Kingdom of Future's Hope (Royals of Faery Book 4)

by Hayley Osborn

  Reminded of that terrible night, an image of Rhiannon flashed through my mind. I sat up. I’d seen her. Rhiannon was Jasmine. “I need to go. To the castle.”

  “Once you’re healed.” Maxim didn’t look up from his work. “Your prince will wait for you.”

  I felt pretty good. A hundred times better than I had before I called Raven to collect me. “But I must tell—”

  “You can’t tell anyone anything if you’re too injured to keep your eyes open. Do you even recall arriving here?” Maxim stared at me with one eyebrow raised.

  I shook my head. I recalled nothing after hearing Raven’s relieved whinny when she found me.

  “Indira informed me that if Raven could find you—if you had enough energy to call her to where you lay—that the horse would bring you to me. For healing.”

  “And you no longer reside at the castle?”

  He shook his head, taking a leaf from the jar Charlie had handed him. “The Nightrest people were in a lot of pain, and dying slowly from what the king did to them. It wasn’t right. I couldn’t just leave them to die, not when I could help.”

  “So, now you live with them?”

  He nodded.

  “He makes our lives better.” Charlie’s voice was soft.

  Her wings moved behind her back, reminding me again of the night we’d fought Rhiannon. I pulled away from Maxim. “I really must leave. Rhiannon, she’s not dead but has been posing as someone else instead, and I fear the prince and princess are in trouble.”

  Maxim put a hand on my leg. “Your leg took the brunt of your fall. I have not been able to heal it fully yet. You won’t be able to walk.”

  I shook him off, hissing in a breath as a shot of pain stabbed through my ankle. “I can walk better than I could before I saw you.” I could do everything better than before I saw him. “I will manage.”

  Maxim relaxed his grip on my leg and nodded. “I’m sure you will.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled at him, and at Charlie. Had they not healed me, I wasn’t sure I would have survived the trip back to the castle. And even if I had, I would have needed Willow or Fergus to heal me before I could speak with them, and I doubted Rhiannon would let me get that far.

  He was right about my foot. I couldn’t bear weight on it. I hopped to the tent opening and gave a whistle for Raven. By the time I hopped outside, she was waiting for me.

  I pulled myself onto her back and was about to give her the command to leave when Charlie raced out the tent door. She held out a set of crutches. “Perhaps these will be helpful?”

  I nodded. “Thank you.”

  Outside the gates to the Unseelie castle, there were people everywhere, something I had not expected. In my mind, I’d imagined I could slip past the other contestants and speak quietly with Fergus, but that was clearly not going to be possible. Outside the castle walls, in front of the gates, the grassed area was packed with fae from every court. All dressed in their best. All here to learn who would become the next Queen of Unseelie.

  Just beyond the gates, Fergus, Willow and Indira were seated on a small platform which had been erected for the occasion. Both Willow and her mother wore circlets on their heads, though Fergus hadn’t bothered—I guessed everyone knew he was royalty, anyway. After all, he was the reason everyone was here. The three of them chatted, seemingly at ease.

  There were six chairs on one side of the stage, Piper, Essie and Kaylor occupied three of them. The other three were for me, Samara and Jasmine, but as of yet, they were empty.

  A wide grass path ran through the space between the guests and the stage. Fergus’ guards were stationed at intervals, making sure no one crossed that empty space. As I flew above, Samara stumbled out of the forest and onto the grassy path between the guests. She was wet and dirty, but as she arrived, the guests cheered for her successful completion of the challenge. Fergus stood and took the steps from the stage to meet her on the path. He kissed her hand and directed her to one of the empty seats, to the sound of deafening cheers from the crowd.

  There were so many people here that the only place to bring Raven down was a narrow strip of grass between the forest and the back of the huge and tightly packed crowd. Maxim had done a good job with my injuries. My muscles were still stiff and sore, and my ankle ached, but compared to how much pain I’d been in earlier, I had next to none now. I took the crutches from Raven’s back and hobbled toward the path Samara had just taken.

