Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

Flying was an unsettling experience for maybe the first 15 minutes, and eventually, I settled into Varella’s embrace and enjoyed the view of Faerie from the sky. It occurred to me the Raven Queen could have this view anytime she wanted, eyes in the sky looking down upon the world whole, an angle so few witnessed for themselves. 

When you’re on the ground, the world you know is only what’s right in front of your nose. But from above, when you see not five trees but 500 and how they straddle a river on their eastern border, it adds renewed perspective on things like importance and emotional scale. 

There’s something about being several hundred feet above the soil that allows you to see how everything is sewn together. Patches on a quilt most of us call home. 

As I stretched and waited for Varella to pretend to drop me, I let out a breath when she didn’t. It was a relief. My mistress chose her moments. 

Looking over Faerie and then back over my the Raven Queen I felt. . .a renewed feeling of home. I was happy at her side and calling Featherstone my home. There was magic here and passionate bloodshed, yes. And I was almost a different person. But I feel as though my changes were for the better. Sierra wasn’t a victim here. She was a force to be reckoned with when my mistress called for the wolf. And all the teasing and embarrassment I endured was done in good spirits. 

While I refused to admit it, maybe I did enjoy the queen’s teasing a bit. Was it a weakness on my part? Maybe. She made me weak in the knees. But more than anything, I think it was just about knowing what I wanted, and my mistress taking notice, stroking that sweet spot until I squirmed and came seconds away from melting on the floor. 

As if she was sensing my thoughts, Varella looked at me with a gleam in her violet eyes, her long jet-black hair pushed behind her by the wind we cut through. 

“What are you thinking about, my pet?” She asked. 

How did I answer that?

“Nothing much. How happy you make me, I guess? How quickly Featherstone felt like home. It’s the first place I’ve lived in years where I didn’t feel perpetually threatened with every breath I took,” I said. 

“Darling, I taught you the hard way there are those in my court who would seek to harm you without hesitation. Even now we fly to possible war. And you’re. . .happy?” Varella asked, raising an eyebrow. 

She had a good point. . .or two. 

“Well, sure. I know there are fae just looking to fuck me over. Probably those in Eagle’s Loft. I’m still unsettled over my actions in your court. But this danger feels different than the kind made possible by my abusive dad. As though. . .it’s not personal. You’ve shown me it is the nature of fae to behave in this manner. Riddles, dancing, tricks, bargains, all of it coming as natural as breath,” I said. “None of you chose to hate me for a marriage falling apart or something else I had no control over. As for war, I know next to nothing about politics, but I have faith you’ll do what you can to avoid that outcome for your people. And I’m happy because I’m right here by your side as you do that.” 

Then, I did something bold and unexpected. It was something not even the Raven Queen with all her might and magic could predict. I leaned forward to kiss the side of her cheek. 

That made her smile. The Raven Queen did not blush as I would have. But she seemed pretty damn far from upset with my actions. 

“Careful, my pet. You do stuff like that, and I’ll have to land and kiss you back,” my mistress said. 

“Oh no. The horror. Please don’t,” I muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. I pretended to be dramatically overwhelmed, bending backward and positioning the back of my hand on my forehead. 

“By the gods. Is there any crueler threat?” I wailed, louder. 

With the ease of one who wields the dark wind, the Raven Queen moved one of her hands to my ass and gave it a good squeeze. To say I yipped would be an understatement. I damn near jumped out of her arms. 

“What the hell wa-was that for?” I demanded, scowling at my mistress. 

She ran a tongue over her teeth before she answered. 

“Just calling you on your bullshit. I believe that’s the human expression,” Varella said. “You act like you’re so ready for me to fuck you senseless, but you still haven’t worked up the courage to beg me to do it.” 

I crossed my arms and forced myself to look anywhere but her stupid sexy face, which continued to stare in my direction. 

