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

by Rebecca L. Garcia

  “Perhaps if my verdicts were upheld, I would continue to attend them.” Neither of us looked away. “Regardless, as queen, I get final say on them.”

  His eyebrow kicked up. “May I remind you, while you are indeed monarch, I, high priest, carry out sentencing for serious crimes.”

  My nose wrinkled. “She has three children. You cannot endorse her public shaming.” My stomach knotted at the thought of her being placed in the stocks. “Then imprisoned.”

  “She chose her path.” He attempted to turn, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back to face me. It was incredibly stupid to do it. A gasp escaped my mother’s mouth.

  “What are you doing?” His eyes narrowed.

  “I’m not finished.” I teetered on the edge of rage. My fingers were visibly shaking as I recoiled. The nobles in the vicinity no longer feigned their ignorance. Silence surrounded us. All eyes were on us.

  “You are not fit—”

  My eyes flashed. “I dare you to continue that sentence.”

  Clearing his throat, he flicked his gaze to those near us, then back to me. “Like I said, she deserved her punishment and more. She’s lucky she wasn’t sentenced to execution. I was merciful due to her status.”

  I half laughed. “Merciful? Her children will be sent to worker houses.”

  “She should have made better choices.”

  Bewilderment widened my gaze. “Better choices?” I scoffed. “She didn’t decide to be raped.”

  “Supposedly raped,” he stated. “He says she agreed to lay with him. She came to her husband not a maiden, so what he said isn’t unbelievable.”

  “I was told she was found with marks on her. Nail imprints on her thighs. A handprint around her throat.”

  “He professes his innocence, and we do not condemn people without proof.”

  I rolled my eyes. “They always do say they’re innocent. Yet you condemn her.”

  He shook his head. “She attempted to cut off his… manhood.”

  “I am aware,” I snapped, and one of the noble’s wives’ jaw dropped. “However, she didn’t actually complete the task.” I gritted my teeth. “We are imprisoning the wrong person. The only reason she is being charged is because she admitted to her wrongdoing, unlike him.”

  “The verdict is final.”

  “I will continue to intervene. I will not drop this.”

  Silence hung between us for a few moments, until my mother stepped in. “While your sentence was light for the woman, maybe on this one occasion, you can look into the evidence a little further. It wouldn’t do any harm, and if Her Majesty is wrong, then I’m sure she will gracefully accept the woman’s sentence.”

  Vahaga gave her a look that begged it wasn’t likely for me to do such a thing. He was right. “We can open the trial again.” He turned his head to look at my mother. “I doubt we will find anything else.”

  “I want everything reported to me first,” I said through gritted teeth. “The man accused of rape will be held in the dungeons until the trial. A court trial should not be held for such terrible crimes,” I explained.

  “I agree,” Vahaga said, to my surprise. “Attempted mutilation requires a public trial.”

  “I meant the rape.” I flexed my fingers.

  “That too,” he said unconvincingly.

  I rubbed my forehead. We stood feet apart, neither of us looking away. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Enjoy your former husband-to-be’s visit to the castle.” His mouth pinched. “I’ve heard the king of Niferum can be ruthless and unforgiving.”

  My eyes glinted. “Not to me,” I said, and he walked away, leaving me among the nobles and guards. I marched into the hallway, then to the large arches looking out into the frozen courtyard. Footsteps echoed mine. A hand gripped my wrist. A guard stepped in, but I nodded for him to stop. “Mother.” I let out a weighted sigh. “If you expect me to thank you for what you said—”

  “There are private rooms for such matters to be discussed.” Her grip tightened. She spoke in a low, aggressive whisper. “You made a spectacle out of our high priest. Out of yourself. Where is your dignity?”

  I scoffed. “I might ask you the same question. You stand by and allow men to not even hold a trial because the husband said he didn’t do it. It’s disgusting.”

  “If you had been there, Winter.” She raised her thin eyebrows. “Then you would have been able to do something about it.”