  Moving myself around was more difficult. Pain stabbed my ankle with every jolt, and though the crutches made it easier, they were tiring, and my progress was slow. As I reached the path that led to Fergus, a guard stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

  “Excuse me.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see around him. He was tall and broad, and like a wall in front of me.

  “This path is for contestants only.” He folded his arms.

  “I am a contestant.”

  He shook his head. “Even if you were, the path would still be closed. Time is up. The prince will make his choice from the women who have already arrived.”

  I shook my head, my heart racing. And not from the exertion of using the crutches. “The prince is expecting me. I’m the Seelie Queen.”

  The guard laughed. “Right. And I’m Prince Fergus’ brother.”

  I wasn’t even wearing my pin. I looked like me, but I guessed I’d looked better. If this guard didn’t want to do things the pleasant way, we didn’t have to. I stepped—hobbled—closer and lowered my voice. “I believe posing as a member of the royal family is punishable by death. Now, if you don’t want me to report you to Prince Fergus, you will move out of my way.” My voice rose with each word, drawing on every bit of steel I’d learned to use in my year as queen.

  The guard must have recognized the demand in my voice, because he looked at me properly for the first time. He sucked in a breath, then ducked his head. “Sorry, your Highness.” He stepped aside.

  I started down the incline toward the castle gates along the path through the crowd, my crutches rattling with each step. My name—Queen Briony—echoed over thousands of sets of lips, moving with me like a wave. I knew when Fergus heard it, because he looked up, his eyes colliding with mine. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, and a slow smile spread across my face. He was safe and well. The whole time I’d been away from him I hadn’t known if I would see him alive again, or if Rhiannon would attack the castle with such force that she’d kill him inside it.

  Relief washed over his features, and the tension in his shoulders disappeared. He got to his feet and stepped up to the microphone. He tapped on it twice, the sound echoing out across the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement.”

  The noise of the crowd descended to almost nothing.

  “Over the past few hours there have been several … developments that have led me to make a decision that is unlikely to be popular. My greatest enemies have infiltrated the Declaration, and as such, in order to keep everyone safe, I will not be completing the contest.” He paused, and the crowd stared at him in silence. “To be clear, I will not pick a wife from any of the girls seated upon this stage.”

  A chorus of disproval came from the crowd. The girls on the stage looked at each other in confusion.

  Fergus put up a hand. “I cannot, because not all the competitors were here to win. At least one was here to destroy me, and she took a place someone else could have had, therefore making the selection process unfair. And for another reason that I am not yet at liberty to share.”

  The jeering grew louder. Behind Fergus, Kaylor and Essie were scowling. Samara looked like she might burst into tears.

  “I will, however, be offering a substantial weight in gold to the three women who were genuinely here for the Declaration, and whose time I have wasted.”

  Kaylor stood and said something that the microphone didn’t pick up.

  Fergus smiled at her. “Enough that you will be set up for the r
est of your life. As will your family.”

  Essie squealed, standing up and hugging Kaylor, and applause came from the crowd. Piper stood up too, joining their hug.

  “Not you, Piper Ashfox. You will not receive a cent from this kingdom.”

  Whatever she said didn’t reach the microphone, but the scowl on her face and the way she put her hands on her hips said she wasn’t happy.

  Fergus blinked slowly, waiting for her to finish. “You pushed a contestant over a cliff, intending to kill her. For that, and for your part in assisting my enemy, you will be banished from Faery.”

  The crowd gasped, and Piper ran at Fergus, shaking her head and with tears already on her cheeks. She gripped his arms, but he shook her off. Then, taking the steps from the stage two at a time, he ran down to me. “Bria. Thank the stars you’re all right.” He threw his arms around me, crutches and all.

  “Fergus,” I whispered. “We need to talk.” I had so much to tell him, but I needed to do it fast. And privately. I couldn’t see Rhiannon, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think she wasn’t here.

