The Lost Queen (Book 1 of The Lost Queen Series)

Chapter Forty

"Ho, who goes there," boomed the first voice, who'd insisted he'd heard Seraiah's scream.

She shaded her eyes against the sudden light. It was impossible to make out the person who had spoken behind the bright glow.

"I'm Seraiah," she said, hoping he might be one of the friendly people Kestrel had said would be willing to help her. "I accidentally fell through the hole and into the lake. Can you help me get out again?"

The lantern lowered, revealing a short man—his head couldn't have been higher than her hip—with a long salt and pepper beard that reached almost to his knees. He turned to his companion, who had stayed behind him. "See! What did I tell you? It wasn't an animal."

"Then what is it?" the other one asked. He hadn't stepped forward enough for Seraiah to get a good look at him.

The first one turned back to her, walking closer to where she was still crouched by the edge of the lake.

"Looks like a girl," he announced, holding the lantern up and blinding her further.

"What sort of girl?" the other asked.

"What sort of girl are you?" the first one asked her, peering at her face.

"Human," she answered reluctantly.

"Did you hear that, Therill? The girl says she is a human." His voice echoed off the walls.

"Keep it down, Lonan. Do you want to bring the beetles down on us?" Therill hissed.

Seraiah was afraid to ask about the beetles. "Who might you be?" she asked instead.

"We're gnomes from Metrius," the one nearest her declared proudly. "I am Lonan, and my companion is Therill."

Gnomes? Seraiah racked her brain, trying to recall what she knew about them. The only thing she could come up with was that they were distantly related to faeries, but then again, so were the elves.

Therill stepped out of the shadows to inspect her, giving Seraiah her first look at him. He was the same height as Lonan and also had a long beard, only his was a reddish brown. If she had to guess, she would say he was the younger of the two, even though he appeared to be the one in charge.

"Human, you say?" Therill scoffed. "We never get any humans down here. How did you get here?"

It seemed they hadn't been listening when she'd first introduced herself.

Seraiah pointed to the hole above their heads. "I fell in."

"I know that," Therill said peevishly. "I mean, how do you come to be in this world?"

She didn't want to tell them anything about the elves or the faeries until she knew they could be trusted. "It's um . . . kind of a long story," she said, hoping they wouldn't press her for more.

"Save it for the clan leaders, then. For now, come with us." Therill motioned for Lonan, who held the lantern, to lead the way.

Seraiah didn't move. After her dealings with the other leaders in this world, she wasn't eager to meet any more of them.

"What are you waiting for? Care to greet the cave beetles?" Therill asked.

The mention of beetles had Seraiah reconsidering. Perhaps she'd been mistaken, and she did want to meet their leaders, after all. They couldn't possibly be worse than whatever these cave beetles were.

She stuffed her wet belongings back into her bag and followed Lonan. Therill brought up the rear.

"What're we going to do with her?" Lonan asked, as if Seraiah weren't right behind him.