Read The Queen's Dance (Emerging Queens) for Free Online Page A

frowned. “Why don’t you make the clothes fit better?”
    “I didn’t have a belt.” Margery tugged on the jeans.
    “No, use your magic to snug up the fabric. Heck, if you want something different, you can magic up some designer duds if you want.”
    “Oh.” Margery gave a half laugh. “I can’t do anything like that.”
    “Hold on a sec.” Carolyn dumped scrambled eggs from a pan onto a platter and set it on the table. Turning the bacon on low, she came over. “It’s all about visualization. Like when you shift into a dragon. Only instead of picturing a dragon, picture what you want to happen. Change the top so it’s blue. Or the jeans to be bell-bottoms or something.”
    “I don’t really think about shifting. I just do.”
    “Try this. Try making the clothes fit better. You can experiment on other things later. The cool thing about this is you’ll never be naked again. Just send your clothes away when you shift and bring them back when you turn human again.”
    “I think that’s easier said than done.”
    “It does take practice,” Carolyn agreed. “I have to get back to the toast before it burns. Let me know if you need any help.”
    It took a few tries, and for Margery to get over feeling very silly about herself, but she managed to magic herself an outfit that made her feel like her old self again. Now, if she could only magic up a laptop. She shrugged. She’d just have to keep borrowing Remy’s.
    “Where are you?” Margery whispered, pulling back the curtain to look out in the woods.
    …
    Remy felt the black dragon’s presence even this deep underwater. He knew the moment the embassy’s reinforcements showed up on his land, even if he was still too weak to surface. The people were nervous, and even the ground shook in fear, sending shock waves through the lake as Reed flew over. Reed was a Celtic dragon, built like a flying tank with swordlike claws and teeth. But the black dragons also spit a virulent poison that killed humans on contact and would erode away dragon scale. It was a nasty way to die. Remy had been charged with protecting a Queen, though, and the penalty for letting her die was to follow her in death. He didn’t want to die, but it was their law.
    Remy gathered up his strength and started his ascent. It was slow going, but his territory recognized a threat and fed him more power. He would miss Lake Champlain and the humans who had named the lake after him. He wished he’d been able to find his mother and say a last good-bye.
    His death would also prove that the five elder Queens had been right—he wasn’t fit to protect or serve. A long time ago, when Remy was young and stupid, he had, against his mother’s wishes, petitioned Cassandra to be in her court. She wouldn’t even see him. Just sent a message with one of her studs. The note had long since disintegrated into ash, but the memory of the words was etched on his soul.
    If you can’t fly, you’re useless to me as a protector. I would not risk an egg of mine having your disability.
    Margery would have been a good Queen, and the regret that clawed in his belly pushed him toward the surface. She had deserved a better protector than him. If only she had followed directions and run for the lake, they’d both have been alive at the end of today.
    His head breached the water, and he stared down at the embassy’s executioner. He wouldn’t fight. Even if he defeated Reed, they would just send another.
    “She wouldn’t listen to me,” Remy said. He could at least try to explain. It wouldn’t do him any good, but at least it would go down on record that he hadn’t just stood back and let the drakes kill her.
    “They seldom do,” Reed rumbled, flapping his wings to stay aloft above the lake. It made ripples around him, and Remy wondered if the tourists would feel the wake.
    “The drakes were tipped off. They knew she was here and weak enough for them to try for her.”
    “How many got away?”
    Remy thought