Azia shrugged. “I don’t know. The leader of Oz had a number of children, but we haven’t managed to find out too much about them.”
“There’s a princess Kelis in Enchantia. I’ve met her,” Blaise interrupted. “We don’t know if she’s adopted, though. She might not know herself. I didn’t know I was adopted before this all started.”
“What about Skyla?” my mother asked. “It’s the one kingdom you’ve not mentioned. Do they have someone there who fits in this?”
“No,” Azia replied, batting Nyre away from her plate where she was trying to steal a jam tart. “Skyla is a weird kingdom. Half of it is comprised of islands in the sea and the other half is islands that float in the air, but there’s no royal family as such.”
“We aren’t going to Skyla!” I said quickly, turning my eyes to Azia. “It’s the opposite direction to Urbis. You said you thought Fae was in Urbis.”
Azia shrugged. “Our plans aren’t set in stone. We’re taking everything one day at a time.”
“Even so, we should be going!” Castiel huffed, throwing his napkin down on his empty plate.
“Now?” my mother asked. I saw the fear in her eyes. This was the moment she’d been dreading her entire life.
“Not yet.” I wasn’t trying to put off our goodbyes, but I hadn’t packed. I hadn’t said farewell to Jay. “I need to pack… I need to...”
“I’ll ask the staff to pack you a bag,” my mother said. “Judging by what the rest of you are carrying, you’ll be traveling light. I’ll have a servant bring it to the hospital so you can say your goodbyes to Jay. Can I offer you some assistance? I can’t lend you a horse and carriage because all our horses are out with guards looking for Fae, but. I could contact the Urbis Express and ask for an airship.”
“Thank you,” Deon said. “Unfortunately, we need to lie low. We usually travel by night, but just outside of Shipley, we’ve found a route that doesn’t pass through any major towns or cities. We can walk through the day when it’s light and camp at night.”
“Camp?” My mother slid her eyes to me. She knew that I’d not spent a night away from my own bed in my whole life.
“I can camp,” I said.
“Of course you can.”
She put her arm around my shoulder as the others stood up from the table. Azia, Blaise, and Deon walked out, with Castiel following behind after stuffing his bag with the leftover bagels. Nyre flew over his head and landed on Azia’s shoulder.
“I have to say goodbye to someone,” I told them. I can’t go without seeing him.”
Azia put a hand on my shoulder. “We all had someone we said goodbye to. How about you meet us at the inn in an hour?”
They left me there in the entrance hall to the castle with only my mother. The few servants that weren’t out searching for Fae were nowhere to be seen. My insides were as empty as the castle. I’d never felt more bereft in my life.
“I’m sorry I’m leaving,” I said, finally breaking down.
Mother pulled me into a hug. “I’m only sorry your father isn’t here to say goodbye to you too.”
“I hate leaving you.”
“For the longest time I’ve kept you here. I won’t do it anymore. You’re a grown woman, and for that matter, so am I. I’ve always been so scared of losing you.” She pushed a lock of hair from my face and swiped it behind my ear. “But now that you’re going, I’m proud. Proud how you’ve turned out, proud of the daughter I brought up. Once you find Fae, I’ll never try and force you to stay here with me again. I won’t make you travel with guards, and I’ll never ever tell you how to live your life.”
I kissed her cheeks, tasting the salt from her tears.
“When I find Fae, I’ll be bringing her back here. This is her home. It’s my home. I hope it will always be our home.”
She held me tight, almost squeezing the breath out of me.
Saying goodbye to my mother was one thing, but I knew saying goodbye to Jay was going to be infinitely harder.
Zacharina flew me to Shipley, over the heads of my maybe-siblings as they walked down the road from the castle.
Jay was sitting up in bed, eating breakfast when I entered. When he saw me, his eyes lit up, but then I saw the light flicker and die when he saw Fae wasn’t with me. He put his breakfast tray to the side.
“I hoped you’d come back with her,” he said plainly.
I sat on the bed next to him, careful not to knock his legs. “I hoped that too. There is still no word.”
He took my hand in his. His face was a picture of anguish. He really loved that little girl, almost as much as I did.
“I have something to tell you,” I began, not sure how to finish the sentence.
“About Fae?”
I stroked the back of his hand with my finger as my heart ached. He was already feeling the worst he’d ever felt, and here I was, about to add to his pain.
“Kind of. I went to see the strangers, my siblings, last night.”
Jay nodded at my words.
“Their magic… my magic... I felt Fae.”
He sat up straighter. “Felt her? How?”
“I don’t understand it. I guess my mother will fill you in.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
“Jay… I’m leaving. I’m going with them.”
I held my breath as I watched the expression on his face. It didn’t crumble as expected, but there was a weariness to it, as though he had expected something like this to happen.
“Lay with me,” I said when he didn’t speak.
He flinched as he moved back on the bed, giving me just enough space to lie next to him.
He kissed me in such a way that brought sorrow into my very soul. I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see, but I could feel the wetness of tears, taste the salt on our lips. I didn’t even know who was crying. Perhaps it was both of us. As he held me close, I had a flicker of what might have been. We shouldn’t be like this, squeezed onto a hospital bed, my daughter missing, with me about to leave the kingdom, my family, and the man I loved. I wasn’t ready for this adventure. I wanted nothing more than to sink into Jay’s arms and stay in that bed forever, blocking the whole world and all of its problems out.