  “You’re right. I will be there for now on, until I make changes.”

  “More changes. When will you grow up?”

  I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I saw André.” I didn’t know why I was sharing such valuable information, but the look on her face was worth it. “At the river in the sacred part of the forest.”

  Her expression dropped. Her bloodshot eyes glossed, and the sides of her lips softened. “How was he?” Desperation laced her tone.

  “He seemed okay at first, but then he was dragged from me. Quite violently.” The memory sent a shudder through me. “He told me to be weary of Vahaga.” I was either incredibly smart or utterly stupid for telling her. “He’s dangerous, Mother. I know you loved your son. He loved you too.” I had no idea why. “What I am telling you is the truth, and if you have any love left in that icy heart of yours, you will not side with him again.”

  “André wouldn’t say that.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. He did. I’m not lying.”

  Her jaw clenched. “If I told Vahaga what you said…”

  “Go ahead,” I said in warning. “Even those on the other side can be punished. You know this.” I referred to the ancestors who shattered souls out of existence, those who had committed treason, sacrilege before their death. When they died, the oldest ancestors wouldn’t allow them to join them. “Or so Vahaga has told us. Gamble your son’s soul and daughter’s reign for a man who wouldn’t shed a tear over any of us.”

  She opened her mouth to speak but closed it without a word passing her lips. She left without so much as looking at me. My stomach swirled.

  ***

  Morgana. I sighed with relief when I saw her long, knotted curls dance on her back as she walked holding an array of items. She was halfway up the spiral stone steps when she sensed me. She whipped her head back, almost dropping a bottle of blue liquid as she did. “Winter. You’re alone.”

  “I have ordered the royal guard to welcome Blaise to the castle. He will be arriving shortly.”

  “You should be there.”

  I sucked in deep breaths as I climbed the steps to her. I rested my hands on my knees, attempting to catch my breath. “I will, but first, we must talk. It’s about the necromancer.”

  She swallowed thickly. She nodded, then ushered me up the steps to her tower room.

  Not much had changed, apart from the shelves. I noticed the slanted ones had been fixed. The mixed aroma of heather and lavender filled the circular room. Bookshelves housed the same dusty books, and orange hues, kissing the sky in dusk, arrowed through the small arched windows. I gripped my staff, then uttered the spell to protect us from anyone listening. Although this part of the castle was quiet, I couldn’t risk it. Not anymore.

  “I met him,” I told her as she placed the items she’d been carrying on her already-overcrowded desk. “He came to me when I was asleep. He lingered there, between my conscious and subconscious right before I woke up.”

  Slowly turning, her orb-like eyes regarded me. “What did he say?”

  “He warned me to stop taking the potion to suppress him. He said you don’t have enough to last, and soon he will have control.” My gaze flicked to the windows. “He will use you to hurt people I care about if I don’t obey.”

  I didn’t want to admit how small that list was.

  “He’s testing you.” She hurried to the bookshelves and ran her long fingers along the well-creased spines. Tears swam in her eyes, although she tried to blink them away.

  I closed the distance between us. The smell of leath
er pinched my nostrils. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she flinched. “You’re in pain.”

  “Yes.” She didn’t try to deny it. I noticed her staff was gathering dust, leaned against the wall. “There isn’t enough potion.”

  “What do we do?”

  She pulled out a heavy-looking book. “I will continue to research. What you said about him being able to access your mind between awake and asleep reminded me of something I read before. Like how the fae can dream-walk, necromancers can stay between realms. When we sleep, Winter, they say our soul leaves to another place.”

  My eyebrows knitted together. “You think he’s living somewhere between realms?”

  “Yes.”

  “If we know where he is, then we can kill him.” My voice charged with hope.

  “No.”

  My hope fizzled. “How does it help then?”

  “It’s a start. We must gather as much knowledge as possible. You know the benefits of knowing.”

