Spurned Queen

Chapter 52: White Flag

Lexi

"Is that a white flag?"

The question caused quite a stir among the shifters. Whispers flew about the place, laden with high hopes and a lot of joy. "A white flag!" "They surrender!" "They parley!" "A ceasefire!" "The war could be over!"

I peered out over the plains of the Arabian desert. It was indeed a white flag. I grinned. Look at that. It was only yesterday when I guided the majority of the Ythincans back home, and Rowan was already surrendering.

The Wolfsbane Luna (who still never shared her name), Izekiel, Krysta, Aevran, Megan, Dreiga, and a small delegation of other shifters prepared to go out and meet the embassy that carried the flag. I quickly decided that I was coming too; the Wolfsbane Luna didn't try to stop me. As one of the most important Alphas, Tyler was invited, and I linked my arm through his, if only for the satisfaction of trading pinches as we walked.

When the two companies met, we all bowed our heads. Then Rowan, still masquerading as Mum, began speaking. It was a load of formal mumbo-jumbo, but the gist was that the shifters should surrender now, while we still had a chance. He mentioned the beating we had taken in Morocco, when we had faced the Ythincans for the first time. Now, there were no longer any Ythincans, but the shifters weren't supposed to know that.

The pause that ensued after his words was broken by the Vampire king asking calmly what the terms of surrender would be if we agreed. Many shifters' eyes snapped to him, but he didn't even grant us a glance, staring at Rowan for an answer expectantly.

Hot.

It was at moments like this that I understood why Lattis liked this guy. But he hadn't even tried to talk to me yet, so I supposed the feeling wasn't mutual. I shrugged.

Rowan answered carefully, "We will spare you. We will not touch your little ones. We will allow you to recover from the war, but we will require records. Wielder inspectors will be planted among you. You will be allowed to continue your lives the way you used to, on one condition: you will not be allowed to train warriors or raise armies."

I laughed. Openly. Several other titters joined in. Rowan turned and I could feel his furious glare through the veil. I continued to laugh brazenly.

"So!" I finally said. "You would have us tell the rest that what? 'The war is over, we can all go home and be free, only that once a year we have to assemble before a wielder and look pretty, so they can take a census and monitor us. Oh, and being utterly defenseless is part of the deal too'?"

Rowan looked like he wanted to strangle me. The Wolfsbane Luna gave me a subtle, approving nod. Aevran stared at me with an unreadable expression, while Tyler and Dreiga smirked.

"Choose," Rowan responded. "Either that, or the utter decimation of your Races."

"With all due respect, Head Witch," said Krysta, "there are things from which we do not cower anymore. We have been fighting this war all this time in order to avoid the extinction of our Races. That has been our understanding all along. So your threat is null. Whether you came to say it to our faces or not, changes nothing. I believe I speak for all of us when I say we are no more afraid now than we were yesterday."

"Besides," purred Izekiel, "what if we made you the same offer? Forget your dignity and freedom; opt instead for cowardice. I do hope you don't feel insulted, Head Witch Dahlia."

"This is no insult, this is mercy," said Rowan.

"Yes, such mercy as the murderer offers to the widow when instead of killing her, he merely rapes her," said Tyler sarcastically.

That seemed to take Rowan back a bit.

"A compromise can be reached," suggested the Fairy Queen.

"No," snapped Rowan. "Either you surrender... or you die." He said this while looking straight at me.

"How about you surrender on our terms," snapped Megan suddenly. "You go home, we go home. We cut all ties between shifters and wielders for ten years as we recover from this war. You keep your wielders away from us and we'll keep ourselves away from you. At the end of ten years, we are free to establish connections once more. You must be as sick of this war as I am; there is no reason to drag it on. A decade of minding your own business never killed anyone."

The Fairy seemed to have latched onto what Megan said. Just as she opened her mouth, probably to agree, Rowan spoke again.

"Do I have to remind you that it was the shifters that began this whole business? What if we had actually been minding our own business then, instead of watching you? Your plans would have blossomed fully and this would have all been over in one fell swoop. There would be no wielders on Earth right now, had we not been watching you. Can you deny it?"

Krysta and the Luna exchanged glances. "Well Dahlia, the thing is, we were not able to identify who exactly began this whole conflict. We have been forced to come to the conclusion that it was all a hoax."

"A hoax?!" Rowan laughed bitterly. "So, you dare to claim that you shifters did not incite this war? You dare?"

"None of us know where the threat came from, Dahlia," reasoned Krysta.

"And yet, you acted on it. Tell me, Krysta, why do you have an army gathered? If you didn't provoke this war, then why are we fighting it? Are you claiming that we provoked this war?" he snapped.

Dreiga narrowed her eyes at him but she remained silent. Krysta said nothing either. People stared at one another, neither side backing down.

I caught Raven's eye and winked. He raised an eyebrow.

"We do not accept your offer," said Aevran finally.

Rowan snapped out of his glaring match with the Luna. "Very well," he said. "Then let the war continue. But when it ends, all the shifters will be utterly destroyed," he vowed. "You will regret this," he hissed, looking directly at me.

I gave him a light finger wave, annoying him further.