Broken Kingdom (The Winter Court Chronicles Book 2)

by Stephany Wallace

  “Look, I know you love explanations, and complicated reasons, and thinking things through until your head is numb, but all I can say is I have to do this, okay? We went on that journey as brothers, and you two left me behind at the first chance you got.”

  “You know that’s not true.” He defended, stepping closer.

  “You did.” A slight smirk crossed my lips at the memory. “Granted, I was left with beautiful women that made my ‘stay’ very, very, very pleasurable, but that isn’t the point.” I sighed, and placed my hand on his shoulder. Looking into his eyes, the feeling of disappointment awoke inside me. “You left me behind, brother. That is the truth. And whether you understand it or not, I need to finish what we started.” I turned, taking the bag from him and swinging it over my shoulder.

  “Kyr was protecting you.” Nyx’s words stopped my trek to the door. “He knew what your reaction would be if you encountered the monster with us. He measured the consequences and realized it was best for you to be left behind. To keep you safe. You are selfish, Ash, impulsive and reckless. You never stop to think about the cost of your actions, or to consider anyone else but yourself. You always do what you want, without regard for what will happen after. That is why we left you.”

  I slowly turned to look at my brother. Nyx fixed his glasses, and he continued to stare at me blankly. His words had been logical and free of malice, nothing more than facts for him, yet they found their mark in me nonetheless. I knew he hadn’t meant to hurt me, he never did.

  “That may be the case, little brother, and perhaps this journey will help me mature and turn into whatever the hell it is you guys think I should be. It might make me more responsible, and consider all the possibilities before I take a step, but you know what? Despite how brilliant you are, you still haven’t learned how to feel. To think of people’s emotions before you speak. To put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and stop to consider that no matter how accurate your statement might be, it doesn’t give you the right to make it. Knowledge isn’t everything, little brother. You can know everything, and still be as insensitive as you are. You are clueless about life.”

  *

  We arrived at the mountain an hour later, after we were able to lose the king’s monkeys that he had once again been ordered to follow us. The guards were now unconscious, tied up, gagged and locked in the stables.

  Nothing would stop us now.

  Nyx and I dismounted my horse—I had decided to only bring one, so we could arrive faster—and tied Barley’s reins to the last tree on sight, just like we had done when Kyr brought us here. I approached the part of the mountain where the entrance had appeared last time.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Nyx asked, speaking for the first time after our argument, back in Kyr’s room.

  I nodded. “I’m almost certain.” I took a blade stolen from the weapons room, and lifted my right hand, slicing my palm open. “Damn it!” I cursed at the pain, while I pressed the bleeding wound to the rock.

  I didn’t heal like my brother, Kyr, did, so this one was going to hurt for a while. I stared at the crimson blood, expecting it to glow, like my brother’s had, and open the secret passage but nothing happened. My eyes connected with Nyx’s, as we waited, without result. I took a few steps back, holding my right hand carefully against my chest and searched for an opening, there was none.

  “Hey, slitted eyes! Are you in there? We need to enter!”

  “Are you sure it’s here? Maybe this is not the place.”

  I grunted. “It’s here, Nyx. Stop asking stupid questions.” My gaze returned to the mountain, I felt powerless. If I had access to my ability, I could transform and punch the hell out of this wall. “We came to see our brother!” I yelled, hoping the dragon would realize it was safe to open the cave for us. But what if it wasn’t?

  I turned around, and searched our surroundings for any indication we had been followed. Yet, there were no signs we were being watched. I sighed, frustrated, and took the bag off my back, dropping it on the ground.

  “Fine! Don’t let us into your super secret club. I’m leaving a bag for my brother out here. It has clothes and a few of his things inside. I’m hoping these will help him while he’s with you, but I’ll be back. You are not getting rid of me that easily!” I roared pissed off, and turned, strolling back to my stallion.

  Nyx rushed to keep up with me. “Why do you think the Dragon Lord won’t let us in?” Nyx whispered, mounting the horse behind me.

