Read Online Infinity by Andria Buchanan - Free Book Online Page B

March across the border and take the army directly to the Palace of Night. Tell her we’re not going to put up with her crap anymore, and if she doesn’t knock it off, you’ve got an army to stop her. A big army, full of lots of very angry soldiers.”
    “Okay, how’s that different from my plan?”
    “Before you give the order to attack the Palace of Night, give her the chance to surrender. No matter how angry she makes you, Allie, give her the chance to surrender to you peacefully. Make her give up her crown, if you want. Put her in her own dungeons. But before you attack, give her a chance to save her soldiers’ lives.”
    “She won’t.”
    “That doesn’t matter.” Mercedes grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re not giving her the chance because she’ll take it. You’re the queen who holds the Great Relics of Nerissette. You can afford to be merciful. And if that’s not enough, give her the chance because it’s who you are .”
    “I don’t know who I am anymore.” I leaned my head against her shoulder and tried not to cry. Sure, I was able to destroy the Mirror that gave a direct path into the World That Is, and I used the Dragon’s Tear to trap the Fate Maker in the Bleak—things that couldn’t happen if I weren’t the rightful queen—but that was just a title.
    “You’re my best friend, who also happens to be a queen.”
    “I’m not a very good queen, though, am I? Ever since I took the throne, all anyone has done is try to overthrow me somehow.”
    “So what?” Mercedes bumped her shoulder against mine. “I’m green. Nothing you can come up with will ever top that. According to Dryad legends, I’m part plant . So take your whole, ‘poor me, everyone keeps invading my kingdom, and my boyfriend turns into a big, gorgeous dragon to protect me’ and stuff it. I’m a plant woman. You can’t beat me in the freakstakes after that.”
    “Well, at least you’re a pretty shade of green,” I said, nudging her shoulder. “Sort of a minty color.”
    “Spring leaf,” she corrected. “I am spring-leaf green.”
    “Whatever, at least you’re not the color of pond scum.”
    “Yeah, thank the trees for small mercies, huh?”
    “Yeah.” I leaned our foreheads together.
    “Allie?”
    “What?”
    “I miss home. I miss Mr. Brinnegar and his stupid assignments that have no bearing on the real world, and biology class on dissection days when the cheerleaders would whine about how gross cutting something open was while you tried not to pass out or barf. I even miss gym class.”
    “Me, too.” I pulled my best friend closer, staring out into the dark nothingness of the night surrounding us. “I miss it, too. Well, I don’t miss gym class, but the rest of it I miss. No one who ever actually had to play field hockey in gym class could miss that.”
    “Are you really going to find some way to get us back home?”
    “I’m going to try.” I squeezed her tighter. “Did you really copy all your gym class reports from Wikipedia?”
    “Every single one.”
    There was a crunch of leaves to our left, and I instinctively reached for the sword I’d gotten used to wearing at my hip after so many months of war. I wrapped my hand around the hilt, and shifted my weight, putting my body between Mercedes and whoever—or whatever—was coming toward us.
    “Your Majesty?” Kitsuna called out a moment before the red-haired wryen, the daughter of two different types of dragons, melted out of the shadows. She’d been acting as my fiercest bodyguard this past year, even though she didn’t possess the ability to transform into the dragon inside her.
    “Hey, Kit.” I took my hand off the sword and patted the ground beside me. “Come hang out with us.”
    “I can’t.” She shook her head. “You’re needed.”
    “Why?”
    “Your Royal Council of War has arrived. The army is mobilizing, and the Town Watch for Neris has sent all their spare men to help guard the castle.” I watched as