  I nodded in understanding. “I know what we need. Banned books. All of them. I’m queen now.”

  “About that.” She placed her hands on my shoulders. “Be careful with your power. My foresight has been… fuzzy… since the necromancer took hold. I’ve been trying to close him out, but I’m close to breaking.”

  The revelation knocked me backward. I steadied myself. “He will be in control if you do.”

  “Which is why you must lock me away, Winter. I have been wanting to come to you, but I wanted to ready myself first. I haven’t been using magic. I don’t want to give him any more power than he already has. Neither should you.”

  “I barely use magic these days. Every need is taken care of.” I fondly recalled the days when I had the freedom to practice with Morgana. “I’m not locking you away.”

  “If I am not in control, I could hurt. Even kill. He’s bloodthirsty. He requires death. I feel it in every fiber of my being.”

  “I know.” I bit on my bottom lip, then rubbed the back of my neck. “If you change, I will lock you away.”

  She cast her eyes downward, her expression unreadable. “Good. As I said, be careful. The lords, Vahaga… they all want to see you fall. I’ve seen them, heard the whispers, and I can’t help you. They’re desperate, and desperation makes people do dangerous things.”

  I placed my hands on hers. “I will heed your warning.”

  She turned her back toward me and rummaged through her desk until she found a familiar bottle. “More potion. It should last you a couple of weeks.”

  Uneasiness settled in my stomach. “Is there really no more?”

  “No.” She cast her eyes downward. “If you can acquire the books banned by your father, I suggest you do so in secrecy. Ask Blaise to help you.”

  I looked at her incredulously. “I can’t do that.”

  “You can and you must. He will help you, and he’s a good ally. Tell him everything.”

  “I haven’t even told Cedric.”

  “Blaise knows how to get around people. He knows the trickery of politics and how to keep things hidden. Blaise will do anything to help you. He will go further than Cedric ever could.”

  I realized she saw them as nothing more than traits; right now, Blaise’s were needed more than Cedric’s.

  “It’s more complicated than that,” I explained. “Blaise won’t put himself on the line for me. Again.”

  She gave me a look. “Get Blaise to help you. For all our sakes.” She looked out the window. “You can start now. They’re here.”

  THIRTEEN

  The ship’s navy-blue sails flapped in the wind. Beside the grand vessel were two smaller ships. Their carriages had already gone. He must’ve been close. The drawbridge was lowered, and my heart pounded. Cedric joined my side. We hadn’t spoken since our fight, and I was sure seeing Blaise wouldn’t help.

  “I thought you were leaving before Blaise arrived.”

  He held his head high. “I decided to follow your footsteps.”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “To be brave.”

  I couldn’t help but smile, even though I was mad at him. “Good.”

  “We should talk before bed,” he said quickly.

  I nodded. “Yes. We should.”

  His fingers brushed mine but pulled away. A guard walked to my other side and stood with a spear as the horses pulled their carriages over gravel. The door was opened once they stopped in front of us. A pair of black boots hit the ground. My breath was stolen. He looked different. Stronger. Deadlier. His eyes focused on mine, and a wicked grin taunted on his lips.

  His grin hardened into a frown when he saw Cedric. He paused in front of me. “Love.” He held my hands in his, then bowed and kissed them.

  My heart skipped a beat. Cedric’s expression wavered, uncertainty lingering in his eyes.

  “Blaise.”

  We were being far too informal, but being anything but felt unnatural at this point.

  “I’ll find you later.” He winked, then gave Cedric a hard stare.

  “I don’t understand the sudden hate. You always disliked one another, but now…” I shook my head.

  “You have guests to greet,” Cedric said bluntly, his tone sharp, and walked away. He greeted a few of the fae he’d become friendly with while we had been in Niferum, and he accompanied them into the banquet hall.

  Prince Lucien was accompanied by a beautiful young faery. His brother Niam walked behind him, hand-in-hand with his boyfriend, Crawn, who was as always dressed in the most elaborate costume of feathers and green, resembling the peacocks that wandered the gardens.