“The noise I made you surrender with a simple squeeze. Imagine what I could do with a bit more squeezing, the noises you’d make at my touch,” she said. 

I tried in vain not to squeeze my legs tighter, as though it wasn’t obvious what her words were doing to me. 

“Yo-you’re not as influential as you think you are. You know that?” I stammered, struggling not to glance at her ridiculously pretty face. Fuck, did a goddess chisel it?

My mistress seemed to take this as a challenge and moved her hand from my ass to just underneath the cheek on my thigh. She started to massage it and work her way back up toward a very dangerous area. And yet she flew forward without deviating her course even a little! 

Oh shit, I thought, biting my bottom lip and stifling a moan. 

“O-okay! You win. I submit,” I panted. She didn’t stop. 

“What do I win?” Varella asked, moving her face closer to mine. 

How I failed to answer as she moved her tender, yet commanding touch further toward— 

“You’re influential, okay? So damn influential. You own every inch of my body and could inspire any manner of noises with just a touch. Fuck, mistress. I’d sing at the top of my lungs driven by your caress. So please— hah, hah, have some mercy. Fuck,” I said, squeezing my legs so tight I thought my hips would warp. 

I tried to squirm away, but at this altitude, my mistress had a monopoly on touch. There wasn’t exactly any room to flee in her arms. 

Finally, I looked deep into her eyes and jumped off the high dive, landing square in the middle of an ocean comprised of her gaze. 

“So we’ve established I’m influential, and the way your body responds in proportion to my mere touch is wildly skewed in my favor,” Varella said. “Remember, my pet. If you make the challenge, I will always answer. Furthermore, I’ll win.” 

It was the confidence with which my mistress expressed how deeply she owned me and would dominate any attempt at sass that left me partially breathless. And she knew it. That was the part that left me truly fucked. 

As she talked, all I could do was heat my cheeks to a superhuman temperature and pray to the gods she didn’t notice. Of course, she did. 

Goddammit, I thought, scowling at a patch of trees below us. 

An hour later, we left the forested lands of the Raven Court behind and moved into a high plateau. 

“Welcome to the Worm Court,” Varella said as we crossed the border. Vegetation thinned out with a few bushes and dry-weather shrubs here and there. We passed small houses along the way, ball-shaped cacti that greatly amused me, and the occasional ponds which were usually sounded by short-haired goat herders of some kind. 

An hour after that, we came to the city of Dars-Morill, which Varella told me was the capital city of this smaller court. The Worm Court was half the size of Varella’s territory. 

Box-shaped buildings lined sandy streets as we flew over an adobe and stone gate that stood 15 feet high. Guards stood at the ready, wearing what appeared to be a carved and heavy stone armor. The crest on the front of their armor looked like a worm sticking out of the sand and painted gold. They wore no helmets, and instead, thick white shrouds covered their heads.  

Some of the guards spotted us and started to cheer. 

“Well met, Raven Queen! Our greatest ally” One yelled at the top of her lungs. 

Another screamed some encouraging jumbled message. Maybe he was too excited. I don’t know.

Most of the buildings were single-story, but the ones that had two or three floors just looked like boxes stacked on top of each other and constructed from thin wood and shingles. 

Triangle-shaped windows lined most of the windows, which were colored in reds and oranges. The glass was murky and difficult to see through even as we flew lower. 

“Seems like the Yellow Court hasn’t yet breached the walls,” Varella said as we flew toward the city center. 

The palace had its own smaller gate and walls to set it apart from the rest of the block. Wealthy houses adorned with vegetation, statues, and foundations surrounded the palace. Suddenly, I knew where all the wealthy fae of Dars-Morill lived. 

Three towers surrounded the palace built into the walls, each capped with golden shingles and balconies wrapped in fancy wreaths. Soldiers wearing more stone armor cheered Varella as we flew near. 

Each wall of the four-story palace was adorned with banners depicting past rulers of the Worm Court. Each wore grand robes and crowns colored gold and orange. 

