve you, my queen, if we may all take new forms.”

“Agreed. I’m sure things will go much better for you this way.” She looked inward, gathered her power, and cast her will outward.

All the riders and horses were transformed to match their leader. The dogs became sleek hounds that looked much healthier and less mean. They approached Beau and went through the universal canine sniffing ritual, then Beau turned back to Sophie, seemingly reporting that the dogs were on board with the changes, too. “There, that’s better,” Sophie said with some satisfaction. She turned her attention to the Hunt cultists, but they’d made themselves scarce. Apparently, the reformed Hunt wasn’t quite as interesting to them.

“Wow, Soph, talk about a makeover,” Emily said, moving forward to join her once the enchantresses lowered their barrier.

“That was an interesting strategy,” Amelia said, not sounding entirely approving.

“I figured it was better to turn them than defeat them, since I wasn’t entirely sure how to destroy them,” Sophie said with a shrug.

“Better you than me,” Jen said wryly. “I think it would have been pretty much widespread doom if I’d still been on the throne for all this.”

“Nonsense,” Sophie said. “Remember, the same person was pulling the strings for all of you. The Hunt would have answered to you and made you look good.”

“And I’d have sent them out into our world,” Jen said. Michael put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Sophie swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat and made herself turn away.

“Good job, honey,” Nana said. “I’m proud of you.”

“Now what?” Michael asked.

Without looking directly at him, Sophie said, “Let’s get back to the valley. I want to finish this once and for all with Niall. Maybe my new guard will help. Then I’ll get everyone home. Emily’s got a show tonight, and I’m sure you’re ready to get back to normal.”

“Yeah, that’ll be nice, right, Jen?”

“Home, wow,” Jen said softly. She looked a little dazed by the idea, which was to be expected.

Sophie raised her voice and addressed her followers. “Okay, everyone, back to the valley,” she said. She reached for Michael and Amelia’s hands. Eamon took Emily and Athena, and Michael maintained his hold on Jen. Emily held Beau’s leash with her free hand. Nana didn’t seem to think she needed any assistance. The free fae humans and the Hunt came behind them. All of them stepped off together, and a few strides later they were back in that wooded area above the valley where the palace had been.

Or still was. It was back, looking exactly like it had the first time they’d arrived in this place.

“Didn’t you get rid of that?” Emily asked.

Sophie stared down at palace and tried not to sigh in weariness and frustration. “I thought I proved that I was the real queen, so I don’t know what his game is now.”

“Maybe he’s giving up the puppet idea and putting himself up as a potential ruler,” Michael said.

“I guess we’ll find out when I show up,” Sophie said.

The lead Huntsman rode forward and addressed Sophie. “Would you care to ride, my queen?”

“It would be impressive,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“A good queen should know how to make an entrance,” Nana agreed.

“Can you take the rest of our party?” Sophie asked.

“Gladly.”

Sophie gestured for the others to join them. The lead huntsman pulled Sophie up to sit sidesaddle in front of him. She was a little unnerved by being picked up by such a creature, but she told herself it was a lift in a pas de deux and comported herself accordingly.

The others were also lifted, the men riding pillion behind warriors. Emily unclipped Beau’s leash and let him run with the Hunt’s hounds. One of the Huntsmen sounded a hunting horn as they began the descent into the valley. It was a stirring sound that made Sophie’s blood sing. Nana’s grin told her that it had a similar effect on her. Although they were riding to what was likely to be a major confrontation, for just this one moment, Sophie felt on top of the world.

It seemed far too soon, then, when they reached the palace. Sophie waved at the doors to open them and signaled the Hunt to stop for a moment so that everyone in the throne room would have a chance to see what stood on the threshold. Taking a page from Emily’s book, she had the Hunt ride straight into the palace. When they were halfway across the room, she reached out and tweaked the fabric of the Realm, making the palace disappear entirely.

Niall, who’d been sitting on the throne like he owned it, suddenly found himself sitting on a rock in a field, which was much less impressive.

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” Sophie said, looking down at the fairy.

“You’re no William Powell, honey,” Nana added. “You may as well give up that act right now.”

“And you are no true queen,” Niall said to Sophie with a sneer. “You may have fae blood, but it has been corrupted by human blood.”

“The blood’s been good enough for the crown to work,” Sophie said. She gave him a too-sweet smile. “Care to give it a try, yourself?”

“If I won the crown from you, I could wear it.

“That sounds like a challenge to me,” Nana said. “How about it?”

Sophie barely refrained from asking her grandmother if the Alzheimer’s disease had crept up on her again in the Realm. Instead, she gave her a questioning look.

Nana signaled her rider to move his mount closer to Sophie. “We’re both of the lineage. Either of us could wear the crown. It’s two against one, and we’re the rightful rulers, so how can we lose?”

“Okay, if you’re sure about this.” Sophie addressed Niall. “You want the crown and throne? I propose a contest. We each suggest three trials. The people choose the winner of each trial and the winner of the throne. If you can prove yourself more worthy of the crown in the eyes of the people, then I will give the crown to you and no longer question your right to rule.”

Although she managed to sound perfectly calm and confident as she spoke, Sophie was trembling inside from the enormity of what she’d just proposed. The consequences of failure were dire. Both the Realm and the human world stood to suffer, based on what Sophie had seen of his policies when he was the power behind the impostor.

But, strangely, Sophie felt utterly confident that she could prevail, with Nana’s help. She knew in her heart that she was meant to have this throne. In the real world, that wouldn’t mean much. Unworthy people were always inheriting or being elected to positions of power. But the Realm was the setting of fairy tales, the place where good won, evil was vanquished, and the most worthy would always win the crown.

