by Linda Kage
I’d come a long way, I realized. A moon cycle ago, I would’ve been breaking out in hives to learn I’d been wearing enchanted jewelry. Now, I stroked them as if they were precious, because they were. Farrow had saved me from a dungeon with them.
“Oh, fuck no,” Bricklynn suddenly cursed.
I glanced up to spot soldiers ahead, wearing Far Shore colors. And they spotted us too. With a shout, they stampeded in our direction at full charge.
“Lovely,” Farrow snarled as he jogged closer to provide more protection to our group as Indigo closed in from the other side. “Where were you for this unexpected surprise, Roloff?”
“Trust, my lord,” the soothsayer said, though his voice didn’t sound all that steady. “This is meant to happen.” Then he prayed under his breath, “Please, let this be part of destiny.”
“We need to run!” Payne cried, turning away to flee, but Farrow caught her arm.
“No. We’re on foot and they’re already too close; they’ll be on us in seconds.”
“We need to fight,” Indigo countered, giving his wrists a flick. When a sword sprouted from one hand and the lightning shield grew off his other forearm, Dewla gasped in delight.
“Oh wow, my lord. That was quite impressive.”
I sighed and strode to the front of the group. “We’ll neither fight nor run.” Stepping in front of the approaching men on horses, I held up a hand and bellowed, “Halt.”
It’s possible Farrow’s conversation with me about trusting my instincts went straight to my head. But I felt utterly confident in my ability to handle the situation as the knights immediately obeyed, yanking on their reins and slowing in front of me without attacking.
Blinking at me as if I’d lost my mind, the lot of them simply stared as I walked right up to the front rider, saying, “You’re representatives of the queen, I presume?”
“Uh…” They exchanged confused glances with each other before turning back to me. “Aye, my lady.”
I nodded. “Good. I had hoped so. In that case, take me to Kalendria. I wish to have an audience with her.”
Completely unexpecting that, they scratched their heads. “Well, er, who exactly are you, anyway?”
I lifted my eyebrows as if unimpressed by their ignorance. “I am Princess Nicolette of Donnelly. And if you don’t wish my army to invade your fair city and annihilate it in mere days—because I can stop their mad attack—you’ll do as I say. Right now.”
At my authoritative command, they jumped into action as if to comply, only to pause when they took in Farrow and his sisters, plus Indigo’s crackling shield full of lightning.
“But we’re supposed to capture this lot,” one man finally said, motioning toward them.
“That won’t be necessary.” I waved a dismissive hand. “They’re all part of my court now, so they’ll be accompanying me to the castle anyway. Therefore, there will be no need for force.”
It was almost humorous, but the guards actually looked relieved to hear that. Bowing respectfully to me, they answered, “Right this way, then, my lady. We’ll escort you straight to the queen.”
I smiled brightly, inclining my head graciously. “Thank you. You may proceed.”
My heart pounded hard in my chest, hoping my false bravado would carry me all the way through, but my fingers were beginning to tremble, and sweat slipped down the side of my face.
Farrow and Indigo suddenly appeared on either side of me, guarding me with their lives.
“I have no clue what you have planned,” Indy told me from the side of his mouth. “But, by God, this better work.”
“Of course, it will,” Farrow said before he met my gaze and winked with pride. “Well done, my lady.”
I released a shuttered breath, letting him see a bit of my nerves. When he reached out and took my hand, we squeezed our fingers together, silently prepared to face whatever happened next.
Our walk to the castle seemed to take forever. Behind me, Dewla and Payne began to weep with terror, but Bricklynn shushed them, saying, “Stop that at once. Nicolette has this handled. We’ll be fine.”
I hoped she was right. But I wasn’t even sure what I was going to say to Kalendria, or what she would order her guards to do to us once I faced her.
The entire Far Shore army had amassed by the time we reached the front gate, preparing to fight off an invasion from Donnelly, which also meant that if Kalendria didn’t let us go freely, we wouldn’t be fighting our way out of here this time; too many Far Shore soldiers would be around to oppose us.
