Throne of Sacrifice

by Jennifer Ellision

And finally, I woke to knocking at my door.

  Yawning, I pulled on a robe and schlepped over to the door, poking my head out to the two guards who were not Williamson and Avery. Well, they deserved to get some rest too. And if that wasn’t the reason they weren’t there, I’d deal with that tomorrow.

  Jay was the reason they were knocking.

  I blinked, stunned from my sleepy haze into alertness, and hurriedly ran a hand through my mussed hair.

  “You said we should talk,” Jay said softly, looking at me through hooded eyes.

  That quickly, my heart started doing double time.

  “I did, didn’t I?” I replied. Time to show Jay I was ready to get him back. “Come in.”

  I gestured to the couch and Jay chuckled, shaking his head ruefully. “Deja vu,” he commented, taking his seat. He ran his palms down his pant legs.

  Deja vu, huh? I wasn’t going to give him a reason to relive the day where I’d made a mistake that had almost cost me one of the most important people in my life. My mouth firmed, and I resolutely took a seat next to him, so close that our thighs were touching.

  Jay’s gaze drifted down to where our legs met, and he stared there for a long moment. “Lia, wha—”

  I wasted no more time in pressing my lips to his, cutting off his words.

  Kissing Jay was… it was everything. It was understanding, passion, desperation. The peck I’d initiated opened the floodgates. My mouth opened to him and his to mine. His hands tangled in my hair and he pressed me close like he was afraid this was a dream and that if he held me tightly enough, he’d be able to stay asleep in it.

  Eventually, reluctantly, we withdrew from each other, breathing hard. Jay leaned his forehead against mine.

  “I made a mistake the other day,” I whispered. “A big one. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long while and I won’t make the same mistake again. Can you forgive me?”

  He grinned, the light dancing in his eyes, and he leaned in close. Eagerly, I met him halfway.

  11th May

  I woke in a glorious haze the next morning and stretched my fingers and toes toward the headboard and footboard of my bed. I covered my face with my hands and shook my head, unable to suppress the grin that stretched over my features.

  I was well rested, and for the first time in a while, I felt like I was living in a dream. The unicorns were back. I had a beautiful daughter, loving parents, and I lived in the most beautiful land anyone could ever dream of.

  And—and here was why the grin continued to escape my hold—I had Jay.

  Yesterday’s memories swarmed me and I basked in their glow. Seeing him come through the forest, like a knight in tales of old. Talking with him. And then, even better, the best yet, in fact—getting to finally kiss him.

  I hadn’t realized how long I’d wanted to do that. How long I’d wondered what his lips would feel like pressed against mine. How his hands would feel if they tangled in my hair. I closed my eyes and relived the moment again. It was like a dream. Only I couldn’t make it happen again by going back to sleep. For that, I’d need to get up and go find Jay.

  I threw my bed covers aside with renewed energy and rushed to my mirror. First things first, I needed to get my hair in order. The past two days had blurred together and even though I’d washed the hours in the forest off me, my hair looked like it hadn’t been touched. Hurriedly, I ran a brush through it, taming the worst of it and then my fingers deftly fashioned it into a braid. At least, I didn’t look unkempt anymore.

  But—I covered my smile with my hands—I knew that it wouldn’t matter to Jay even if I did. He loved me. It was that simple for him. I wanted to look nice for him, but that was more for me than for him. I could be covered in mud with hair in tangles and vines and he would still love me. All he asked of me was that I be me. That was more than enough for him. And he was more than enough for me.

  And as if he weren’t wonderful enough, he loved my daughter as well.

  My heartstrings tugged. I hadn’t seen my beautiful little girl in more than a day. I wanted to see Jay too, but first I needed to hold her close and gather her in my arms once again.

  If I wasn’t a mother, I might then have thrown open my closet and tried on a dozen outfits, knowing that I’d see Jay later today. But I was a mother and I was in a hurry to hold my child again. I knew realistically that she was safe, having spent the night with my mother, who would sooner walk through fire than allow any harm to come to her grandchild. But it was different from seeing her with my own eyes and holding her in my own arms.

  I dressed as quickly as I possibly could in the first article of clothing I could, a purple, off-the-shoulder day dress. With nearly inhuman speed, I did up the laces on the front of the dress and threw open the doors to my suite.

  The guards outside jumped. I winced when I realized that the man and woman outside were most definitely not Avery and Williamson. My mother might need a little more time to cool down about that one, but I resolved that I would fix that soon. They shouldn’t be punished for my manipulation. They’d followed the letter of their orders and only bowed to my pressure. And what were the chances that something like that would go so terribly wrong? They deserved another chance.

  “Can we help you, Your Highness?” The female guard was shorter than I was, but she had a self-assuredness and confidence to her in her steely gaze that made me sure that she could subdue me, or any attacker who came her way.

  I tilted my head in the direction of the hall’s exit. “I’m just going to go visit my parents and retrieve Princess Fae. You’re welcome to—”

  She cut me off before I could finish my sentence. “We’d be happy to accompany you.”

  So it was that I set off toward my parents’ rooms with my new guards in tow, following me like we were parts of the same body, like a snake’s rattle winding behind it as it slithered its way around; a warning to all who saw it that it would not be wise to threaten it.

