There was no point in trying to hide after that. The man’s announcement had been loud, and all eyes were probably staring at him wondering what he was talking about since they couldn’t see me, but it would only take a moment for them to figure out where I was, because the soldier was still kneeling down and staring underneath the table.
“Come here, pretty little human,” he wheedled, like that was going to influence me to crawl out.
“She’s under the table? What in Fae’s name is she doing there? Pull her out and bring her here.” That was the kidnapping queen giving commands as if she were still in charge. What happened to her being a pincushion for sword points?
“See, I told you I hadn’t hurt her,” the kidnapper continued. “I tried to get her to eat something this morning, one of my favorite pomegranate breakfast bars in fact, but she refused to eat anything last night. That wasn’t my fault. I gave her a nice room with a good bed. And that dress, which used to look good on her! She’s had all the comforts of a welcomed guest.”
“But you stole her from me, and she is mine,” Queen Moragana said all huffy and puffy like indignance was part of her crown. I recognized her voice right off. I’d know it anywhere, even if she hadn’t brought an army with her and was lording it over the unnamed queen.
But their conversation was enough to get me to crawl out from under the table. I ignored the soldier’s outstretched hand and stepped out into the open, a little stiff from scrunching over and probably besmudged from head to toes from hand painting the dirty floor, but I straightened my back and heard it snap back into place. (Maybe that was my imagination. I doubt it actually made any noise. I wasn’t that old.)
Head held high as if I hadn’t been repeatedly chopped down into nothingness with the find the human order Queen Moragana had issued, I marched closer to the double queen area. I was trying not to look right or left, not wanting to see any of those dead bodies I figured would be flopped on the ground here and there, but it seemed that all the soldiers were still standing.
Over on my left, I saw the kidnapping queen’s three golden Viking-look-a-likes. They were each missing their swords and had their hands tied behind their backs, but otherwise, they looked hale and hearty. One of them, I think the one who was the queen’s favorite, was wearing a shiner on his left eye. The guy next to him had a shirt with dangling fabric that was really no longer a shirt. The raggedy material left his heaving, sweaty and well-muscled chest on vivid display, a sight which would have caused all the ladies at work to sigh and fan themselves.
Queen Moragana’s crew of soldiers were no weaklings either. Every one of them looked like a super hero, minus the cape, but their uniforms were equally strikingly handsome. Her army was made up of broad and full-muscled superbness. My eyes scanned the males only briefly, but I was pretty sure that if the Fae were included in men’s beauty contests, these guys would win all the trophies.