Academy of Falling Kingdoms Box Set

by Marisa Mills

  “It doesn’t look far,” I said.

  “It’s a couple miles from that tavern we went to,” Tatiana said.

  The tavern where Viviane had put a truth serum in my drink and discovered I was a fraud. Definitely not the best memory. I did vaguely remember where that tavern was, though. “What are we looking for?” I asked.

  “It used to be the town square,” Alexander said, “when the Ancients ruled. After the Council and the aristocracy split, they moved the center of the kingdom, so it was halfway between the palace and the Council’s meeting chambers.”

  “I’ve heard the ruins are haunted,” Viviane said. “People used to be executed there.”

  Wonderful.

  Alexander nodded. “Yes, and there’s—isn’t there a graveyard nearby?”

  “There is,” Viviane said, “because the Ancients used to bury the bodies there. If you were executed, you forfeited your right to a private burial.”

  Alexander sighed. “I really hope we’re not going to have to dig up graves to find this entrance, which might not even exist.”

  “It exists,” Tatiana said. “Why would my father have a map of it if it didn’t?”

  “Because he’s insane,” Alexander grumbled. “Honestly…”

  “I don’t know,” Viviane said, after a moment. “Oberon knew a lot about Nicholas. As far as I was aware, only my family knew that much about him. Maybe they were really friends.”

  Alexander shook his head. “I can’t believe we’re in this deep over an affair.”

  “To be honest, I’m just waiting for one of Dorian’s illegitimate children to appear,” Viviane said, her eyes lingering on me.

  Why would I care? It wasn’t as if Dorian’s children would affect me in any way.

  “The key phrase being illegitimate,” Alexander said. “They wouldn’t be a threat to you.”

  Viviane scowled and set off walking up the street. Suddenly, Alexander’s face changed. He hurried after her, moving his arm awkwardly, like he meant to touch her shoulder but thought better of it.

  “I didn’t mean it that way. I forgot you’re now…”

  “The illegitimate heir to the Rosewood fortune?” Viviane said curtly.

  Tatiana and I headed after them.

  “But does he know you are?” Alexander asked.

  “It’s Dorian. Of course, he knows,” Viviane said.

  He probably knew a lot more than Viviane thought he did. There was even a chance Dorian’s path would cross with ours. Once he realized—if he realized—he couldn’t retrieve the objects Gwen stole, he’d find another goal. And we had no way of knowing if Dorian already knew about this chamber. I wished I’d had the chance to read Nick’s journal.

  Do you think we could steal it back from him? Lucian asked.

  Dorian would probably assume I’d taken it.

  Or Du Lac, Lucian replied. Dorian already knows Du Lac is stealing from him.

  That was true. But stealing from Dorian…I’d tried that once before, and it hadn’t ended well for me.

  But not badly either, Lucian said. He didn’t hurt you.

  Still, it was probably best not to test him.

  Think it over, Lucian purred. I wasn’t free before. I wasn’t as powerful before. Now, I could break that man if I wanted to.

  I frowned, thinking of how Dorian had shown up and seemed so concerned about me being hurt. And he’d spent all night recovering my sword, and then sitting beside Jessa with me.

  Ugh, this again, Lucian muttered.

  Lucian had never liked the confused mingling of dislike and near-affection that I approached Dorian with. But I could never make myself hate him. Even when he kept secrets and changed the rules. Besides, he might still be an ally. At least, I was sure he would be if his goals happened to align with mine.

  I’d prefer you have some allies that definitely won’t stab you in the back, Lucian said dryly. It’s bad enough that you trust the princeling and bastard princess.

  “That’s horrible,” I hissed.

  “Are you all right, Wynter?” Tatiana asked.

  At her question, Alexander and Viviane both glanced at me.

  “Fine,” I replied. “Why?”

  “You’ve just left the infirmary,” Tatiana replied. “And you had a concussion. Even if you’re no longer injured, I’m sure you still hurt.” I thought she was talking about my ribs. I felt them and realized most of the pain was gone, along with the near-constant sense of anxiety that had plagued me since childhood. My head felt clear and sharp, for the first time in days. What was in that potion?

