Glass Princess

by M. Lynn

  Dell clenched and unclenched his fists as he paced outside the door to the royal residence. The royal residence! Who in their bloody right mind would have expected him to be here? He was nothing. Nobody.

  There was not a single person left in this world to spare a thought for him.

  Except her. Irritation emboldened his anger. Helena had just asked him to marry her, hadn’t she? He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall. He wanted her more than anything, but he’d never expected Estevan to give up the throne. Hell, he hadn’t really known if they’d overcome Cole.

  When they were in Bela, he’d imagined a simple life for them among the magic folk. The rolling green hills of the once forgotten kingdom had called to him with its peace.

  Did a queen ever truly know peace?

  Tradition. It was all that mattered to the Rhodipus line. They’d nearly driven Madra into the ground in pursuit of adhering to the old ways. Law stated an unmarried man or woman could not wear the crown.

  As much as Helena and Estevan claimed they differed from their predecessors, they proved to be nothing but the same. And now, she expected him to marry her only because she needed a king.

  There’d been no emotion in her voice during the proposal. Everything he’d felt for her… when she’d left him in Bela, she’d torn them apart. She couldn’t piece them back together for no reason other than a crown.

  A crown she didn’t even want!

  He’d heard every word Len said to the guards and again when she spoke to Cole before his death. He hadn’t seen it before, but there was no doubt in his mind she was meant for this. The kingdom didn’t yet know her, not in the way they knew Estevan.

  But they would just as he did. He curled his fingers into a fist and slammed it against the wall. Their timing had never been right. All he wanted to do was take her away from here. Away from the place where bad memories ran rampant. Where blood had been scrubbed from the stone floors again and again.

  A light touch on his arm had his eyes snapping open. He twisted away from Helena as she watched him with guarded eyes.

  He breathed heavily, noticing the hurt she wore like a shield. He’d caused that. He’d forced the walls around her into place.

  But what was he supposed to do? Marry her out of some misguided obligation to the past? The priesthood was dead. They no longer enforced the rules of life in Madra.

  “We need to talk.” Her voice was small, and he hated the tremor in it. The Helena he’d seen over the last few weeks didn’t waver.

  As she stood before him, she was no longer that woman. Now she was the girl who’d stood nervously on the bank of the river, wringing her cap as he inched his body closer to hers. She became the defensive girl who yelled at him on a beach of black sand under the scorching heat of the sun.

  Finally, he nodded.

  She led him away from the ears of her family on the other side of the door. They descended the stairs wordlessly. He knew where she was taking him before they arrived.

  The walled garden hadn’t changed in the months they’d been away. It stood as a remnant of what was. Untouched by the war that changed Madra forever, its beauty was soothing. Flowering bushes lined the walkways with leafy overhangs shielding them from the sun. A cold breeze whipped the hair from Helena’s shoulders, and she hugged her arms across her chest.

  Dell shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders.

  “Thank you.” She hugged it close.

  The sleeves of Dell’s linen shirt billowed out as he reached for her. He snatched his hand back when she gave him a cutting look.

  They walked down the winding path to a stone bench that sat at the back. Vines twisted up the walls behind them.

  Helena pushed out a breath.

  “I’m sorry.” They both spoke at the same time.

  Dell cracked a smile and gestured for her to speak first.

  She hesitated a moment. “I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that. Asking you for such a decision in front of my family was…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” Steel entered her gaze as she turned to pin him with a stare. “Well, yes I do. I thought you and I…” She gestured between them. “I thought something that obviously wasn’t true.”

  Unable to stop himself, Dell took her hand. “Helena… Len, I love you. I am in love with you. Please don’t think I’m not.”

  She narrowed her eyes, pulling her hand away. “But you… you said no! I asked you to marry me and you said no.”

  “First, you never actually asked me to marry you. Second, I want to be with you for the rest of my life whether it be long or short. I’ve been lost to you since the moment you ogled me when I was naked in the river.”

  Her mouth fell open. “I did not ogle you. I… you…”

  A smile tilted one side of his lips. “It’s okay.” He leaned in, pressing his lips you hers. “I ogled you when you were standing on the riverbank, dripping water and wild.”

  She put a hand on his chest to push him away. “Then why won’t you marry me?”

  “I’m going to marry you, Len. One day, I’m going to marry the heck out of you. But it won’t be to adhere to some tradition you don’t even believe in.”

  She sighed. “No Madran monarch has claimed the throne unmarried. It’s law.”

  He dipped his head to look straight into her dark eyes. “It’s also law in this kingdom that a princess must be masked until her eighteenth name day. Do you plan on obeying that with your own daughter?”

  She gasped. “Of course not.”

  “Then this law can be changed as well. Len, you don’t need a king by your side to be a queen. You can lead your people on your own. I know you can because I believe in you, and they will too.”

  “Alone?” She swallowed nervously.

  He cupped her cheek in his palm. “You’re strong enough for this. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not.”

