Free Queen of Hearts (The Risen King) by Samantha Warren Page B

focused on a castle I couldn't possibly take, no? Yes, well, I'm a bit clever like that. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so to speak.” She turned back before Titania could raise the fireball she was building in her hand. “Don't bother, dear. You won't win.”
    “ You're in my castle, killing my people. I will win, and I will make you suffer for all the wrong you've done.” As she spoke, she brought the fireball up and chucked it at Leanansidhe's stomach.
    The woman reacted faster than she would have expected. Leanansidhe's hand came up as well, and a strong wind knocked the fireball aside. It crashed into some bushes and smoldered in the leaves underneath.
    “Tsk, tsk. None of that now.” Lea cocked her head to the side. “Unless, of course, you'd prefer to do this the hard way. I'm quite fond of the hard way myself. It's so much more exciting, don't you think?” Her other hand swung around and lightning bolts streaked out of her fingers toward the queen.
    Titania dove to the side as the electricity sizzled past her ear, singeing her hair and leaving a small divot in her earlobe. She rolled and came up into a crouch.
    “Oh, dear. I don't think you were able to heal him in time, Tati.”
    Titania followed Leanansidhe's gaze to the man laying on the ground. He stared up at the sky with dull eyes. His mouth was open slightly and blood dribbled down the side of his face. He felt no more pain.
    “You will pay for this, Leanansidhe,” Titania said as she rose to her feet. “You will pay for your wickedness. I will see to that.” A fireball shot from the hand at her side and smashed into Leanansidhe's thigh.
    Leanansidhe screamed as the fire engulfed her leg. She bent over double as she swatted at the flames with both her hands and her magic.
    While she was distracted, Titania took the opportunity to duck into a nearby copse of trees and coaxed the foliage around her for cover.
    A laugh found her as she knelt behind the thickest trunk and tried to formulate a plan. Leanansidhe was strong. She always had been. And her ability to suck the energy from faeries around her only made her stronger. Titania had no idea how many of her own citizens Lea had drained the life from and she really didn't want to find out.
    “That wasn't smart, Tati. Not smart at all.”
    Titania remained where she was and listened closely to the world around her. The birds and animals, normally so chipper and talkative, had fallen deathly silent. Even the leaves refused to rustle.
    “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” sang Lea as she walked along the path. Her thick boots thudded on the packed dirt. She made no effort to hide her passing.
    “ Are you here?” A bush across the way cracked and the screams of a squirrel were cut short. “No, not there.”
    The boots thudded some more, moving past the place where Titania cowered. A branch shattered and another scream pierced the air, this one elongated and filled with terror. Titania jumped when a white ball of fluff came crashing through the foliage beside her. A small rabbit twitched on the ground as electricity raced up and down its body.
    Titania pressed her lips together to stifle the cry forming in her throat. The creature stared up at her with big, black eyes. It pleaded silently for mercy.
    The queen covered the rabbit's head with her hand and put the poor creature out of its misery. Another scream rent the air.
    “Enough,” cried Titania as she pushed herself to her feet. Her dress snagged on a branch and ripped as she stepped out into the sun. “That is enough, Leanansidhe. We will settle this, you and I. No one else needs to be hurt.”
    The dark-haired woman laughed. “Oh, my darling Tati. Many will be hurt. I can promise you that. You will just suffer the most..” A bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips, but Titania was ready for it. She rolled tot he side and jerked her own hands up as she went. A vine snaked out across the path and wrapped itself around Leanansidhe's