“You lot,” one of the knights said, motioning to everyone with me as we neared the entrance of the main keep. “Stay out here. The princess will talk with the queen alone.”
“Like hell,” Farrow snarled, stepping toward him threateningly.
“I’m her personal bodyguard,” Indigo added, sidling next to him. “I go where she goes.”
Farrow scowled at him for stealing his line. I rolled my eyes and wiggled my way between the two. “My entire court comes with me,” I told the knight, lifting a haughty eyebrow. “Thank you.”
He blushed, looking flustered a moment before mumbling, “Well, okay. But they all have to stay in the back of the room, against the wall.”
I nodded. “That’s fine. They’ll comply.”
Indigo snorted at that, and Farrow hissed a curse.
As we entered the keep and started down a long corridor, I grabbed an arm of both my bodyguard and true love. “Will you two behave?” I warned them under my breath. “I will handle this.”
“You’re not going anywhere alone with Kalendria,” Farrow growled, making me sigh.
“Of course, I won’t.” I placated him by patting his arm. “Which is exactly why I insisted that you all come into the hall with me.”
Indigo nodded. “And well done with that, by the way.”
Farrow scowled at him. “Not helping. This is still a very dangerous situation.”
“Which will be fine,” Indigo spat back, arching his brows in challenge, “because I’ll be present to save her, now.”
“God preserve us if the fate of our lives rests in your hands,” Farrow muttered to the ceiling.
“Hey, I resent that.”
“You mean, you represent it.”
They continued to bicker all the way down the hall to the throne room, and oddly enough, it helped alleviate my fear. With these two around, I could face anything.
At the doorway, the guards ordered the others into position against the back wall where they were to stand as another knight escorted me forward to the opposite end of the room to Kalendria who sat, smirking. A crown lay poised on her head while her late husband’s leather cape with the fur collar gripped her shoulders protectively.
In front of her, a handsome male servant stripped of a top to bear his muscled chest, knelt beside her, giving her a foot massage.
She was definitely lording the power of her new position over everyone.
“Why, princess,” she greeted. “What a surprise this is. I thought I’d seen the last of you when you escaped my dungeons. But look how you’ve returned. And brought me gifts too, it appears.” She motioned to my court. “It just so happens I’ve been seeking Torrance’s children. Thank you for delivering them all to me so tidily. Oh, and is that my fiancé I spy, as well?”
“You misunderstand,” I told her, sidestepping to block my people from her view. “I’m not here to turn anyone over to you. I’ve claimed them all as mine, thus they’re under my protection now. You’ll not be touching them.”
I spoke clearly and succinctly, not an ounce of rudeness or arrogance in my tone as I gave her the facts. And in return, she lifted her brows in surprise before throwing back her head and laughing in my face. “You’ve claimed them?” she had to repeat, amused by the notion.
But I nodded, remaining stoic. “Yes. They were being mistreated and maligned under your care, so I took them under mine.”
Kalendria paused, frowning at my words. Fi
nally growing serious, she flicked her masseur back with her foot so she could slip on her jeweled sandals with spiked heels and stand above me on her raised dais. “Excuse me, little girl? What did you just say about the way I treat my people?”
“You heard me just fine.” Keeping my eyes steady on her, I notched my chin regally high. “And now that we have that issue out of the way…”
With a sputtered sniff of surprise, she cried, “We most certainly do not—”
But I kept talking over her, “I’d like to discuss the approaching Donnelly army.”
That caught her off guard. She blinked, demanding, “What about them?”
“They’re coming to attack, merely to get me back. So I’m here to help you keep the peace and prevent a battle.”
“Help me?” the queen snorted incredulously. “I don’t need assistance from a smart-mouthed little princess who doesn’t know her place. I say, let them come. We’re ready to fight.”