I expected to finally land at the palace, but my mistress carried us westward toward where I could see smoke rising. 

“Are you not here to speak with the king?” I asked, watching us ride a current of wind past the monarch’s obvious home. 

“We are, darling. But King Yulcifer will be closer to the fighting. Not involved, just nearby so it looks like he’s doing something important,” Varella said. “Besides, there’s someone I want to talk to before I speak with the king.” 

I looked over at her with a quirked eyebrow. 

“Who would you speak with before a king?”

Without missing a beat, my mistress said, “Someone who will tell me the truth, darling.” 

It was honestly a treat watching her fold and flip through the wind currents of this warmer high plateau. The wind smelled of hot sand and arid shrubbery. And from the city below, odors of dry bread, smoke from nearby battle, and anxious pheromones of faeries wondering if their city would fall before they saw their next sunrise. 

The sun set about an hour ago, but Varella didn’t seem to have trouble navigating the dusty streets. 

In the streets below, I saw a line of bleeding and wounded fae standing or leaning outside a building with a purple star painted above the door. 

There’s like. . . 50 fae down there, I thought, taking a rough estimate. 

From the looks of things, most of these folks in line were soldiers sent back from the front line. They’d shed their stone armor. A few lucky ones had been bandaged roughly before they came here. 

The Raven Queen hovered as we heard a commotion building. 

“I told you, we outrank everyone in front of us! You’re to treat colonels first, then captains, and then lieutenants,” a gruff voice said. 

Looking down, I saw a large fae soldier missing an ear. The wound was bandaged and dirty. He stood next to two other fae, one with a gash in his right arm and another missing most of their teeth and bruises covering most of their jaw and a broken nose. 

A woman spoke calmly to the outraged soldier. 

“I don’t work for the crown. What I offer here is but a small mercy until my patience runs out. And, colonel, I can assure you that you’re pushing that limit faster than anyone here,” she said. “If you don’t like the order I treat patients, you’re free to take your chances with the barrack healers that I’m assuming are overwhelmed on the front lines.” 

Varella landed on a rooftop, and we both crouched to watch the madness unfold as the three colonels advanced on the healer. She did not flinch, standing her ground, a white blood-stained gown covering her russet skin. Her blue hair was pulled back into a small bun. In one hand, a crumbled mask was getting more scrunched as the colonels advanced on her. And, from the looks of things, they were used to this kind of building threats based on body size. Each of the ranking soldiers was large, two or three times the size of the healer. 

She gritted her jagged teeth before they spoke once more.

“Consider yourself conscripted into King Yulcifer’s service, Julieta. You’ll follow our orders now, which remain unchanged. Patch us up now,” the man who’d spoken earlier, said. 

“I refuse conscription. I always have. If King Yulcifer wants to beg for my help in an official capacity, he’s welcome to grace my doorstep. Until then, fuck off, and get back in line,” Julieta said. 

She’s still willing to take care of them? Bullshit. I’d have sent them on their way, I thought. And none of the soldiers are helping her? Fucking cowards, the lot of them. 

The fae with a missing ear grabbed Julieta by the throat and shoved her back into the wall of her little clinic. She gasped then growled. 

“Last chance. Fix us, or we can make sure you need to see a healer even worse than we do,” the man said. 

I started to stand, but the queen pulled me back down. 

“Not yet, my pet. Watch,” she said. 

“She’s going to be—“ I started. I was interrupted. 

“Victorious,” my mistress finished. 

The colonels blocked off any soldiers from helping Julieta, not that any seemed eager to. They waited, holding their wounds, waiting to see if their healer would emerge ready to heal them after their commanding officers. 

I growled, and Varella stroked the back of my neck. I unclenched my fists, not knowing when they got that way. 

“Patient, my pet,” Varella said. 

What the fuck were we waiting for? With our combined strength, we could leap down and turn these assclowns into Swiss cheese. Was my mistress tired from all the flying? Was she just catching her breath?

