"Will?"
He turned around, immediately placing down the arrow and the file he had been using to sharpen its tip on a table beside his bed as the queen ducked under the entrance flap.
"Yes, your Majesty?" he asked. In front of others, he might have inclined his head, at least. However, the two of them had been through enough together at this point that he did not think she needed that from him in private.
Her eyes were wide, and she looked lost enough as she stood there that he took a step towards her. "What is it, Serena? What's wrong?"
He tried not to let his shock show as she stepped closer in order to wrap her arms around him. After a moment of confusion, he wrapped his around her in turn, holding her close and relishing every second of it.
"Serena?" he prompted again, beginning to truly get worried. They were minutes away from leaving for battle, and yet the queen seemed quite out of sorts.
"I need to know something, Will. And either way you answer is fine, but I need it to be the truth," she finally said, pulling back in order to look into his eyes. And damn him to all the hells if he had ever been able to refuse her anything when she looked at him like that. Even when he had first been holding a grudge against her in the human world, her beautiful eyes would threaten his self-control like nothing else ever had.
"Of course," he replied, feeling his brows furrow. What had brought this on?
Serena pulled away entirely then, her hands disappearing under the folds of her cloak. "Have you shifted your loyalties, Will?" When he immediately opened his mouth in alarm, she shook her head sharply and continued, "What I mean is, are you still loyal to Tarin and the Wolves, or are you more loyal to me?"
Be careful, his mind urged him. You must stride carefully here.
"Being loyal to you and loyal to the general are one and the same," Will said, his words slow and deliberate. Cautious indeed.
Serena's eyes shuttered, but she got her emotions in check so quickly that he wondered if perhaps he had imagined it.
"Not always," she said simply. "Not when Tarin makes decisions that go against my own. So I ask you again. Are you more loyal to them, or to me? I am not looking for a particular answer, nor do I find one better than the other. I just have to know."
It was a question that had already been dancing through his mind since the queen and the general had been reunited. Tarin had looked at him as if already knowing Will did not fully see himself as one of the Wolves anymore. And his heart, as drawn as it was to Serena herself, could not seem to feel badly that such a large part of his life, for so many years, might be over.
He cared for the Wolves, certainly. Respected Tarin, definitely, even when they did not see eye-to-eye. But he had never felt like he was fulfilling a sacred duty until now, a warrior at the queen's side.
"I am loyal to you, first and foremost. Your Majesty," he announced. True words, but still safe ones that would not raise too many eyebrows in case any others were listening to his conversation, in case this was indeed some kind of trick.
Serena just smiled, but there was no surprise in her face. She already knew; was helping him to realize it instead.
"Then I have a task for you," was all she said.
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Will could not keep his heart from beating rapidly as he left his tent after his conversation with the queen. He glanced toward the lake and saw that the general still stood there, gazing at where his queen had vanished into his tent. When Tarin saw Will emerge, his eyes narrowed dangerously, and Will tried not to let it dissuade him from making his way toward him even as the tents began being torn down behind him, all the nymphs having been called to action. It was time to leave.
YOU ARE READING
Warrior of the Moon
FantasySequel to Dusk of the Realm. © Serena Dusk, princess of the Realm of the Fae, once again finds herself in the human world against her will. The Infernals have infested the capital city of Azure, and General Tarin and his Wolves must rally the Fae w...