  “Because he’s a stubborn ass dragon that wants us to continue the journey.” I looked over my shoulder at the mountain, and the bag was already gone. “What the fuck?” Nyx and I exchanged a glance. “I told you it was here.”

  “Sayosarae, Baerly!”

  My heels connected with the sides of my horse, and we took off, rushing through the frozen lands, and back to the castle.

  *

  “Now what?” Nyx asked as we hurried through the servant’s stairwell on our way up.

  “Now, we are going to get rid of these stupid blocking cuffs, so we can get our abilities back, and get the fuck out of this place.”

  “What?” He whisper-screamed behind me, pulling my arm to stop me. “We can’t leave the palace.”

  “Why not?” I asked, still nursing my hurt hand. I ripped a strip from the curtain behind us, and wrapped it around my palm like a tourniquet, hoping it would stop the bleeding.

  “Because mother is here, and because—” Nyx trailed off, fixing his glasses, but this time he seemed nervous.

  “It’s going to be okay, we won’t get caught. I won’t let them. I know Kyr has always been the one to protect you, but I’m here now, okay?”

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that.”

  I frowned. “Then what is it?”

  “I told you!” He waved his hands exasperatedly towards the quarters.

  “You are so annoying.” I sighed. “Mother is in no danger. She is blissfully asleep, and unaware of the world going down in flames around her. Plus, the king doesn’t have any reason to hurt her; he wouldn’t do it even if there was one. It would be like shooting his own foot. Mother getting even more hurt than she already is, would dangerously weaken him. Why do you think he keeps her so well protected, and surrounded by healers even when she is asleep? There is no reason for you to worry. Besides, we still have much we need to do before even thinking of taking her out of here.” I turned, and continued our way upstairs, switching to the eastern stairwell. “Come on.”

  “Wait! Where are you taking us now? There is nothing for us up there.”

  I grinned. “Au contraire mon frère.”

  “That’s French. Why are you speaking French?!”

  Damn, I had never seen my little brother so frazzled. “Freedom awaits us there. We are going to see the Summer Princess.”

  “What??” He whisper-hissed at me.

  “Can you get your shit together?!” I gripped his arms, shaking him. He blinked, taking a deep breath that didn’t seem to help much. His eyes became both crazed and intense. “We need to do this, Nyx. Now, put your big girl panties on, and walk with me.”

  He huffed at my reference, but fixed his glasses and followed me upstairs. We stopped in front of the chambers that our older brother had used to keep the Summer Princess hidden, and I looked behind me at Nyx again. Why was he acting so weird?

  “You look like you are going to pass out. I don’t know what the hell is happening to you, but this is not the time. We need to focus, Nyx, so we can do this. Can I count on you?”

  Nyx straightened and nodded, although it seemed like the veins on his forehead were going to pop out at any second. Was he breathing? I gave up and turned around, opening the door. Princess Aura gasped the moment she saw us. She sat on the bed with her lady in waiting beside her.

  “We are not going to hurt you,” I said, getting closer and looking at her hands.

  She had electrocuted Gallia and sent her to the healers for over a month, I didn’t want t
o get her pissed. She was panting while she looked at me, then my brother behind me, with a mix of apprehension and wonder in her eyes.

  “Why are you here? What are you going to do to us?” She grasped her lady’s hand tightly, and stepped in front of her as though to protect her from us. Her eyes went to my brother again.

  I raised my hands, allowing my sleeves to ride up so she could see the magic blocking cuffs. “We have no intention of doing anything to you. My brother, Kyr, needed you well. That is why he brought you here, and made sure you were taken care of. You were more valuable to him unharmed.”

  “Then what do you want from us?” She asked, defiantly. Her eyes followed my every step while I moved closer.

  “Actually, I need your help.” I extended my arms, setting the cuffs in front of her. “The King has gone insane and he placed these on my brother and I. Can you remove them for us?”

  Princess Aura huffed. “I don’t know how to take those off. Besides, even if I knew, why would I help you?” Her eyes volleyed between Nyx and I once again. She seemed to be getting more agitated the closer we got.

