Triumph of the Raven Queen

Chapter 1

                I watched as my father's coffin was lowered slowly into the ground. I blinked my eyes, tears struggling to break free. But I never cried. And for sure not in front of my father, dead or not. The priest said his last prayers and the crowd turned towards me to offer their condolences. I was the last surviving child and the heir to the kingdom he had built up in secret.

I nodded my head, acknowledging them as I made my way back to the limo that waiting just a few yards away. I hesitated before getting inside. Something did not feel right. I knocked on the driver's window. He did not respond. I looked in. A dart was neatly poking out his upper arm. I cursed under my breath and reached into my pocket.

"Allow me," a man with a thick, Arabian accent said in my ear, reaching down to open the door the limo. I reconized him as soon as I saw him.

"You dare?" I started.

"Shh, shh, Miss Sweeny. Let's not make a scene," he interrupted with the barest hiss of his voice.

"No let's," I growled back, not caring that we were surrounded by perhaps a hundred people.

"Just get in the car. I have a proposition for you."

"You swear I will come out unharmed and at my father's home?" I demanded.

"Yes."

"Upon the Bagua?" I pressed.

He sighed. "Done. Really, Miss Sweeny. What have I done to make you distrust me so?"

"Do you want that alphabetically or chronologically?" I asked as I stepped into the limo and slid into the far seat, ready to jump out the opposite door if needed.

He chuckled as he slid into the seat next to me and shut the door.

"Old grudges die hard, hmm?" he asked.

"Not as hard as old men," I snapped back.

He did not answer me, although he had a bemused look on his face. The front passenger door opened and a girl slid into the seat, slamming the door behind her. She reached over and pulled the dart out of the driver's arm. He grunted and sat up, alert as if he had never been drugged.

"Order him to drive, Miss Sweeny," the man said, whispering so that the driver would not hear.

"Go straight, Moses," I ordered, rolling my eyes at the theatrics they were playing. The car started to drive forward at a rapid rate and we were soon out of sight of the large crowd, well on our way back to my father's mansion.

"That's far enough," the man barked.

"What?" Moses demanded, "Who's back there?"

"Oh be quiet, you old fool," the girl in the front seat said as the car came to a quick stop. I glanced over and noticed she had stabbed him with another dart. She leaned back over the seat and smiled at me.

"How are you, Nicole? Long time, no see."

"Oh, reasonably well, Akira," I answered, making my answer as sarcastic as possible. "Considering the fact that my father just died and I am being kidnapped by his mortal enemies. Other than that, just peachy."

Akira tossed me one of her annoying grins and shoved Moses out of the way, taking possession of the car and starting us on a path that I did not recognize.

"Now, hold on one second," I protested. "You swore that I would go back to—"

"Oh, we are not quite finished yet," the man said in a soft voice. "You will eventually be delivered safely. But first, we must talk."

"Where do you want me to drive, father?" Akira asked.

"Oh just circle the country side I suppose," he said in a dismissive voice before he turned to me. I studied him for a second, trying to make out his purpose.

Striking green eyes, strong cheekbones, blacker than night hair, and side burns ending in a well-trimmed beard. Hara Mirza looked just like he always did. He looked thirty five, or perhaps forty. But I suspected he was far older than that. His daughter looked so unlike him. He claimed Akira was his biological daughter, but she had brown eyes, pale skin, and long black hair that was usually put up in a braid. I suspected his first wife must have been Asian.

"You surprise me, Miss Sweeny," Hara said after a moment of silence. "It's been about two minutes and you have not tried to use physical force or cohorse information from me."

"Oh you will tell me eventually," I shrugged. "Not worth the effort."

"I suppose you are right," he agreed, although with which statement I was not quite sure. "Your mother died years ago and now you have no father. You have no family to go to—"

"I have the family business," I interrupted, already catching to where he was going. "They will offer me protection."

"They are a group without a leader. If you return, they will expect you to take his place. Give the control to me and we will become a force that is unstoppable."

"You're crazy," I said, stating it simply. "I have no intention of giving anything to you. Have you forgotten you were the person who killed my mother in the first place? Why would I do anything for you?"

"Shawna was killed by an assassin," Hara said in an off handed way.

"That you hired," I snapped back. "Same difference."

"So you will try to lead them, then?" he demanded. "You, a weak, little, grieving girl will try to take control? Perhaps my best bet is just to attack and conquer."

He allowed his threat to sit in the air.

"Oh I doubt seriously that you can conquer them. They are the same today as they were yesterday, with or without my father leading them," I started.

"'Them'?" Akira repeated. "You make it sound as if you are not a part."

"Not anymore," I answered. Hara's eyes widened and I added, "And they are aware of that. They have already found a strong leader to guide them through this change. That person just is not me. Now let me off here; we are close enough to my father's home. I will walk."

Akira pulled the car to a stop and I opened the door.

"Consider my words wisely, Nicole Sweeny," Hara called after me as I started to stomp off into the darkness. "You do not want me as your enemy."

"You already are," I shouted back, not turning around to look at him as I spoke. The car engine revved on and I heard it start to drive off.

"And good riddance," I muttered.