The Fate of Crowns: The Complete Trilogy: A YA Epic Fantasy Boxset

by Rebecca L. Garcia

  “No, you won’t need it.”

  “Will it hurt me?”

  He shook his head.

  They couldn’t lie, and he was right, I was being brash. Dealing in more black magic was dangerous, and as a future queen, I’d already risked enough. “You have a deal. I will hand over the object you require, provided I don’t need it and it won’t hurt me to do so.”

  He extended his hand. A glint shimmered in his eyes. I growled under my breath.

  “If you trick me again—”

  “No tricks.”

  Hesitantly, I shook his hand. The deal was made.

  “Who am I protecting?”

  “There are three.” Although, the more I thought about it, I should have asked for four. I missed out Aquarius. “Daisy and Birch. They are elves who live in the middle of the Forest of Tranquillium, and another is Cedric. He’s a light faery from Berovia.”

  “Do you have an item in your possession from them?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “There are many Birches and Daisys and even more Cedrics.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. I closed my eyes. “This was a waste of time.”

  “I held up my end of the deal. You didn’t have the tools. It’s not my fault. I expect you to uphold your end of the deal.”

  My nostrils flared, and I balled my fists. “That’s not fair.”

  “Life isn’t.”

  “You knew!” I shouted. “You didn’t tell me I needed anything first. You played me. Again. The deal is off.”

  He grabbed my staff when I went to walk away. He pulled me along with it.

  I grabbed the end before he could pull it from my belt. “Don’t try anything.”

  “You made a deal, you have to keep to it. If you don’t, I’ll find a way to make you pay for it. Perhaps I’ll find this Birch, or Daisy, maybe Cedric, and punish them for it?”

  “You don’t know who they are.”

  “Anyone can find anything if they want it enough.”

  My laughter edged on manic. It shocked me when it left my mouth. “I’ll kill you if you go after them or me.”

  “You can try, but will not succeed.” He confirmed. “I have placed a protection spell on you, however, as asked. It won’t last long, the spells need maintenance, but it will keep you safe. Mostly. You must know, though, that no spell can protect against death.”

  “Then, you’ve not been much help.”

  “I make deals. I trick. I lie. It’s what I do. Perhaps next time you should be smarter. I know you’re capable of it. I’ve seen it. Oh what you could be with time.”

  “I’m done here.” I stormed. With that, I turned and left, but when I looked back, I had the eeriest feeling that wouldn’t be the last I would see of Licia. Going down there hadn’t been a complete waste of time. He confirmed one thing. There was a way to remove the black magic from me, but it was too dangerous, whatever that meant. I also knew necromancers were still out there, at least one anyway. He wouldn’t be collecting so much power unless he was sure there was one.

  I didn’t know what it all meant yet, but I knew the secret of a spellmaster, and it had to count for something.

  THIRTY

  Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I smiled. My lips were coated with a dusty-pink lipstick,

  matching my turtleneck pink sweater. I pulled at the sleeves, not used to wearing anything so tight. My skirt, black and ruffled, banded around my waist and stopped at my knees. Crystal earrings dangled from my lobes, and my black waves were loose, falling around my shoulders, the ends reaching my elbows.

  “Hello, gorgeous.”

  I whipped my head around. “How long have you been standing there?”

  He flashed his pearly whites, and glints of light caught his crown. He looked at me in the mirror. “Not long.”

  I narrowed my eyes. Someone had cut him. It was healing, but the scar was still visible for now. It would be gone in an hour. “Who did you aggravate?”

  “Darlina.”

  “Who?”

  Beads of sweat collected on his forehead. “She’s the one I was with in the library the time—”

  “Ah, yes. I’ve had the displeasure of meeting her more than once.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

  “She warned me to stay away from you.” I rolled my eyes. “You should watch her. Jealous, that one.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, she’s a little insecure.”

  “It’s your own fault. You take advantage of that… of them. All the other girls here and their insecurities.”

  He exhaled slowly. “I don’t lie to them. They know what they’re getting into.”