  “Your Majesty.” Niam bowed with Crawn. Lucien reluctantly fell in line, bowing too. They stepped around me as more hurried to meet me.

  Vahaga did his best to hold his disgust as they were brought into the castle, but he made sure to take the time to shoot me a venomous stare.

  Many of the men watched with disgust, although their anger was swiftly replaced with something else when they saw the beautiful fae women. Blaise had brought a small army with him. I guessed he wasn’t going to make the same mistake in trusting lunas again, after my father was close to slaughtering them at our almost-wedding, even though I was in power. Blaise never had been naïve. I noticed Darlina had joined him on his journey—his plaything, ex- or current girlfriend, I wasn’t sure. She didn’t look happy to see me. She swept into the hall, her bright-red dress billowing around her as she did. I gave her a bright smile and was pleased to see annoyance shroud her features.

  I’d hoped to talk to Blaise in private, but I had no idea where he’d gone. Something had changed about him though. I could see it in his eyes. They were no longer pained. The suffering in his expression had evaporated and was replaced with callousness. He reminded me of the prince I’d met years before, not the man I’d come to… care for.

  The gray evening fell into night by the time I finished greeting everyone. Blackness pinched above as if the starless sky had swallowed the light from the world.

  “Your Majesty.” Amara curtseyed. Her hair spilled around her face. “King Blaise wishes to speak with you.”

  My stomach dipped. It was about time. His abrupt leave into the castle may have pleased Cedric, but it had saddened me. “Where is he?”

  She flushed pink. “He’s, um, well, he’s in your chambers.”

  My eyes bulged. “My chambers?” I asked. She must’ve been mistaken.

  “He told the guards you asked for him to wait for you there.”

  I inhaled sharply. I wanted to tell her I absolutely had not, but I assumed she already knew. “Thanks, Amara.”

  I hurried past her, barely acknowledging those vying for conversation from me. After pushing through the gathering groups of people, I rushed into emptying hallways and ran to my room.

  I was breathless when I opened the door. “You!” I exclaimed, my voice pitched higher. “My chambers? Really?”

  He gave me an obvious stare. “I wasn’t going to talk to
you while you were standing with your sparkly pet.”

  Rage bubbled in my core. “His name is Cedric.”

  He shrugged. He leaned against the wall next to my bed. The window next to him granted moonlight, illuminating his matte-black strands that curled around his pointed ears and silver crown. “I see you got the dress I sent.”

  “Why did you send it?”

  His lips curved into a wicked grin. “I saw it and thought of how beautiful you would look in it. It’s a selfish reason really. You know I like beautiful things.”

  My heart thumped. “You shouldn’t have.”

  He licked his lips, still smirking. “I thought you’d be pleased to see me. I guess not.”

  I breathed in deep breaths, fumbling my fingers as I did. I was, but I couldn’t tell him that. “You’ve changed,” I stated.

  “We all change. I see you have been spending all your spare time with Cedric.”

  How did he know all of this? Then again, he had managed to place a spy in Berovia of all places, so I shouldn’t have been surprised there had been one or two at my court. “Is it a crime to spend time with my…”

  “Your what?”

  “We’re together.”

  “Are you marrying him?”

  I jolted. “No.”

  “Good.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get jealous.”

  He scoffed a laugh. “I’m not.”

  “I thought you had accepted my being with him.”

  He hesitated. “Things changed.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Like what this time? Your mood swings are giving me a headache.” My stomach ached. “Don’t you dare think you have the right to come into my chambers in my castle, in my kingdom, and get upset at me for enjoying the little time I do have to spare, and I’m talking minutes here and there, to talk to the one person who makes me laugh.”

  He winced. “He makes you laugh.”

  “Yes.” I tilted my head. “I thought we were on good terms now. You sent a treaty.”