I turned back to see how the healer was faring and saw something remarkable. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her eyes. And why would there be? She dueled death for every patient that came through her doors. I imagine she was well acquainted. As such, she knew when death was near, when it was far, and how likely it was to appear. 

And she knows it won’t be calling her today, I thought. 

I just barely had enough time to catch the glint of something shiny before her hands moved with an uncanny speed. A green aura surrounded her right hand, and it plunged something into the throat of the man choking her. 

Blood. I smelled the life liquid as it gushed from this man’s newest wound, spilling over the healer and the ground. Within seconds, he was on the ground, and I saw a scalpel sticking out of his throat. His body coughed and sputtered, gasping for air that wouldn’t reach his lungs no matter how much he sucked in. 

The two other colonels were stunned, but only for a moment. The one with a gash in his arm ran forward with a clenched fist, ready to knock her lights out. But she was much quicker than the injured fae. 

Julieta grabbed the attacker's face with her left hand glowing a brighter shade of green reflected in the window of her clinic. 

Gurgled screams echoed from the man as he fell to his knees, shaking violently. But her hand remained pressed tight to his face. Facehuggers could take lessons from that grip. 

She turned to face the third colonel who was missing most of his teeth. Julieta’s eyes were glowing green like her hands. And she almost whispered, “Do you know what makes healers so dangerous in combat?”

He made no move to attack her while his buddy continued making muffled screams under her hand, fresh blood spilling from under her touch. 

“When you learn how to use magic to fix a faerie’s body, by extension, you know how to harm it as well. Shredding skin, tearing tendons, bashing bone, I can replicate just about any injury I’ve healed in the past,” she hissed. “And believe me. I’ve fixed a lot of wounds with my ageless life. These eyes have seen shit you wouldn’t believe. These hands have saved and ended more lives than you can count. This voice has been the sole bringer of comfort or fear when one straddles the ever-thinning line between life and death.” 

At last, her aura faded, and I caught sight of the man’s face as he fell backward. It was almost unrecognizable now, covered in lacerations and soaked with blood, the most disgusting and messy casserole I’d ever seen in my life. 

“Would you like to be seen now?” she asked. 

But the colonel didn’t think long. He looked at his dead companions and spun, hauling ass down the dusty street and rounding a corner. 

You are reading story The Fae Queen’s Pet at novel35.com

To my surprise, the remaining faeries in line also dispersed, apparently no longer desiring to be healed by Julieta after witnessing the inverse of her magic. 

“You can come out now,” she said, and my heart skipped a beat. How the fuck did she know we were here? Surely my mistress was a better hider than that! 

But before I could reveal myself, the door behind Julieta cracked open. 

“And drop that scalpel. I didn’t need you to run out here and save me, tearing those stitches I put into you,” the healer said, suddenly looking exhausted, as though she’d just worked 72 hours on Grey’s Anatomy. 

Inside, I heard the scrape of metal as a scalpel dropped onto a table or shelf. Out walked a boy who didn’t look to be more than 16 or 17, even accounting for how ageless fae were. 

His short brown hair was matted with dirt and blood. I saw cuts patched up on his left cheek. But it was the skin on his ribs that revealed how badly he’d been injured, nearly his entire left side covered in green stitching. 

“Caleb, you’ve had your taste of war now. I assume you’ll reconsider my warning and unenroll from that senseless militia now?” Julieta said, without turning to face him. 

The kid nodded, carefully sliding a brown coat over his upper body. The healer turned to tie it shut. 

“You’re a good kid, Caleb. But King Yulcifer has enough men and women ready to die for whatever foolish cause he gets the Worm Court mixed up in. However, there’s still a shortage of people like me and your father who typically help clean up the results of the king’s never-ending line of conflicts.” 

The kid’s brown eyes wandered over to Julieta’s victims, but mostly the bastard with the red tapioca face. And with that, the color on Caleb’s own face seemed to vanish. Still, he held his lunch. 