  “You manipulate their feelings. What use is your hand if not to hold their hearts in, right? Is it not worse to see someone falling for you and use it to get what you want?”

  He laughed a strangled sound. “What happened to nice Winter from yesterday? I liked her better.”

  “Why? Embarrassed?”

  His face reddened. “Why would I be?”

  I shrugged. “You’re not used to being called out.”

  “May I remind you, you are a guest here under my courtesy—”

  “We’re past that, Blaise. Let’s not pretend you don’t need me here. We both want the same thing.”

  He cleared his throat. “Yes. We do. King Amos, dethroned.”

  I flicked my hair over my shoulders, then turned to face him. “Good. So are you ready to come up with a plan?”

  He gave me a hardened look. “I appreciate all you’ve done and said, but know I cannot include you in this. You’re a liability.”

  My eyebrows pulled downward. “I’m sorry?”

  “Don’t be—”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, then tapped my index finger against my upper arm. “I meant how could you? I’m just as much a part of this too. He took everything from me, lied to me my whole life, and means to harm the only people I care about. How can you not trust me? I told you everything. You know I can’t lie to you.” I clenched my jaw. “You’d know instantly.”

  “It’s not that I don’t trust your motives now, but he is your father, and although he has done you wrong, I can’t trust you to not hesitate when it comes to killing him.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

  “Don’t say you won’t because you don’t know what you’d do amid a battle. I’ll keep you safe here. Leave the fighting to us. We are immortal, and he has only one sword that can kill us. He can’t keep us all at bay, whereas you can easily die.”

  “I can’t stay here! I need to take the throne once he is dead.”

  “What throne?”

  I looked at him incredulously. “King Amos’s. Mine.”

  He wrinkled his nose, then pulled at the skin between his fingers. “Here’s the thing.” He inhaled deeply. “There won’t be a throne when we’re done. Your family’s rule will end with him.”

  My lips trembled. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I’m not saying you wouldn’t be a good queen, but it’s complicated. Once we attack, your people will expect you to fight back. If we are to go after the king and kill him, we are declaring war. Not even you could overturn it. Your lords will want vengeance, but if they have no monarch, and we dismantle it, then there will be no tragedy.”

  I clutched the fabric over my chest, squeezing my fingers tightly. “You’re heartless.” My lips closed, then parted. “I tried to save you.”

  “I am king. You must understand. I could have burned your forest to the ground, making it easier for me to take the kingdom, but I didn’t. For you.”

  My eyes bulged, and my lips flattened. “Removing my rule wasn’t part of our deal. Besides, you can’t do that. The ancestors would unleash hell down on you and your people.”

  “I promised I would try to evade a war.” He tapped his finger against his chin. “I guess you’re right. That’s probably why my father never tried to destroy your forest. I presumed he hadn’t thought
of it.”

  “I don’t care about what your father thought of or not!” My eyes glossed with tears. “We are talking about my throne. My kingdom. I was born to rule, and you’re going to take it away from me? You can’t! My people would fight. This isn’t about trying to avoid a war. You are immortals. No, this is about land. You want to rule everything. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

  He walked over, then stopped and cupped my shoulder. Looking me straight in the eye, he sighed. “I’m not lying, I can’t. You know this. I am trying to prevent the backlash of my decision to kill King Amos. This is the only way I can foresee it happening.”

  I pushed him away from me. “You’re disgusting.”

  “You would have a comfortable life here. I’d never harm you.”

  “That means nothing to me! I want my throne.”

  “Why?”

  I hesitated. “It’s my duty.”

  “Then,” he said slowly, “you are relieved.”

  ***

  I’d made a huge mistake trusting Blaise, but he was right. He had a duty to his people, and I had one to mine. As far as I was concerned, he was dead to me.