  “Also, you’re talking to yourself,” Viviane added, pointedly.

  I waved a hand and picked up my pace.

  “I’ve felt worse. Don’t worry,” I smiled. “I’m tough.”

  “Tell us if you need to rest,” Alexander said. “We’re not exactly in a rush. For all we know, we’re chasing a fairy tale.”

  Alexander and Viviane looked forward once more. Tatiana rolled up the map and tucked it under her arm. She linked her other arm with mine.

  “It’s not a fairy tale,” Tatiana whispered. “I believe my father.”

  “I know, Tati,” I said. “I do, too.”

  Sixteen

  WE PASSED THE FORUM, BUT no one was speaking today. It looked stark and empty; a marble platform surrounded by beautiful turrets of glass and crystal. Curved sections of stairs rose up to meet an unassuming, square building with three floors that served as the Council’s seat of power.

  “Is all that crystal really meant to be used to attack invaders?” I asked.

  “Where did you hear that?” Tatiana asked.

  “Dorian,” I replied.

  “Well, he’s always been a wealth of obscure knowledge,” Viviane said.

  “He’s right, though,” Alexander replied. “That’s why the palace has so much of it.”

  Sounds terribly gruesome, Lucian said.

  I shivered, looking over the architecture. It was like broken glass on top of a cement wall to detour trespassing, only much more beautiful.

  Beautiful and dangerous, Lucian said. Like the mages.

  “Let’s hope we never find out how well it works,” Alexander replied.

  I definitely hoped we wouldn’t. We stepped past the forum and moved deeper into the city. The houses here were larger and more spread out, but some were in bad repair. A few looked centuries old, with sweeping front stairways, boarded up windows and ivy wrapped tightly around iron gates.

  “Why doesn’t anyone live here?” I asked.

  “Some of the noble families disappeared during the last war, either in battle, or deserters when the king tried recruiting them into his war. Their properties were seized. They belong to the kingdom now.”

  My skin crawled, as if someone was watching me from the empty windows. Despite the beauty of this place, I couldn’t help but feel as though danger was everywhere in Reverie.

  “We’re here,” Alexander said. The place marked on Oberon’s map was a small, round graveyard behind an iron and glass fence. The front gate was blocked with a boulder, and a sign read ‘no entrance.’ It was stamped with a gold seal that read by order of the king. We walked all the way around the block, but there seemed to be no other entrance. Through the crystal slabs of the fence, I could see a smattering of columns and statues and short, scraggly trees.

  “I don’t know why someone hasn’t already razed the place,” Alexander said. “What an eyesore.”

  “Perhaps, no one wants to chance being cursed,” Tatiana said. “I should’ve thought to bring salt.”

  Alexander snorted. “What’s that going to do? Give the ghosts salt poisoning?”

  “Salt repels malignant spirits,” Tatiana replied.

  “Then, he’ll be fine,” Viviane said. “I’ve seen Alexander at dinner. Half the kingdom’s salt goes on his plate.”

  Alexander looked vaguely offended.

  �
�In…Argent,” I said, “we had a similar belief about salt.”

  But it had been far too expensive for any of us to actually afford. I wondered if salt was a kind of crystal too…maybe it really was magic. Alexander pulled out his pen and began drawing sigils on the fence.

  “Good for you,” he said. “I’d rather face a ghost, demon, or spirit with magic, but you’re welcome to throw salt at it, Tati.”

  He scowled, erased the sigil, then looked at me and raised an eyebrow. Lucian’s sigil could probably get me through the fence without difficulty, but only Alexander knew about my personal demon. I wasn’t sure how Viviane or Tatiana would feel about forbidden blood magic, or how to explain where I’d learned it from.

  “You need to draw it bolder,” Viviane said, peering over Alexander’s shoulder.

  While Alexander made the changes, I walked along the edge of the perimeter, looking for cracks in the crystal. I was pretty good with climbing fences, but I doubted I could manage one that had no footholds.