“Would I have to learn how to do that if you took me on as an apprentice?” Caleb whispered. 

Julieta stepped between the boy and the unfortunate colonel, or what remained of him. 

“It would be nothing more than ignorance for you to assume your father doesn’t possess the same abilities. I taught him everything he knows, including how to do that,” she said. “A healer has to know how to defend herself. There are too many people who seek to do us harm.” 

Within about 30 seconds, Caleb made a remarkable peace with this. He unstrapped the sword clipped at this side and let it fall to the ground. It clattered on the porch. 

“Will you teach me?” Caleb asked. 

For the first time, I saw Julieta smile. She took off the blood gown and tossed it on a wooden bench behind her. She kissed Caleb’s forehead and held his face in her hands. Neither seemed bothered by the mud and blood. 

I guess when you’ve been on somebody’s operating table, you don’t worry about that stuff so much afterward, I thought. 

Caleb’s stitches were washed clean, but the rest of him was a mess. 

“I trained your father. I trained your brother up until he decided to study piano instead. And I will train you,” she said. “Now go home and clean yourself. But don’t get those stitches wet. When they stop hurting, come back by for your first lesson.” 

“Thank you, Juli,” Caleb said, hugging her with his good side. Then he limped off toward what I assumed to be his home. 

Julieta started to move the bodies out deeper into the street, as though they were bins that would be picked up by sanitation workers the next day. For all I knew, that was a real thing here. 

“My pet, I think now would be a good time to speak with my friend. But when we step out of hiding, we’ll be entering a conflict zone. I want you in wolf form if you consent to me calling forth your beast,” she said. 

When she looked at me, I knew I’d give Varella anything she asked for. The weakness she brought to my knees, my core, it was goddamn embarrassing. She could ask for a kidney, and I’d give it to her. Mostly because she asked, but also because I knew I’d regrow it the next time I changed into my wolf form. 

“That’s why you brought me,” I said. “I consent. Bring forth my inner wolf, mistress.” 

The Raven Queen nodded and placed her hand over the center of my chest. Her magic echoed down into my body, and I shivered as the wolf responded to her call. Inside and out, her energy enveloped me, held me close, and whispered everything would be okay. I gave into that whisper because I trusted my mistress implicitly. She had me. She had my wolf. She had anything she wanted. Because she asked. No demands were ever placed upon me. 

As the world around my vision grew dark, I felt myself sinking into a calm trance, passing by the wolf’s mind as she came to the surface in my place. 

The last thing I remembered was a familiar smoke enveloping my body, spreading across part of the roof we stood on. When it cleared, I was gone, and the wolf stood in my place on four legs, fluffy hair blowing in the warm wind of this new environment, the likes of which she’d never seen before. 

 

***

 

I took a sense of my surroundings. My pack leader was here, but then again, she was always near. The bird woman was the one who called to me from within the human girl. 

The wind carried scents of sand, bloodshed, smoke, and death. In the distance, I heard the cries of battle. Metal weapons clanged against one another, bones breaking, shields splintering, and shouts of pain from the wounded. 

I listened closely to see if those noises were growing closer. After a minute, I determined it was a slow advance. But an inevitable one. The battle was moving closer, which meant someone was losing. Though the conflict of two-legged people bored me, so I didn’t find myself all that concerned. 

“Come now, wolf. Let us see about my friend. Follow me,” the bird lady said, gliding down to the ground with ease. I lept and landed beside her, the fall a paltry distance to gaps I’d faced before. 

We walked over to a faerie that smelled heavily of blood and magic. I also smelled alcohol, bandages, and other bodily liquids stained upon her. She’d been busy today, likely fixing wounded faeries. 

And right about the time I thought that, pieces of memories passed through from the inner girl to me. I saw a boy she’d healed. But most importantly, I watched the damage she did to the most heavily-wounded corpse now lying in the street. All with the touch of her hand and a flare of magic. 

