Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1)

by Rachel Higginson

  He waved a hand at me, “Don’t say lunch!” And then he threw up again.

  I turned away. I had to or I would soon join him. Choosing any place but near Oliver, I decided to find the soldier in charge of my horse. It was probably time to get ready.

  “I don’t think it’s wise, Gunter.” Arrick’s strong, stern voice caught my attention. I paused at the sound of his voice, just before I stepped around one of the trees that shaded the horse pen.

  “Wise?” Gunter laughed. “And caravanning across kingdoms is wise?”

  “What choice do I have? I have a duty.”

  Gunter’s voice dropped with threat, “Yes, but to whom is this duty owed? Your rebel army or your father?”

  Arrick hushed him with a low threat. I couldn’t see them from where I pressed against the tree trunk, but I could imagine the dangerous look playing across Arrick’s face as he spoke words almost too low for me to hear. “I have a duty to this realm, Gunter. You of all people should know that.”

  “Aye,” Gunter agreed. “I did just ride from Heprin, did I not? I did earn another favor from you, did I not?”

  “And one that you’ll demand I repay, no doubt.”

  “Dragon’s blood, Arrick. This mission is suicide.”

  “No,” Arrick disagreed quickly. “Leaving her behind would be suicide. And destruction of the realm as we know it.”

  Her who? Me? Did they know?

  Arrick couldn’t possibly know. And I had only just met Gunter. But why had the Cavolian Horde been in Heprin? What did he mean by Arrick owing him a favor?

  “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.” Gunter’s voice softened. “Maybe we want a different realm than the one we have now.”

  “No doubt, we want change. We fight for it. We die for it. But not the way you’re suggesting. Not at the price of our souls.”

  Gunter barked out a harsh laugh that was becoming somewhat of a signature sound of his. “You ride toward Soravale, Rebel King. Then what?”

  I could picture Arrick straightening as he replied, “Then we do what we always do. We survive.”

  Footsteps crunched over the ground. I slid around the tree to stay out of view.

  “We’re riding with you,” Gunter called. “You can argue with me, but you cannot stop us.”

  The footsteps stilled. “That’s not a good idea,” Arrick warned.

  Gunter’s laugh was more genuine this time. “I would wager that not one of my ideas has ever been considered good, my friend.”

  Arrick started walking again, “And yet I find myself grateful for at least half of them.”

  “M’lady”

  I squeaked, ashamed of being caught eavesdropping. “Eret, you scared me.”

  His eyes narrowed with suspicion, “What are you doing?”

  Ice cold dread washed through me and I worked my mouth a few times before sound ever came out. “Sh-Shiksa.”

  “What?”

  “I’m looking for Shiksa.”

  “She’s there.” He pointed at my hip.

  “What?”

  Eret stepped forward and gestured to my satchel. “I see her white tail, Lady Tess. She’s there, in your pack.”

  I looked down.

  Then it got worse.

  “Eret?” Arrick rounded the tree. “What are you—Tess?”

  Thinking of no other logical thing to say, I exclaimed, “Shiksa! You bad little beastie. There you are!” It was only made worse by her happily twitching tail sticking from the pouch. I pulled her from the satchel, ignoring the deep dig of her small claws. She mewled, annoyed that I’d pulled her from sleep. “I thought I lost you.” I nuzzled her nose to hide the shameful blush blooming across my cheeks.

  “What is going on?” Arrick demanded.

  Eret cleared his throat. “The fox was lost, Sir. Lady Tess had misplaced her.” I felt his accusing gaze. “In her satchel.”

  “The same satchel she is never without?” Arrick added.

  Eret nodded once, “The very one.”

  I turned to face both men. “She’s small,” I reminded them. “And I am tired.”

  They stared at me.

  “Anyway, now that I have found her, I need to ready my horse. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.”

  I promptly sidestepped both men and set off for the pen. By the time I rounded the tree, there was no sign of Gunter. I breathed out, happy that I didn’t also have to face him.

  “The Cavolia will be joining us on our ride,” Arrick announced as he matched his pace to mine.

  My blush deepened as I tried to feign surprise. “Oh? They have business in Elysia?”

  “Of sorts.”

  Curiosity surged through me. “What other reason could they have for traveling with us? