Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• nine •

"Where is she now?" Damien walked in stride next to me as Asmo took up the other side. Mehnit walked near my feet, no more than two steps ahead.

Azazeal followed Damien close behind.

It didn't take long for the four of us to leave the party as soon as Elvina spoke to me. I met Damien's eyes across the room and he knew immediately something was wrong.

"She's in the meeting room with her Guard," Elvina answered as she led us.

"This can't be good," Asmo replied. "I have no memory of the last time any of the queens visited."

I tried not to show my unease at Asmo's statement. Everyone thought the queens hated each other. When I met them I realized they didn't hate each other at all. They respected each other and seemed to be the oldest of friends. They seemed like four friends catching up over brunch.

As we rounded the corner, I felt Ix Chel's power. I felt the thrumming energy of Autumn through the walls of the Keep. I felt the nostalgia of the Fall of my childhood, the pumpkin picking and the holidays around it.

Despite the reason she was there, she didn't feel hostile, or worried for that matter.

The guards before the closed doors of the meeting room stood at attention when they saw us approach. Damien nodded towards them and they pulled the doors open for us.

Ix Chel was the first I noticed. Her long dark hair was pin straight down her back and sides. In her hair, she had woven stones and silver giving it an otherworldly look. Her earrings were turquoise gauges, stretching her earlobes to impossible lengths. Her dark eyes were accented with small painted white circles that began from her nose and reached outward to her hairline on both sides of her face. A deep blue paint line was below that, following the same pattern.

Large stone necklaces of various colors with gold and silver accents adorned her neck and reached down to her stomach in layers, covering her chest fully. A colorful wrap covered her from her stomach down but I could see the large slit that exposed her leg as she walked.

She smiled as I entered but I saw her eyes look at both Damien and Asmo next to me curiously. When she looked at me again, she smiled broadly but it wasn't friendly. It almost looked cruel. "The dark queen. Emylin, the role suits you more every day."

I was cautious in how I addressed her. "Ix Chel, how are the human sacrifices going?"

Chelie genuinely laughed. "Fabulously. I can't complain." She looked at Damien, her eyes raking over him. "I thought this would be a private audience. I wasn't expecting your men."

I looked at her own guards, suspiciously. "Define private."

She sighed comically. "And I thought we were friends." She shook her head. "Dismiss your guards." She nodded at Asmo and Damien. "Them too."

I shook my head. "I can keep Mehnit and dismiss the guards but I need Damien and Asmo, I trust them."

She gave a half smile. "All right. I will dismiss my men." She nodded at the cat at her feet. "But Maat will stay too."

I nodded. "I accept your terms."

As soon as I said the words, the guards in the room shuffled out and closed the door firmly behind them.

When the echoing of the closed doors subsided in the chamber, Chelie threw herself back into a chaise that wasn't there a moment before. "Oh, thank the gods, pretending we're enemies is exhausting."

I shook my head. "I don't know why you do it."

She shrugged, a plate of grapes appearing on her lap. "Tradition, of course!" She looked at her cat as it circled the chaise beneath Chelie. "Go on, Maat, say hello to your sister."