Read Online Warrior Queen (Skeleton Key) by Shona Husk, Skeleton Key - Free Book Online Page B

help him get home? Was he interfering and somehow damaging this world? He didn’t know. But he hoped that if he helped, it would make her hand over the key sooner. His fate and future was tied to hers, so he was going to do whatever it took to make sure she survived.
    Her eyebrows drew together. “I will know when the time is right for you to go.”
    “Ah, right. The gods.” He tried not to sound like a skeptic and failed.
    “You do not believe.”
    “No.” He wouldn’t lie to her. Not when she could tell when he was lying…unless that was a trick.
    Keleti touched his cheek. “What kind of a man doesn’t believe in gods after stepping through a door and into another world?”
    He had no answer. He’d never believed in any god. As she looked at him, the lamps flickering and making shadows jump, he thought that she might be able to make him believe in magic.

    I t was late by the time she’d finished meeting with her advisors about the coming siege. They had discussed Bryce’s bombs, and while the idea sounded good, there was a risk that no one was prepared to take: she’d be the one flying the bombs out.
    There hadn’t been a major war in several generations. The cities had unified into clusters when there was no new Heavenly to take over ruling a city. It was seen as bad luck and a lack of favor from the gods, but after a private chat with the priest who had spent the day with Bryce, she knew there was more to it. It would be beneficial if every city had a Heavenly.
    Flight was a gift.
    But did she dare spread the idea, or would people think she was interfering in the business of the gods? She didn’t know. And for the moment, it wasn’t something that she could think about.
    Bryce had brought new ideas.
    Too many at once would be a bad thing. She made her way through the palace, the insects chirping away, her servant following softly behind in case she needed something. Two guards a little further behind in case she was attacked. Somehow Keleti had ended up at Nadri’s room. For a moment she stood there and stared at the door. Then she threw it open.
    The room was as it had always been. Everything as if her cousin planned on coming back. Keleti drew in a breath. Never. “I want this room cleaned out. Give away the clothes and jewels. I want no trace of her left.”
    “Yes, Heavenly.” Her servant inclined her head. By this time tomorrow there would be no sign of the traitor.
    The anger simmered in her veins. What tricks would Nadri use to ensure her success?
    She knew that Bryce was right. Not shooting a Heavenly was a weakness. One that she was sure her enemy didn’t share.
    Nadri knew everything about her and the city down to the last grain store. The only thing she had that Nadri wasn’t expecting was Bryce.
    She could wait for the reinforcements from the other cities. Or look strong by implementing new techniques and winning on their own.
    At the end of the night, the decision was hers and hers alone. Her advisors and priests could speak their minds, and yet all their words were like sand that she could brush aside.
    She left the door open. The room was no longer Nadri’s. While she didn’t know if he’d be up, she wanted someone to talk to who wasn’t expecting her to have all the answers.
    No, he just wanted her to hand over the key so he could get home. As long as she had that key, he was on her side. That didn’t make him a trustworthy ally.
    She should go to the temple.
    But her heart was empty and she couldn’t place the city in the hands of the gods. They had placed it in her hands when she’d accepted the gift of flight, and it was her responsibility.
    She remembered the old tales where the Heavenlies from each tribe would take flight to defend whoever was threatened. And they had also fought against each other. Perhaps peace couldn’t last, and war was inevitable because people were never happy with what they had.
    There was a man guarding Bryce’s door as she’d ordered. He