  He brought his hands up to head height, fingers spread, then slowly drew them downward, and we were enclosed in a cave of his magic, narrow lines of dark blue crisscrossing in all directions. The noise of the crowd disappeared. “Speak freely, Bria. No one but me can hear you. But can I suggest you make this fast?”

  I nodded, launching straight into what I needed to tell him. “Rhiannon is—”

  “Using Piper for help. I know.” He moved aside, and I could see Piper drop to her knees on the stage, her lips moving like she was yelling.

  I shook my head. “No…”

  Fergus gave a confused smile. “Mother said Piper pushed you off the side of a cliff. After she’d removed your pin and revealed your face.”

  I lifted my eyebrows. “Indira really knows all that?” I wasn’t sure the conversation with Indira wasn’t just a figment of my mind.

  Fergus shrugged. “She has some weird connection to you. She had it with Aoife, too.”

  My eyes fell on Indira, or what I could see of her between the lines of Fergus’ magic. I’d put off speaking to her this past year, too, the same way I’d stopped speaking to everyone on this side of the Azure River. I hadn’t wanted to hear what she would say about Mother. But, I realized, I needed to hear it. Good or bad. I would hunt her out this afternoon before I returned to Seelie. I shifted my gaze to Fergus, moving my thoughts back to Piper. “Wait, Fergus. Piper’s not working with Rhiannon.” Piper’s face was red and blotchy, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s Jasmine. Jasmine is Rhiannon.”

  He shook his head, his eyes going to back to Piper. “No. You’re wrong.” He shook his head again. “I’m sorry, Bria, but Jasmine simply cannot be Rhiannon. She’s never put a foot wrong.” He ran a hand down his face, confusion shadowing his features. “I have proof about Piper. Aside from her pushing you off the cliff, she’s the one who has been poisoning me. The moment she returned from this challenge, the poisoning resumed.”

  “Poison? Why are you still taking poison?” I thought that had been dealt with. I thought there was no poisoning still happening.

  He frowned. “I’m not. But I am pretending to take it. I’ve started only taking my wine from a particular glass—one that I asked Myles to spell to show me when it has poison inside.”

  “Myles? As in my father?”

  He nodded, seeming not the least worried that he’d asked the father of the queen of a rival kingdom for help. “Every night poison comes in my wine glass. Every night we find the fae who put it in there, but they never remember who made them do it. Exactly like what happened with Dora. There was no poison last night, but when Piper returned this morning, so did the poison.”

  “Is that why your magic looks weak? Because you’re pretending to take it, so Rhiannon doesn’t realize you’re onto her?”

  He nodded.

  I sighed. There was so much at stake here. Neither of us wanted Rhiannon to get a hold on either kingdom ever again. And it seemed we’d both do whatever it took to ensure that didn’t happen. “It’s not Piper. I saw Rhiannon’s face. She let her glamour slip as I was falling over the cliff. I guess she thought I wouldn’t live to tell the story.”

  “You saw her?”

  I nodded.

  He glanced at me. “Jasmine isn’t yet back.”

  “I’d bet that Rhiannon is here somewhere. She probably just looks like someone else. She’s been here all along.”

  Fergus’ blink was long and slow. “It makes no sense. Why would she come inside my castle walls and not attack with anything other than poison? And poison that takes time to take full effect, too.”

  “And rocks.”

  “Those, too.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand it, either. All I’m certain of is that you can’t let Jasmine anywhere near you. Especially now she’s shown who she really is.”

  “Prince Fergus.” A male voice floated through Fergus’ protective cave.

  Fergus stiffened, twisting to search for the speaker. He gave a small shrug to my questioning glance. There were people everywhere. Whoever had spoken wasn’t making themselves easy to see. And neither of us recognized their voice.

  A flash of light shot from somewhere behind us, tearing through the crowd toward the stage, so bright I had to close my eyes against it. When I opened them again, the entire area left of the path was engulfed in brilliant flames.

  FOURTEEN

  “What the…?” I looked around, trying to work out what had just happened.

  Fergus dropped the magical enclosure around us—swapping it with a shield for each of us. The surrounding silence was replaced by the roaring of the flames and terrified screams. Heat singed my hands and face, and stole the oxygen from my lungs.

