I exchanged a look with Gaia. She hesitated, and I saw a hint of sadness cross her face. Then her features settled into their familiar pattern of determination.
“Genie isn’t well enough to come,” she said. “He must remain at the hospital—for now, at least.”
Alice stared at me. “What about Raven?” she whispered. “Or Chesh?”
I shook my head. “Chesh is still in the hospital. Raven can only travel at night.” I took a deep breath and squeezed Gaia’s hand. “I think it must be the two of us.”
Alice’s face twisted into grief. She clutched Young Dinah until the cat meowed in protest. She reluctantly set the cat on the floor and came over to take my hands in both of her own.
“Take care, my darling girl. The Queen is dangerous—more dangerous than you know. You may have heard stories of her that seem silly—as her shadow retreated, some people talked of her as though she was a comical character. She was not. She was as dangerous as she was unpredictable.”
I nodded, but Alice spoke before I had the chance to respond. “You may not be my own blood, but you are my daughter. I’ve always thought of you that way, and I have always loved you. Come back to me.”
Tears welled in my own eyes as Alice took my face in her hands. “Promise me.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. Then Pearl was standing next to me, her head on my shoulder and her arm around my waist. “Come back, Ivy. I need my sister beside me. Especially if I’m going to learn how to be a nurse—I’ll need you to show me how to study.”
I started to giggle. “I’ll point out the library before I leave. I’m not sure you’ve ever set foot in it before.”
Pearl laughed, rolling her eyes, but I could tell that she was holding back tears.
“I’m proud of you both,” I whispered and put my arms around my mother and my twin sister, clutching them as though it might be the last time.
Raven held my face in his hands, his dark eyes studying my face as though committing it to memory.
“I have every intention of coming back,” I said, reaching up to pull his hands away. “I promise.”
“I wish I could come with you,” Raven said. His slouched slightly as he stood in front of me, as though defeated. He’d reluctantly agreed, as I’d known he would, that he could not accompany me to Urbis. Without the tunnels, he was trapped inside during the day. It would be too dangerous and too difficult for us to travel through the countryside by night.
He pressed a light kiss to my forehead, then I lifted onto my tiptoes to meet his lips with mine. I curled my arms around his neck, running my fingers over the feathery softness of his hair. I kissed him, taking note of the feeling of his hands on my hips, the flat lines of his chest as I pressed my body against it, the cool touch of the skin on his neck under my fingertips. I ran my hands over the wide planes of his shoulders, and along the lengths of his arms. I wanted to memorize every line and curve, every bulge and hollow. I wanted our kiss never to end, but in the end, it was I who pulled away so that I could study his face one last time.
“When do you leave?” Raven asked, cupping his hand behind my head so that his fingers tangled in my hair.
“Today. Now,” I replied. “When I leave you, I will meet Gaia at the hospital.”
“I would feel better if Genie could go with you, at least,” Raven murmured.
“He cannot,” I replied. “He needs to remain in the hospital.”
Raven sighed. “I would feel better if someone could accompany you.”
“We’ll be—”
“You’ve never left this city, Ivy,” Raven exclaimed, suddenly stepping away from me and turning away. He looked up at the portrait of his mother on the wall of his house. “Now, you’re going to travel to Urbis.”
“There has to be a first time for everything.”
Raven turned around, looking at me with an expression of astonishment. “Are you not at all afraid?”
I laughed, then walked toward him. I reached out to him, hooking my fingers into the edge of his vest and pulling him toward me until we were pressed against each other again. “Of course,” I said. “But I will have my sister with me. And it’s about time I saw more of the Twelve Kingdoms.”
Raven leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine. We were silent for a moment, aware of each other, without moving to disturb the sudden peace between us.
“Be aware of the Queen,” Raven cautioned. “She is dangerous. She is ruthless. She might rip out your throat at any time. Do not, under any circumstances, trust her.”
I squeezed Raven’s fingers. “I don’t. I won’t.”