  She leaned her forehead against his. “I think Stev is going to leave me.”

  He nodded against her. He’d had his own suspicions. Edmund and Estevan would return to Bela with Etta, Alex, and Tyson.

  “You’re not going to leave me too, are you?”

  “Never,” he breathed.

  She pressed a tentative kiss against his lips. He responded instantly, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her to him. She fit against him as if it was where she was always meant to be. Her arms wound around his neck as she deepened the kiss.

  This time, it wasn’t fire or passion that held them together. The warmth and comfort of knowing they had forever wrapped around them, allowing them to take their time, to savor each other.

  Dell kissed a path to Helena’s ear. “I forgive you for leaving me.”

  She leaned back, a smile on her lips. “We’re back at this now?”

  He shrugged. “You didn’t need me. I see that now.”

  “You’re wrong, you know.” She put her hand against his face to turn him back into the kiss and spoke against his lips. “I’ll always need you. No matter how strong you think I am, or how many guards I have at my back, you’re all I need.”

  He hummed in the back of his throat, knowing she was everything to him. His best friend. His lover. His queen. Even life itself.

  They’d fought battles and almost died. They’d faced betrayals and lost people they loved. Yet, they weren’t broken. The glass shards had been put into the fire, melted, and hardened into something stronger than what was there before.

  Epilogue

  Helena stood in front of a portrait of her mother. Chloe Rhodipus looked radiant on the day of her coronation. Her marriage and coronation took place on the same day. It had been a marriage of alliance like Stev’s would have been to Camille.

  Camille stood beside her in an understated, yet elegant yellow gown. “Only months ago, this was supposed to be me.” She gave Helena a sideways smile and leaned heavily on her cane. “If Cole hadn’t betrayed the crown, I’d have married Stev
and become queen of Madra.”

  Helena flinched at the reminder of the one brother who wasn’t there for the biggest day of her life. In the weeks following his death, she’d tried to forgive him, to put aside her anger, but that meant letting the sadness inside.

  What would her mother think of her on this day? She flattened her palms against the brilliant blue of her ornate gown. Silver threading wound through the bodice. It wasn’t unlike the gown she’d worn to her name day ball.

  She touched her face as had become a habit, feeling for the missing fabric of her mask. But she was no longer the caged princess.

  “What did you do,” she began, “When Alex abdicated the throne of Gaule and you became your mother’s heir?”

  Camille chuckled. “I cursed my brother.”

  Helena laughed. She’d done the same in her moments of solitude.

  “I imagine she’ll need a new heir.” Camille sighed. “Now that I am to stay in Madra.”

  “Quinn could return to Gaule with you should rule fall to you.”

  She shook her head. “He does not wish it and neither do I. I am not… beloved in Gaule. Though, my mother has fallen out of favor as well. I imagine she’ll name Tyson the heir. He may not have been my father’s son, but my mother is queen now so her line is royal.”

  A laugh burst free of Helena. “Does Ty know this yet?”

  Camille smiled ruefully. “We’d know if he did because he’d have drowned the entire kingdom of Gaule with his magic just to avoid the throne.”

  They fell into silence until footsteps sounded behind them. Quinn wrapped an arm around each woman’s shoulders. Helena leaned into him, grateful she wouldn’t have to say goodbye to at least one of her brothers. Kassander would stay as well, but she’d been right about Stev. After the coronation, he was set to leave.

  Edmund had stayed for the ceremony as well and saying goodbye to him would be just as difficult. Etta, Alex, and Tyson had already returned home, but wished her well. Lucky for them, Landon had brought Vérité to the palace stables before bringing Kassander to Cole. Helena doubted Etta would have left without her horse.

  Kass appeared beside them and wedged himself in between Helena and Quinn. “It’s up to us now, yeah?” She looked up to Quinn.

  He nodded. “When father sat on the throne, I never imagined we’d have control of Madra. I still feel like a child in this palace.”

  Helena laughed at that. Quinn was an army general. He’d led men into battle, but he’d always felt unsure of himself among these halls.

  “Are you going to walk me into the hall?” She directed the question to Quinn.

  Kass was the one who answered. “Of course I am.”

  Helena, Camille, and Quinn all laughed.

  “I’m going to take my seat.” Camille kissed Quinn’s cheek and broke away from them.

  “Give me a moment.” Helena slipped out of his hold and walked toward the back door of the hall. Opening it just a crack, she found Dell immediately. As if feeling her presence, his eyes snapped to hers. She waved him toward her.

  When he reached the door, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Tell me I’m not going to mess this up.”

  He chuckled. “You don’t need me to tell you that.”

  She swatted him away. “You’re useless.”

  He grinned and caught her around the waist. His black jacket was embroidered with the same blue as her dress. He reached into his pocket and procured a small wooden carving.

  He held the wooden crown between them. “You’re going to be the best queen Madra has ever seen.”

  She took the crown, letting her fingers glide over the smooth dips and curves. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I know you.” He pressed his lips to the side of her head.

