The Queen Revealed Read Online Free Page A

only person who may be able to help her.
    She decided to take Ohrig’s advice and follow the Highway to the Belvoir Estate. Out on the open road, Adele felt comfortable enough to ride ahead of their caravan to be alone with her thoughts. It was pleasant enough until a gusty breeze blew up and rattled the branches of the trees that lined the road. A sudden chill bit at her cheeks.
    In their carriage, the children shivered and cuddled close to their nannies. Down on the floor, Hero Dog whined and looked up at his tiny master.
    “I know, too, don’t I, Hero Boy?” said Aaron quietly. “The snow is coming.”

 
    Chapter Three
    “Webs of Deceit”
    A strong wind blew in through the broken windows, overturning some tiny glass bottles and rattling the papers that lay strewn across the workbenches in the laboratory. Grotto jumped at the commotion, roused from his maudlin contemplations where he still swept glass on the floor. He shivered as another buffeting gust almost knocked him over. This was an unnatural wind.
    He moved to the empty windows and looked out to the front gates and the Dark Forest beyond. Heavy black clouds raced across the sky and piled in great heaps over the Grey Palace. Grotto’s nose twitched at the smell of ice in the air, its cold clear scent stabbing at his sinuses.
    What was his Master up to now?
    Grotto cleared his thoughts and quietened his mind to listen to the wind. His long, bony fingers gripped the jagged edge of the windowsill as he leaned out over the edge.
    She comes! She comes ! Whispered the North Wind. She comes with the breath of a beast behind her. All men be afraid. The Queen is coming!”
    Grotto frowned and pressed his thin lips together. The North Wind was fickle and often spoke in foolish riddles, but the ‘breath of a beast’ ? What new darkness was this? Most likely, it was the Spider Empress of which the wind spoke.
    So, the Queen was close and his Master was finally doing something to bring her to his side, where she could fulfill her part of the Prophecy. Grotto looked forward to events unfolding as they should, but he couldn’t calm the disquiet in his soul. The Empress would have her vengeance on the Queen and Grotto feared that his Master was underestimating the strength of the Empress’ hatred. This Prophecy was not going to end well for the Queen and Grotto did not want the Prince in the way when it did.
    The Spider People were an ancient and primitive race, but they had long memories. Their ancestors had walked the Above Lands a thousand years ago, nesting in the trees of the Dark Forest and eating all the fresh meat they could catch, Animal and Human alike. They had been a powerful race, feared by all and nearly unstoppable because of their ability to walk in the light of day, as well as at night. Not many of the Dark Entities shared this ability. But it was the very thing that made them so dangerous that had been so fascinating to the Marchant Kings of the day.
    The Spider People were a long-lived race. Though not technically immortal, they still maintained their bodies for hundreds of years in perfect health. It was the Spider People who had exchanged the knowledge of the Gift of Life with the Marchant Kings for protection from the Goddess Serena when she returned to the world of Evendaar. They had made the Under Lands their permanent home, hiding in nests, on the promise of the Marchant Kings that one day, they would be able to return to the surface of the world. For when the Spider Empress and her kind covered the land, other Dark Entities would also rise from the shadows, where they had been hidden for so long. A new era of darkness would cover the world and the Goddess Lune would have dominion over the Goddess Serena, as she had in the days of old, before the Humans had even come to this world.
    Grotto gritted his teeth and gazed sightlessly out at the billowing clouds. He didn’t even notice as the first flakes of snow drifted in and fell softly about