“Wait.” Vateria shook her head. “Are you saying that mad cow is coming here? To my palace?”

“I believe so.”

She clapped her hands together, and cheered, “My toy is coming to me!” Which made Junius laugh.

They were climbing up and across the side of a mountain, fol owing Annwyl. Rhona stil didn’t know why. In fact, she felt like they should put Annwyl out of her misery like a diseased animal. Then again, Rhona liked her head right where she had it. On her shoulders and securely attached.

Iseabail suddenly dropped, motioning them al down. After a moment, they saw them. Sovereign sentries, in formation and on the march. At first, Rhona thought they were coming out for them, but she saw they were merely guarding a nearby fort. Vigholf pointed to the ramparts of it in the distance.

To be honest, Rhona thought Annwyl would want to kil them al . It seemed to be her answer for everything. Yet she didn’t move, she didn’t give any orders. She simply waited. Rhona had never thought the queen had it in her to wait for anything.

When the sentries had moved past and they felt they could go without being seen, they got to their feet and, keeping low, started up the mountain again. Where Annwyl was going, though, they stil didn’t know. But she kept moving until she abruptly stopped and looked down at the ground.

“Oh, sh—” was al she managed before the earth beneath her feet opened up and swal owed Annwyl whole.

Chapter 25

Izzy caught hold of her queen’s arm but barely. Lying facedown on her bel y, she held on to Annwyl with everything she had. Unfortunately she felt the ground beneath her begin to give.

“Shit,” she yipped, not wanting to alert any soldiers nearby but not exactly seeing a good ending to this situation. Especial y when al she saw beneath Annwyl was nothing but blackness. A very deep-looking blackness. “Shit.”

“Don’t panic,” Annwyl had the nerve to order Izzy as she dangled there.

“I’ve got you,” Brannie whispered loudly while gripping Izzy’s legs. “I’ve got you!” Izzy almost believed her cousin, too, until the land gave way beneath both of them and they were plunging into darkness, the three of them screaming until forearms they couldn’t see in al this black wrapped around Izzy and Annwyl and held them.

“Hold on,” Vigholf told them; then he was diving straight down. She didn’t know why, though, until she heard warning shouts from above and felt arrows shoot past their heads.

Sovereign soldiers. And they sounded real y pissed.

But it was so dark. Could the Northlander even see? She hoped so. Because as fast as he was moving, if he hit a cave wal , her and Annwyl would be nothing but a flattened queen and her loyal, flat squire.

It felt like they traveled for miles, down and down, Vigholf moving with unerring skil , so Izzy was going to assume he could see just fine. After what felt like forever and a day, Vigholf landed. Someone unleashed flame and a row of torches roared to life, lighting up a ledge that overlooked another nasty drop.

Vigholf placed her and Annwyl on that ledge. “Are you al right?” he asked.

“Fine. Yeah.” Izzy smiled a little. “Thanks for that.”

He nodded and winked at her.

A few moments later, Rhona appeared, dropping a stil -human Brannie next to Izzy.

“You’re an idiot!” Rhona snapped at her cousin, and Izzy thought about punching Rhona in her snout. Gods, she was being a right bitch tonight.

“I forgot! No need to get nasty,” Brannie told her.

“How do you forget you have wings? Who forgets that?”

“I was taken by surprise.”

“You’d have never survived that drop if I hadn’t caught you, do you know that, cousin?”

“Wel —”

“Because you wouldn’t have!” Rhona flew closer. She and Vigholf didn’t bother to land on the ledge, simply hovered near it. “I seriously hope you’re smarter in actual battle!”

“I am! It al just happened so fast!”

“It always happens fast! That’s the point!”

Brannie’s head dropped forward. “I’m sorry, Rhona.”

“I don’t want your apologies.” The tip of a talon lifted Brannie’s chin so they looked each other in the eye. “I want you to be careful. You can’t always count on one of us to catch your ass before you fal to your death, now can you?” And then Izzy understood that Rhona was just worried for her cousin. Izzy’s mum often yel ed like that sometimes when she saw her eldest daughter leaping from dragon back to dragon back hundreds of feet above the earth.

“So no matter what form you’re in, always remember what you are. Understand?”

“Aye, I understand.”

“Good.” Rhona flew to Annwyl, but as she passed Izzy she seemed unable to stop her wings from whacking Izzy in the face.

Brannie winced and mouthed, Sorry.

“I real y hope this is where you wanted to be, Annwyl,” Rhona said, hovering near her.

“I think it is. It’s an underground shortcut to the Septima Mountains.”

“How do you know that?”

“It is. Trust me on this.”

How could Rhona trust the woman when she was convinced she was bat-shit insane?

“Move out,” Annwyl ordered, grabbing one of the torches to help light the way. Iseabail and Brannie fol owed, also grabbing torches, again without question, which was real y starting to disturb Rhona. Gods, was she this bad? Was this what Vigholf was always talking about? Of course, she’d never had someone completely crazed as a commander, but she’d like to think that even as a soldier of Her Majesty’s Army, she’d at least question a clearly insane queen.