  I looked at Nyx over my shoulder; he was staring purposely at her. He looked like a psycho, trying to set her on fire with his mind or something. My gaze returned to Aura, and I settled for the truth. “Kyr is no longer here to protect you, and with the Dark King as enraged as he currently is, it’s only a matter of time before he finds you here, and takes it out on you. He hates your mother, and we both know how that is going to end. We can help you get out of here, but first we need you to help us.”

  “You can?”

  “We can?”

  The princess and my brother asked at the same time. I frowned, looking at him. “Of course we are going to help her. We can’t very well leave her here to become part of the king’s gruesome collection, can we?”

  Nyx looked at me horrified, then at Aura. “Of course not!”

  “Okay. You said you spent a few days at the Golden Elves’ Kingdom, right? You are friends now.” Nyx nodded hesitantly. “Then we can take them there, and you stay with them while I take the scale and finish the quest.”

  “Wait. You are not going to let us go back home?” The lady in waiting spoke this time.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Marigold Blueflowri, Viscountess of Bosreoce, and lady in waiting to the Summer Princess.”

  “I’m sorry, Marigold, but you are still Kyr’s prisoner, and we can’t take you to the Summer Court. You have no idea of everything that’s happened, the truth is, we are still trying to figure it out ourselves. All we can offer is to get you out of the reach of the Dark King’s rage, and keep you safe while I try to figure out a way to fix this mess. It’s all I have to offer.”

  Aura and Marigold exchanged a glance, obviously perceiving the ominous tone in my words. Sadness filled their eyes, but the princess nodded. “All right. I’ll help you if you get us out of here.” I breathed relieved; she was the only card I had up my sleeve. “But I still don’t know how to take those off.”

  “Well,” I sighed, stepping closer. “It’s only a theory, but since you can use your ability to shock people, I was thinking maybe you can aim your attack at the cuffs, not me, and the electricity will make them short circuit some how.”

  Her eyes filled with understanding. “That could work. So the magic in my electric charge would essentially polarize the magic in the cuffs, causing them to not work anymore, and you’ll be able to remove them?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, shrugging.

  She nodded and stepped forwards, taking a deep breath. Her eyes briefly went to Nyx as she exhaled forcefully; when they returned to me, what looked like miniature pink lightning bolts began to shoot out of her fingers. We watched, mesmerized, as she rubbed her fingertips together and the light increased until her hands glowed electric pink. The threads of light danced over her skin.

  “Three…” she whispered, concentrating on the cuffs. “Two…” Her hands flew to my wrists, and an electric charge shot out of her. Sparks came out of the cuffs as I was thrown back, hitting my back on the floor.

  “You didn’t say one,” I grunted, rolling on the ground. Some of her energy charge had seeped into me.

  Aura shrugged. “I thought it’d be easier if I caught you by surprise. But it worked, so who cares?” She grinned. Her ocean blue eyes filled with mischief while she held the golden bracelets in her hand. They looked half burned. Also, I had a feeling she had zapped me on purpose.

  Nyx was at my side, helping me get up. I could still feel the remnants of her lightning force, rushing through me. I shook my head to clear it and offered my hand to her. “Thank you. Can you do my brother now? But please don’t electrocute him like you did me.”

  She huffed. “Oh please, that was merely like sticking your finger in a socket. If I had really electrocuted you, you would be charbroiled right now.”

  “You know human science?” Nyx asked, confused.

  “I’ve read a book or three.” Aura shrugged. “It helped me fully understand my ability.”

  “Okay, less talking and more zapping.” I pushed my brother closer to her, and held his wrists high in front of her.

  “I’m ready,” Nyx said, tensing in my hold while he looked into her eyes. “You don’t need to count.”

  She swallowed nervously, and nodded, looking down at his hands. Hers were glowing pink, the energy crackling through it once again. She suddenly griped his wrists, but this time the charge went straight into the bracelets. They fell to the floor, twisted and blackened.

  Thud, thud, thud. “Open the door!”

