City of the Enchanted Queen

by Olivia Ash

  “Sophia, I found something,” Ezekiel called to her, and she rushed over to find out the news. “I think I found something. There is mention of an herb called Animo’s Passion. It holds some powerful healing and restoration attributes. It’s rare, and only found within certain elements. I believe there to be some deep within Witch Woods around a fairy den as they tend to use the berries as aphrodisiacs.”

  Fairy den. That meant there would be a fight. Despite the pesky creatures that they were, it was so worth the risk. This was the only shot they had so far of waking Madison, and she wasn’t going to wait around for another option. “Fairies are particularly possessive of things they value. It would likely mean a fight, but we can handle it.”

  “When should we leave?”

  “You up for it tonight?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I think we could do it.”

  “Great. I’ll go let Edric and Andreas know. They can handle guarding the queen.”

  She turned and headed for Edric and Andreas.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Andreas

  He watched as Sophia approached him. Something about the determined look in her eyes gave him the impression she wasn’t approaching with the intent of spending time with him. There was something more behind it.

  She stopped in front of him and smiled. “Hi.”

  “Hello,” he said, smiling back.

  “Zeke found information about an herb that can revive Madison. I’m going to leave with him to go get it. I’m leaving you and Edric in charge of getting the queen back to the village and watching over her.”

  “You’re leaving now?” he asked, somewhat shocked, though he knew not to be. Nothing was predictable about this woman. Even now. Probably ever.

  She narrowed her eyes and her eyebrows met at the bridge of her nose. Her rather cute nose. “Yes. It’s our best shot at waking her without killing her completely.”

  “Let me get two of my wraith brothers to accompany you in case there’s trouble,” Andreas said and went to leave her.

  She stopped him by grabbing his arm. “No. The less company we bring with us, the more we can stay hidden.”

  “Grimms, Sophia. Remember?” He couldn’t hide the worry in his voice.

  “I’ll be fine. Zeke is with me, and Haris as well.” She showed her forearm. “Besides, I’ve handled worse than a few run-ins with grimms and a den of fairies.”

  “Please consider taking two at least,” he said, urging her to compromise.

  She shook her head and rested an arm on his shoulder. “It will be better and quicker with just the two of us. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  She lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss and pulled her closer to him. When he broke away, he rested his head against hers. “Please, be careful.”

  “Always,” she said then walked away.

  He watched her as she and Ezekiel stepped into the woods under the cover of night. Once they left his sight, he turned to the heir and wondered why the duchess would want power so badly that she would go through all the trouble of killing the entire royal family. His thoughts led into wondering who went out of their way to save Madison in such an intricate and careful way. There was a lot of thought put into something that seemed to have happened so rapidly.

  He hummed to himself.

  There was definitely more to this whole scenario than met the eye, and he was sure the heir would provide answers once she was up and well.

  He just hoped that Sophia and Ezekiel didn’t see any trouble while they were gone. Or the group left behind for that matter.

  Edric stretched as he walked toward Andreas. He could tell the magic was starting to affect him, and he frowned noticing Edric’s skin had paled a few shades in the short time they were here.

  “Get good rest?” Andreas asked as Edric stood next to him.

  He shrugged. “About as good as I’m going to get for the time being.”

  “I’m right there with you, brother,” he said, slapping a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

  “Somehow, I highly doubt that. Your people are from here, after all.” His voice was level, but there was a hint of pain and Andreas frowned, removing his hand. Sophia would never forgive him if something happened to Edric while she was gone.

  Silence settled between them as they both studied the crystal coffin that held the last heir of Nighthelm.

  “Why do you think she did it?” Andreas asked.

  “Who? The duchess?” He shrugged. “I have no clue. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe it was someone else and she was just a pawn in the whole scheme. She doesn’t seem like the type to kill.”

  “Possible.” Andreas shifted his weight between his feet, circulating his blood from standing so long. “Even Winston surprised us with his baffling exploit to take Sophia from us.”

  “True. Proves the point that you never really know a person until you know what drives them and pushes them to do the things they do.”

  Somehow, that reminded him of Sophia and her determination to get the heir on the throne. He knew the desire to fulfill her destiny motivated her, though it seemed lately something else had been bothering her.

  “Agreed. Have you noticed a change in Sophia lately?”

  “What do you mean?” Edric asked.

  “She’s more vigilant, focused… maybe more intense than usual.”

  He shrugged. “She’s closer than ever to restoring the heir. She’s likely pushing herself to get that done. She has a time limit as well. That tends to place a lot of weight on her shoulders.” He met Andreas’s gaze. “Relax, brother. She’ll be fine.”

  “Fair enough,” Andreas said and watched the movements of shadows and wraiths.

  “We should change the watch and leave out early. Hopefully we can beat Sophia and Zeke back to the village and have Madison ready to be awakened.”

  “Good point,” Andreas said and watched as Edric set off to find two wraiths to take over the watch.

