The Tattered Lands by Barbara Ann Wright

Author:Barbara Ann Wright [Wright, Barbara Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635551099
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2018-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Vandra quickly grew tired of having to fend off one nosy person after another. She’d been unnerved after meeting the five monarchs, but since most of them acted like ordinary people, she’d lost interest. As for the regular crowd, she’d started without interest. It became harder and harder to keep a hospitable smile plastered on her face.

If they couldn’t work, she at least wanted to be alone with Lilani, but it didn’t look like she’d get the chance anytime soon. And no one really wanted to talk to her. She let the crowd around the seelie push her to the edge and moved to the buffet, Fieta and Pietyr behind her.

“This party is boring,” Fieta said. “And my thighs are chafing under this skirt.”

Pietyr gave her a look. “You aren’t wearing the little shorts?”

“What little shorts?”

“The undergarment that goes under here.” Vandra twitched her skirt. “They were in the bag.”

Fieta’s expression darkened. “No one told me about any shorts!”

Pietyr barked a laugh. Fieta gave him a shove.

“Children, behave,” Vandra said. “Hopefully, this ball won’t last much longer.”

But the crowd around the seelie didn’t seem likely to break up any time soon. Vandra sighed, wishing Ariadne was here to guide her. She’d have known how to excuse herself gracefully and get some work done.

Thinking about her spawned a wave of dread in Vandra’s stomach. Ariadne could have navigated all the diplomacy with complete aplomb. How was Vandra supposed to do the same?

“I think those shrimp were bad,” Fieta said, rubbing her stomach.

“I didn’t even have shrimp, and I feel it,” Pietyr said.

Vandra frowned at them. “Like a pit of dread in your stomach?”

They nodded. Vandra glanced around. The feeling was too sudden to be something they’d just eaten. It felt similar to the emanations of the tattered piece of metal. Had someone from the assembly brought it here? Why? She didn’t see anyone flashing it around. The nearest people were two blank-faced palace guards who stood on either side of a door past the table. They didn’t seem queasy, and she didn’t spot anyone else holding their stomachs, but the feeling persisted, growing stronger by the moment.

The hair on the back of Vandra’s neck stood up. She shivered, every primitive instinct telling her to flee. She backed away from the buffet, tugging Pietyr and Fieta with her. On the table in front of her, a puff pastry rolled off a dessert tower, seemingly blown by the wind.

Or knocked away by the passage of an invisible hand, one that had been reaching for Vandra.

“Van,” Fieta whispered. She pulled the scarf from Vandra’s neck. It had been slit in the center.

Vandra felt her neck and winced at a slight, papercut-like pain. Fear froze her to the spot.

“It’s a scratch,” Fieta said. “Hardly any blood.”

“Because she stepped away,” Pietyr said as he moved in front of her. “Otherwise, she would’ve been…” He swallowed and pulled Vandra back farther, knocking into some of the partygoers and causing a bit of a stir.

“What now?” Fieta asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.