He gave me a brief smile. “I don’t want to say this, but if you don’t leave now, you will not have enough daylight to make any distance today.”
“It’s not goodbye, Raven,” I whispered. “I’ll see you soon.”
I pressed a kiss to his lips, then pulled away and strode out of the door before my reluctance to leave him could betray me.
“Are you ready?”
Gaia was waiting for me in the lobby of the hospital. Her eyes were red, as though she’d been crying, but she stood with her head high and determined. I noticed she didn’t have her phoenix.
I nodded. “Have you said goodbye?”
Gaia gave me a curt nod. “We’ll be back,” she said. Then she linked her arm in mine as we made for the door.
“Wait,” I said. “I need to ask Chesh something before we leave.”
Gaia hesitated, then nodded, and followed me down the whitewashed corridor toward Chesh’s room.
I pulled the cover off the steam bike, and Gaia looked at it with a cautious look on her face.
“You’re serious,” she said.
“It’ll be faster than walking,” I replied. “I’ll drive. You can ride on the back.”
“You know how to drive this?”
I chuckled. “Yes, I do. Believe me. I’ve even taken Alice for a ride on it.” I kept to myself that Alice had only gotten onto the steam bike because of the extreme urgency of the situation, and under much sufferance.
I handed Gaia one of the helmets and a set of goggles. She looked horrified.
“Once we start moving, you’ll be pleased to be wearing them.”
“Ivy, I don’t think—”
“Gaia, you can do what you like, but I’m not walking to Urbis,” I insisted.
Gaia sighed, resigned. I put on my helmet and goggles, then helped Gaia to fix her own.
“I look ridiculous,” she complained.
I rapped her helmet with my knuckles. “It’s a great disguise,” I said. “Nobody will know it’s us leaving the city.”
Gaia rolled her eyes, then pointed at the steam bike like it was some sort of monster that might swallow us in one gulp. “Show me how it’s done.”
I swung my leg over the bike, arranging my skirts so that they wouldn’t fly up when we started moving. Gaia watched for a moment, then settled herself behind me. I positioned her arms so that she was holding me around my waist, then kicked the bike into action.
I revved the engine, laughed at Gaia’s shriek, and started rolling out of the shed.
We sped through the city, and I couldn’t dampen the elation I felt to be moving—doing something—and finally leaving the city where I’d lived all my life. Even though I knew danger awaited us in Urbis, this felt right. I knew, deep in my bones, that this was exactly what we were supposed to be doing.
Alice and Pearl were waiting for us at the city gates, which stood open. I lifted a hand to acknowledge them as we rolled through the gates without slowing down.
Behind me, Gaia let out a whoop of excitement, and I felt the grin on my face. Outside of the city walls, we picked up speed as we followed the road that curled through the fields of green grass like a ribbon, into the unknown.
I saw the group of them long before we arrived. They were sitting underneath the shade of a large tree, whose buttress roots raised above the ground, like sprawling feet. E
ven from a distance, I couldn’t take my eyes off them. As the road ran over the crest of a hill, then curved around across the rolling plain, I counted seven of them.
“There,” Gaia shouted at me to be heard over the wind. I didn’t need to look at her to know she was feeling the same way as me. The road we were on was taking us directly toward them, but even if there had been a turnoff, I would not have taken it.
Every fiber of my being drew me to the small group.
It wasn’t until I was slowing the bike to a stop, that they turned to look at us.
I noticed the gold ring around their irises. I gasped, looking back at Gaia, though she didn’t seem surprised. My eyes flicked from one to the other, barely noticing anything apart from the gold ring around their irises. These people weren’t strangers. They were family.
At their invitation, Gaia and I dismounted and joined them underneath the tree. They shared their small picnic. One-by-one, they shared their stories.
Gaia’s was by far the most interesting. She knew more about us than we knew about ourselves. She was the only one who’d seen our mother albeit in some kind of magical flashback. She’d seen her own birth, although she conceded the two babies she saw being born could have been any of us.