  EDRIC

  He took guard over the woods. He felt trouble inching over the horizon. It was coming. That was beyond a doubt. Somehow, he also knew getting Madison back on the throne was going to take a lot more effort. The duchess had grown too comfortable in her position, and with her admitting she was responsible for killing off the royal family in the first place, and trying to kill him, his brothers, and Sophia just to maintain that throne, she wouldn’t let go without force.

  Madison would need to be prepared to do something big to prove herself the heir. Even then, he wondered what would stop the mastermind behind the murders of the royal family from completing the task once she was awake and reclaimed the throne. He still couldn’t believe the duchess had anything to do with it, and he pondered whether or not she had a co-conspirator.

  As his eyes scanned for each and every shift of shadow within the dense trees of Witch Woods, he thought back to his younger years, when he was a boy at the academy and the stories he’d hear of how the royal family had special skills. Though he never learned what those skills were, he hoped that would be enough to prove Madison’s right to the throne. And once she did, he could reclaim his position within the guard and set up an elite force that would protect the queen around the clock. Before he got too far ahead of himself, they needed to first wake her up.

  Sophia and Ezekiel needed to hurry. Whatever was out there in those woods, Edric sensed it was out for blood. And the blood of the heir, Madison.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sophia

  Sophia and Ezekiel were making good time. They had run quite a way once they crossed into the barrier of the woods and had only stopped to catch their breath and allow Ezekiel to look around for signs of the plant and fairies.

  “Vocavi,” she whispered.

  Haris’s form filtered from her arm, moving in front of her in his brilliant green mist, solidifying with a grateful sigh. He nudged her and trilled.

  She chuckled and patted his flank. “You’re welc
ome, my friend.”

  Ezekiel stared at the moss on the trees and searched around him. “Not quite there yet. But I believe we are getting close.”

  “Do you really think the herb will be enough?” Sophia asked as she followed Ezekiel deeper into the woods. She kept her voice low as to not draw attention from unwanted creatures. They had a time limit, and a fight with a minotaur, grimm, or other dangerous creatures of the woods would only slow them down.

  Time was of the essence.

  “It should. It has to.” Ezekiel fingered some ferns growing alongside a toppled over branch. He rubbed some of the moist soil between his first two fingers and thumb then sniffed. “Too acidic.”

  “Not to mention there aren’t any fairy nests nearby.” Sophia poked Ezekiel in the side and pointed ahead of them where there were glowing plants.

  He smiled. “You never cease to amaze me.”

  She smiled and mock bowed. “Anything for you.”

  He chuckled and headed for the glowing plant life. Sophia knew that was a fairly large den of fairies. It was worth a shot to check, seeing as it was the first one they had seen. It was a decently secluded series of nests as well. Sophia had no idea what conditions needed to be present for the plant to grow, but this was pretty deep in the woods and the dim glow of the plants caught her attention. Fairies loved pretty, glowing things.

  Ezekiel asked, “What do you think we’re going to do once we restore Madison to the throne? You know, after your destiny is fulfilled.”

  “Sleep and enjoy the peace for however long we’re allowed to have it,” she said.

  She had spent much of her life fighting and training to be a warrior. But even warriors needed rest, and her victory with Madison would help her achieve that. Sometimes she would catch herself daydreaming about what she’d do with her men, on a normal day, when they weren’t called upon to go to battle. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on possibilities. It was a time for action. And Sophia would find the herb to wake Madison and restore her to the throne. Nighthelm had gone for too long without its rightful heir.

  “I want to buy a house for all of us. Or restore the estate. Have a library where I can return to the archives and research.” Ezekiel’s voice was full of desire and awe. It took everything within Sophia not to laugh loudly at the way he always seemed obsessed with learning more. It was endearing to her as well. He didn’t speak too often about his wants and dreams. It gave her a little more insight to him, which she craved.

  “You love learning that much?” she asked.

  He nodded and smiled. “It’s what I do. Why I’m so good at magic.”

  “That makes sense.”

  Sophia grabbed his hand and they walked casually toward the glowing plants. They spent the rest of the time in silence. Every few steps, Ezekiel stopped to touch moss or rub dirt between his fingers. Once, he pulled a petal off a flower and tasted it. He rapidly spat it out and muttered something about being bitter. Sophia tried not to laugh, but what sound she did make, she managed to muffle behind her hands.

  He could always make her laugh. She felt carefree with him and enjoyed that he could take a serious situation and bring some humor into it. She really loved that about him, and each day, she found herself falling in love with him even deeper.

  Haris sniffed the flower Ezekiel had just spat out and snorted, shaking his head, almost bumping into trees.

  “Now he tells me,” Ezekiel said.

  Sophia forced herself to muffle another chuckle as she set her eyes forward and saw the tiny tells of fairy homes littered throughout the trunk of nearby trees.

  It was late, so they were likely sleeping. Not many of the creatures were nocturnal, and the ones who were tended to be more ferocious, highly disliking of trespassers into their territory. Their bites seemed worse than the others, but it was something Sophia was prepared for.

