by LJ Andrews
Eisha stayed true and remained in her human form following the warriors. She was draped in a fine silver gown, her eyes a constant glisten of pride and tears. Teagan and Athika stood with Mitch by Sapphire’s back haunches. Teagan had both blades sheathed on his back, and his hair was combed neatly. He beamed as we locked eyes. Athika nodded her head with respect, but I sensed her frustration that Teagan was completely focused on me.
Frenrir lowered his head so his nose was nearly buried beneath the grass line. He was a nuisance, but as I walked past his pasty yellow body, I was overwhelmed with loyalty. Frenrir was not sinister, not like the elder council. He wanted to serve his people. His queen.
When I finally reached the archway, I swung the long gown so it gathered around my feet, and the robes of jade hung loose over my shoulders. Eisha stepped toward the archway, beaming. As was custom, she greeted each royal with a kiss to their head before facing me and lowering to her knees.
“As one ruler descends, another rises,” Eisha shouted the traditional words that typically were stated in the minds of wyverns. “May you be blessed with wisdom.” Ruby stepped forward at the foot of the archway. With expert precision, she billowed a long stream of white flames in the grass, scorching the symbol of wisdom in the damp blades.
With a violent roar to the sky, the ruby bloodline swore loyalty. Eisha nodded as Ruby returned to stand next to Onyx. “May you be blessed with strength and power,” Eisha continued. Raffi and Dash stepped forward, both warriors searing the symbol of war along the grass with their crimson breath. The earth shuddered with their call to the sky.
Eisha glanced at Sapphire before she continued. “And may you be blessed with loyalty and honor all your days.”
Onyx and Peran joined with Sapphire, burning the final symbol in the chain of the royal throne, and the last of the royals offered their loyalty to me. There was a small moment when I desperately wished to know if Amber was well. I had heard nothing of the lost royal or her stone. Perhaps after today, she would know exactly where to find me, or I, her.
Eisha took a knee once more, bowing her head and speaking out loud the words she would say privately if we had shifted. “My queen, I offer you my life, my friendship, my council. I serve the jade bloodline with my blood and with my heart. May your life be long and honorable. May you want for nothing.”
Eisha kissed my forehead, and I blinked back the tears as she found a place near Teagan and Frenrir stalked forward. The smallest dragon among us bellowed to the sky and bowed his head. Mitch stepped forward, a wide smile along his face.
“Mitch, you don’t have to . . .” I started, but stopped when he waved me away.
“I want to,” he muttered. “Jade, I think it’s crazy awesome you’re a queen. I’m honored you keep me around. I want you to know I’ll do anything to help you win against this King Nag. I’m there for you.”
I wiped away a quick tear and smiled when Mitch returned to where Teagan stood. Sapphire grunted and blew a stream of smoke from his nose in pleasure at Mitch’s speech. Athika stepped out next.
“It is customary for the mage to proclaim loyalty,” she said professionally. “I give my loyalty, my honor, my power to help keep your people safe.”
She offered me a curt nod and stiff bow before standing next to Ruby. There was a heavy silence when Teagan stepped out. Slowly, he removed the two jade blades and laid them on the grass. I met his perfect blue eyes and found my heart leapt to the back of my throat when he lowered to both knees.
“Jade, you’ve always been a queen to me,” he whispered. “You are powerful, strong, wise, and you’ve changed my life. I promise these swords will never be raised against you, or any elemental, as long as I live. I promise to defend you as your mage. And I promise to love you, as me—always.”
At his final word, I drew in a long breath. A shocking ripple of energy rolled through the hills. Everyone glanced about the yard before locking their eyes on me. Eisha stepped next to where Teagan still knelt and smiled.
“It is done,” she breathed. “All will know the jade bloodline has officially ascended the throne.
I knew it without a shadow of a doubt. Energy from the earth, the trees, the wind, everywhere filled my body. But something else was missing. With a nervous glance, I met Teagan’s eye. He sensed it too—for it was his same power—the willow left as a sentinel for Wyvern Willows was no longer protecting our home.
