Warrior Queen (Skeleton Key) by Shona Husk & Skeleton Key

Author:Shona Husk & Skeleton Key
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2016-06-14T18:30:00+00:00

Eight

It had to be close to midnight, not that he had a sure way of knowing, but it felt late. The moon was high and full and rather more violet than he was used to. The stars were in patterns that he didn’t know, and the city was quiet.

The castle walls were not.

Shadows moved along the walkway, the archers silent as they kept to the dark. They communicated with hand signals that rippled down the line. He stood with Keleti in one of the ornate corridors. There were no lit lamps here, it was dark or darker.

“They are waiting for the archers on the outside to be ready.” Her voice was soft as she explained the plan.

“You have people on the outside?” They’d get slaughtered, and yet he still admired her tactics. Was it any different to having heavily armed cops circle a building ready to rush in? Probably not.

Keleti nodded. “They have been out there for several days, waiting.”

“What is the signal?”

She put her finger to her lip and for a moment he couldn’t look away. She’d come to his room and sat with him and had made what he thought was a suggestion or invitation. He didn’t want to make the wrong assumption and end up over the edge off the cliff. But it wasn’t the first time she had made a comment or given him a look that he thought could be attraction. He tore his gaze away from her lips. He didn’t see any change, but the archers had stopped their silent chatter.

Even the insects had gone quiet. The night was waiting. From somewhere beyond the walls, a flaming arrow arced out of the darkness. It struck a tent which caught alight. That was obviously the signal.

The archers on the walls didn’t move.

More fire fell from the sky, from what appeared to be behind the enemy camp—the camp woke up. Those who were on fire screamed. Soldiers were grabbing weapons ready to fight, but the night was filled with smoke and fire confusing them.

Some of the soldiers were moving to put the castle walls at their backs, but that was a fatal mistake. The archers on the walls picked them off, swiftly and without mercy.

Bryce smelled the burning cloth, and wood and…person. He’d attended car accidents and fires and he knew that smell.

The car chase and then the roll over. There’d been nothing he could do to help the car thief. The flames had been too much for him to get close. He stepped back into the corridor and closed his eyes. This was a battle, not a car chase. Cars hadn’t been invented here. That didn’t help his brain re-orientate.

Keleti put her hand on his back, grounding him immediately. “We had to strike. You do not start a war without expecting death. The soldiers came here knowing that some would die.”

He knew that, but no one ever thought it would be them. Politicians were always more than happy to send others while claiming the glory. Reading about it in the paper was nothing like this.

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