  But as they snuck into the den, quiet as ghosts, she was surprised to find a whole lot of nothing but the soft whispers of a breeze gently brushing against the leaves of the tress and a trickling stream nearby.

  “We’re close,” Ezekiel whispered.

  Sophia nodded and pulled on the hilts of her dagger and sword, prepared for an onslaught of tiny, angry creatures for disturbing their loot.

  “Over here,” Ezekiel whispered again, and she followed him to a small bush about three feet high with bright white flowers that looked like little, spiny snowballs with purple berries. The whole herb glowed and reminded Sophia of a collection of stars when she was able to view them from one of the rooftops in Nighthelm during one of her many treks into the city at night. That was before Grindel died, and she had met her men that she had come to adore.

  The silence was almost deafening. And Sophia started to think things were going easy.

  Ezekiel took out a small blade and cut a flower from the bush. It made a loud snipping sound that echoed, causing Sophia to suck in a breath and look around.

  A collection of buzzing burst through the nests as she, Ezekiel, and Haris were swarmed by the tiny creatures.

  Using the flat side of her blade, she batted at the fairies attacking her and used the dagger to take out a few others. Ezekiel used a flickering flame in the palm of his hand and kept the creatures at bay so he could collect the herbs.

  Haris stomped around and spun, trying to knock as many of them off as possible. He groaned each time one of them bit into him, and Sophia tried her best to keep them from biting her as she knocked them off him.

  They seemed to have come from all directions, and though she didn’t want to completely demolish an entire den of fairies, she would do so to make sure Ezekiel grabbed enough of the herb to wake Madison up.

  “Got it! Let’s go,” Ezekiel announced, and like the wind, they dashed through the woods, making their way back to the village.

  Chapter Twenty

  Sophia

  As they stepped into the village, Sophia and Ezekiel were laughing about the fairy attack. She teased him about his rapid movements and wide eyes, almost like a scared child lashing out at the nightmares that loomed under his bed. The adrenaline pumping through her veins had finally waned, and after the initial shock of being besieged by biting fairies, being in such a situation—a trained warrior and a skilled sorcerer—just brought out a bit of humor in them. Ezekiel had made some jokes of his own, pointing out the way in which she batted away several of the fairies.

  But as they rejoined Andreas and Edric, Sophia became serious. “How is the heir?”

  “We put her in a hut over there,” Andreas said, pointing to the very hut that held the chest protected by the cute little gnome.

  She instantly turned on her heels and headed in that direction. As she set her eyes on the heir, she whispered, “Thank the gods.” The tension in her shoulder eased, and she moved to stand to the side. She looked at the girl, Madison, and wondered if she dreamed in this state, or if she was somehow aware of her surroundings.

  “Did you get the herbs?” Edric asked Ezekiel.

  “I did. I just need a moment to prepare the potion,” he said.

  Sophia smiled but was also weary. It was a long fight just to get to this moment, and she was sure there would be plenty more battles to come to get the heir healed, awake, and on the throne.

  “We should set up watch around the heir as well as the village,” Sophia said.

  “Already done,” Edric said, walking up behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders.

  She closed her eyes and leaned into him.

  Now they waited for Ezekiel to work his magic. Both figuratively and literally.

  SOPHIA

  Sophia’s nerves were on edge.

  Pacing the length of the village didn’t help ease her or bring her comfort. Too much was riding on Ezekiel finding a clue to opening the coffin without killing the last heir to the throne.

  Her thoughts didn’t help matters either. She was consumed with wondering how she got in the crystal coffin in the first place. Who put her in
there? How in the world were they going to get her back on the throne? What if they messed up and killed her?

  Too much.

  She eventually grew tired of pacing and went to check on him, finding him hunched over his book of notes, pencil in hand, scribbling furiously. She cleared her throat to announce her arrival without startling him.

  He looked up from his notes and smiled.

  “How is everything coming along?” she asked.

  “I’m getting close,” he said. “I can feel it.”

  “Can I sit next to you?” she asked.

  He returned his attention to her and his eyebrows knitted together. “Do you really need to ask?”

  She shrugged and he patted the spot next to him.

  Taking the seat, she looked at the notes in his book and couldn’t make heads or tails of anything on there. It was just a mesh of symbols that looked more like an interesting art project than a language.

  “How can you understand any of that?” she asked.

  “Simple,” he said. “Many, many years of practice. I started learning the ancient text my first year at the academy. It fascinated me so much I couldn’t leave the subject alone. I still don’t know everything. Some runes change meaning, depending on where they appear. Others could be used in conjunction with another to form a whole new word and meaning. It takes some time, but I can usually figure them out.”

  She smiled at him. He was so smart and cunning. Gentle and kind. He challenged her and broadened her mind in ways she never knew she could. Like learning runes. “Teach me some?” she asked.

  He smiled, eyes bright and excited. “Of course.”

  After an hour of learning runes and even helping him decode a few for the crystal coffin, she only began to scratch the surface. It was so much more in-depth than she originally gave it credit for. But her mind was buzzing, and her stomach demanded food.