Crystal Kingdom

by Amanda Hocking

  “That may be so, but how would you propose we get the crown from her?” Wendy asked me. “We can’t simply phone someone in Doldastam and ask her to surrender.”

  “We send in a reconnaissance mission,” I said. “Konstantin and I are familiar with the palace and Doldastam at large. With as few as ten men, I think we could get in and kill Mina.”

  Konstantin made a soft, guttural sound next to me, but I kept my eyes on Wendy, so I didn’t see his reaction.

  “And if we are discovered?” Wendy pressed. “Either before or after the mission is completed, the results would be the same. The Kanin would declare war on us, rightfully so, since we’d just assassinated their Queen.

  “And the war would not be with Mina, but with the actual Kanin people she’s commanding,” she went on. “The innocent people you want to protect.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we cannot do that.”

  Dark clouds began to roll in overhead, blocking out the earlier sunshine and warmth. A breeze came up, stronger and cooler than before, as the garden fell into shadows.

  Loki offered me an apologetic smile. “We’ve had four years of peace after a war that cost us many innocent lives—both of the Trylle and the Vittra. So as you can imagine, we’re reluctant to jump into another conflict so soon after that one, while our people and our kingdom are still recovering and rebuilding.”

  “What about the people of Kanin? She’s trapping them and exploiting them. What will become of them?” I asked in desperation.

  “If she’s as cruel as you say she is, they will have to form an uprising themselves,” Wendy said. “That’s their only hope of regaining their independence.”

  THIRTY-FOUR

  return

  “This is not what the Queen meant,” Konstantin groaned. He stood beside me, the top few buttons of his dress shirt undone, glowering down at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

  Unlike him, I’d changed out of my borrowed clothes the second we’d returned from lunch and put back on my ripped jeans and tank top. After I’d given Mia her dress and thanked her, I’d gone to Hanna’s room to start packing.

  “I don’t understand.” Ulla sat on the bed next to my bag, with her knees folded underneath her, and looked from Konstantin to me. “What exactly did the Queen say?”

  “She said that the people of Doldastam need to rise up against Mina, and I’m going to go back and get them started.” I stopped what I was doing to look around the room, which had gotten rather messy over the last day or so. “Just as soon as I find my passport.”

  “You don’t need your passport because you’re not going back,” Konstantin said. “They will kill you on sight, Bryn!”

  Liam toddled into the room, unfazed by the apparent tension, and crawled up onto the bed beside Ulla. He’d become just as fascinated by her unorthodox looks as he had been with mine, and when she pulled him onto her lap, he immediately began tugging on her dirty blond tangles of hair.

  While Konstantin had been busy entertaining me, Ulla had been helping Mia around the house. She’d been sleeping in Liam’s room and helping take care of him and Hanna, which seemed to make both Mia’s and Finn’s lives a bit easier.

  “Who will kill Bryn?” Ulla asked, trying to follow along with the conversation as I went around the room, tossing aside toys and books in search of my passport.

  “The guards. The Kanin. Maybe the Queen herself.” Konstantin shrugged. “It doesn’t matter who. But somebody will kill her. Mina can’t let her live.”

  “I’ll sneak in,” I said absently.

  “You are being ridiculous, Bryn, and you know it.” Konstantin sounded exasperated.

  “I’ll go with you, and I can help,” Ulla chimed in.

  I shook my head. “No, you can’t come. I told you I won’t let you go anywhere dangerous.”

  “Why not?” Ulla whined. “I saved your life. If it hadn’t been for me, that polar bear would’ve killed you.”

  “I know, and thank you.” I paused long enough in my search to look at her sincerely. “But this is different. I’m not going to let you risk your life like that. You haven’t had any training, and you’re too young.”

  “I could say the same thing to you,” Konstantin countered, giving me a hard look.

