Copper Ravens by Jennifer Allis Provost Read Free Book Online

with my fingers. “I suspect her captivity has driven her to madness.”
    â€œShe can hardly be blamed for that,” I murmured, shuddering as I recalled the stinking hole of darkness she’d been hauled from; Micah and I had the honor of attending, being that we’d caused the Iron Queen’s demise and had thus inadvertently restored Oriana to the throne. Ha. Some honor. “What did she do?”
    â€œFirst, she proclaimed that we were all sent to kill her. Then, she announced that she suspected one of us of sewing poison into her clothing, so she stripped naked. Then, she danced and laughed, quite pleased with herself that she’d thwarted her poisoner.”
    Can you sew poison? I kept my musings to myself and prompted him to continue. “Then she demanded that we all expose our marks to her, to prove that we are, indeed, Elementals. Shapeshifters cannot duplicate Elemental marks, you know,” Micah added, then laughed mirthlessly. “She went so far as to touch each mark, to prove our authenticity.”
    â€œShe touched your mark?” Jealousy rose like bile in my throat. Micah was mine, his beautiful silver mark off-limits to everyone but me.
    â€œFor the barest moment,” Micah replied. “She was far more interested in the Inheritor of Fire.”
    Ayla was the Inheritor of Fire’s name; I’d made a point of meeting her, since she was human like me. She was tall and lean, with a head of hair such a bright shade of red she made me look like a mere brunette. “Why was Ayla there?”
    â€œOriana requested her.” Micah rolled again, now onto his side as he pulled me into his cocoon of Micahness. “I do not know how we of metal should proceed, if our queen proves mad. Our queen is meant to symbolize wisdom, not weakness.” He fell silent, his fingers caressing my back in long strokes.
    â€œShe doesn’t sound mad,” I said. “So she’s a little shell-shocked from her ordeal. That’s to be expected. And, after what the iron warriors did to her, I’m not surprised that she’d prefer a woman’s company. Maybe…maybe she just needs a little more time,” I suggested.
    â€œTime. Yes, perhaps time is the proper balm for her ills.” Micah considered my words for another moment, then he drew my face to his. “My wise consort,” he murmured, his gentle caresses becoming a bit more urgent. “Truly, your words soothe my mind. Now, let me soothe you.”
    I bit my lip; I’d taken my last contraband Mundane birth control pill yesterday. Since I couldn’t exactly tell Micah that, mostly because I’d never told him about them in the first place, I let him roll me beneath him and concentrated on loving him.

5
    M icah had learned pretty early on in our relationship that I was liable to say anything at any moment, regardless of present company or future consequences. Much to my well-mannered consort’s chagrin, he had witnessed me unintentionally insult everyone from Shep right on up to Old Stoney, though neither of us had really minded pissing off the old rock. Shep, though, that was another story; all I had said was that the stairs weren’t as shiny as the main floors, and Shep took that as an insult against his housekeeping skills. I hadn’t meant anything like that—in fact, I liked that the stairs were a bit duller, especially for those occasions when I was wearing a dress—and I’d felt so guilty I’d ended up helping clean the manor for weeks. However, what I asked Micah the morning after my trip to the village with Max surprised even me.
    â€œCan you teach me to fight?” By the time I’d gotten up the nerve to ask that, we’d been up for almost an hour, lounging away in bed. Micah hated mornings nearly as much as I did.
    â€œFight?” he repeated, one silver brow halfway up his forehead.
    â€œYeah. With a sword,” I added. For the