“You most certainly are not,” I argued. “There are innocent villagers out there on the streets right now who’ll get caught in the crossfire if you go to battle. And you haven’t even started to evacuate anyone. The Donnelly troops have already burned a path through the Dimway Forest and probably the Back Forest by now as well. Just think of how many of your subjects that’s harmed. Hundreds have probably already been displaced from their homes because of this.”
Kalendria merely shrugged. “Not my problem.” Strolling down the steps from the dais, she approached me at a leisurely pace, her hips swaying as her cape trailed along the floor behind her and her heeled sandals clicked against stone. “Your kingdom is the one causing all the collateral damage. This is on their shoulders.”
“But I can help you stop them,” I growled, wishing I could just shake some sense into her. “As soon as Urban, the leader of the Donnellean army, sees me alive and well and not being held captive, he will cease their advance immediately. I can probably even get their soldiers to restore a good portion of the damage they caused before they return home. This doesn’t have to end in any more bloodshed.”
“But I’ve grown a taste for blood, princess. Starting with yours.” She stepped in closer, her eyes glittering with crazed malice. “And when your army arrives, I’ll relish dumping your rotting corpse off the tallest tower of my castle, right into their laps.”
My lips parted in horrified shock as I listened to her plans.
“Then we’ll eliminate every one of your savage soldiers and show the rest of the Outer Realms to never discount the power and might of Far Shore again.”
I shook my head, desperately. “No. They’ll defeat you. Your soldiers would never be able to take on the full force of—”
“I guess that’s just where we’ll have to agree to disagree, then.”
Snagging my elbow in a brutal grip, she yanked me close. When I heard the snick of a dagger being drawn open and felt the sharp tip of its blade prod my side, I drew in a gasp and glanced toward the back of the room.
I could tell both Indigo and Farrow were frowning in concern, straining to see exactly what was happening at this end of the hall, but they couldn’t tell that the queen meant to kill me herself, here and now.
Keeping my cool, I turned back to Kalendria. “I take it you’ve changed your mind about ransoming me, then.”
The queen narrowed her eyes. “The moment I learned your brother dared to invade my land with his filthy troops, yes, your life became forfeit. We’ll teach them once and for all not to mess with us.”
I nodded as if I understood. “It seems you’ve made up your mind on the subject.”
“Most definitely,” she snarled in a low voice, her eyes flaming with hatred. “But tell me one thing first before I spill your life’s blood all over this floor.”
I arched my brows. “What’s that, Your Majesty?”
Her features filled with disgust as she studied me from head to toe. Then she sniffed dismissively and asked, “How it is that he would have the gall to turn me down, only to let an ugly, pathetic thing like you into his bed?”
Momentarily too boggled to answer, I blinked in surprise. But I had never expected her scorn for me to come from jealousy, because I’d snagged Farrow and she hadn’t.
Realizing I had already conquered her in one way, despite the fact she was seconds away from gutting me, I smiled broadly and made a show of taking the hairpin from my tresses so I could fling the newly freed locks over my shoulder in a saucy show of defiance. “I guess you’re just incapable of the proper kind of seduction it takes to secure a real man, and I’m not.”
“Bitch!” She seethed, gritting her teeth. “I’ll show you exactly what I’m capable of.”
With a cry of triumph, she reared her arm back high, intending to plunge her dagger forward and stab me straight through the heart.
Behind me, I heard a chorus of voices yell, “Nooooo…”
But I blocked them out so I could concentrate. Beating Kalendria to the punch, I gripped the hairpin tight within my fingers and I came up low, thrusting the needle-pointed end forward so I could shove it straight into her throat as hard as I could.
This time, there was no hesitation before the magic was released. Vines pierced her neck on impact, the ladder growing out through the back of her head and arching up toward the ceiling, as more grew from the front of her chest toward the floor.
The queen barely had a chance to gasp in surprise before her eyes dulled, and death became her.
