No. No. No. He wasn’t allowed to try to be a better person. It wasn’t a part of my arrangement.
“It was horrible to see,” he said. “Traumatic, really.”
I couldn’t believe it. His redemption was quickly squashed, and I repressed a scowl. He was waiting for me to make him feel better over me being tortured.
I squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I’m okay now.”
He cast his eyes downward. “Do you mean that?” His gaze trickled up to mine. The glacier blues scattered my annoyed expression. I fixed my face, softening my stare.
“Yes, I do. You saved me in the end.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
I nodded.
He took my hand in his, brushing my skin with his fingers. “It was worth it, wasn’t it? It brought us together.”
My eyes instinctively widened. No, Kiros, it was not worth being tortured so I could be engaged to your arrogant ass! “Absolutely it was.”
“I’ve been wanting to say that to you. I’m happy to get it off my chest.” He puffed out his cheeks, pulled away from me, and slapped his hands on his knees. “Let us get out before dusk steals the day from us.”
The door opened to a bustling street. I took the hand of a footman and stepped out onto the beating hot slabs. Large buildings cast shadows onto the ground, their architecture so beautiful it enchanted even the most lost souls to the city with the promise of a future. It was a place where they could be anything. Groups of light fae giggled, their wings of pinks, yellows, and greens shimmering under the beating sun. The fashion went from normal suits and dresses of sorcerers to the absurd fae outfits of tree bark, leaves and grass blades positioned into the strangest patterns. Many of the women there wore pants. It was a new look, as not long ago, pants were worn primarily by men. The skirts of some of the fae were shorter than was appropriate. My lips parted.
“It’s something, huh?” He shot me a toothy grin, standing tall with his chest puffed out. “Claeri is the biggest city in Berovia, boasting of the most diverse population of solises, fae, and even elves.”
“Even elves,” I said slowly.
I spotted one. Her dark hair ran down her back, poker-straight, and her pointed ears poked through the strands. A bow, made from silver, and a quiver of arrows hung from her back. “I see they still wield weapons even in modernized society.”
“We get most of our swords from them. Although, we won’t need them now that we’re bringing our kingdoms together. Magic does not always win every battle. Sometimes we must fight with blades.” He lifted his chin. “Our union is unprecedented, unlike anything ever seen. I will be the first ruler to bring peace to Berovia and Magaelor.” He pulled in a deep breath and curled up a satisfied smile on the exhale. The reds in his hair were more prominent in the bright light. “If I could only find a way to get the kingdom of Niferum under our rule, we would reign over half the world.”
Only half, I mused. I’d heard of the other kingdoms far away. Neither of our kingdoms’ men had sailed so far. We’d heard the stories of vicious beasts that splintered the bones of those who dared make it to the islands that surrounded a kingdom larger than both of ours together. On it, the stories told, there were brimstone castles, fiery beings, shifters, and a darkness that could consume any sorcerer or fae. Beyond there, no one knew. Not one person had made it back alive to tell the story.
“Yes, we will.”
The jewelry store was inside a grand sandstone building. A bell tinkled over the door when we entered. Glass windows allowed light to pour into the wide room. Jewels sparkled in their displays, gems that’d spotlight any pirate’s dreams. I didn’t care for jewelry much, but there was no harm in sneaking a peek at some of the items. After all, he’d brought me here to buy me things. It would be rude not to.
I was drawn to a display of earrings. The diamonds were polished to a shine, most colorless, but at the back, a blue gem caught my eye.
“The blue diamond,” Kiros said, seeing my smile, and lightly touched the glass. “They’re extremely rare. I have two myself. Do you want it? They’d match your eyes.”
“Yes, blue. Not green,” I clarified, a smirk playing on my lips.
He chuckled. “Yes, blue.” He eyed the emerald on my engagement ring. “It’s still beautiful. Like you.”
“Stop.” I grinned and tapped his arm.
He brushed his arm against mine. His hairs stood on end. I could feel him warming to me. Perhaps, if I could only get him to care for me, he’d loosen my metaphorical shackles, giving me wiggle room to escape.
