Warrior Queen (Skeleton Key) Read Free Page B

“Magic can only be used by those who believe.”
    Keleti nodded. “But any idiot can pick up a weapon and inflict damage.”
    The priest smiled. “We agree then that magic is a weapon and should be used with caution.”
    “You were the one who suggested we hand it over.”
    “Or something that looks like it.” He winked. “The Southerners wouldn’t know the difference if it bit them.”
    “I will not throw fat on the fire.”
    There was a commotion outside in the hallway. Keleti bit back the sigh. Was it too much to ask that she have a few moments with her own thoughts? But she knew the gods preferred action over thought. Intuition over plots.
    She strode over to the door and stopped. One of the central guards was wet and smelled like a latrine. Between them was a man in the strangest clothes Keleti had ever seen.
    “We found this son of the South in the store room.”
    Keleti narrowed her eyes. Had he been in there poisoning the food they would need for what would no doubt be a siege?
    His clothes didn’t look right. While he wore the odd leg coverings of the south, the rest was wrong. Something else about him was wrong. His eyes were the wrong color and so was his hair. Both were brown. Southerners had blond hair and blue or green eyes. Was he some kind of mixed blood they thought to sneak in? How had he gotten in?
    Her eyes narrowed as they landed on his ears. “He is no Southerner.” He had round ears like a rat. Rats liked store rooms. “So where are you from, Rat?”
    He didn’t answer.
    One of the guards jabbed him in the ribs with a knife. “You answer the Heavenly when you are spoken to.”
    Something flickered in his eyes. He bent over and looked at the ground. Keleti guessed it was some kind of show of respect. When he straightened he kept his eyes down as though he had no right to speak or be in her presence.
    That was even stranger.
    “Speak. I have things to do.” She commanded. Perhaps he was used to being given orders. Maybe he was a runaway slave. She knew that the Southerners were barbaric in many ways.
    “I am from Sydney, Australia.”
    “From the south?”
    He frowned. “It is one of the southern continents.”
    She only knew of one landmass in the south, but she pushed that thought aside. “Why are you here?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “How did you get into my store room?” Direct questions seemed to be working, so she kept the hard edge in her voice.
    “I don’t know.”
    Maybe he was a slave because he didn’t have all of his wits. She bit back her disgust. Had the Southerners no consideration or care? People like him should be looked after. She couldn’t deal with this right now. She was about to send him away with the priest when he spoke.
    “I was drunk last night. I got home, I think, but when I opened the door I ended up here. I think I might be dead. Is this heaven?”
    Keleti laughed. “If you are dead, then we are all dead.”
    The priest stepped closer. “How did you open the door?”
    The strange man opened up his hand. “I found a key. I used it by accident.”
    “Nothing is by accident.” Keleti looked at the priest. If the Southerners had the magic to open all doors it would be disastrous. “How many more keys are there? Search him.”
    The priest picked up the glass key and examined it. “It has magic.”
    A bunch of other keys was handed over along with some other objects.
    The man groaned as they were taken off him.
    She handed the keys to the priest to examine, then looked at the black rectangle. “What it this?”
    “My cell phone. I was hoping to find some better reception so I could call for help.”
    Keleti frowned. He was no fool. He was some kind of Southern spy. “You can call the army with this?”
    “What army?”
    She gave him a tight smile. “And what are these?”
    They didn’t feel like cloth and the writing was small and uniform and like no letters she’d ever seen—not even in intercepted Southern communications.
    “That is my