Niall pondered for a moment, probably weighing those same considerations. If he was smart, he’d back down, but then again, he wouldn’t have come to this point if he hadn’t believed that as a true fae, he’d make a better ruler. He smiled and said, “Very well, I challenge you for your throne. Let the contest begin.”

The Throne Stone

Next

Michael had to force himself not to cry out in dismay when Niall accepted the challenge. Was Sophie nuts? Of course she was, he realized. She was just the very particular kind of nuts that managed to pull off audacious things no one else would dare try. She waved the Hunt aside, and once the Huntsmen had taken up position around the competitive arena, Michael dismounted and went to help Jen down.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Jen said, her forehead creased with worry. “I saw what he was doing when he was making me front for him. We can’t let him rule the Realm. He was forcing all the humans out, as well as all the fairies who associated with humans.” Her eyes strayed to the crowd, like she was looking for someone. She sighed audibly in what sounded a lot like relief and smiled slightly.

He forced himself not to read anything into this and refused to let himself try to find the target of her gaze. “I know. I saw some of the fallout from that. It wasn’t pretty.”

She turned back to him, her eyes going wide with alarm. “Not pretty? How?”

“It seems that although people don’t age in here, the moment they set foot in the human world, their real age catches up to them. If you’ve been here long enough, it can be fatal.”

“Oh.” She glanced down at herself, like she was trying to imagine what might change.

He put his arm around her and pulled her to him. “You shouldn’t have to worry. Seven years isn’t much time, and it’s the age you’d be now, anyway.” He grinned and kissed the top of her head. “People would think I robbed the cradle if you didn’t catch up.”

“I’ve been gone seven years?”

“To the day.”

She reached up to touch his temple. “That explains this. You didn’t have any gray at all when I left.”

“Gray?” he asked, faking dismay.

“Just a hair or two. It looks very distinguished. I suppose I’m responsible for those.”

“Only one. I think the thug with a gun can be blamed for the rest.”

“You had an arm in a sling the last time you were here, didn’t you? I’m sorry, but that time is still a little foggy.”

“Yeah, I got shot. But I’m better now.”

“I always worried that your job was so dangerous.”

“Actually, I’m a detective now, which is supposed to be safer than being a beat cop. I’m not usually the first one on the scene. But this one time, I knocked on a door and someone panicked.”

“Is anything else new with you?”

“Very little. I live in the same apartment, and I haven’t changed much at all. Things were actually pretty calm until the last few months. That’s when I got shot, then Emily went missing, and that’s how I got mixed up in all this and found you.”

“How did Emily get you mixed up in this?”

“She’s my downstairs neighbor. She moved in a few years ago, to the apartment where that girl—oh, you know, the publishing intern—used to live.”

She knitted her brow. “Beth?”

“Yeah, that’s it. She moved out, and Emily moved in. She sort of adopted me. I think she figured she’d found a good potential dogsitter. When Em went missing, Sophie showed up looking for her, and when I followed her one night, I saw you, and I learned that Hamlet wasn’t kidding.”

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” she quoted automatically.

“See, you haven’t forgotten everything. It’ll all come back to you.”

“I did make a fetching Ophelia, didn’t I?”

“Very. Though I’m still not sure what they were thinking in setting that play on the moon.”

For the first time since he’d last seen her back home, she laughed. “Oh, that was a crazy production, wasn’t it? But it was a job, even if it was so off-Broadway it was practically in a different time zone.” Her smile grew wistful. “And that was the job I was auditioning for when I met you.”

“It was the first time I saw you act.” His throat grew tight at the memory. The show had been pretty awful, but he still fell in love with Jen while watching her play Ophelia in space.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” she asked, her eyes flicking momentarily toward Sophie.

“I’ve gotten pretty good at laundry. Not so much at cooking.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

He showed her the wedding band he still wore. “I wouldn’t have been able to free you if I’d fallen in love with anyone else. People have been telling me all along that I should give up and move on with my life, but I knew you were still out there, somewhere, and I would find you.”

For a second, he thought she was disappointed, but then she smiled. That warmed his heart, assuring him that it had all been worthwhile. “You did find me.”

“I had help. It’s good to be friends with the fairy queen, and she’s been working hard to find a way to get you out of here.”

“Yes, she’s been visiting me, trying to get me to remember you. I’ll have to thank her.” She laughed a little. “It’s going to take time to get used to that again.”

“That ‘no thanks’ thing is a strange custom. Don’t be surprised if Sophie finds a way to change it. She’s Southern. Manners are very important to her.”

Her attention returned to where Sophie, her grandmother, Niall, and a few fairies were fine-tuning the rules of the competition. “Do you think she can win?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past her. She’s not just a fairy queen. She’s also an enchantress, so she’s got two kinds of magic. I don’t know about her grandmother, but they’ve got the same heritage.”

Tallulah seemed to be playing referee. She climbed onto the throne stone and motioned for silence. “The challenge for the throne will now begin. Niall, as challenger, has the right of choosing the first contest and will compete first. Niall, what do you propose?”

“I propose a contest of music, one of the arts that define the fae. We will each perform a song.”

Emily, who’d come with Eamon to stand by Michael, asked her fairy friend, “Okay, how bad is this?”

“Niall was once a noted bard. Can Sophie sing as well as you?”

“She hasn’t had the training I had, so she won’t be blasting anyone out of the second balcony, but she’s got a pretty voice. I don’t know about Nana, but I had to get the genes from somewhere.”

Niall conjured up a harp and took a seat on the throne stone. His tuxedo looked incongruous in the setting, but that didn’t matter once he ran his fingers lightly across the harp strings. The sound didn’t affect Michael’s ears so much as it went straight to his soul.