Crown of Betrayal (Wicked Kingdoms Book 2)

by Graceley Knox

  He growls at me and palms my ass. “Little tine, do not start something right now. I’m hard pressed to not keep you in that bed all day as it is.” He presses a rough kiss to my hairline and his hands tighten on my body.

  I nip at his chin and dance away from him to the door. “You coming?” I open the door and smile over my shoulder at him.

  “Aye, I’m coming.” He reaches down and adjusts the noticeable bulge in his pants and I bite my lip to keep from moaning. He slaps my ass as we walk through the door and he shuts it behind us. “Tease.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” We walk toward the main hall and come to a stop when Callum and Calder flag us down.

  “What’s up guys?” They both have uneasy expressions marring their symmetrical features.

  “There’s a messenger here from the Light Elven Kingdom, Ever.” Calder’s black and grey eyes are narrowed harshly at the mention of the messenger.

  I raise a brow and look to Dare. “Did you know about this?”

  “It’s the first I’m hearing of it. What did the messenger say, Calder?”

  “He won’t talk to anyone but Ever. We wanted to catch you before he blindsides you when you enter the hall.”

  “Bring in a few of the elven maids that were exiled from the kingdom. Ask them to keep an eye on him. Maybe they know who he is and they can fill us in once he delivers his message. Calum, you do that. Calder, go get the others. I have a feeling we’re going to need everyone for this.” Dare looks down at me and raises a brow. “I’d summon your crew but they won’t listen to me.”

  I roll my eyes. “Let’s go get them then. They should all be awake.”

  “They’re all awake. They’re circled around the messenger actually.” Calum chuckles darkly.

  I laugh. “Well I guess we’re going into the hall then. Let’s do it.” We continue the few steps toward the giant doors leading into the hall and I stop for a second. “See? I can act without risks.”

  Dare huffs a breath but doesn’t respond. He’s already gone into big bad protector mode. We push through the doors and I take stock of everything happening in the hall. Goblins are eating at the tables, but they’ve all got their eyes on the intruding elf. Axel, Kirin, and Doyle are surrounding him while Eryn tries to get the elf to talk to her. No dice. Heads turn to us when we enter and the elf visibly relaxes when he sees me. I frown. I’ve never seen this elf before so I’m not sure why my presence would calm him.

  “What’s up guys? Maybe give the guy some room to breathe, yeah?” I give the elf my most charming smile and try to see what I can get out of him with kindness. “To what do we owe the pleasure… I’m sorry but I don’t know your name.”

  “My name is Bericus, my lady. Am I correct in assuming you are Ever McElva?”

  “Leath. I’m Ever Leath. McElva is my mother and uncle Caddox’s last name.” I smile tightly. “So, to what do we owe the pleasure, Bericus?”

  “I come with an invitation from Caddox McElva, the King of the Light Elven Kingdom.” He puffs up his chest and clears his throat. “You are cordially invited to the Light Elven Kingdom, Ever McElva. King Caddox requests your presence as he discusses a delicate matter which concerns you.”

  My brows fly up into my hairline. “Me? I’m invited into the Light Elven Kingdom? A matter that concerns me? I think you have the wrong Ever.”

  Bericus frowns and looks down at his paper. “You are Callista McElva’s child, are you not?”

  “Yes, I am. But I’m leath cine. I’m not allowed within the walls of the Light Elven Kingdom.” I look around at all of the curious faces watching our exchange within the hall. “Perhaps it would be better to discuss this somewhere a bit less public?”

  “Aye, perhaps.” Bericus steps back and waits for us to lead the way.

  We all file back to our usual meeting room, which my crew and I have dubbed the war room. We all sit and I jump right in.

  “Bericus. I’ve never met you, so how did you know me when I walked into the hall?”

  “Your uncle informed me of your appearance, my lady.” He looks around the table with his lips pursed. “If I may be so bold, I need your answer to the invitation.”

  “I decline.” Images from the Unseelie Queen’s vision flash in my mind and the hair on the back of my neck stands on edge. “I won’t walk into a death sentence. In fact, I’m unclear on why my uncle would invite me when he knows that it would mean my death.”