  “Damn it!” I cursed, looking all around us. “They found us. We need to get out of here, now!” The banging on the door continued, while I moved towards a chair in the corner.

  “How are we going to escape? The guards are right outside the door. There is no other way out.” Princess Aura asked anxiously.

  “Sure there is.” I said, lifting the chair and slamming it against the window with all my strength. The glass shattered into a million pieces, shards flying everywhere.

  “What? Are you insane?! We can’t escape through there, do you even know how high we are?” Aura screeched, holding onto Marigold while the door began to splinter with the guards assault.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I answered, setting the chair under the window, then pulled her and Nyx towards the large opening. “We’ll fly out.” My brother looked at me shocked. “Seriously, Nyx? We have no time for you to freeze!” I snarled, pushing him to climb the chair.

  “Wait! What do you think you are doing?” Aura protested when I carried her, shoving her into my brother’s arms.

  Nyx’s expression changed to full blown panic. “Off you go.” I pushed them out the window.

  “Aaah!” the princess’ frantic screams reached us, the next second they were back in sight. Nyx’s shirt had ripped open when his wings appeared, helping them soar in the sky.

  “Ready?” I asked Marigold, carrying her in my arms and stepping onto the chair.

  She clung to me, looking at the door as it finally burst open. “You can fly too, right?”

  “Nah, but insects do it. How difficult can it be?” She screamed as I jumped, leaving the guards behind.

  I instantly felt my back expand and transform, with my Omni Shifting ability, as we plummeted towards the ground. Marigold’s screams were about to leave me deaf when wings, mimicking Nyx’s, sprouted out of my back—stopping our descent. I wasn’t as gracious as my little brother, unfortunately, since I had never really attempted to fly before. In retrospect, maybe I should have spent more time transforming into a bird, than changing the size of my penis. It could have come in handy today.

  We twirled around uncontrollably, almost hitting the large pines in our land, came up, then swerved and dove down, as I tried with everything I had to control my flight, and regain elevation. My eyes went to Nyx above us, and I began to emulate his style of flight, until I was finally able
to gain altitude again and stabilized myself. How the fuck did he do this so effortlessly? It was taking all my energy to control the wings, while Nyx looked like freaking Superman, with Lois Lane in his arms.

  We flew in silence for a few hours, as I followed my little brother without stopping. Princess Aura had fallen asleep in his arms, her head rested on his shoulder, her face hidden in the curve of his neck. Marigold had fallen asleep too, except her head lolled back, her mouth was slack, while her arms swung awkwardly in the wind, and I was pretty sure she was drooling. She looked like she had passed out from terror. I lowered my gaze to her face frowning. No, she was definitely asleep… or at least I hoped so.

  I took a deep breath and a different feeling settled in me, for a split second I felt… peaceful.

  Our surroundings changed as we gained altitude, flying straight into a mass of puffy white clouds. I smiled. I should have definitely tried to fly before today. The cool mist refreshed our skins, while we soared within the soft, semi translucent layers of fog. Once we finally came out on the other side, an extraordinary sunset greeted us. It painted the horizon before us in oranges, golds, reds and pinks, shades I had never seen before. It suddenly dawned on me that I had never been here… I never took a moment to explore my own world, and appreciate the beauty within it.

  My gaze slowly roamed the natural masterpiece, enjoying every second of it, until I was forced to avert my eyes as an overwhelming light blinded me. When my gaze focused once again, I was left speechless.

  “The Istamae Othren,” I whispered, otherwise known as the Eternal Outlands, place of immortality, and home of the Golden Elves.

  A cluster of vibrant green mountains stood imposing under the sunset, forming a valley filled with thousands of villages. A palace made of pure gold sat in its midst. The soft yellow metal warmly glowed with the magic of its Elves, and the rays of light that filtered through the clouds, making it look ethereal. Unlike our castle, this one was round, and its core seemed made of glass, held up by columns and frames of the precious metal. The top of the castle presented an elongated glass cupola, that just like the multi-layered towers around it, seemed to be gold and glass, hand twirled into perfection.