Chapter 14
There was a beautiful celebration. I enjoyed the intimate feast with the people who meant the most to me. For once, I was glad the old courts weren’t filling the house to the brim with mage, with wyvern, with servants.
Already the barriers lifting over my people were overwhelming. I was surprised how cut off the wyvern race remained. Amber was still lost to me. As though her earth energy never even existed.
And it had me more worried than I let on.
“Do you sense Thane?” Raffi whispered. “Can you see our warriors?”
I shook my head. “No. Like Amber, I don’t feel any warriors except those who were placed to protect all the royals, and Haitian, who protects Teagan’s aunt. I urged them to join us here. If there is a fleet with Thane, they are still hidden from me. I don’t understand it.”
“There could be many things that would keep them hidden,” Sapphire said. “It could be warding from the mages, or it could be the barriers only just broke and the warriors are simply too far away. It might take some time. Energy travels at different rates.”
“I hope you’re right. I think we need to focus our energy on finding Amber first.”
I was surprised when Raffi nodded. “I agree. We need to ensure all the royal lines are safe before we stand against Nag.”
Raffi and Sapphire started talking strategy, but I wasn’t listening. My attention had moved to the upper floor where an energy I never wanted to sense again had overwhelmed every sensation. Teagan was speaking with Onyx and Peran, so I turned out of the room before he noticed.
I didn’t want Teagan around when I had my first confrontation as queen.
I checked the numerous doors, feeling nauseous the closer I came until finally, in the last door of the hallway, I saw him. “Elder Aldwin, I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Are you, my queen?” he said with the same gruesome smile I’d come to hate. “It is always tradition a member of the elder council come to offer loyalty to the new sovereign.”
Frenrir was in the room as well. Though I didn’t care for the man, having him near this time eased my discomfort slightly. “Well, I graciously accept your loyalty. I know you will inform the council of elders that there will be no execution of my mage.”
Aldwin chuckled, and I saw Frenrir’s eyes widen. He was confused. Frenrir never knew anything of Teagan being a target of the council. Aldwin wiped spittle from his lip and came closer. “I knew that singular idea would get you to act, Your Highness.”
The back of my throat dried as though I’d swallowed a bag of ash. “What are you saying?”
Aldwin chuckled a little darker and paced around the large guest room. “Using the jade mage against you would bring you to act. It would bring you to ascend to the throne.”
“Elder Aldwin, this is most inappropriate,” Frenrir snipped. “Threatening our queen with her mage?”
“Stay silent, Frenrir,” Aldwin hissed before looking back to me.
“You wanted me to ascend the throne? I don’t understand, that takes away your power. It takes away the elder council’s power.”
Aldwin was an arm’s length away. I could see every pock mark, every fold of gray-tinted skin. “What council, my queen?”
Frenrir’s face paled more than it already was, though I never thought such a thing possible, and my heart throbbed against my ribs.
“Elder Aldwin, what are you saying?” I asked, voice shrill.
“Your Highness, there is no longer an elder council,” he growled. Aldwin’s eyes shaded dark, not in color, but as though his true
soul shone through for the first time. “I killed them soon after leaving Frenrir at your side. It wasn’t difficult; they’d been so stationary for so long they were practically part of the stone.”
Frenrir gasped, clutching his chest and raising his panicked eyes to mine. The younger, thinner wyvern tried to lunge toward the door, but Aldwin stopped him. Frenrir cried out. In a blur, before I could even grasp what was happening, Aldwin ripped a small black knife along Frenrir’s throat. Steam, smoke, and molten breath drippled out of the gash. Frenrir grappled at the old man’s robes before crumbling into a heap at his feet.
I rushed toward the door, desperate to leave the horrifying sight, but with a strength I hadn’t seen before, Aldwin tossed me back on the ground. I opened my mouth to scream, but Aldwin pressed his palm over my mouth. His nails were yellowed and chipped from age, but his hold was powerful and determined.
