Dragon Queen (Avery Rome Book 3) Read online

  That started a conversation that got a bit heated, Tor feeling his place would be fine, with the other man suggesting that, if they did it there, that the King and Queen could attend as well.

  Avery could see a problem with that.

  “Um, most of us didn’t bring clothing for that kind of thing. This is mainly a camping trip. Maybe they could come here? Or a few people could go there to meet with them?” She had on a magical clothing device, which could clearly make a lot of different things. For other people. If that could be borrowed, then one of the others could go and see to that kind of thing.

  Phillip moved over by her, touching her arm gently. It wasn’t groping or anything, just him being reassuring. No one really seemed to care that much about it, except Patricia, who walked over and put her arm over Avery’s shoulders.

  “That could work. Who should we send?”

  Looking around, Avery had to shrug.

  “I don’t know, to be honest. We could make it a contest? That sounds silly, but would be more fair than me deciding things. I don’t know…” She was thinking they could draw lots, or possibly straws, which was sometimes done at battle camp. Mainly to see who was going to help wash dishes.

  Tor seemed pleased by the idea though.

  “There. You and Abbey can come here for the evening? I think the plan is for a cook out meal. Lamb, rice and cake? I don’t know what rice is, but I bet it’s interesting.”

  That seemed very different to her, and Will nodded. His eyes even went wide on the idea.

  “That’s just true. I’ve had it and it really isn’t horrible, but it’s really different than anything we do here. It’s a kind of grain. We can make some on the Tiera device, I think? Also, we should send people away now, so they can actually see a sight or two? That was the whole plan for the day, and I kind of got side tracked. Not everyone here is on a food show. That means we need to make sure they get their vacationing on.”

  From the back of the group, Alyssa smiled. Her clothing had changed, but the tunic top, which was in a light tan, showed that her bust line hadn’t been faked up by her armor.

  “Oh, I know, we can send people out to find the best remembrance gift to take back home with them? I’ll judge the contest, since I don’t know anyone here. That way it will be fair. The winning team can go and meet King Richard and Queen Constance.”

  The man on the device sounded considering, rather than upset about that.

  “Let me set that up, then? I’ll be there, with Abbey and Benjamin at about…”

  Mark spoke, his voice happier sounding for some reason. Not that it had been tense before.

  “About six? We need to capture portions of things in the light, if we can. It’s creeping up on eleven, so… That will be enough time.”

  There was a bit more discussion about things, with people joining different groups, planning on trying to head to remote locations, seeking gifts to take home with them. It sounded like a good time, but Mark and Denis both put their foot down about her leaving.

  It was the snub nosed one who shook his head at her however. His doing that actually sent a chill through her, feeling like she was going to be beaten if she didn’t obey instantly.

  Denis didn’t sound mean, at least. Not even stern.

  “Sorry, but you’re the talent for this, so we can’t let you get that far away. You’ll have to go on a scavenger hunt of your own some other time.”

  That got a bit of a growl, from Phillip, but Avery thought she understood. After all, the task had gone from a simple camp meal to being a camp meal for a Prince. That had to make a difference.

  Chapter fourteen

  There was no rest that vacation day for Avery.

  It was annoying at first, though by the time everyone came back for the evening meal, she was fairly pleased with the whole thing. They’d cooked over an open fire, or more correctly, three of them, with Phillip working under her instruction making sauces and gravies for the whole thing. They managed to add a vegetable dish as well, and had two kinds of cake. There was no frosting, so she’d used a burning coal over some table sugar to make a crystalline toffee topping. That had been hard to manage, but there was an ancient man in her memories who’d managed to learn the trick, about three thousand years before.

  She didn’t even burn the cakes that had the topping, trying it. The other, which was a walnut cherry cake, got a thickened syrup glaze on it. That was a bit moist, for her taste, but Denis thought that it looked nice, if nothing else.

  Mark, of course, was less impressed with her offerings. Though, Avery had to think that was mainly nerves. It was just too different seeming and his entire life was about cooking. If things didn’t turn out well, the man wouldn’t blame her for it. No, he’d be taking that on himself, as if it were really about his failures.

  Still, when the time came to eat, with the heir to the Noram throne, his wife and child sitting around the magical fire, they all seemed to be fine with the food. Mark on the other hand was really harsh about it all.

  “Well, the roast isn’t dry, so there’s that. It’s lacking something though. I think we could have upped the spices by about fifty percent. The rice is good. It’s just jasmine rice though. That lacks a bit in presentation. The plum sauce is a little sour, Phillip. We should try cutting that with water the next time? Just about twenty percent.”

  Most of the people sitting there, including Alphonse Cordes, actually stiffened and seemed mildly scared, suddenly. True, Avery didn’t love hearing that kind of thing. No one sane would. That didn't mean it probably wasn’t true. The meat could be a bit more heavily spiced, she had to allow. Rice really wasn’t hard to make at all, so giving it some color would be possible, next time.

  She did have to stop herself from talking back to the man, under the magical lights that had been set up so they could get video at night. Sitting well back, off camera, Leslie hunched over. Probably fearing that Mark, being an Elder and a man, was going to publicly beat her daughter for her perceived failure. Avery got ready for that, since she was only a woman. So it was interesting when Kerry spoke up. Firmly.