“Julieta, it’s been a while,” Varella said as I stopped and sat at her side. The top of my head came up to the bottom of her ribs. 

“Varella. You’re looking well. And — my, my. You had a beast at your side I’ve not seen before,” the healer said, looking down at me with lime-colored eyes. They appeared to count every hair in my coat before turning back to my leader. 

I didn’t move. 

“This is my pet. She’s quite the fierce little plaything,” she said, ruffling the fur on my head. I didn’t flinch or move, just continued staring in no particular direction. 

Julieta looked at me once more. Her eyes betrayed not a thought, and I lost interest, looking away again. 

“Werewolves are quite rare. How did you ensnare her?” the healer asked. 

“Her human form struck a bargain with me, the nature of which is our business,” Varella said with a tight smile. 

Julieta raised an eyebrow. 

“We’ve been friends for the better part of half a century, and now you start keeping secrets? You surprise me, Varella,” the healer said, feigning dramatic shock. 

The queen didn’t hesitate in her response. 

“Not my secrets, Julieta. Hers,” the queen said, patting my head again. 

That was good enough for the healer. She nodded and asked, “What brings you to the Worm Court? . . . Wait— don’t tell me. King Yulcifer sent a message calling for aid.” 

The smile Varella wore faded, not into anger, but calm focus. She had come here for a reason. And the bird lady had a reason for bringing me along, too. I just didn’t know what it was. But she was my pack leader, so where she went, it seemed I would follow. 

“Yes, he called for aid. How long ago did the Yellow Court begin its invasion?”

Julieta thought for a moment and looked up at the night sky. In the distance, I heard that battle growing closer. 

“Two days ago. It didn’t take long for the Yellow Court’s forces to clear through our land and show up outside the capital gates. Last I heard, they were just short of the gates, but I don’t know how long that’ll last,” she said. 

Nodding, the queen rubbed her chin. Varella’s wings hung folded softly behind her. 

“Makes sense. King Datan has some of the best-trained soldiers on the south side of the continent. The Yellow Court is twice that of the one you call home,” Varella said. “What I need to know, my friend, is why the Yellow Court invaded. I need to hear your truth before King Yulcifer’s attempt to sway me finds my attention.” 

Julieta crossed her arms. 

“As fate would have it, one of the first people I patched up yesterday was an intelligence gatherer, not a great one, mind you. But they were present when King Datan’s grievances were read to King Yulcifer. Perhaps I’d be willing to bargain this information away,” Julieta said, winking. 

“We’ve been friends for the better part of half a century, and now you ask a bargain of me?” Varella asked with the same tone her friend had used earlier. Though I wasn’t sure if they were truly friends. They didn’t seem like pack mates the way they talked. More like two vipers circling each other in an obscure dance, the logic of which was kept under lock and key. 

I did not possess that key. 

Julieta grinned as she thought about this situation. Though I did not think anything here was worth smiling about. 

“What would you do if I asked for your new pet, Varella?”

It just now occurred to me this woman hadn’t once addressed my pack leader as queen. Yet, I didn’t sense the same disrespect I had from the fae I killed back in the Raven Court. 

The bird woman stepped in front of me so I could no longer see her face. For a moment, I heard no words spoken between them. Then again, people could certainly say a lot with an expression. 

“My, my. I’m quite surprised at you. Such a response isn’t like anything I’ve seen from you in our decades of friendship,” the healer said. 

The Raven Queen said nothing. But I still couldn’t see her face. One of her wings fell upon me and pulled me closer to her side. I moved as she indicated. 

“Very well. Knowledge of what your pet truly is to you is payment enough. You know King Yulcifer’s brother, yes?”

Varella nodded. 

