“What now?” Isabella asked.
Hekla titled her head. “What do you mean?”
“Well.” Isabella gulped. “Aequorus is without a king.”
“You are the rightful heir,” Hekla said.
Isabella shook her head. “No. We discussed this before, Hekla. I am not fit to rule. I don’t know anything about ruling a kingdom.”
“You—”
“No,” Isabella interrupted. “It should be you. The people love you. They follow you. And they respect you. You have saved us. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t my father. You are the one who saved us. I heard about your exploits. You brought the undead out of the canyon, you organized their defeat, and you defeated the dragon.”
Hekla bit her lip. “I—”
“In everyone’s eyes, you are already the queen,” Isabella paused. “In my eyes… you are queen.”
Hekla didn’t know how to respond. Did she want to be queen? The burden of leadership was heavy, and Hekla was the youngest of her sisters. If her two older sisters hadn’t wanted it, how could she accept it? She wasn’t stronger than her sisters. If anything, in many ways, she was weaker than them.
Isabella dropped to her knee and bowed. “My queen,” she whispered.
Hekla opened her mouth, but again, she had nothing to say. What could she say?
Jetevius limped over to where Isabella bowed, and dropped next to her to imitate the same posture before Hekla.
“My queen,” he said.
“I—” Hekla couldn’t speak.
“Do you accept, my queen?” Isabella asked.
Hekla gulped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. “I accept.”
Isabella stood. Her face, which had only moments ago shown such sadness, now brightened with a glowing smile. She leaned forward and kissed Hekla on each of her cheeks.
Hekla’s eyebrows furrowed at the gesture.
“I will go tell everyone that we have a new queen,” Isabella said.
She abruptly turned and rushed out the door. Hekla watched her go as she reached her hand up to touch one of her cheeks. She bit her lip as she watched Jetevius stand and smile at her.
“It is over,” Jetevius said.
Hekla raised a brow. “What is over?”
“All of the fighting. The conflict. Aequorus can become whole again. Our alliance with Telluris and Caelestis can be restored.”
Hekla smiled. “I suppose it is the end, isn’t it?”
Jetevius shook his head. “It is only the beginning. A new beginning.”
“I suppose it is.”
“Hekla—” Jetevius paused.
Hekla tilted her head.
“I—we have been through a lot together. We’ve fought other Aequorans, undead, and even a dragon together. We’ve traveled long and far with each other. And I’ve come to value my friendship with you. But, it’s more than that. I’ve grown very fond of you, Hekla.”
Jetevius took a step forward. Hekla’s eyes widened slightly as she took a step backward. When Jetevius noticed her movement, he paused, as he looked at her with furrowed brows, and clear hurt in his eyes.
“I have come to value your friendship as well, Jetevius,” Hekla said.
She reached her hand forward to touch his cheek. “You are a good friend to me, and you always will be, but I think you see—or want more than that.”
Jetevius nodded.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same way.”
Jetevius’s eyes watered with the rejection and they squinted slightly, as if trying to blink away tears. “Is it because I’m an Aequoran?”
Hekla smiled and huffed a small laugh. “Of course not. I do not discriminate. I hope I made that clear when I first came here.”
“You did,” he admitted.
“I am just not interested in men—besides, I have a kingdom to run.”
Jetevius nodded. “I understand. Well, I have a lot of things to do. I should probably help with the relief efforts.”
Hekla nodded. “I will be out to help soon.”
With one last nod in her direction, Jetevius spun around and walked toward the door, stopping only to hoist the lifeless body of his friend, Ecthelion, over his shoulders.
“I am taking him; he deserves a soldier’s burial.”
“Indeed, he does,” she agreed, wishing she had more to say.
Hekla wished she could comfort her friend, but there were no words she could say to help the pain of loss. Grief had spoken for the both of them, and Jetevius’s head hung low as he left the room. Hekla watched him go. She was flattered by his interest, if she was being honest with herself, but there so many greater things at hand that had to be dealt with. Hekla was still young, and she did have a kingdom to run now, and she hadn’t the faintest idea on how to do that.
You will do fine, Speltus told her.
She smiled as she held her scepter steady. Her aches and pains came back, as well as her fatigue. She’d forgotten how injured she was. Hekla pointed her scepter at herself.
“Ehealium,” she whispered the words for healing.
Her fatigue didn’t depart, but her injuries closed. She checked her hands and her stomach until she was satisfied that she was back to her normal self.