“Now don’t bring any attention to us just yet. I think you’ll be interested to know what I have to say. Your friends, your warriors, your mage depend on it.”
With a blow of our energies, the crushing truth of his words sank into me. I shook his hand away from my face. “Speak quickly, before I personally kill you.”
Aldwin backed away, clicking his tongue in disgust. “Such a harsh mouth on a queen. Disappointing.” Straightening his robe, Aldwin looked out the large window to the shadowed forest. “At this very moment, this house is surrounded by lindworms awaiting my command. If this discussion does not go how I want, they will attack. There are too many to stop. And don’t speak of the two mages you have down there. You think Bron was the only mage to join with Nag—you’d be fatally mistaken to think such a thing.”
“You’re a traitor. You’ve joined with the lindworms!” I shrieked.
Aldwin only nodded. “Oh, yes. Long ago. I found it so dreary waiting in that cave. No one daring to act. And then, by chance, I had a meeting with the dark High Priest. I was intrigued by his power. I even spoke with the lindworm king himself. It struck me then what a waste it would be shunning the lindworms from our people. The energy of the night coupled with the elements of the earth,” Aldwin sighed, a dreamy expression in his eyes. “I yearn for the day when it is so.”
“You’re the reason the king wants me as his son’s mate,” I growled.
“Partly, yes. But most credit ought to go to the dark High Priest. He spoke of your strength, even for a queen so young. Of course, Nag wanted you officially on the throne before he would consider such a thing.”
“I refuse. I will never join with King Nag. You’ve failed, Aldwin.”
“No, I have not because I have leverage. As I said, dark mages, lindworms, possibly the dark High Priest are out in the folds of those trees waiting for my command. Everyone you love will be killed. Not to mention three royals and soon their stones would be lost to the elementals.
“We already have the firestone. Oh, and haven’t I told you, we have Genevieve—though she prefers to use the bloodline nickname, Amber. I’ll never understand why you royals insist on forgoing your given names. She’s put up a good fight for now. You’ll see reason with my proposition if you want her to live, Your Highness.”
My voice was lost. Such a crushing foreboding thickened in my chest, I hardly had the strength to gather my thoughts.
“We will fight,” I snarled. “We’ve defeated lindworms and the High Priest before.”
“True,” he said. “But I would also tell you a little more than you currently know. You’ve been searching for the true lineage of your mage, yes?” My heart stopped. I could hear the last of my pumping blood in my ears as I waited for Aldwin to continue. “I was surprised when I first came that no one in your life questioned my lack of knowledge. Did you think it would escape the council’s eye that a jade mage was alive?”
“You knew Teagan would come?”
Aldwin shrugged. “I knew it was a real possibility. I admit, I wished he had been killed as a young child. It was supposed to be so, but his mother did a fine job concealing him until the night Bron found him again.”
I swallowed, remembering how Bron tried to get Teagan to join him, then tried to kill him. “His mother had good reason to hide him from that man. A father that would kill his own son—”
Aldwin laughed wildly, leaning on his palms and watching the first stars appear in the sky. “This is where you are fools. Let me tell you a little secret, Your Highness. Teagan Ward is not the son of the dark High Priest, Bron.” Aldwin laughed harder at my stunned expression. I felt weak and elated in the same breath. “Yes, I thought that might surprise you.”
“But Bron wanted . . . wanted Teagan to join him.”
“Oh, yes. Why wouldn’t he? The son of his former wife—yes, Teagan is the son of the High Priestess. Bron is no fool, he recognized Teagan’s unique strength. But I also think Bron wouldn’t mind showing the High Priestess how he’d single handedly turned her son to the lindworms. Bad blood between the two, you see.”
“You know where the High Priestess is?”
Aldwin glared at me. “Of course. Bron already destroyed Teagan’s father—he’s biting at the bit to ensure the High Priestess remains concealed from the world. If you ask me, he should have done away with her as well.
“If you resist our offer, Queen Jade, I will see to it that Teagan witnesses his mother being torn apart. Then, he will suffer the same fate, along with your warriors, your royals, your mother’s advisor—everyone. One by one.”