  I saw a carriage pull up as I ran. His brothers had arrived, just in time for me to take my leave. I fled on horseback from the castle, through the icy plains and dark forests. Fae land was nothing but a vast and icy blanket, set upon a forgettable backdrop of gray. Only enough splintered light slipped through to show me the path ahead. Creatures were not afraid of my presence. Instead, they hunted openly. They had not been taught to fear us.

  The small towns scattered the farther away I rode from civilization.

  I knew those outside of the castle and main towns caused chaos, even killed others, but I had no idea of the carnage in which they lived.

  I passed a tiny, rundown village. Blood dripped down the sides of a woman’s mouth as she ate the heart of another. Veins were scrawled across her chin, drying up and tangling with her flowing white hair. Her eyes, big and red, spotted me.

  I rode faster, too afraid to pause. If that was what was waiting to be unleashed onto my kingdom, then I had to save them from it. From Blaise. He thought he was doing the right thing, but he didn’t know what that was anymore.

  King Amos had to be stopped; he had to die. I’d accepted it, but the throne needed to remain untouched. We were already vulnerable to Berovia, and now we had another threat to worry about. I cursed my father’s name under my breath.

  The wind pinched my face, pulling my hair back. Splays of my curls tossed around in the gusts. My fingers were frozen, turning blue, and I worried they were too far gone to be recovered. I couldn’t feel my feet anymore, and numbness spiraled through my legs. I licked my chapped lips, then closed my eyes to shelter them from the flurries of snow. I couldn’t keep going like this. I wasn’t even sure where I was heading, but it had to be away from Lepidus Court and out of Niferum. At home, I was in more danger, but I had to try to save my future reign. I still had Morgana. The one person I always could rely on.

  My skirt snagged on a passing branch. The horse I’d stolen from the castle galloped against the blizzard that had come with primal force. She was small, with a white coat, but fast, quicker than the stallion that had brought me there. I pulled at the reins, slowing her as we approached a broken village. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I took in the scene. Drops of blood contrasted the white. A body lay half frozen, with blue lips and unseeing eyes. It was a fellow luna. How rash for him to venture into Niferum.

  His staff had been snapped in half, lying next to him on a mound of snow. I shook my head, muttering a prayer as we passed him. A frozen well with a steel bucket sat in front of a frosted sign reading “Enchante” against the silhouette of mountains. The snow let up a little as the horse walked us onto a bridge, then over to small, stone houses, run down from time. According to history, it had once belonged to us, until the fae took over.

  Before they became dark.

  I tied the horse to an abandoned stable, giving her water and rest. Moving forward on foot, I pulled out my staff, gripping it, ready for any attack that may turn my way. We’d only rest for a short time.

  I walked for less than ten minutes when I happened across a part of our history. It unveiled in front of my eyes. Snowflakes let up, dancing into a mild flurry, revealing the iced ropes.

  My heart thumped as I took in the rickety old sign, reading Dracden Gallows. Wood steps led up to a snow-covered platform around forty feet wide. The wood creaked under the strong winds. The nooses were so deteriorated, they hung by threads. It hadn’t been used a long time, a stark reminder of the executions carried out for unjustified crimes long ago.

  Hollow whispers carried in the gusts that swept me backward. The dead remained there, trapped by their own suffering, some with protests of innocence. Nothing scared me more than souls trapped between ours and the spirit realm; to be stuck in death was a fate worse than any other.

  Fingers grappled me from the other side, scratching at my arms and legs. I rushed away from the gallows, scrambling from the darkness. I could sense it all around me. Since using the binding spell, I had tapped into something bigger than my magic. It lurked at every corner, waiting for my defenses to fall.

  Digging my fingernails into the ash wood of my staff, I linked my connection with my ancestors. The purity of it brought me solace as I hurried toward the square. The place was like a ghost town. The occasional house was inhabited by fae, who watched after me with savage stares.

  My body ached. I ran, a princess without a crown, a future queen with no throne, her rule threatened and no way to save it. Getting home was the first hurdle, the second would be staying there. For now, the winter air lay like frozen lace against my skin. A powerful sleepiness overcame me. My eyelids were heavy, and the cold stole each breath until I fell to my knees. Pain throbbed, searing through my forehead. My staff tumbled from my hand, onto the snow. Black clouds cast shadows on the village, and gleaming eyes approached from worn buildings. I closed my eyes, falling onto the snow as if it were a feather cushion.

