Free Dark Throne, The by Raven Willow-Wood Page B

had taken the
throne and would hold it for a year, at least .”
    His expression barely changed, but she could sense that he
was furious . His voice held no
hint of such a depth of anger, but still, she knew how he felt and
while she wished to comfort him, neither of them were ready for
such familiarity.
    "That would be useful if we could return to Mearth now or return in the past. If we return in the future, then
there will be no chance of saving my kingdom, especially from a
leech like Calder.”
    "He is not a good man?"
    Fade's upper lip twitched . "That is an understatement.”
    "Oh . Like that, is
it?" At his nod, she grimaced. "I'm sorry about this. I guess I'd
understand if you hated me.”
    "This is not our fault . It is the fault of our meddling parents. Plus those
wishing to dominate your father's kingdom. In truth, it is unjust
to blame our parents. We cannot blame fate. It simply is how it is
and we shall make the best of it.”
    That sounded a little too laissez-faire for her
liking, but knowing each other as little as they did, she supposed
neither could make an informed decision upon how bright their
future together would be.
    "Is there anything else I need to know ? If there isn't, then I'll try the other
doorknobs on some other doors. It will take more time, but I am
going to try every doorknob and discern the times and places of
each entry point into Mearth. That way, we can make an informed
judgment upon where and when we enter,” he told her, lifting his
shoulder from the door as though ready to start his task
immediately.
    "That sounds wise, Fade .” She bit her lip. "There's just the one thing. Mother
said that I can't enter Mearth without us having bound ourselves to
each other.”
    Fade's eyes shuttered .
He nodded, but she could see his jaw grinding down again. "I
understand. Before we. . . . start anything, I wish
to have a more informed opinion of our options on
Mearth.”
    Heather watched him leave, her eyes pinned to his
back . She stood, walked out of
the kitchen and into the downstairs bathroom that was no larger
than a broom closet. She looked in the mirror and wondered if she
was a hag of some sort. If there was some reason for his apparent
disinterest in sleeping with her.
    Any other guy she knew, not to put too fine a point on it,
would have jumped at the chance .
    She had blonde hair, silvery-blue eyes, lily-white skin
which almost never tanned . She
had curves in the right places, a taut ass and stomach. . . . what
the hell else did the man want from a woman he was stuck with for
the rest of his life?
    Before she could get herself too worked up, she recalled
his words of yesterday . . .
.
    "You should not be tied to me . . . . To my people, my wings are repulsive. . .
.”
    Perhaps the answer lay within those
statements?
    Heather didn't know, but she determined to find
out .
    Queen's Salon, Jender,
Mearth
    "She is struggling with the bond .” Queen Setta's tone was pained and as she stared
aimlessly into space, her frustration grew as the seconds passed
and a delicately shod hand snapped out of her robes and slammed
down against a console table. The tray filled with tea items and
cake stands trembled and quivered and crumbles of Mendel tart
slithered from its plate and rained down on to the
floor.
    Setta possessed a slow-to-burn anger, bu t once that fire was lit, it was a difficult one
to quench.
    Only with the greatest control did she refrain from pushing
the entire tray to the ground .
And she only did that because her ladies maids would twitter about
her and generally increase her irritation.
    The most difficult aspect of the entire role, the hardest
part of being Queen, was forever having to wear a serene
mask .
    When times were troubled, the people needed to see a Queen
who was so sure and secure in her kingdom's rulings, that not even
a worry line marred her brow .
    When the heiress to
the throne suddenly disappeared, the people needed to see a Queen
who felt no fear or concern at