Shuddering from the grossness of it, I drew back and immediately whirled to face Farrow and the others as they pounded forward to assist.
But their mouths just as quickly dropped open as they jarred to a halt and gaped in stunned shock over what I’d just done.
“Sh-she had a knife,” I started, a bit unsteadily, even though everyone had seen the queen try to stab me. “She was going to kill me.”
“Aye.” Farrow nodded. “You reacted perfectly, my lady.” Then he started toward me again, more slowly this time, which seemed to jostle the dumbfounded Far Shore army into action.
“She killed the queen,” one knight murmured in awe, while another cried, “Seize her!”
“Kill her!”
A horde of metal-clad soldiers surged forward as one. I squeaked in fear because I was all out of hairpins.
But a voice rose above them all, roaring, “CEASE!” Farrow waved his arms above his head, somehow gaining everyone’s attention. “You cannot kill her, per Far Shore custom.”
The confused guards blinked and stared at him before glancing at each other to see if anyone else understood what he meant.
Turning in a slow circle, he spoke again to the room. “Whoever kills the crown becomes the crown. Is that not right?”
My lips parted in surprise.
“And you killed the king,” I uttered, realizing what was happening.
But, oh! Oh my goodness! He was going to claim the throne.
My true love was about to become a freaking king!
Head going light with excitement and pride, I vibrated with vigor, honored to be here to see this moment happen for him.
But he threw me for a loop when he said, “No. I abdicated my right to rule when I didn’t claim the throne after Torrance’s death. So Kalendria stepped up and took the seat. She became the new crown who could then be dethroned…” He smiled lightly. “By you.”
“Wait, what?” I blurted.
“You took the crown, Nicolette.” He motioned toward the high-back, padded stone chair behind me. “Claim your throne.”
I bubbled out an anxious and incredulous laugh as I glanced back toward the seat of honor. “I—I—but I can’t…” I shook my head insistently, my skin going cold with sudden nerves. Moving closer to him, I lowered my voice. “Farrow, I’m from Donnelly! I’m a girl. I’m way too young. I—”
Farrow took my hands in his and squeezed encouragingly, his gaze swirling with fervor. “It doesn’t matter if a foreigner comes in and steals the throne. It
doesn’t matter how old you are. And as Kalendria just proved, it doesn’t even matter if you’re female. As long as you kill the crown first, you can rule. And she’s obviously been killed.”
He pointed toward the impaled queen. Her head and chest were arched back at an odd angle with a huge vine growing through her neck, one end rooted to the floor and the other nudging the ceiling. It had pulled her feet a couple inches off the ground to leave her dangling oddly with her arms dropped limply at her sides in defeat and blood trailing from her gaping mouth.
The crown slipped and tumbled off her head, clanging to the floor as if to accentuate Farrow’s point.
She ruled no more.
Encouraging me back around to face him, Farrow pressed his brow to mine and smiled trustingly into my eyes. “You are the most just, honest, caring person I know. You have three generations of great rulers running through your veins. You were raised at court and know how to be a diplomat, how to deal with your subjects more fairly and compassionately than any ruler who’s ever run this kingdom before. I have every confidence you can lead us to peace and prosperity like no one else.”
“But—”
“Who can stop the Donnelly army from attacking us, but you?” he added.
Damn. That was a good point. I paused, considering it. Someone needed to save these people from a coming war. And I knew for a fact that my own brother wouldn’t attack me.
“I…” I started, gaping at Farrow for answers.
He smiled with all the faith and trust I’d taught him to have. “You can do this,” he assured. Then he let go of my hands, stepped back, and knelt before me, bowing his face as he added, “Your Majesty.”
Pausing next to him, Bricklynn fell to one knee as well, pledging allegiance to me. Dewla along with Payne followed suit with Indigo doing the same.
Then, one by one, the guards and servants and dignitaries around the room began to kneel.
And somehow, I became the queen of Far Shore.