  Taking Mark, a man and an Elder, to task for his words.

  “So, in other words she only did ten times the job that any of us could have done over a fire pit like this? I noticed that you were using your snob mode there, not your so sad you can’t believe the fail one.” The snub nosed woman smirked a bit, which was funny seeming.

  At least some of the IPB people thought it was enough to laugh over.

  The show commander actually blinked a few times.

  “Well… Yes, that’s pretty close to exactly what I meant. This is four-star restaurant food, coming from a camping trip. Denis and I are going to be hard pressed to do even a fraction as well when it’s our turn in a few days. This is a superior meal, given where we made it and the restrictions here.”

  From behind the fire, away from the cameras, near where Timon was sitting, Ambassador Sin cleared her throat. It was a bit annoyed sounding, until she turned it into a wicked cackle.

  “The thing here is that he actually means it. He just forgot that you’re not a professional chef, Avery. That’s all. Even at that, we get to mock him about this for days, so it’s worth the mild abuse that was caught on camera for all time. Den, you got this too, right? We need to make sure it gets into the show.”

  Everyone relaxed a bit after that, though Avery was having a bit of trouble really liking the cooking show man that night. Not that criticizing her wasn’t allowed. It was mainly that her nerves had been set on edge earlier by the attackers. Plus, she’d let the men there order her, and by extension, Phillip, to not leave and to work all day instead.

  That was her fault, for not standing up for herself.

  Which was going to be a problem, until she learned to face that kind of thing. Her default mode in life really was to simply follow along, however. Especially if it was a man who was bossing her around. An older woman was nearly as bad.

  Sever
al people, mainly Greater Demons, had mentioned that she shouldn’t let people do that to her. It would invite being abused for real, in certain circles. It nearly guaranteed being used for her skills, traits and talents. What she was supposed to do about it in the moment, she didn’t know. Pulling out of the mini-show just then would be unprofessional. Especially since it was really about her feeling put upon and petty. What she could do, according to the Tarsus in her head, was to change the rules a tiny bit.

  To that end, she shrugged, then smiled, making sure it seemed real.

  “We should do a show on what can be done with the magical food unit, tomorrow. I bet we can put the rest of this to shame. Maybe have Bridget and Will do that part?” She knew that the two had worked together before. They’d been and still were, partners at the IPB.

  There was silence for a bit, then a small sound that seemed a bit desperate.

  “I guess. Will, can you do anything with that kind of magic? I’m thinking that we’re about to see a replay of Mark and Warren’s greatest hits, otherwise.”

  “You know, I think we can manage something for that. We’ll need more cameras. I mean, someone has to get the meal at the palace down, if that’s still on? We have that contest and everything. Who won, do you think?”

  Everyone had to run and get what they’d collected, if they had anything to show at all for it. The winner was, interestingly, a very short, but broad man, called Mongo. He held up a green gem the size of a large dinner plate, that when it was tapped put out a glow that was about like the sun. Everyone had to look away for a bit.

  Tiera gave the fellow a very troubled look.

  “Is that one of the hallway lights from Harmony?”

  “No. I got it in a shop there. Down a dark alleyway. The man working the place had them for sale. Swore they were made in a maker, didn’t he, Mrs. Baker?”

  It was Patricia being addressed, or at least she answered.

  “That really was what he’d said. It was also given away, so I can’t see any benefit in him having stolen it. I have to admit though, an emerald that large would probably go over pretty well in some places, don’t you think?”

  Alyssa did, meaning Mongo won the game that night. The others had some nice things, including the occasional magic, but the big gem was really impressive. Possibly stolen as well, which upped the potential value to her mind. After the cake, which went over well, even with Mark, she waved at a few people.

  “Um, Patricia? Kaitlyn?” She didn’t know how to start a meeting like that, but the two women came with her, as she moved back, away from the crowd.

  The woman from Harmony looked at the prettier version of herself and nodded.

  “I get it now, you want twin sex. Well, I can get behind that. Where’s your tent?”

  Kaitlyn just took the taller woman’s hand, and started to walk away, as if that had been the real reason for things.

  “Or, if you want we can talk about taking down the Alede Governing Body? That’s what I had in mind, personally.” Avery felt like making her face go blank and shutting down a bit, feeling pushy at the moment.

  Rather than do that, she pulled out some of her new acting skills, and turned to Patricia, in order to explain.

  “When she was sixteen, her own people tried to murder her. I met a person in her government the other day, and… Agh. Okay, I have all of his memories in my head? Really, I have millions of beings in here, put there by a Greater Demon. So, um… I know why they did it. It wasn’t about Kait being a bad person or anything. They just wanted to punish her grandmother for being successful.” It was all right there, coming up as she spoke about it.

  Wincing, Kaitlyn sucked in a huge breath, then hunched over, ready to protect herself from a blow that wasn’t coming.

  “Fuck. I mean, I kind of thought that was the case. I never knew it for a fact, though. I was planning on getting elected and changing things slowly, over time. That won’t work if they were actually plotting against me at one point. Alede don’t die of old age, you know?”