  Bericus sputters and I keep talking.

  “Are you working with Cashel? Is this a plan to lure me out into the open? I’m thinking we should hold you until my uncle can confirm that he sent you and shed light on what exactly is happening over in the Light Elven Kingdom.” I nod to Calum and Calder standing behind him and they both grab one of his arms and pull him up out of his chair.

  “Axel, you know what to do. Calum, Calder, put him somewhere secure, but not the dungeon for now. He hasn’t done any of us any harm. Yet.”

  “This is absurd! I am the advisor to King Caddox McElva. You can’t do this!”

  “Actually, I can because you’re in the Goblin Kingdom and this isn’t your safe space, Bericus. It’s ours right now.”

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SIX

  After Bericus is removed and Axel sends word to his contacts within the Light Elven Kingdom, we all regroup in the hall.

  “I’m starving right now. Taking prisoners really gives you an appetite.” I joke.

  Kirin snorts and Eryn’s eyes bug out of her head.

  “What? I was kidding.” I shrug and chew on some toast. “So I’m sure Axel filled everyone in on the special friends Cashel has?” Everyone nods. “Good. So, let me add to the weird, because something simple and easy is never going to happen to us. Queen Nicnivin gave me a vision as she handed me the paper with the coordinates on it.”

  Eryn leans forward and everyone stops eating while they listen intently.

  “In this vision, I was in the throne room of the Light Elven Kingdom and Caddox was there. At first, he was smiling and happy to see me and trying to gesture me forward, but my legs wouldn’t move. I was stuck in place. Then he was angry and elves rushed forward and grabbed at me. They were all yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear them and they couldn’t hear me. The elves that were grabbing at me wore dark blue cloaks that had the same crescent moon symbol with the tips pointed upwards and branches tangled beneath it.” I take a sip of my coffee and look around to make sure everyone’s following me. “After the vision disappeared, Queen Nicnivin warned me that things aren’t as they appear in the Light Elven Kingdom. She also told me that she only sees possibilities, not certainties. So, until we get an explanation of what exactly is happening in there, I don’t want to be anywhere near the Light Elven Kingdom.”

  “Holy shit.” Kirin whispers the words and just stares at me.

  “I know. I’m not quite sure what to make of everything, but it’s too big of a coincidence. While I was talking with Cashel at the cabin, he said there are rumors that Caddox is going to repeal the Declaration and that there are those that are not happy about it. They don’t mind different Fae interbreeding, but they’re out for blood for anyone who is half human.”

  “If the Light Elven Kingdom repeals the Declaration, everything will change. Dagan, Dax, go tell father and Tore about this immediately. They’ll want to know.” Dare looks at me. “Did Cashel say anything else?”

  “Nope. Just the usual ‘we’ll unite the Kingdoms with our union blah blah’.”

  “So now what?” Doyle asks.

  I take another bite of my toast. “Now we eat breakfast and we check on Arela and see if Cashel let anything else slip while she was with him. But only if she’s up to it.”

  Doyle leans back in his chair. “And then what?”

  “And then we wait.”

  *

  We finish eating and then head back to Arela’s room. We had decided that only a few of us would be best. But within our giant group, a few
of us resulted in my crew and me, Brodie, Puck, and Dare.

  I knock on the door just in case she’s awake. A soft voice answers and my chest tightens.

  “Come in.” Her voice sounds scratchy and horse.

  I peek my head around the door and make sure she’s decent before I swing it open wider and step through. “Hey, we wanted to come check on you and make sure you’re okay.” I smile and step toward the bed.

  Upon seeing me, Arela bursts into tears and my heart shatters. I rush forward and press her into a hug. Her little body shakes in my arms and my own tears fall. I whisper reassurances in her hair as I rock her back and forth.

  “Shh. It’s okay. We’re here now. You’re safe and you’ll never be in danger again. Shh, you’re with us now. Shh.” I look over her head at Dare and he herds everyone but Eryn out of the room while Arela cries.

  Eryn rubs at her back and talks to her in a soothing tone as I keep my grip on her tight and continue telling her that she’s safe over and over again. I try to pull back my tears but a few more escape and I let them fall.

