The Unlikely Queen by Bonnie Taylor

Author:Bonnie Taylor [Taylor, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CPP Publishing
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

“We’ve looked everywhere, My Lord, and now her bird is gone, too,” Colm told the King of Doves.

“The gates have been under guard all day and night! How and when could she have slipped through?” The King could smell tyranny in his ranks.

“We don’t know, My Lord. We’ve questioned everyone and they all claim to haven’t seen or heard anything unusual,” Colm asserted, “What would you like us to do?”

“We need to send out spies. At this moment we have no idea what’s happened to her. She could have run off on her own or have been taken by the Crow King again. For all we know, the King of Coyote may have lost his mind in grief and taken her as vengeance for the loss of his Prince!” the King’s voice rose as the words slipped from his lips. He gazed at the faces of his men, then paused on Pallomin. “You, step forward,” he demanded.

Pallomin took two steps toward the King and bowed his head.

“You’ve been trying to slide up her skirt since you were a boy. Did she offer you something in return for opening the gate for her?” the King sneered.

“No, My Lord. She didn’t!” Pallomin exclaimed.

“So, you did it out of your undying love for her with no reward?” the King accused him.

“No, My King, I did nothing of the sort!” Pallomin cried. He could feel the sweat begin to bead on his brow.

“I don’t know of any other man who would reason to release her,” the King responded.

“Was she a prisoner here, Sire?” Pallomin asked.

The King furrowed his brow and shouted, “Do you realize the trouble this Dove has brought to our Kingdom? Was she a prisoner? Yes, she was a prisoner. We had no choice but to keep her prisoner to mitigate the calamity that she’s caused in just a few short weeks of freedom,” the King told her.

Pallomin dropped his head. He was torn between his loyalty to the crown and his love for Ava. If he told the King what he’d done he would probably face some time in the dungeon but his conscious would be clear. He was about to open his mouth and confess but something stopped him. It was the Queen. He listened in horror as she muttered, “We should never have saved her from her fate.”

This wasn’t the King and Queen of Doves that Pallomin worshiped almost as much as the Mother Goddess, herself. These people seemed, somehow, desperate and had become heartless in their desperation. How could a mother, even if not by biology, raise a child from infancy and then wish that she’d died in the flames of war? What had Ava done? He was there when the Crows’ took her. She didn’t go by choice. She was accosted on his watch. If anyone should be hated for the deed, it was him, not her.

He bowed his head and uttered, “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I have no information for you. The disappearance of the Dove Princess is a mystery to me, as well.

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