Page 32 (1/2)

One of the faeries came forith the vine cord I stepped back and conjured a ball of nightfire, holding it in front of me The other four faeriesthose on me," I said softly, and I felt Beezle on my shoulder twitch in surprise I didn’t look at him If I did, I would doubt myself, because I was sure he had a what-in-the-four-hells-do-you-think-you’re-doing look on his face

"You are to be brought before the queen for judgo But you will not treat me like a crihtfire scatter, like a shotgun blast Of course,new and exciting ways of using my power

"In my eyes you are a cridom with foul intentions," Ivin responded

I drew my power around me like a cloak, pushed it up and out so that all in the clearing could feel it I wanted the with All the faeries took a little sidling step backward, not a lot, but just enough for ave them pause

"You will not bind my hands," I repeated "You will treat me with all due respect accorded to an adom"

"I could kill you before you wielded your spell," Ivin said, and he pulled his bowstring tighter

I narrowed htfire that hovered above my palm "Care to try me?"

I knew that I put Ivin in a bad position He was the authority here, a representative of the queen, and it would be difficult for him to back down in front of his men On the other hand, h sense to know that I needed to come to the queen on my own terms or else she would never respectwas still Ivin and I had our eyes locked on each other, each waiting for the other to make a move The faerie who had approachedhis breath I wanted to look at Nathaniel, to see if he would help ht, but I didn’t want to release Ivin froaze

A ive in I wondered howup looking like a pincushion filled with arrows

Ivin abruptly dropped his bow The other faeries paused a moment, as if in astonishave dom of Queen Amarantha, Ambassador Black We would be happy to escort you to our queen"

I closed ave Ivin a regal nod "Would you please unbind the hands of my escort?"