  Arela hiccups out a few words before her sobbing makes talking impossible. “H-H-He h-h-had me. I c-couldn’t g-get away. I t-tried.”

  “We know you tried. We know. You fought as well as you could. Shh.” I smooth her hair down and continue to rock her until her sobs stop and her hiccups end. “It’s okay, Arela. We know it wasn’t your fault. It was Queen Odaine’s fault. She gave you to him and she’ll pay for it with her life.”

  Arela looks up sharply and a growl rips from her chest and vibrates through mine. “I hope she suffers.”

  “She’s not going to be in a cozy room, that’s for sure. King Teag would like to talk to you before the final sentencing so he can get everything written down. Whenever you’re ready. There’s no rush.” I smile down at her pixyish face and search her features. Her magenta and teal colored eyes are puffy and ringed in red. The left one is also surrounded in yellowish and purple bruises from where Cashel hit her and I grit my teeth to remind myself that this isn’t about me. It’s about her.

  I look to Eryn and raise a brow. I’m afraid to ask Arela to relive any of her time with Cashel. Eryn continues her circles on Arela’s back, but narrows her eyes on the girl while she takes in her energy. She mouths the words, ‘she’s mostly angry now’ and nods.

  “Arela, I know it’s hard and you would probably rather forget about your time with Cashel, but I have to ask. Did he say anything strange to you? Or talk about anyone that was helping him?” She flinches in my arms and I curse my impatience. “You don’t have to answer now. You can take all the time you need. I shouldn’t have asked that. I’m so sorry.” Sadness for her crushes my windpipe and hopelessness blows apart my heart as I try to figure out how to console a child who was taken and abused.

  Arela pulls back and meets my gaze head on. “I’m okay. I’m not going to break. I can do this.” She squares her shoulder and scoots back until she’s against the headboard of the bed.

  I look from her to Eryn, but Eryn doesn’t look away from Arela. She watches her closely and I turn my focus to lending as much strength as I can to the bruised girl in front of me. “Take your time. Tell us when you’re ready.”

  “Cashel talked the whole time…” Arela looks off toward the window and seems to disappear to another place as she talks to us. “He told me of his friends in the Unseelie Court and how no one would suspect a Pooka. And he told me that my dirty blood meant that I was meant to be killed like a rabid animal anyway. He meant to kill me the next day if you hadn’t arrived when you did. He counted down the days to my death each day.” A breath shudders out of her but she keeps going. “Before he started talking about his friends in the Light Elven Kingdom, he started cutting me. He said that when you found me, he wanted you to see the ugliness that stains my blood on the outside of my body.”

  Her hands clench on her knees and I bite my cheek so I don’t reach forward and pull her into a hug.

  “He told me about a group that believes in purifying the elves. Even the Dark Elves. They have groups within the Unseelie and Seelie courts, and each Elven court as well as the Pixies and MECA. He told me that his friends are the ones that got you suspended from MECA because you are a threat to the Declaration. They want to see Cashel on the throne because Cashel plans to destroy anyone who is part human, or too hideous to look upon, as he put it. The group calls themselves the Order of Íonachta. The order of purity.” Arela laughs humorlessly. “Purity. All of this for purity. But what they forgot is that Faerie was born out of impurities and the mixing of different beliefs and races. We don’t all get along now, but as Cashel spoke, his intentions rang true. He believed what he was saying is the only way to fulfill the prophecy.”

  I suck in a breath as Arela unravels everything that I had suspected, but hoped to be untrue. MECA was involved with this Order of Íonachta and they had conspired to suspend me and try and take out a race of people. Their actions had resulted in the torture of a child, the falling of queen from a throne, and an ancient race of Druids to reappear. Ancient traditions had been sullied and brought back and all for a crown. A crown that would be built on betrayals, secret meetings, and half-truths.

  “Cashel told me that the prophecy speaks of a girl who bears the Mark of Truth. She’s of fiery hair and azure eyes and full of light and illusion.” Arela turns from looking out the window to meet my azure and lilac eyes. “He meant you, Ever. No matter what, he can’t be the father of the children that will unite kingdoms. He’s not meant to rule the next generation. We have to stop them.”

