Zara stopped before us, her chest heaving as she stood in nothing but her fighting leathers, armed to the teeth with knives and swords. The doors banged off the walls, then swung back to close behind her. Astrid’s mouth hung open, the sucker for drama that she was.

“Your highness! She—”

Zara jerked her fist up, knocking out the guard behind her without looking. He fell to the floor, his sword hitting the stone with a clang. Tendrils of her flaming red hair had escaped her braid, framing her face as she stalked forward and took the empty seat at the table.

“Sorry I’m late. There was a bit of a misunderstanding about my invitation.” She was careful not to look at me, but Astrid’s head whipped around as she stared me down.

Spike raised his goblet in mock salute. “Captain Zara,” Spike presented.

Erias’s gaze turned stormy. Even the queen with her demure manners was staring at this wild, untamed woman before her.

“You’re the one responsible for the refugees in my city.” It was a gift how Erias could take any innocuous sentence and twist its meaning.

Zara grinned back, flashing her teeth. “If you’re talking about the influx of skilled laborers, artisans, and farmers to your city’s economy, then yes.”

I coughed to hide my snort, and Erias pinned me with a murderous look. Spike tried to regain control of the situation, but with the way Zara continued to smirk condescendingly at the royal family, it was likely a lost cause.

“The captain can offer ships to our cause, which would help—”

“I hardly see how ships will help us with a land battle,” Erias interrupted, his brow furrowed.

Zara rolled her eyes, ripping a roll in half and plopping it into her mouth. “So, the armada that the sea witches and the draken queen took out were what? A hallucination? You can bet there are more. The mountains are only an outpost for the demons. Their headquarters are elsewhere.”

Erias sneered and turned his attention to me. “What draken queen? What armada?”

My wings flared on instinct, my claws digging into the wooden table in front of me.

Spike stood; his hands splayed on the tables. “If you’d have read my reports—”

“You’ve heard the legends about the voice magicks of draken females?” I interrupted Spike, not able to take any mention of my queen lying down.

Mumbling broke out across the room from the nobles, which only made Erias’s brown eyes darken further. “There are no draken females.”

I flashed my fangs. “We just recently found one. She was hidden under an enchantment, which we managed to break. Along with the sea witches, my queen single handedly took out a hundred ships of the demon armada.”

Queen Nian looked away, the tips of her ears red. I chanced a glance at Kali, who was staring openly at Zara, her lips parted in shock. I resisted the urge to grin like a lunatic. I had suspected, but to see I was right? Well, I was rarely right. I knew that look. The one Kali was giving Zara. That was the look every male had given Wren the first night I brought her to Dark Haven. The look of absolute astonishment, of shock and wonder, of heart-wrenching need.