  Break the crystal, you say?

  My shadow flitted towards the wall like a whip, and a section of crystal shattered into chunks, exposing the metal frame beneath.

  I grinned. “Not bad,” I said.

  You’re welcome.

  “Everyone!” I shouted. “This section of fence is broken!”

  The others scrambled over. Viviane pursed her lips together and began gathering up the voluminous folds of her scarlet dress. Tatiana had worn a dress, too.

  “Do you think you can manage it?” I asked.

  “I can manage anything you can, Summer,” Viviane replied.

  I turned to the fence and put my foot in the metal frame. I easily scaled upwards with Lucian’s footholds. Once I reached the top, I straddled the fence and waited.

  “I’ll give you a leg-up,” Alexander said. “It’ll be like riding a horse, Viv.”

  Alexander put his hands together. Viviane gingerly placed her foot in them and propelled herself upwards. She put one hand in the fence. I reached down, so she could grasp my wrist. Viviane scrunched her face and pulled herself up, joining me on top of the fence.

  “This was much easier at the bookshop,” Viviane huffed.

  Sure, but that fence had only been half as tall. Viviane awkwardly clambered over into the graveyard, dropping the last few feet. Alexander helped Tatiana up the same way, although she seemed to struggle less than Viviane. Finally, Alexander himself came over, climbing clumsily up to where I was.

  “How’d I do?” he asked, once he reached the top.

  “Wonderfully,” I said.

  Lucian chuckled darkly.

  Alexander and I climbed down together. My feet landed on hard marble, half-overgrown with briars. This place looked a bit like the debris in the Scraps, only it’d clearly begun with much nicer material.

  I stepped over a cracked pathway, interspersed with dandelions and weeds.

  “So what now?” Viviane asked.

  Tatiana unfolded the map and held it up.

  “It looks like the opening is at the northernmost point.”

  “So over here?” Alexander pointed.

  Without waiting for an answer, he strode across the graveyard, moving gracefully despite the broken path and the weeds. I followed, my eyes drawn to the sculpted tombstones and ivory statues with broken faces. We walked past a series of crypts, with decorative facades and tall columns. This place must’ve been very beautiful once. It was strange that it’d been left to fall apart like this.

  And yet they still care enough to keep a fence around it, Lucian mused.

  Alexander stopped in a large flat area, covered with tall weeds.

  “I don’t understand,” he said, pointing at the map. “It should be here.”

  “Maybe we need to pull some of these up,” I said, kicking at the weeds.

  “What? Like my gardener?” Alexander asked.

  Viviane crouched to the ground and grimaced. Without a word, she reached for a handful of grass and tore it out of the ground, shaking off the clump of dirt. I eased my way down beside her and began pulling, digging my fingers into the roots and soil. With a grimace, Alexander joined us. Together, we pulled the weeds away from the ground, tossing clods of dirt and rocks to the side.

  I didn’t know how long we pulled, but my hands were soon dirty and red. Viviane grabbed a bramble and was rewarded with a shallow cut on the palm of her hand. She cursed, sucking her palm to stop the bleeding.

  “I swear,” Alexander hissed. “First, it’s the forest. Now, it’s weeding a graveyard like a peasant.”

  “Quit whining,” Viviane said.

  She almost seems to be enjoying this, Lucian said.

  Alexander scowled and kept pulling. There was a sharp crack as Tatiana pulled up a loose piece of wood. It had clearly been purposefully cut. I moved over to her and brushed away the black dirt with my hand, revealing the remains of a door.

  Tatiana clapped her hands together in excitement. Alexander and Viviane joined us in clearing away the weeds and dirt until the large bronze handle of the door was exposed. Viviane gave it a sharp tug. She grunted, straining against it. Alexander grabbed the edge of the door and help her haul it open. Tatiana and I jumped out of the way as the door smacked against the ground, raising a cloud of dust. Then we all peered below into the darkness.

  Before I’d drawn my blade to call Lucian’s fire, he’d scurried forward on his own, a bouncing spark of bright blue fire that illuminated the stone stairs beneath. I stepped forward and slowly descended after him.