“I want to find her,” Azia said. The others nodded. It seemed that this had started with our birth and our mother was a big part of what was going on now.
“Where were you heading?” The one called Deon asked..
“Urbis,” I said. “The Queen of Hearts said that something was going to happen there.”
“I hope you might consider coming with us instead,” Deon said. “We were coming to The Forge, but since you’re here, we should head to Oz instead. Something is happening in the Twelve Kingdoms.”
“We’re stronger together,” Halia said, smiling at us with a friendly, open face. “Don’t you feel it?”
I nodded, noticing it as soon as she’d said the words. “Do you think there are more of us in Oz?”
Deon nodded.
I glanced at Gaia, but I saw the agreement in her eyes before I even asked the question.
“Alright,” I said. “I suppose there’s no harm in taking a detour. Besides, I’ve always wanted to see Oz.”
A note from the author
The Kingdom of Fairytales authors hope you enjoyed this new way of reading. We don’t think that a series has ever been set with one chapter a day thought a whole year before and we hope we did it justice.
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After the Happily Ever After…
There is more to these stories. You want to know what happens next right? Fast forward eighteen years…
Pick up book one now
PREQUEL
SLEEPING BEAUTY
1. Queen of Dragons
2. Heiress of Embers
3. Throne of Fury
4. Goddess of Flames
LITTLE MERMAID
5. Queen of Mermaids
6. Heiress of the Sea
7. Throne of Change
8. Goddess of Water
RED RIDING HOOD
9. King of Wolves
10. Heir of the Curse
11. Throne of Night
12. God of Shifters
RAPUNZEL
13. King of Devotion
14. Heir of Thorns
15. Throne of Enchantment
16. God of Loyalty
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
17. Queen of Unicorns
18. Heiress of Gold
19. Throne of Sacrifice
20. Goddess of Loss
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
21. King of Beasts
22. Heir of Beauty
23. Throne of Betrayal
24. God of Illusion
ALADDIN
25. Queen of the Sun
26. Heiress of Shadows
27. Throne of the Phoenix
28. Goddess of Fire
CINDERELLA
29. Queen of Song
30. Heiress of Melody
31. Throne of Symphony
32. Goddess of Harmony
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
33. Queen of Clockwork
34. Heiress of Delusion
35. Throne of Cards
36. Goddess of Hearts
WIZARD OF OZ
37. King of Traitors
38. Heir of Fugitives
39. Throne of Emeralds
40. God of Storms
SNOW WHITE
41. Queen of Reflections
42. Heiress of Mirrors
43. Throne of Wands
44. Goddess of Magic
PETER PAN
45. Queen of Skies
46. Heiress of Stars
47. Throne of Feathers
48. Goddess of Air
URBIS
49. Kingdom of Royalty
50. Kingdom of Power
51. Kingdom of Fairytales
52. Kingdom of Ever After
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Many thanks to those who have made this possible.
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Thanks to all the authors.
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About J.A. Armitage
J.A lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she's not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She's travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.
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Somehow she finds time to write.
About Zara Quentin
Zara Quentin is a fantasy author, book lover and traveller. Raised in Adelaide, Australia, Zara grew up with a strong sense of adventure, which she inherited from her parents, who took her and her sister on trips to the United States, Europe, and Asia.
She also inherited a love of reading from her mother. Throughout her childhood she explored fictional places through books, and in particular, through fantasy novels. She'd turn the black and white text on the page into the colourful worlds of her imagination. Later, she put pen to paper and started creating her own.
After graduating from high
school, Zara studied at the University of Adelaide and has lived in France, London, and Auckland, New Zealand. She is always determined to stimulate her imagination with as much travel as possible, spending time in Europe, the United States, southern Africa, Morocco, Peru, the Pacific and south-east Asia.
Ivy: Daughter of Alice Page 35