Aldwin inched closer with each word.
I closed my eyes, reeling at his hot breath along my neck. Taking a small bit of comfort from the shining stars, I stared out the window as I spoke. “What do I get in return if I agree?”
“Now, we are beginning to understand each other.” He sniffed and clasped his hands behind his back. “No wyverns will be harmed. All the royals, your people, they’ll be safe. King Nag wants the elementals and lindworms to live in peace, after all. As our race should live. What a foolish thing, dividing our people so many centuries ago.”
I swallowed once more and lowered my head. “No one will be harmed,” I grumbled. “Even if they attempt to fight, no one will be harmed. And you will not touch Teagan’s mother. You will not touch Teagan, or Athika. No mages will be harmed.”
“Your Majesty, I cannot—”
“You will leave Teagan and Athika, and the fae Mitch, without a scratch, or I will destroy the elemental stones myself, and will my life away. I will die, Aldwin, before Nag even has a chance to get his disgusting claws on any elemental power. Do you understand me?”
I pulsed every ounce of my statement toward Aldwin, complete with imagery of how I would end my own life and take the stones with me. Aldwin growled in the back of his throat, but nodded. “I understand. We will honor the terms, but you will join with the prince without resisting.”
My heart had shattered the moment Aldwin killed Frenrir. So the remaining crushing agony spread through my mind as I thought of Teagan, how this decision would drive him to violent revenge. But I knew every word Aldwin spoke was dripping in truth; I couldn’t face the alternative if I refused. Every life celebrating beneath my feet would be lost should I turn away from the lindworm prince.
“I agree,” I whispered.
“Excellent choice, Your Highness. Tomorrow morning it will be known that the Queen of Jade willingly aligns with the lindworm wyverns. We are so close to peace among our people, can’t you taste it?”
I turned my back to Aldwin and shuddered in my disdain. “Leave, Aldwin. Leave now.”
“As you say, Highness. We shall return in the morning.”
The room was left in silence. I glanced at Frenrir’s body still warm on the ground. I gently released his energy until there was nothing left of the violence that had taken his life, and then I cried.
I sobbed until my stomach ached. I was lost, and my first act as queen would be destroying any trust my people had in my leadership. No one would join with the lindworms, they would view me
as a traitor. Wiping my eyes, I rose from the ground and straightened my shoulders. I would be viewed as a traitor, and willingly. It was a small price to pay to keep those in my world safe.
The party had dissolved before I returned. Since no one had come to find me, I suspected Aldwin had something to do with protecting our conversation. I hadn’t even noticed the elder release energy. Already I felt more like a failure as a ruler. My parents would be ashamed.
Wiping away a stray tear, I searched for Teagan, but he wasn’t anywhere in the house. Mitch lifted his head from the sofa sleepily when I nudged his shoulder.
“He, uh, he went back to the reform house. Said he had to get something or whatever,” Mitch grumbled before resting his head back on the plush pillow.
I wasted no time and took to the sky.
It was only a matter of moments before I arrived at the white house. The lights were off, and it was quiet since everyone was still gone for winter holidays. Pressing my palms against the wooden beams on the wraparound porch, I blocked the house. No one would want to enter until morning. Stepping inside, his energy enrobed me. Warm and steady.
Teagan leaned over the small desk scribbling something on a lined piece of paper when I peered into his room.
“What are you doing?” I asked, desperately trying to keep my voice steady.
Teagan startled, but chuckled when he saw me. “You scared me. I didn’t even hear you. I’m, uh, writing to Aunt Liz to wish her a Merry Christmas.”
“Oh, I see. You could still go home, you know,” I offered.
Teagan scoffed. “No, I don’t think that’s the safest decision. Besides, Aunt Liz loves letters. She’ll think it’s awesome I handwrote something. Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked when I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind and kissed the seal hidden beneath his shirt.
“Nothing,” I whispered, allowing him to take me tight in his arms. “I just wanted to be with you tonight.”