  Fergus let off a blast of his magic, and it flew above the fire, whipping up the air and dousing the closest flames. Fae that had been cheering moments ago, now lay on the ground, writhing in pain with burns covering their bodies.

  “Wait here.” Fergus moved down the path in search of whoever had lit the fire.

  “What? No.” I hobbled after him.

  I didn’t catch up, but he must have heard my crutches rattling as I tried. He turned. “You can’t use your magic near me, so you can’t come any closer. Please, just let me deal with this.”

  I stilled. He was right. I couldn’t do a thing to help without becoming bonded to him again.

  I stared at the charred ground, at the people screaming in pain. Everyone on the stage was evacuating, rushing down the staircase and away from the flames. Most of the fae on the other side of the path were fleeing, though some lingered.

  Willow and Jax started toward Fergus, but he held them back with a raised palm. I followed his gaze, and standing amongst the bodies and wreckage was a lone figure.

  But it was not Rhiannon.

  This was a male. Flames jumped from his hands, propelled by the grey magic coming from his fingers.

  Fergus moved slowly closer to him, stepping off the path and over the fae who’d been injured in the blast.

  “Prince of Unseelie.” The woman’s voice came from the opposite direction from where the man stood. It sent a shiver down my spine.

  I recognized that voice.

  I pulled my eyes away from the fae with the fire to look toward the stage.

  Jasmine stood at the end of the path, smirking.

  Her gaze shifted to me. Then she set her eyes back on Fergus. Once she was certain he was watching, she changed her form so she looked as she should.

  Rhiannon.

  But not Rhiannon as we knew her. As always, she wore a dress of red, but that was where the similarities with the past Rhiannon ended. The skin on the right side of her face, from her non-existent eyebrow to the corner of her lip, was red and puckered by burns. Her right eye didn’t open fully, and the right side of her bottom lip stuck out at an odd angle. Her platin
um hair was thin and almost completely gone above her right ear.

  The four of us stood in a triangle, with Fergus and me beside each other. Fergus’ magic flared in his hands.

  Rhiannon’s voice rose a notch, filled with a warning. She nodded at Fergus’ magic. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  He looked at his hands and laughed. “Oh, I think you would do exactly this in my position.”

  He threw his magic at her, the color such a deep blue it was almost black. It shot toward her heart.

  Without even a flinch, red magic flared on Rhiannon’s hands. It flew out sideways and met with the grey magic of the fire fae. Then it combined, twisting together until it was a shade of vermillion and forming a shield around Rhiannon, from which Fergus’ magic bounced off.

  He glanced back at me, questions in his eyes. Questions I couldn’t answer.

  She shouldn’t be powerful enough to do that to Fergus’ magic. She shouldn’t be able to combine her magic the way Fergus’ and I could.

  Unless she was bonded to the fire fae.

  Fergus must have had the same thought at the same time.

  Both of us turned for a better look at him.

  I drew in my breath, recognizing him. It was Lord Sawyer Whitesky. The Lord of the Spring Court and a fae from my kingdom. The fae Jasmine had spoken of as having to marry. It didn’t seem like she was being forced to do anything with the man. More likely, she was forcing him.

  Rhiannon’s tinkling laughter echoed around us, drowning out the pained cries of the fae injured in the fireball. “Love is the funniest thing. As soon as you stop looking for it, it finds you.”

  I glanced at Fergus. If Rhiannon was bonded, then she was far stronger than we had considered.

  She laughed again. “You both look confused. Allow me to explain. After you almost killed me, then placed my injured body on a bed of flames, I found the strength to pull myself out of the pyre when no one was watching.” She indicated to her face, the back of her hand as scarred as her cheek. “But not before the flames did some damage. I tried to return home. But I was weak and injured. My magic was almost gone, transferred to the new queen, and what little I had, wasn’t enough to heal my non-magic injuries. Just when I thought I couldn’t make it a step further and I must surely die, Sawyer came along.”