  The woman from Noram looked between them for a moment, then started to nod, slowly.

  “But, they can die, right? Assassination isn’t out of the question?”

  Avery knew she wasn’t allowed to think that way. Murder was supposed to be wrong. All the time. Unless the people involved were unclean, or she was being paid to kill them to provide for her people, the Shifter Nation. Then it was all right. Except she was a line walker, too. Some people had tried to kill her friend once and might, eventually, try again. For reasons that were so stupid that she couldn’t allow it to take place.

  Except that wasn’t really true. Kait Swanson was too important to just kill now. Also too dangerous to mess with. That probably gave her enough protection really. Her goal of protecting others, if that was part of her plan, would require more than that.

  Thinking out loud, as they moved closer to the tents, Avery nodded.

  “It isn’t just about you, is it? If they tried to kill one innocent child for petty reasons, they might do it to others.”

  Closing her eyes, there was a nod.

  “They don’t just try it. They kill about a dozen of us per year. The claim is that we can’t control ourselves, and are prone to going rogue, but that can be trained out of people. Instead they starve the kids in order to force them to trigger, then kill them, claiming there was no other way. Someone like Eve could walk in today and make all of the kids behave long enough to learn how to do it for themselves. Heck, any of us here could do it, I bet. My own people haven’t even really tried. They just slaughter our own.”

  It took searching, inside the memories, to find out why that was.

  “Right.” Avery glanced at the others, then shook her head, swallowing hard. “They do it to keep the competition down. Being prone to going rogue as they call it is a sign of power for their people. By killing the strongest, they can hold on to their power more easily.”

  The tall woman nodded.

  “So, do we know where they’re going to be? Also, how protected are they? Do they have guards? Are they powerful fighters? Can we afford to hire assassins for the task, or do it ourselves? I can… I think I can find enough magics to outfit a small unit, at need. It’s probably an act of war though, meaning I’ll have to hide my part in things. The others might not like me meddling in the affairs of other worlds. Then again, if you try to kill me there, I get to take it personally.”

  That sounded fair to Avery.

  “I’ll handle the research on that part? I can get into their headquarters, taking in Ambassador Swanson. Maybe at least. That’s Kaitlyn’s mother. Possibly some of the others? I haven’t really courted any of her people yet. Mainly just the Trollienkeine. Given that none of the other line walkers are willing to work with the Alede Governing Body, that might…”

  She didn’t really know how complete that was. Kait stared at her, then moved in to give her a tight hug.

  “That’s brilliant! None of us, in any world, have been willing to help them. I guess they’ve messed up in too many places. If we filter all of that through you, then you should be in place to find out a lot.” Then she made a face, which was lovely, since that was all she did. Even things that would have been ugly on anyone else kind of fit that bill, in regards to her. “The trouble there is that my people kind of tend to be likable. It’s our major thing, really. We toss sex, attraction and plain kindness at people, in order to get what we want. You could end up liking them too much to allow harm to come to, later.”

  It was possible, of course. Just not likely.

  “I doubt it?” Avery moved back, brushing at her hair a bit, since it was getting long enough to touch her shoulders now. The tight black rings normally didn’t get in the way too much, thankfully. “I don’t have a sex drive and am pretty much immune to their magic. I guess that means they might just be so nice to me that I could see them as people to protect, but it won’t have the same power over me that it might on others. It’s a risk. Just o
ne that I think we can take.”

  She didn’t want to sell things as her being some kind of super killer. That was… Well, in a way it was probably true, to be honest. When it came time to fight, she did her duty and really didn't worry about it too much, later. So far something like ten or more people had died at her hand. She could still sleep at night, without any trouble.

  The worst for her had been The Gray men. The six that had died, being clawed and eaten by her had haunted her for years. The others, mainly people from the FBI, hadn’t at all. They were just unclean Humans, after all. The thought felt low to her, but there was no feeling of guilt to follow it. The important part was that she hadn’t eaten them. It was an odd distinction, maybe, but it really was the biggest factor for her on the matter.

  Mrs. Baker touched her arm then, looking a bit wicked, really. There was a soft smile to go with it.

  “Wait, you have a boyfriend, and no sex drive? What do you do with him?”

  That got a chuckle from Kait.

  “Several Alede per week. Which, speaking of that, is a great idea. He didn’t get any yesterday. That has to be hard for him. We should…”

  Rolling her eyes, Avery snorted.

  “We should make a plan first? I have my part in this. Collecting data. We can… Come here in order to do the plotting? That will have to be hard for them to track. It’s hard for us to do, and we have line walkers on our side.”

  “We can use my shop in Harmony for that? You have a good point there. That should be even harder for them. Being safe is the better plan though. Also, what kind of resources do you have in your world? I could free up some gold. Tor will give it to us for this, I bet.”

  Touching the other, somewhat similar looking, woman on the arm, Kaitlyn let her eyes light up.

  “We can handle that part, I think? I have money enough. For line walkers, the poor one is… actually Avery here. She’s new and spends most of her time doing other things, like going to school and making clothing. Even at that, she could afford to hire a small army, if she wanted. The skill of going to other worlds pays really well.”