  “What would you have me do?” I asked, nearly shouting at him. “Twiddle my thumbs and hope Mina isn’t killing and torturing everyone I care about? No one will help me, Konstantin! The Omte said no. The Trylle said no. The Skojare don’t have anybody left. If I don’t do something, who will?”

  “It’s still early in the fight,” Finn interjected, and I turned back to see him standing in the doorway. “There’s still time for Wendy to change her mind.”

  “And what do we do until then?” I asked. “Wait for Mina to start killing innocent citizens off?”

  “You’re not the only one that has people there,” Finn reminded me darkly. “You think I’m not worried about my parents and my sister? Of course I am. But I know that getting myself killed won’t save them.”

  “He’s right, Bryn,” Konstantin said. “There has to be a better way.”

  Liam began to babble happily about something—I’m not sure what—and Ulla started to say that she could help me come up with a plan, while Konstantin and Finn were both staring me down, and suddenly it all felt like too much.

  “Enough!” I held up my hands. “I just need everyone to go and let me think for a minute. Okay? I just need some space.”

  Ulla mumbled some kind of apology as she scooped up Liam and headed out. Finn followed behind her, but Konstantin lingered a moment longer.

  “Take all the time you need to sort this out,” he said softly, then he left and closed the door behind him.

  I sat back on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. I wanted to scream in frustration, but that would only frighten Liam and Hanna, not to mention Ulla and everyone else. Finn and Konstantin were right, returning to Doldastam would be a suicide mission, but I didn’t see any other option.

  I couldn’t just sit here and hope that something would change for the better. It had been over two weeks since I’d left Doldastam, but it felt like a lifetime. Two grueling weeks where I had no idea if my parents or my friends were okay, and from what I’d heard, things only seemed to be getting worse for them.

  How could I just stand by and let it happen?

  Someone knocked gently on the door, and based on the meekness of it, I assumed it was Hanna or maybe Liam. I still wasn’t ready to talk to anyone, especially a child who probably wanted to play, but I didn’t want to yell at them.

  “Just go away for a little bit,” I said as kindly as I could. “I’ll be out soon.”

  The door creaked open anyway, and I was about to snap this time so they’d get the message, but then I saw who it was, poking her head around the door. Long chestnut hair, dark gray eyes, bronze skin, and her full lips in a timid smile.

  It was my oldest friend, Tilda.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  compatriot

  At first I could only gape at her, in part because I wasn’t even sure if she was real. But also because there was so much I had to say to her, so much that had happened since the last time I’d seen her that I hadn’t been able to apologize for. Not that I’d ever be able to make up for it.

  And top of all that, here she was, alive and safe. I’d spent so much time worrying about her, and now here she was at my bedroom door.

  “Can I come in?” she asked quietly and opened the door a bit farther.

  I meant to say, sure, or hello, or anything normal, but what tumbled out of my mouth was one big hurried, desperate apology, “Ohmygod, Tilda, I’m so sorry.”

  As soon as the words escaped my mouth, she began crying. In all our years of being friends, I’d only really seen her cry a handful of times, and never like this. These were big, heavy tears streaming down her cheeks, and she looked completely shattered in a way that I’d never imagined Tilda could be.

  I wasn’
t sure if she hated me or not—I wouldn’t blame her if she did. But at that moment, I didn’t care. I rushed over and threw my arms around her. She leaned against me, letting me hug her, and sobbed into my shoulder. The fullness of her pregnant belly pressed rather painfully against the wounds from the bear attack, but I didn’t care.

  For a long time, we didn’t say anything. We just stood that way—me holding her as she sobbed. Eventually, she began to collect herself and pulled away from me, wiping at her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said again.

  She shook her head, sniffling a little. “You don’t need to be sorry. I know that you never would’ve hurt Kasper or let anything happen to him. Not if you could help it.”

  “I never meant for things to happen the way they did,” I said.

  “What did happen?” Tilda asked, looking down at me with moist eyes. “I don’t believe anything the Queen says, and nobody else was there. Nobody knows what really happened but you.”