  The same way that I hadn’t recognized the guards outside my own door, I didn’t recognize the guard outside my parents’ rooms either. It wasn’t Hardy. Come to think of it, he was probably still busy with the investigation hunting down Rumpelstiltskin.

  I paused before I knocked. Gods, I had barely spared that devilish imp a thought in days. I’d been so caught up in first the drama with Jay and then—well, being trapped in a gods-cursed forest, and then the happy reunion with Jay and the return to the palace—that other priorities had quite distracted me from the plight of the imp who had vowed revenge on my family.

  It wasn’t that I wasn’t worried about Rumpelstiltskin anymore. It would be foolish to think that just because I was happy now that he’d just give up. But at the same time, dwelling on it wouldn’t do anyone any good either. We’d continue to pursue our leads, but we shouldn’t let it prevent us from being happy either. We’d live. We’d love. We’d continue on. There were so many things for us to look forward to. A new relationship. The celebration of Fae’s birth next week. And just living—watching my daughter and this life that I had created—blossom.

  I raised a hand and knocked on the door, but no sooner than I had I finished my rhythmic tapping than the guard in front of the door was shaking his head. “They’re not in there, Your Highness. They’re down in the throne room.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Both of them? This early?” That was unusual. Usually, my father spent a few hours in the throne room a day consulting with his advisors about the economy and trade. In a kingdom like ours, there wasn’t much cause for more frequent meetings. And my mother usually only got pulled into things if foreign dignitaries were in town and she needed to play the part of an esteemed hostess.

  But again, it was early. It was not normal for other royals to demand a meeting this early in the day.

  And just that quickly, Rumpelstiltskin had my thoughts in his grip once again. “Is it Rumpelstiltskin?” I asked, half-hopeful, half-afraid of what the answer might be.

  He shook his
head. “No, Your Highness. I don’t believe there is any news on that front.”

  I sagged in a strange mixture of feeling let down and relieved. No news was good news, I supposed. “Well, that’s fine. I’ll see them later, if they’re attending to important matters. I just need to get inside and retrieve Princess Fae…” My voice trailed off as the guard again began to shake his head. “What do you mean?”

  “Her Majesty the Queen took Her Highness Princess Fae with her to the meeting. There’s no one inside.”

  “Ah.” I gave him a deep nod, indicating that I understood. “Thank you. I’ll meet with them there, then.”

  “My pleasure, Your Highness.”

  My brow furrowed deeply as my new guards and I set off for the throne room. I had a nagging feeling that something strange was going on. We reached the double doors of the room and, after greeting the guards outside of that room, I lifted the solid brass knocker and thumped it down on the door. “Princess Eliana for Princess Fae,” I called out lightly. Just formal enough—just teasing enough to straddle the line of proper royalty and a daughter talking to her mother.

  The murmur of voices inside the room halted. It felt like an eternity before my mother’s voice came, resigned. “Come in, Eliana.”

  The guards pushed the doors inward and my confusion didn’t abate when I saw what was within the room.

  My parents were indeed inside. And as the guard outside of their rooms had indicated, they were not alone. But the foreign royals that were inside weren’t what I had expected.

  For starters, they were all so young. My age, it looked like. And maybe I was just sheltered—well, I supposed that I knew that I was—but I had never been sent on a mission to another country, and I didn’t think it was just because of my mother sheltering me. Often, if royals were sent to another country without being invited, it was because they needed something from the other country. So, usually the people who showed up were older, more experienced in the art of statesmanship.

  I drew closer, and as the light glinted off the eyes of one of the visitors, I sucked in a quick breath.

  It had glinted gold.

  Gold like mine. Gold like the unicorns’.

  One of them, another woman about my age with long, curly hair nodded decisively, as though she’d confirmed something upon seeing me.

  “I knew it.” She turned to others, who watched me uncertainly. “You see? I told you. She’s one of us.”

  “One of you?” My eyes darted through the group, comprised of both men and women. They were a strange-looking bunch. The one that had spoken wore men’s clothes that looked like they hadn’t been washed in a week, but her face and hair were so feminine. On her shoulder sat a purple dragon. An actual purple dragon. In a belt around her waist was a sword with the hilt craved into the shape of a dragon. She was mesmerizingly beautiful, but looked battle-worn and tired despite the apparent excitement on her face. Beside her stood a girl who’d at least tried to make an effort with her appearance. Her strawberry-blonde hair was tied in a braid down her back and her blouse and trousers, while still tattered, were clean. The two men couldn’t have looked more different from each other. Where one was tall and clean shaven, with the look of an academic despite his broad shoulders, the other, slightly shorter one was wiry and had a guarded expression. They were, quite frankly, the strangest looking bunch of folks I’d ever met—but their eyes! Their eyes were just like mine.

  So I worried over what she might mean. Because their sudden appearance had the eerie pressure of fate to it.

  “Eliana, right?” The young woman who had first spoken strode forward with a decisive stride, clomping down the stair of the dais where she and her companions had congregated around my parents.