“I suppose if I’m going to be the queen of the Aequorans moving forward… I need to find a more permanent way to live under the sea,” she whispered.
She ran through all the magical implications through her mind until she was satisfied with a solution.
“Enviduium, Verilium, Enchantum, Ehealium. Aequoran,” she whispered.
Blue magic floated from her scepter and surrounded her. She felt tingles all over her body and down her spine. Her eyes closed as she took it all in, until the last ounce of magic absorbed into her.
Smiling to herself, she raised her scepter again and whispered, “Orbium Aquum Purum—Ceasum.”
The orb surrounding her body that had protected her from the underwater elements disappeared. She opened her clinched eyes and looked at her body. It was the same. She didn’t turn hues to match the Aequorans. She breathed in, and she felt oxygen travel through her body, though, not from her nose or mouth. Hekla reached her hand up to her neck and felt the gills on each side of it. Her skin was no longer soft, but scaly.
Hekla smiled. It had worked. If she judged her spell correctly, this is how she would be underwater now, but when she traveled above the water, her scales would transform back into skin, and her gills would be nearly invisible.
She looked to the throne up the stairs in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she walked up the steps toward it. The walk felt long, as she took each step carefully. When she reached the throne, she gently touched the arm rails. A jolt of electricity traveled through her. She didn’t know if it was through the throne itself, or from the excitement of her new journey.
Hekla turned around and sat in the throne, scooting all the way to the end for her back to sit up straight. She crossed her legs and grinned.
“I guess being a queen isn’t all that bad.”
Also by Angelique S. Anderson
The Dracosinum Series
The Dragon Lady
The Phoenix Lord
A Steampunk Christmas Carol
The Dragon Queen
Quincy’s Clockwork Chronicles
The Eden Series
Eden’s Serum
Eden’s Demise
Eden’s Child-Coming Soon
Little Lost Girl Series
Little Lost Girl: The Complete Series
The Redemption Series
Redemption of the Changed
Retribution of the Changed
Revolution of the Changed
Also Available
Clara’s Diary
Twisted Intentions
Stealing Ireland
Also By Craig A. Price
Calthoria Shorts
Chronicles of Starlyn
Heart of Ikchani
Victoria’s Grave<
br />
Claymore of Calthoria Trilogy
The Crimson Claymore
The Obsidian Arrow
The Violet Flamberge
Dragonia Empire
Dragonia: Rise of the Wyvern
Dragonia: Revenge of the Dragons
Dragonia: Dragon Stone
Dragonia: Rise of Magic
Dragonia: Fall of the Dragons
Dragon’s Call Trilogy
Dragon Sword
Dragon Bow
Dragon Scepter
Space Gh0st Adventures
Ghost Probe
Ghost Surveillance
Ghost Dragon
Ghost Radio
Ghost Sprint
Ghost Odyssey
Ghost Shadow
Short Stories
Mage and the Freckled Frog
Diamonds Under a Hickory Tree
Anthologies
Fantastic Creatures
Glimpses
Pieces: A Mobile Writers Guild Anthology
More info:
http://Www.CraigAPrice.com/novels.html
About Angelique S. Anderson
http://authorangeliqueanderson.com
Angelique S. Anderson is an award-winning author, mom to four, and lover of all animals. With a passion for writing since she was old enough to read, and a love for all things dragons and magical, the Chronicles of Narnia was her inspiration for her first middle-grade focused books. Now, after several years of writing various fiction, and a love for all genres, she hopes to create worlds where all ages can find escape. As a former foster child turned advocate, and against bullying, she tries to include bits and pieces of that in every story she writes. Her hope is that through her writing, people will find help, healing, and great storytelling.
About Craig A. Price Jr
www.CraigAPrice.com/novels.html
Craig A. Price Jr. lives on the Alabama Gulf Coast with his beautiful wife and two sons. He lived in Washington state most of his life, but has also lived in Utah for four years during the winter Olympics. He has full custody of his son, and works full time as a Pipe Planner. He has finished 11 novels and has seen a lot of success on Wattpad, where his book The Crimson Claymore has seen over 2.5 million reads and was a featured read for over 2 years. On his free time he enjoys to write and read novels, especially of the fantasy genre.
He is your typical fantasy author: He has a beard, a typewriter, he enjoys the occasional tobacco from his long stem pipe, and he loves listening to classical music on his record player.
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