  I motioned to the bed, and Tilda and I sat down. Then I began telling her the story of how her husband had been killed. How we’d gone to tell the Queen about how Kennet Biâelse and the Skojare head guard Bayle Lundeen had been working together to hurt the Skojare royalty. And how Kasper and I had escaped from the dungeon and went to confront Kennet, and he’d gotten the best of us and killed Kasper, and how I’d fought with Kennet and he’d fallen to his death.

  She didn’t say anything as I spoke. She only stared at me, listening intently as I wove together the whole story. I even added in the pieces I’d learned from Konstantin, and how I’d found out that Mina was Viktor Dålig’s daughter.

  When I’d finally finished, she nodded once. “It’s good that Kennet is dead. I’m in no shape to hunt him down and kill him, but that’s what I would’ve had to have done. Thank you for getting rid of him for me.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said, instead of explaining that I hadn’t meant to kill Kennet. I’d been hoping to get him to tell me who he was working for, but since Konstantin had filled me in later, it didn’t seem to matter now.

  And then I realized something. “What are you doing here? I heard Doldastam was on lockdown.”

  “It is.” Tilda grimaced. “Everything has completely gone to hell since you left, and I couldn’t stay any longer. There was no way I could have a baby there, so I had to get out when I could.” She’d absently rubbed her stomach as she spoke.

  “How far along are you now?” I asked.

  “Almost five months.” She smiled. “It’s so weird because I’m already starting to feel more like a mom.”

  Hearing her say the word made me think of my own parents and how I hadn’t heard anything from them since I’d been gone.

  “Do you know how my parents are doing?” I asked.

  Her smile fell away. “I’ve seen them around. I won’t lie to you—things are hard for them right now. They’ve both lost their jobs, and people don’t trust them. But they’re safe, and they’re still together. They’re as free as anyone else in Doldastam.”

  I let that sink in for a moment. My parents were safe, and they were together.

  “How did you get out of Doldastam?” I asked.

  “Pretty much the same way you did,” Tilda said. “I snuck out with Ridley.”

  My heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name. “What do you mean, Ridley?”

  “He can explain it to you better. He convinced Mina to send him out on an errand.”

  “He can explain it?” I asked, and my mouth suddenly felt dry. “What do you mean? Where is he?”

  “He’s here.” Tilda motioned toward the door. “I think he’s outside talking with Finn. But you can go see him.” She slowly got to her feet. “Mia offered me tea when we got here, and I think I’m going to take her up on the offer.”

  I stood up, feeling dazed. “Tilda. I am glad you got out, and I’m really glad that you’re safe.”

  She smiled. “Me too. And you have no idea how happy it makes me, knowing that you’re safe.”

  We hugged again, this time quicker than before, and then she left me so I could find Ridley.

  THIRTY-SIX

  reserve

  The clouds that had moved in earlier, darkening the lunch with Queen Wendy and King Loki, had brought rain along with them. It was a heavy garden shower, with thunder rumbling in the distance.

  I stepped out into it, not minding the cold drops that fell on my bare shoulders, and looked around for Finn and Ridley. They weren’t far from the house, standing underneath the awning that stretched past a barn that had once housed goats.

  Ridley had his back to me as I approached, but the lines of his body were unmistakable to me. His strong shoulders, the narrowing of his waist beneath his loose olive jacket, the dark curls of his hair that could never be completely tamed.

  When I reached them, Finn excused himself, and nodded at me as he walked toward the house. It seemed to take ages for Ridley to turn around to face me, but in reality, it was probably only a few seconds.

  And then he was looking at me—the strong line of his jaw darkened by a few days’ stubble, the richness of his olive skin, his lips barely parted as he breathed, and the dark mahogany of his eyes burning with an intensity that made everything inside me melt.

  Ridley was really here. My Ridley.

  It wasn’t until then that I realized I’d been holding my breath, and I breathed in deeply. He lowered his eyes, hiding his gaze behind his heavy lashes.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked finally.