But I couldn’t. If it wasn’t for Fae, I might have… I probably would have. But Fae was everything. My whole body ached to have her beside me. My breasts, full of milk, pained me, and beneath them, my heart was squeezed vice-like in the most pain I’d ever known.
“I have to go,” I said, my voice so choked up it was barely audible. But Jay didn’t need to hear my words. He knew what I was saying.
“I wish I could come with you.”
I waited for him to tell me how much he hated being stuck here in the hospital while I searched for Fae without him, but Jay wasn’t about to indulge in any more self-pity.
“Go and talk to Loftus before you go. He’ll give you supplies. Tell him you need a weapon.”
I sat up in the bed, startled. “A weapon?” I’d never had a fight in my life, much less one that involved swords or bows and arrows.
“Lia, this isn’t the time to be scared. You need to protect yourself. I’m not asking you to take a full suit of armor and a sword, but you saw the others. Azia carried a sword, Castiel had a knife. Loftus will give you something, even if it’s just a small knife. He’ll also give you horses.”
“I’ll go to Loftus, but I won’t be needing horses. I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m going to take Zacharina with me.”
Jay’s eyes widened. “You think she’ll come? She has a baby of her own!”
“She’ll come.”
I knew because I’d already asked her.
“Then I’ll take care of her baby while you go out and find our baby,” Jay promised.
Saying goodbye to him fractured my already broken heart further. The pain was immense, but he let me go, without fuss, without complaint.
“Lia,” he said as I got to the door.
“Yes.”
>
“Come home. When this is all over, come home.”
“There’s nowhere in any of the kingdoms I’d rather be,” I said, blowing him a final kiss as I left.
My baby girl was out there somewhere, her tiny thread of energy calling to me.
I would find her.
And I would take my daughter back.
A note from the author
The Kingdom of Fairytales authors hope you enjoyed this new way of reading. We don’t think that a series has ever been set with one chapter a day thought a whole year before and we hope we did it justice.
With this in mind, please leave a review, but when you do, remember that these books were always meant to be short breaks in your day and the blurb reflects that.
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After the Happily Ever After…
There is more to these stories. You want to know what happens next right? Fast forward eighteen years…
Pick up book one now
* * *
PREQUEL
* * *
SLEEPING BEAUTY
1. Queen of Dragons
2. Heiress of Embers
3. Throne of Fury
4. Goddess of Flames
* * *
LITTLE MERMAID
5. Queen of Mermaids
6. Heiress of the Sea
7. Throne of Change
8. Goddess of Water
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RED RIDING HOOD
9. King of Wolves
10. Heir of the Curse
11. Throne of Night
12. God of Shifters
* * *
RAPUNZEL
13. King of Devotion
14. Heir of Thorns
15. Throne of Enchantment
16. God of Loyalty
* * *
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
17. Queen of Unicorns
18. Heiress of Gold
19. Throne of Sacrifice
20. Goddess of Loss
* * *
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
21. King of Beasts
22. Heir of Beauty
23. Throne of Betrayal
24. God of Illusion
* * *
ALADDIN
25. Queen of the Sun
26. Heiress of Shadows
27. Throne of the Phoenix
28. Goddess of Fire
* * *
CINDERELLA
29. Queen of Song
30. Heiress of Melody
31. Throne of Symphony
32. Goddess of Harmony
* * *
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
33. Queen of Clockwork
34. Heiress of Delusion
35. Throne of Cards
36. Goddess of Hearts
* * *
WIZARD OF OZ
37. King of Traitors
38. Heir of Fugitives
39. Throne of Emeralds
40. God of Storms
* * *
SNOW WHITE
41. Queen of Reflections
42. Heiress of Mirrors
43. Throne of Wands
44. Goddess of Magic
* * *
PETER PAN
45. Queen of Skies
46. Heiress of Stars
47. Throne of Feathers
48. Goddess of Air
* * *
URBIS
49. Kingdom of Royalty
50. Kingdom of Power
51. Kingdom of Fairytales
52. Kingdom of Ever After
* * *
BOXSETS
Azia
Blaise
Castiel
Deon
Eliana
Fallon
Gaia
Halia
Ivy
Jakon
Kelis
Lyric
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The Kingdom of Fairytales Team
These books would not be written without a great many people. Here is our team:
Many thanks to those who have made this possible.
Thank you to Rhi Parkes without whom, this series would never have come about.
Thanks to all the authors.
J.A. Armitage, Audrey Rich, B. Kristen Mcmichael, Emma Savant, Jennifer Ellision, Scarlett Kol, R. Castro, Margo Ryerkerk, Zara Quentin, Laura Greenwood and Anne Stryker
Also thank you to our amazing Beta team
Nadine Peterse-Vrijhof, Diane Major, Kalli Bunch and Stephanie Pittser.
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Thanks to our Proof Reader
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Thank you to our Patrons
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About J.A. Armitage
J.A lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she's not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She's travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.
She spends way too much time gossiping on facebook and if you want to be part of her Reading Army, where you'll get lots of freebies, exclusive sneak peeks and super secret sales, join up here
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Somehow she finds time to write.
About Jennifer Ellision
USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer Ellision writes about daring young women in magical worlds. She survives on a steady diet of books, podcasts, and her favorite magical tropes. Jennifer frequently wakes up early to work before she has to "people" and can often be found squirreled away in her office, getting some writing done--or in her local library, agonizing over revisions.
If all else fails, look under the covers. She's probably hiding out with a good young adult fantasy series.
Eliana: Remembering Rumpelstiltskin (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 5) Page 30