  “Are we sure this is safe?” Viviane asked.

  “Probably not,” Alexander replied, “But I didn’t spend an hour pulling up weeds not to go in now.”

  “Look at this stonework!” Tatiana exclaimed. She brushed her hand against the wall, made of hundreds of crystals all placed together. It was a haphazard-looking arrangement, as if someone had just dumped a bunch of crystals in and forced them to fit together.

  “I’ve never seen that before,” Alexander said.

  “It’s ancient,” Tatiana said, “older than anything we have above ground. They used to melt the crystals and bend them into place, instead of cutting them. I’ve only read about it in books.”

  “So where is this chamber?” Viviane asked.

  Tatiana hastened to unfold the map.

  Follow my fire, Lucian said. I can sense them.

  “It’s this way,” I said, striking off the way Lucian indicated.

  “But how do you know?” Viviane asked.

  “I remember it from the map,” I lied.

  Together, we walked through the underground chambers, our path stretching before us in bursts of blue fire. The air was warm and muggy. Water dripped slowly from the ceiling. I held my breath as we walked down a wide hallway, with molded faces carved into a frieze along the walls. They looked like they were screaming, and snakes came out of their mouths. Finally, we reached a door. It was massive, stretching from one end of the chamber to the other, and made of black onyx, lined with bronze beams. In the center was a silver panel, covered in intricate runes that pulsed with light. Above the door was a red disk with six wings, flanked by twin cobras. Alexander stepped forward and trailed his hand over the stone.

  “How would we even get this open?”

  “Oberon said it was probably sealed with Nick’s blood,” Viviane said, holding her arm out. “Cut me, Wynter.”

  I drew my sword and hesitated. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  Viviane seemed to waver for just an instant, but she finally nodded.

  “Just enough to draw blood,” she said, “not too deep.”

  I carefully lowered my blade and made a thin, small cut across her forearm. Viviane swiped her palm through the blood and pressed her hand against the panel. The lights flashed red, and I heard a growing hiss. The ground began to rumble, and small stones fell from the ceiling. Viviane turned the handle and tugged, but the door didn
’t budge.

  ***

  Viviane frowned and pulled again, but still, nothing happened.

  “What am I doing wrong?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alexander replied. “If you’re Nick’s daughter, it should open.”

  Viviane smeared her blood across the door, trying in different places and in different directions, but still, nothing happened. I heard a low roar, and felt tension build up in my head until my temple was pounding. Voices seemed to be coming from everywhere, but it was like someone in the next room talking, muffled and indistinct.

  I can’t get in either, Lucian muttered. How frustrating.

  “Perhaps, there’s a secondary defense,” Alexander said.

  Tatiana unfolded Nick’s schematics and laid it on the ground, so she could read it by the light of Lucian’s flames. “There’s no mention of anything like that here,” she said.

  “Maybe we need the charm, too,” Alexander said, shooting me a look.

  “Charm?” Tatiana asked. Viviane was staring at me intently.

  Oh well, what’s one more secret between friends?

  “Guinevere had a charm,” I replied, “that gave her some kind of power. A silver chain and a dark blue stone.”

  “Have you seen anything like that at Eleanor’s?” Alexander asked.

  Viviane furrowed her brow. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Why?”

  “We think the Council might be looking for it,” I said. “Or the nobles. At least, they suspect it has something to do with the demon attacks.”

  “It could be the reason someone is after you, Viv,” Alexander said. “Either for the charm, or your blood. Maybe you need both to open this chamber. If it’s true, if the demons are escaping and we can’t even get in to fix it… my father would do anything to cover that up. And the Council would love to rub it in his face.”

  Tatiana pursed her lips together. “Father has some more of Nick’s things. Some of Gwen’s, too, I think. It’s possible we could find something about it, but it might take a while. Organization isn’t my father’s strong suit.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” Alexander deadpanned. “But to be honest, this is more than I expected to find here. I think this has been a very productive excursion.”