  “I’m so sorry, Arela. I’m so sorry that we got you into any of this. We’ll stop them. They won’t win, and there’s no way I’d ever have a child with Cashel.” I rub at my forehead. “Is there anything else you can remember? Or do you want to rest now?”

  “I want to see everyone, but there’s something you should know.” Her lip trembles and she looks between Eryn and I.

  “You can tell us, Arela. Whatever it is, you can tell us.” Eryn smiles reassuringly at her and I nod in agreement.

  “While I was passed out, the Goddess came to me in a vision. I don’t know how it happened, but she told me that I have to be strong because you’re going to need me in the coming years. She told me that war is coming, and the only person who can stop it is you, Ever.”

  “Me? How can I stop a war?”

  Arela shrugs and hugs her knees to her chest. “She didn’t say, but she did say that you have to trust your heart and accept the help that will be given to you. She said she would tell me more later after I’d healed. She told me that I had to stay alive so I can help you. So I stayed alive.”

  Tears streak down her reddened cheeks and I try to shove down my own emotions so I don’t burst into tears with her. I need to stay strong for Arela’s sake so we can heal her and let her have her childhood as much as any child with her abilities can.

  I need to speak with the Druids and ask them if they know of any way to communicate with the Goddess. The mother of Faerie had spoken to Arela in riddles, and now I needed to ask her a few questions myself. It seems that she has all the answers but she hasn’t spoken to me.

  “Why don’t you rest a bit. I’m going to talk with the Druids and they might need to ask you a few more questions at some point, but for right now how about you and Eryn hang out and relax?” Arela perks up at the mention of Druids and I give her a small smile. “I forgot you don’t know about the Druids. Would you like to meet them?”

  She nods her head quickly and pats down her robin’s egg blue hair with its sandy colored streaks and stares at the door. “Druids are so cool.” Her comment warms my heart because if she can focus on meeting some ancient Druids and push the events of the past few days out of her head, she just might be okay.

  I open the door and look out. “Oy, Brodie, where’s Amren? Arela wants to meet you guys. You’re cool, apparently.” I roll my eyes.

  Brodie glares at me and walks off to find
his father. Apparently he doesn’t think it’s cool. Dare walks toward me and eyes me closely.

  “You okay, little álainn? Your eyes are puffy again.” He scowls.

  “Gee, thanks for that.” I frown at him and he traces a finger down the side of my face.

  “I didn’t mean any insult. You are still breathtaking, Ever.”

  “Gag me. Here he is, delivered in person.” Brodie’s disgusted tone breaks our moment of sappy happiness and we both turn and give him the evil eye. He only looks bored. Rude little bastard. I suppose it comes with being a teenager, though. I remember being quite the asshole when I was going through my formative years.

  “Hi, Amren. Arela would love to meet some real-life Druids if that’s okay?”

  “Ah, of course!” Amren answers the same time Brodie chimes in with, “We’re not a party trick!”

  Amren smacks the back of his head and I chuckle with glee. Serves him right. “Brodie, show some respect. The wee lass has been through a lot and you’ll dance on your head if it makes her happy. Understand me, son?” Amren’s usual genial tone is full of steel as he assesses his son.

  “Yes, understood.” Brodie squares his shoulders and eyes both Dare and I. “I’m sorry I said that. It was rude.”

  “Apology accepted, lad.” Dare claps him on the back and Brodie steps forward at the force before regaining his balance.

  “Ditto, so let’s go.” I open the door and find Eryn and Arela playing with Anarchy and Chaos who are trying to run off with their cards from their card game. Arela’s tinkling laughter spreads warmth through my heart and I smile as I watch her. “Hey, can I interrupt all the fun to introduce some Druids? Or are they so five minutes ago?”

  Arela turns wide eyes to the door and watches Brodie and Amren like a hawk as they file in. She squeals in happiness when she sees Dare and he walks forward and hugs her. I bite my lip to hold back the tears of joy that she’s okay with a male touching her and being near her. I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be to the giant goblins after Cashel’s abuse. Dare sits down in the chair next to the bed and watches Arela’s reactions to the Druids as she refocuses her attentions on them.