His eyes were fixed on mine, a deep, penetrating stare digging into the reaches of my mind. I could feel his breath when he closed the distance between us. He closed his eyes. I cringed but pouted nonetheless.
“Not here,” he said through a heavy breath.
I sighed relief, faking it as a gasp.
His lips brushed against my forehead on the way up. “I want our first kiss to be somewhere special. Just us.”
Opportunity called. “I agree.” I splayed my fingers over his chest. “It’s intoxicating, is it not?”
His touch lingered on my skin when he pulled away. I wanted to take a step back, but I didn’t want to offend, not when I was so close.
“The blue diamond earrings,” he called. His stare prolonged on me until he was forced to look away by the storekeeper.
“Your Highness.” The man bowed, showing the top of his balding head.
I touched my earlobe. I didn’t want to take advantage, but then, why not? They’d tortured me. It wasn’t like I could keep it anyway once I’d escaped. The jeweler offered for me to try them on, but I shook my head. I wanted to get out of the store and go back to that alone time. Would he give me my staff if I asked after a kiss? Would lust drive him to be careless?
They placed them inside silver tissue paper and wrapped them. Kiros groaned impatience, both of ours growing thin for different reasons. He wanted me, and I wanted to use him. We rushed back into the carriage once he’d paid.
Kiros’s face flushed red. He opened his legs, pointing them toward me. Every other moment, he’d cast a furtive gaze at me. I saw the building desire in his eyes. I hated him and everything he stood for, but for a second, as we passed the bridge and the gravel crunched beneath us, I saw a boy who just wanted to be loved behind his lost eyes.
FOURTEEN
That night, I eyed the blue diamonds on the earrings on the dresser. They shone every time the light from the lamps hit them. My thoughts, however, drifted to Cedric’s brother, the man who’d run my brother through with a sword, ending his short life on a battlefield he should have never been on.
Cedric hadn’t brought it up. Neither had I. Not in our dreams. We both had bigger things to focus on. Avenging my brother’s death would come later.
Tossing and turning and with sweat beading my head, I sighed. Who knew how much time had passed? Sleep eluded me.
I rolled out the side of the bed and my bare feet hit cold marble as I grabbed an oil lamp. Creaking the door open, I bit my bottom lip. Three guards stood whispering to each other, all facing my room. They looked up, and I closed the door. I couldn’t go anywhere undetected. How was I supposed to gather information on my enemies if I couldn’t even leave my room alone?
I placed the lamp on the window’s ledge and stared up at the stars. I wondered if there was any truth to Xenos’s beliefs. Did the stars’ positions really change anything? It was a silly notion, but why couldn’t it be true? If it were, it wouldn’t make a difference to me. I couldn’t read them.
In Magaelor, when I couldn’t sleep, I would go to my window and could swear I’d hear the steady drums of the ancestors’ song carry in the winds from Ash Forest.
Laughter and drunken chattering reached my ears. I could hear men beyond the trees. It had to be the warriors, sleeping the night before heading back to where they had come from. I didn’t know anyone lived on the islands where dragons roamed until now.
I hoped I
’d see Cedric tonight, if he could find me. Climbing back into bed, I closed my eyes, praying to my ancestors for salvation.
***
The next morning, I felt terrible. My eyes were heavy, my shoulders hurt, and my head ached. Grumbly, I nodded at Edna when she informed me I’d be spending the day with Kiros.
Cedric didn’t come. I had an annoyingly dreamless sleep. Pulling a simple, green knee-length dress over my body, I forced a small smile onto my mouth. Time to go and be a fiancée to the man I hated for my survival, my kingdom, and Cedric.
“Father never trusted my advice in our meetings, and I studied more than Neoma or anyone else ever did,” Kiros complained as we strolled through the gardens. Neatly lined flowerbeds of uniformed colors stretched out to the far reaches of the grassy banks. We treaded over stepping-stones, looking out over the wavering horizon.