  Get up, my internal voice screamed. You’re going to die. But I was too tired.

  ***

  They walked me up to the gallows. The decaying noose swayed in the gentle breeze. Fingers cold as ice gripped into my wrists, which were tied with rope. Voices mingled as the village filled with fae who had come in the darkness, to watch the luna die.

  My eyes focused ahead on where I’d hang. I sighed at the spectacle they’d made. They could have simply torn my heart from my chest when they had spelled me to sleep.

  I understood now, why my father hated the fae.

  My father. King Amos. The man who wished me dead would get his wish. But what of that of my mother? Would she shed a single tear or be inconsolable like when my brother fell?

  The very thought hinted a tremble on my lips. They wouldn’t, and I wasn’t surprised. My death would tie up all loose ends for Amos, and that single slice of knowledge sparked the fight in my soul. I would not give up. I could not let him win. None of them. Too much had been taken from me for it to end now.

  One faery, with white-and-blue hair that reached over the top of his pointed ears and eyes darker than twilight, stared me down. “To the gallows.” His voice resonated through the swelling crowd. Others had come, satisfying their bloodlust and vengeance against lunas. They stomped their feet rhythmically on the ground. My staff had been taken, snapped in two, I imagined; then the vision floated back to me. The nymph had shown me this very scene: the staff breaking, the gallows, and the girl hanging, except the girl was me.

  The rope rubbed against my skin. I’d been foolish to stop there. I should have heeded warning, but something called out for me. It was the spirits of the dead, trapped by the violence of their deaths. Instead of freeing them, it appeared I would join them. I whispered a prayer for a savior as the noose was placed carefully around my neck. The handle creaked down, and I sobbed.

  “Please.” Despera
tion had me looking the ones who hated me in the eye, begging for a mercy I wouldn’t have shown to any of them. Their wings flapped in the wind. More had come to watch. My tears flowed thick and fast. My knees wobbled, and the salty liquid coated my lips as I cried harder. I gulped in my last, cold breath when they let me fall.

  It didn’t happen like I’d read in books. My neck didn’t snap, giving away to permanent blackness. Instead, I strangled, kicking my legs. My body jerked as the rope cut into my throat. The wood creaked above from my weight, and the crowd cheered, stomping louder. I kicked harder, needing to meet the ground. Tears flowed, but no sounds escaped my bluing lips.

  The rope was shredding, then snapped under my weight. I pulled it from my neck, gasping for air. After a few moments, I sat up, feeling drunk. A fae rushed over to me, snarling with pointed teeth. It had sharpened them, to tear flesh easier with. The thought made me queasy. When it reached me, I booted it hard in the stomach. It flung back, then came at me again. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and a fight I gave.

  Hands grabbed my waist. The rope loosened, and a deadly voice boomed warning to the others. Fae scrambled away. His fingers were warm, his breaths heavy as he held me up in his arms.

  My vision cleared enough to make out his face.

  “Today’s your lucky day,” he said, his crew behind him. “Nice fighting there, although it’d have made more sense for you to use your magic.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  The ship swayed from side to side as we sailed out of Niferum. We glided through narrow, almost impassible deep inlets of ocean between tall cliffs. Only experienced sailors who knew their waters could navigate through them. They were the fae’s defense against the Magaelorean Navy.

  Aquarius looked at me from across the long oak tables. His amber eyes fixated on the mark around my neck. I compulsively scratched my wrist, finding solace in the pain that pulled me from the reality. He cleared his throat.

  I exhaled slowly. “You shouldn’t have been in Niferum.” My voice was hoarse, and the words dried out at their ends. I knew full well that their livelihood depended on being able to get to places others couldn’t, but I didn’t want him hurt, and being there was dangerous.