  “I came to find you,” he said, his voice low and thick, and it sounded strangely far away. Like he was holding something back.

  Calvin, Hanna’s small pony, was out in the yard, running around and splashing in the puddles. Ridley turned, preferring to look out at the pony than at me.

  The thatched roof of the awning had seen better days, and rain dripped in around us. It soaked the bales of straw stacked up beside us, and beneath my bare feet the ground was cold and muddy. Other than Calvin, we were alone. And Ridley wouldn’t look at me.

  A shiver ran through me, but it wasn’t because I was cold.

  “You’re soaking wet,” he commented, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “You want my jacket?”

  I shook my head, but he’d already started slipping it off. He walked over to me and draped his jacket over my shoulders. His hand brushed against my bare skin, and he smelled cold and crisp, the way he always did. As he adjusted the jacket, he looked down at me. For a moment we were looking into each other’s eyes, and all I could think about was the night we’d spent together.

  Then he looked away and stepped back from me. I slipped my arms into the sleeves, which were still warm from his body heat. I wondered dourly if this was as close as he would get to touching me.

  The distance between us felt immeasurable. The last time I’d seen him, he’d held me in his arms and kissed me deeply. He’d wanted to run away with me, but it had been dangerous, and I needed him to stay behind and make sure my parents and Tilda and Ember were okay.

  Every night since, I’d had nightmares about him being ripped away from me. And as we stood here, with so much tension filling the gulf between us, I feared that all my nightmares had come true.

  “Why did you come find me?” I asked. “You knew where I was. You sent me here.”

  “I had to get out of Doldastam,” he said simply. “Queen Mina wants you captured and convicted, and I managed to convince her that I wanted that too. That you’d betrayed me so badly that I would go out and bring you back for her.”

  I swallowed hard. “Do you think I betrayed you?”

  “No, of course not.” He dismissed the idea immediately. “I just had to tell Mina that so I could get out of there.”

  “What’s your plan now that you’re here?” I asked.

  He let his eyes rest on me. “Honestly, I don’t have one.”

  “It’s hard to know what to do when everything is falling apar
t.”

  Ridley rubbed the back of his neck, then turned away, again watching Calvin prance through puddles. Without looking at me, he asked, “You’re working with Konstantin Black now? When did that start?”

  “After I left,” I said, realizing how much I had to explain to Ridley. How much had happened while we’d been apart. “He found me. He defected from Viktor, and he thought we might help each other.”

  “Have you been?”

  “I think so,” I said.

  “He hasn’t … hurt you or anything?” Ridley looked at me, and there was no jealousy in his eyes—only genuine concern.

  I shook my head quickly. “No. No, nothing like that.”

  “Good. It’s just…” He sighed. “For weeks, I didn’t know what was happening with you. I was worrying about all the terrible things that might be going on.”

  “I had a run-in with a bear, but otherwise, I’m okay.” I tried to force a smile, to ease some of the tension, but it didn’t work.

  “Finn told me about that,” was all Ridley said.

  “I worried about you too,” I said, deciding that speaking from the heart might work better. “I thought of you every day, and I was so afraid of what might be happening to you.” His jaw clenched, and he stared down at a small stone that he kicked at absently. “What happened after I left?”

  “It’s over now,” he said, almost growling. “That’s what matters.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It’s getting cold out here. I think I’m gonna head back inside.” Rather abruptly, he started to walk past me.

  “Ridley,” I said, but he just kept going.

  I pulled his jacket more tightly around me and tried to make sense of what had just happened. This was not at all how I’d pictured my reunion with Ridley. There had been much more kissing.

  I was so relieved to see him, to know that he was okay, but after that exchange, I had no idea how to feel.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw movement. I quickly turned my head, but I couldn’t see anything. Then it moved again, and in the shadows between the doorway to the barn and stacks of straw, I realized that I could see a black shirt, floating disembodied thanks to the chameleonlike skin of the Kanin.