“It’s so unfair,” I replied for what felt like the hundredth time. A stream babbled, and toads croaked in the near distance.
“He always wanted a son to take his throne,” he stated, unaware of the boredom in my voice, “but he loved Neoma more. He never said so, but she won’t rule—she’s not even legitimate—so he doesn’t need to be so careful with her. They joke and fight with swords. He even goes hunting with her. His daughter.” He shook his head. “He won’t go with me. I’ve asked him again and again. She has radical beliefs too, well, you saw that for yourself, and yet he enjoys her company more than me.”
My lips pressed into a hard line. “I know it’s hard, but he loves you. I can see that. He’s harder on you and more distant because you’re going to be king one day. You are his namesake, the future of the kingdom he nurtures. He trusts you, and that’s more than Neoma will ever have.”
He stopped us close to the stream. The smell of freshly cut grass lingered, but the stench from a stagnant pond stewing nearby pinched the evocative smell into dankness. “Your support means everything to me.” He moistened his lips, holding my hands in his. “I need you to know you’ve grown to become a friend—well, more than that if I am being honest. You’re everything I want in a wife. I knew there was the right girl out there for me.” He squeezed my fingers. “And destiny brought you to me. I’ve never felt understood by my family, or anyone really. No one gets it, the values we hold as the next in line to the throne.”
I wanted to remind him I was no longer next in line, but a queen, rightfully, but I knew it best to keep my mouth shut. “You’re strong, Kiros.” I gazed up at him with an adoration that was difficult to fake. “Caring. I see it now, and we share so many beliefs. I couldn’t have asked for better. It may not have had the best start, but you’re right, destiny led me to you.”
“Staying on the topic of beliefs,” he said, turning on his heel and striding forward. “I wanted to discuss your religion.”
“What about it?”
We veered left, missing the pond and leaving its festering stench behind us, and crossed the stream toward a collection of trees. I peered over the banks. Walls surrounded us. Outside of them were hundreds of guards, stationed to stop those from coming in and me from going out.
“I want you to renounce your ancestral powers.”
My stomach knotted, but I reminded myself none of it was real. It was a game, and if I won, then I’d leave unscathed, ready to reclaim my crown with Cedric by my side. My destination was so clear in my mind, I wanted to forward through this part and get to the end. I couldn’t just say yes though. Kiros wasn’t stupid, although he was arrogant, which helped my case with hiding things. I had to show some fight to be convincing, then relent, I decided.
“I can’t do that.” I stopped us next to a shaded area. Low branches hung over a patch of yellow grass. I let out a weighted sigh. “My ancestors are important to me.”
“I knew you’d say no, but I was hoping I could change your mind.” He gestured toward the ground. “May we?”
I nodded, sat, and crossed my legs. “I know you want me to practice like you, but I can’t give it up. It’s all I know.”
“Yes.” His shoulders slumped forward. “I do understand. It seems unfair to ask such a thing, but if we are to bring our kingdoms together, you must understand how it would look to my people, whose numbers are much larger than yours, if I allow the continuation of such barbaric magic.”
I clenched my jaw. “Some would say the same about your magic. Your beliefs. The many religions Berovia allows, but I wouldn’t say that. Not anymore.”
He squinted, lowering his brow. “I’m sure many lunas would, but it’s not bad. We practice the original magic bestowed onto our lands, given to use by the elements we live and breathe. Yours is necromancy.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “It is not,” I retorted. “We use spirit. It’s one of the elements actually. Therefore, I suppose asking for my staff back would be foolish?”
His lips pinched. “Perhaps that’s how you see it, but you get your magic from the dead. You use them,” he replied, ignoring my question.
Color flamed my cheeks. “We don’t use the ancestors. They help us. We are at their mercy. Not the other way around.”
“I’m sure that’s what you believe.”
I ground my teeth, digging my nails into my palm. “It’s not a belief. It’s a fact.” I uncurled my hand and looked at the half-crescent marks left behind. “We worship them, love them. They are our bloodlines. Their spirit lives on in our soil, in our staffs, in our trees.”