  “Ye-es?” I drew the word out into two syllables, making it a question. I darted a look at my mother, who watched wide-eyed. My father’s face remained nearly impassive, but I caught how he tightened his grip upon the arms of his throne.

  What had everyone in such a twist?

  “I’m Azia.” The curly-haired woman brushed a strand of hair out of her face with impatient fingers. “Azia, Princess of Draconis. And you—” She reached down and seized my hands in hers. “You’re one of us,” she repeated.

  I looked back at my devoted parents and swallowed hard. What did she mean? I thought of the times I’d spoken to the unicorns and they’d spoken back to me. Was this what she was talking about? It seemed she knew more about me than I did. I dropped my voice so that they wouldn’t overhear everything. “You’re gods-touched too?” I whispered.

  Her eyebrows flew to her hairline. “Gods-touched?” she repeated loudly. I yanked my hands free and made shushing motions, but to no avail. She said it again, this time with clear laughter in her voice. “Gods-touched?” She looked back at her companions, and it was clear that they were sharing a private joke that I wasn’t in on. “Gods, you really have no idea. Eliana… you’re not gods-touched.” She reclaimed my hands and held my gaze steadily. “You’re magic, though, right, Eliana? We all are.”

  My hands fell to my sides, fingers numb, as she turned to the others. “Meet the others... We think we are your brothers and sisters.”

  I nearly fainted. My vision blurred at the edges and I fell to my knees as someone went to fetch water. There was a strange buzzing in my ears and I could distantly hear Azia apologizing for the way she’d sprung the news on me.

  I sipped at the water and gradually, my senses cleared. Not completely. But enough. It was like I was hearing and seeing everything through a haze of water.

  My parents knelt before me, Mother smoothing my hair back with shaking hands, reassuring herself that I was still there, still safe. My eyes fixed on their familiar faces. So warm. So comforting.

  And then I looked past my parents to the people behind them. The people who shared my eyes.

  “Brothers and sisters?”

  I knew I was adopted, and yes, I’d had idle thoughts about my real parents over the years, but I’d not once visualized siblings. “You came from Draconis to find me? Do you know my… our mother… our father?” I asked.

  Azia shook her head slowly. “I wish that I could tell you that was the case. We’d love to be here just for a family reunion. But there’s more. We have a duty to the kingdoms that we’re here to fulfill. We aren’t all from Draconis. Blaise is from Atlantice, Castiel from Elder, and Deon from Floris. It seems we were scattered around the kingdoms as newborns.”

  “So why are you here? What duty?”

  She swallowed. “Magic is...” She turned her hands in a circle, as though trying to grab on to the right words. They fell open as she settled for words she seemed to find inadequate. “Magic is failing,” she said simply. “In all of the kingdoms.”

  I stood up, Mother and Father scrambling to do the same. “Vale doesn’t have a particular affinity for magic,” I said slowly. “I’m not sure this really has anything to do with us.”

  Even as I said it, I felt the lie on my lips. I’d been talking to the unicorns for weeks and they’d been answering back

  She gave me a half-smile. “None of us were eager to believe it. But if you’re not prone to spells and the like, you do have magical creatures here. Has anything strange been happening there?”

  I’d kept my secret so well, but it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to keep it much longer.

  She took my silence as a confirmation. “I thought as much. But we’re going to fix it. You have to come with us, Eliana. We’re stronger together.”

  “Her place is here,” my mother croaked out, her voice choked with emotion.

  Normally, I’d object to my mother speaking for me, but in this case, I couldn’t help but agree. “She’s right,” I said. “And it’s not that you’re wrong, not entirely. There are issues plaguing our unicorns, but they’ve returned now and I can’t…” I trailed off, thinking of what I had to lose.

  My life was so perfect right now. Jay and I had embarked upon something new and
wonderful. Mother and I had seemed to reach some sort of an understanding. And I fell a little more in love with Fae every day. And that was really what decided it.

  Part of me, the old Eliana who longed for a world outside of Vale, a life without restrictions, would have jumped at the chance to go with them on some sort of fated quest if it meant I’d get to see the world. But I was a mother now. And that changed everything.

  “I have a daughter,” I said quietly. “Not even three weeks old. I can’t leave her.”

  “Then bring her with you!” Azia said. Her brow furrowed with emotion. Frustration, maybe? I didn’t know her well enough to read her completely yet. “I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t serious. We didn’t come here on a whim. There is something very wrong with the magic in our kingdoms. It’s spreading and we need your help to stop it. My mother is sick… maybe dying. Same with Blaise’s mother. Castiel’s entire village is sick and all the crops in Floris are failing. It’s bigger than me or us; this is affecting—or is going to affect—everyone. ”

  I laughed humorlessly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you think I can do to help. You haven’t been around babies very much, have you? That’s no place for her.”

  Azia’s mouth opened, probably to voice another argument, but I held up my hand. “I can see you’ve come a long way to meet with me, but I’m not taking a newborn on an adventure. I’ve made up my mind. I wish you all the luck in the world, and I truly hope to get to know you all at some point in the future. But as far as your mission goes…”

  I pressed my lips together in a grim line.

  “You’re on your own.”

  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