The Bastard Queen (Viciously Yours #2)

Chapter Eight: I Am...

The sun heated my arms almost instantly causing me to pause so I could roll up my sleeves. Squinting from the brightness, I looked over the busy campsite sprawled out in front of me. Seelie, Unseelie and Fae creatures roamed about the rows eating or heading to their posts. Unsure of what to do, I kind of just stood there watching them all until the sounds of shouts and grunts called out to me. Rounding the tents, I approached the soldiers who were starting their morning warm-ups. Fighting positions yelled out by Dougal were effortlessly executed by focused looking Fae. Hidden in the shade casted by a tent, I witnessed them go through the motions of combat.

Fifty to sixty adult Fae guided their limbs through the air in slow sweeping motions. Dougal was teaching them how to perfect the forms before allowing them to speed up. Genius, really. A Fae who could land a hit correctly every single time was dangerous. An army of them would be devastating. The fighting style seen in action was precise and incredibly structured, it was actually kind of beautiful. My own style wasn't something I could teach because it wasn't a recognized style. I just did what felt right in the heat of the moment and since getting out of prison it had turned even more unpredictable.

A spark of gold caught my attention from beyond the practicing soldiers. Calmly walking out from the trees that kept our camp hidden was Puck. His clothes were all a light brown color except for the royal blue ribbon tied around his right bicep. My brows furrowed the longer I stared at the ribbon confused as to what it meant. Mab had placed purple ribbons on the bodies of my dead citizens but that was to taunt my newly formed kingdom. Fae normally wore the ribbons of their chosen kingdom when they couldn't afford to embroider the crest on their clothes or if their kingdom didn't have one yet.

My heart sank coldly into my stomach as I realized that all the Fae around me were either sporting a blue ribbon or a blue tunic. They were wearing my color as a declaration of their chosen kingdom and it brought more pain than any torture had. I could only be thankful they weren't wearing the crest of the Banished Kingdom. That would have been a blow I wasn't sure I'd recover from. When I'd thought it was just the patrolling guards, I didn't think twice about the use of my color. But what was the most painful about this situation was that they didn't even know the truth yet.

Physically shaking my head to clear it, I refocused on Puck and what he was doing. Where did he come from? Did he leave the base? His head swiveled to the left and then to the right as he checked his surroundings. Raising a blue brow, I tilted my head and shifted out of the shadows to follow. Why so paranoid, Little Seelie?

"Fabht Siúcra."

By the Divine Tricksters beard, there goes my plan. Keeping my back to him and my eyes on Puck, I responded,"Dougal. You've been training them well."

"These soldiers are newer to fighting and need more practice but they're getting there."

Turning my head to follow Puck's path, I asked,"And the barrack count?"

"A hundred fresh. Roughly two hundred seasoned and," Dougal cleared his throat before finishing, "another hundred domestic."

Shocked, I turned to face him, "Their families are here?"

Gaze whipping around, I tried to catch sight of a child or an un-uniformed Fae walking around. I hadn't seen any last night but then again it had been late when we arrived. What the fuck were their families doing here? This was no place for children and non-fighters.

Dougal scrubbed at his grey goatee, "I know but a lot of these soldiers followed me out of Mab's Court. To leave their families behind would have been a death sentence."

"I understand that but why aren't they in a separate hidden base?" I demanded. "Everyday that they're here, they're at risk. Mab's troops could find us at any time and attack without notice. They shouldn't be here."