He shrugged. “Again, I know you really believe that, which is why I’m not angry you practice it.”
I inhaled sharply. “We have been looked down on for centuries for our magic. I see the judgment has not changed.”
“You haven’t even given elemental magic a try. Our gods gave us the ability to wield the elements. We are blessed.” He held up his index finger. “We are only to use magic when necessary, unlike you lunas who use it whenever you feel like it, for any little thing. That is not how it’s meant to be.”
I wanted to scream at him, but instead, I let my shoulders slump and reminded myself it wasn’t real and how grateful I’d feel to be rid of both Berovia and Kiros soon enough. At the same time, I also saw a boy who was much like me. I was brought up to believe what I knew was right and everyone else was wrong, and now I was seeing the other side of it, I supposed I could have been more forgiving. “Perhaps I could give elemental magic a shot, but you could try to see the beauty in ancestral magic too.”
He grimaced. “Giving elemental magic a chance is all I ask.” He stood and held out his hand.
I grabbed it and he pulled me to my feet. I brushed off a few loose clippings of grass from my dress.
Kiros spun me back. I lost my footing and tumbled into a heap of limbs and fabric on the ground. The air was knocked out of my lungs. I heard a loud yelp and sat forward. “Kiros?”
A white snake with brown dots slithered close to me, hissing with its forked tongue in protest. Kiros rubbed the back of his ankle, his eyes welling when he turned to look at me. “Get back!” he ordered. “It’s a white adder. Not venomous but their bites hurt more than any other.”
His ankle, now on display as he lifted his trouser leg, was swollen and red. I shuffled back, kicking my legs until I was far enough to be able to jump to my feet. It followed me as I darted from left to right. I hurried back toward Kiros, but it wouldn’t relent. “It won’t stop.”
He growled and pointed his sapphire ring at the creature. With a bang, the snake erupted into white flames, and within seconds, it turned to ash. My eyes bugged. “Why didn’t you do that to begin with?”
“It would have bitten you before I got a chance.” He curled his lips behind his teeth, biting down. His cheeks were bright red.
I didn’t know what to say. He’d thrown me out of the way and taken the bite himself. I couldn’t have known he had a protective bone in his body, considering everything. It didn’t make up for the torture I had endured or the arrogance he portrayed, but it was something—a flicker
of light in a man I’d painted as the villain.
“Thank you.” I winced when he did, then I sucked in a deep breath when I took a closer look at the two puncture wounds. “We have pixies who could heal this in seconds back home.”
“I’ll go to the infirmary if I can walk. I was never taught healing spells. I’m sure they thought it unnecessary,” he mused aloud. “I should learn a few, hmm?”
I nodded and helped him hobble across the garden. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”
The trip took three times as long as it took us to arrive. A guard spotted us when we approached the doors and shouted for help. He took Kiros from me and propped him up, then carried him toward the three other guards who all rushed to his aid.
I was alone enough, with the guards preoccupied. I could have run, if not for the walls and other defenses. I wished Cedric had come now. At the least, I could get some time by myself in the gardens, but staying by Kiros’s side would have gained the trust I needed for when it really mattered. I cast my eyes down at the ground and hurried behind them as they walked him to the infirmary. My lips curled between my teeth. I wished I could find my staff, but it had probably been broken into tiny pieces or burned. The thought ached my soul.
FIFTEEN
I gripped onto the sandstone ledge, looking out over the rocky mountains. Orange basked over the sharp edges as the sun descended. I pressed my teeth into my bottom lip, readying myself for a meeting with King Xenos. Kiros was still in the infirmary but had made a swift recovery, thanks to the ointment made from powdered unicorn horn and who knew what else. He would be out soon. In the meantime, I knew what I needed to do. Xenos may have been nice to me or had even believed my niceties, but I was sitting prey in the castle. I had to take action, poke until I found out more information.
The king’s guards had escorted me to the small office where meetings were held with lesser dignitaries. The small, oak desk was empty, aside from a paperweight and a few blank scrolls.
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