Thorn Queen (Dark Swan, #2)(14)

Shaya cleared her throat loudly. I glanced over at her. She gave me a pointed look that gave no question to what she wanted me to do. Grimacing, I glanced back down at poor, groveling Davros. Damn. I wanted nothing more than to get out of the Otherworld right now. I didn't want to stop for teatime. My expression must have looked scary because Davros blanched and lowered his head meekly.

I sighed. "We'd love to."

Mayor or not, Davros didn't have a very big house. Only Shaya, Rurik, and I joined him inside, while the rest of my party milled around outdoors. From the village, Davros had invited a few other important officials, as well as his wife and two grown sons. We sat at a round oak table while his wife served us red wine and something that reminded me of baklava. I sipped only a little of the wine, not wanting to risk dehydration in this weather.

I wasn't much better at making conversation here than at Maiwenn's, but fortunately, there was no need for me to do anything. Davros and his associates kept the talking going, most of the conversation centering on how glad they were that I had come by, what an honor it was to meet me, how they hoped I'd call on them if I needed anything, et cetera, et cetera.

Which was why it was a bit shocking when Davros' wife suddenly asked, "But if you would, your majesty, please tell us what it is we've done to displease you. We'll do anything at all to make amends and gain your favor once more. Anything."

I almost choked on the honey cake. "What do you mean...displease me?"

The villagers exchanged glances. "Well...," said Davros at last. "There must be something. You've placed a blight on the land, stripping us of our water and food. Surely we've done something to warrant your most righteous displeasure."

"You need only let us know what it is," piped in someone else. "We will do anything you require to lift this curse from us."

This was the most astonishing thing to happen to me all day-which was saying something. I looked at Shaya and Rurik for help, having no clue how to respond to this. For a moment, I thought they would once again make me fend for myself, until Shaya finally spoke.

"The residents had built their lives around the shape of the land when Aeson ruled it, when it was the Alder Land. When it transformed itself to you, their old ways no longer worked. Their crops don't grow in this weather. The wells have run dry."

I stared at her in shock. Never, never had this occurred to me-but then, it wasn't like I'd spent a whole lot of time thinking about the Thorn Land. Most of my energy had been spent on figuring out how to avoid it. Studying Shaya, I wondered how long she'd known about this. I somehow doubted there was much that went on around here that she didn't know about. From the looks of Rurik's averted gaze, it appeared as though he'd known about this problem as well. Both knew how upset I got when forced to deal with any sort of queenly issues. So both had spared me the details while these people suffered.

I turned back to Davros. "It's not a curse...it's, I don't know, it's just the way the land is. The way I wanted it to be."

Astonished looks met me, and I could only imagine what a freak I sounded like. When Aeson had ruled, this land had been green and lush, filled with forests and fertile farmland. Who in their right mind would turn it into a desert? Davros confirmed as much.

"But this land...this land is impossible to survive in," he said.

"Not where I come from," I told him. "This is like the land I grew up in. People live and flourish there."

People also had modern ways of bringing in water and shopping for whatever other stuff they might need. And that wasn't even taking air-conditioning into account.

"How?" he asked.

I didn't know how to readily answer. I didn't really understand the intimate details of my world's infrastructure. I turned a faucet and water came out. I went to the grocery store and bought milk and Pop-Tarts. Desperately, I racked my brain and tried to pull out elementary school lessons about Arizona's history.

"Irrigation," I said lamely. "Squash, I think. And, um, corn." Had the natives grown corn? Or was I getting confused by stereotypes? Shit. I was so ignorant. The only thing I felt confident of was that Pop-Tarts were not cultivated natively in Arizona. The looks the others gave me told me I wasn't helping this situation any.

I glanced at Shaya and Rurik, but this time, no help came. The full weight of what I'd done started to sink in. Maybe I hadn't wanted this land. Maybe I hadn't intentionally turned it into a mirror of wild Tucson. The point was: it was done. The Thorn Land was as it was, and taking in these ragged and starving people, I realized it was all my fault. Only, I had no clue how to fix it. I was too much a product of modern innovation. There was nothing I could do.

Scratch that. There was one thing I could do.

I abruptly stood from the table, catching everyone by surprise. As custom dictated, they all hastily scrambled and rose as well. Without explaining myself, I headed outside, back out into the village. Behind me, I could hear Davros babbling something, apparently thinking they'd again caused offense. They probably thought I was about to send lightning bolts from the sky.

As it was, that might not have been a bad idea-if I actually had that power. These people could certainly use rain. But one rainstorm wouldn't fix things, and I could hardly do it day after day. Instead, I walked out to the middle of the street and came to a halt. My guards straightened up, awaiting my orders, and other residents stopped to see what was happening. Those from Davros' gathering soon poured out of the house and joined everyone else.