  Music poured from the open door, signaling the start of the ceremony. Dell left to find his seat again, and Stev’s tall frame replaced his presence.

  “Thank you.” He nodded toward her. The words may have lacked emotion as most of Stev’s words over the last few weeks had, but Helena read the meaning in them.

  He needed a new start away from the place where so much had happened. He’d recovered from the wounds on his flesh, but the wounds on his mind and his heart would take much longer. She only hoped he found what he was searching for in Bela.

  The string quartet played louder, and both doors flew open, revealing a hall teeming with people. Helena had made sure any in the city who wished could attend the coronation. With foreign trade resuming, many people were busy getting shops and ships operational again, but still many had come.

  She breathed deeply as Kassander stepped into the aisle first. He walked slowly in front as Quinn and Estevan each took one of her arms. Camille had joined Dell and Edmund in the front row. By the time Helena reached them, her heart beat so fast it threatened to burst free.

  She smiled at them as she passed and climbed the three steps to the dais they’d built for this occasion. A seat for each royal rested on the platform.

  There had been no remaining priests to perform the coronation, but since they were forgoing tradition anyway, it hadn’t mattered.

  The music stopped and silence stretched in the hall.

  Helena knelt as her three brothers turned to face the crowd.

  Estevan spoke. “Madra has long been a kingdom ruled by the past. On this day, we change the fate of our land. We look to what is in front of us instead of behind. Helena Rhodipus becomes a new kind of ruler, the first of a new generation. She will change many of the laws we are beholden to only because we have always been. The first among these is that an unmarried monarch will sit on the throne.”

  His harsh eyes scanned the crowd. When no one objected, he turned to Helena and crossed to the table at the edge of the dais where a crown sat. Not her father’s crown… She glanced up in confusion, but Stev forged ahead.

  “Helena Rhodipus, do you promise to be a fair and just queen?”

  She nodded. “Always.”

  “Will you put Madra first in all things?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you lead with compassion and understanding?” That was a new one.

  “I will.”

  Stev lifted the crown. “This crown belonged to Chloe Rhodipus, our mother.”

  Helena shook her head. She didn’t recognize the blue gems or crossing gold pieces.

  Stev continued. “It was taken from her when I was a boy.” Helena had heard the story. The priesthood forced her mother into a symbolic role instead of one with any real power. And they’d taken her crown? The only headpiece Helena ever saw her mother with was a delicate tiara.

  “Helena Rhodipus.” Stev handed the crown to Kass. “I crown you queen of Madra, one of the six kingdoms.”

  Kassander grinned as he set the crown on Helena’s head. The weight that bore down on her differed from the weight of the mask. That had been a prison. But the crown was the ultimate freedom. She could turn Madra into the kingdom it was always meant to be.

  Every eye in the room settled on her, asking her to make life better for them. And she would.

  Dell had been right. A queen didn’t need a king. One day, she’d have one. Dell wouldn’t avoid the throne forever.

  But for the first time in her life, she believed in her own strength. She’d returned to Madra determined to save her people or die trying. As she stood and turned to face the expectant eyes of her people, she knew she’d make that choice a thousand times more.

  Because that was what a queen did.

  She raised her hand to wave and a roar of applause echoed off the high ceilings. People stood, cheering for their new queen. Pride spread through Helena.

  She met Dell’s eyes. When he winked, her smile grew.

  She may not have known it until that very moment, but she was always meant to stand here. The crown fit her as if it had been made for her. And her people’s acceptance wrapped her in a cloak of strength, unbendable and immovable.

  This was her tim
e.

  Madra’s time.

  Do you want more from this world? Will Tyson ever get his happy ending or is he doomed to always be the sidekick? Find out in Noble Thief. Click here for your copy: michellelynnauthor.com/noblethief

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  What’s Next?

  A prince of two kingdoms. A woman fighting against the crown.

  * * *

  Tyson Durand once knew exactly where he fit in life. As the son of the Gaulean queen and brother to the Belaen ruler, his loyalty was always divided.

  Except when it came to her.

  Amalie Leroy was his home - until she pushed him out of her life.

  When Tyson’s mother summons him to Gaule, she sends him on a mission for the crown: find the outlaw terrorizing the kingdom.

  He never imagined his search for the criminal would bring him face to face with everything he’d lost.

  When he learns the truth of the mysterious hooded figure, how far will he go to save a woman who deceived him?

  * * *

  Get lost in a story of revenge and redemption where love may not save the world, but it can change it. Noble Thief is the sixth installment of the Fantasy and Fairytales series.

  Get your copy of Noble Thief here.

  Noble Thief

  Amalie Leroy should have been used to spending her nights in the wild, but something about their mission still tugged at her. Darkness cloaked their movements as they passed through the shadowy trees.

  It didn’t feel right.

  Not what they were about to do—that was the right thing, but she couldn’t shake the feeling it was all going to go horribly wrong. Why this night? They’d done this same thing many times before and returned home safely before the sun rose.