Streamfield Shifters: Hide & Seek

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We stayed with Jimmy and the kids for a little while before Rondil indicated that we should return. It was hard to leave the kid there, watching us walk away with those haunted eyes. My heart ached for him and all of the humans in the camp. But at least we would be able to take them home soon.

As soon as we entered the general's pavilion, he lit into us as if we were a pair of unruly children.

"You just had to disobey me, didn't you?" General Whitesword slammed his fist on the table, making papers and pens jump into the air. Leihalani and Kesio, who were sitting nearby, jumped slightly in their chairs.

I flinched at his tone, but schooled my features into neutrality. "We did no such thing," I argued back, watching with a sliver of satisfaction as a tic jumped above the general's right eye. "We didn't ask Jimmy or any of the other kids any questions—just as you requested. We simply sat with him while Lieutenant Cal—Cal-something-or-other—interviewed him." Damn elves and their tongue-twisting names.

"You can ask him yourself," Rachael added, glaring.

"I will most certainly have words with Lieutenant Calphevistron," the general growled.

Rachael tossed her hair over one shoulder and put a hand on one hip. "I don't know why you're so upset with us," she shot back. "Do you like throwing your weight around?"

Jesus. "Rachael!" I exclaimed. You could argue with the man, but not hurl insults at him.

Not yet, anyway.

General Whitesword puffed up like a frog. "You insolent—Your Majesty." At once, the general snapped to attention, arms straight at his sides. He bowed, angling his upper body almost perpendicular to the ground.

Both Leihalani and Kesio scraped their chairs back, grass ripping as they jumped to their feet. "Mother," they breathed at the same time, one bowing, and the other curtsying in trousers.

Who ...? I looked around for the source of the commotion.

Rachael grabbed my upper arm. "Uh, Aly ... turn around."

I turned.

An elven woman strolled across the trampled grass, tiny wildflowers springing up in her wake. Golden motes of light trailed from the hem of her gown, which appeared to be made from green leaves and flower petals. Long chestnut hair fell in waves down to her back, pinned up and augmented by silver chains and gemstones. A slim diadem made of twisted oak branches perched atop her mass of thick hair. Behind her were four Tsolas and a small contingent of soldiers all in white and green armor with a green-gold sash slashing across their chests.

"General Whitesword," the woman said, her voice soft and yet commanding. A butterfly lifted off her dress and fluttered away. "What is all this shouting about? We could hear you all the way down the lane."

I stole a quick glance at the general. A bright red flush peeped out beneath the collar of his jacket. "Your Majesty," he repeated, slowly standing upright. "I have been charged with keeping order in this camp and these human shapeshifters have continuously disobeyed my instructions. I beg your leave to send them back to through the Gate immediately."

"These women?" the queen inquired, lifting a graceful hand towards us. "By your own admission, General, they were instrumental in finding the destructive crystals and the hidden humans."

The general's jaw muscles clenched so hard, I was waiting for his teeth to snap. The queen nodded. "So I thought," she murmured. "Now, as for you ..."

I stiffened as the Summer Queen floated towards us, bees and little hummingbirds appearing out of hidden folds in her skirts to dance around her head. She stopped a few feet in front of Rachael and I; tilting her head slightly, she peered down at us curiously. I was of average height and Rachael slightly taller, but the Summer Queen had to be at least five-foot-ten. Her face was not severely angular, but there was enough alienness in her features to remind me that I was not dealing with another human woman. Her eyes were bright green—grass green, almost—and despite the youth of her face, hammered home how old she actually was.