“Allegedly, he was involved in an affair with a lady of the Yellow Court. Well, her husband, one of the more powerful lords in that court, found out. But it wasn’t the affair that caused the trouble. It was what King Yulcifer’s brother did after he was caught that started all this,” Julieta said, putting both hands on her hips. 

I now had both of the Raven Queen’s wings draped over me, moving me still behind her. And, because she was my leader, I allowed her to move me as she saw fit, even though I had no clue why. 

“What did Nilan, do?” 

“He slew the lord and fled under cover of darkness, returning here to hide,” Julieta said with a plain tone, as though Nilan had simply gone out to dig up some roots from the garden. 

My pack leader took a deep breath and sighed. It was the first time I’d heard her make such a noise, and it almost left me wanting to walk around and see her accompanying face. 

“Nilan has always been a rat bastard, but that’s a new low for him. Affairs are nothing new in the land of Faerie, but the typical response is simply to acknowledge the betrayal of trust and go separate ways,” Varella said. “But Nilan’s ego wouldn’t allow for that. He was simultaneously too proud to admit fault and too cowardly to face his mistakes. So he fled here and hoped his brother would shield him.” 

Julieta said nothing. 

Varella’s annoyance was on full display as she continued, “And because King Yulcifer is a loyal brother, yet a poor ruler, citizens of the Worm Court are paying with their lives. Because of course that widow Nilan left behind pushed King Datan for justice. And he had no choice but to grant it in such a dramatic fashion.” 

The healer crossed her arms again. 

“That about sums it up. Because of that fucking coward I’ve been patching up soldiers for the last couple of days. I’m exhausted, Varella. And honestly surprised I had enough glamour left to kill both of those men.” 

I only now noticed Julieta’s body shaking. Her heartbeat was slow and weak. The healer wasn’t lying about her exhaustion. 

The Raven Queen smiled and said, “If you’re truly ready to put this nonsense behind you, I’m happy to welcome you to my court as a refugee of war. . .for a small bargain, of course.”

Each of these fae was in a position to freely help one another. Yet they locked those exchanges of assistance behind magical bargains. It left me confused about how they could call one another “friend.” But perhaps that was just the way faeries were. The more I thought about it, the more exhausting it became. So I stopped. Because I did not need to know their minds, only whether they posed a direct threat to me or my pack leader. 

“We’ve been friends for the better part of— eh, fuck it. I suppose that joke has run its course. Maybe one day I will join your lands, friend. But, for now, it seems I’ve just taken on a new apprentice who’ll need me here.” 

The Raven Queen laughed. 

“For a slightly bigger bargain, I’d welcome him as a refugee as well,” Varella said. 

Julieta smiled and shook her head. 

“You’re truly a one-of-a-kind friend. What will you do now?”

Before Varella could respond, the ground under my very paws shook, and a resounding BOOM filled the air. I flattened my ears and growled. The pace of battle had just escalated. 

“Sounds like King Yulcifer’s front gates just fell. I suppose I’ll go parley with the two kings. Either way, I don’t believe the Worm Court will have the help from my feathers and talons it pleaded for,” Varella said. 

“Be well, my friend,” Julieta said. “I’d hate for you to find yourself in my debt waking up on my operating table.” 

“And I’d hate for you to find yourself in my debt at my border, pleading for entry from a violent conflict. Stay safe, friend. And good luck with Caleb. I suspect he’ll be quite loyal.” 

Julieta scoffed. 

“Not as loyal as that pet you’ve got there. I see the way the beast looks at you, Varella. That wolf, and the human girl inside her, would follow you to Hell and back without question. They’d cut down any foe in your path. And without so much as a plea for help, they’d remain glued solidly to your hip. Truly a nice prize you’ve snared,” the healer said. 

The smallest chuckle escaped my pack leader’s lips. 

“Yes, I know. Come now, wolf. Let’s go talk to a pair of faerie kings.” 

And I followed. It certainly wasn’t to Hell and back. But if what the murderous healer had said was true, apparently I’d do that, too. 

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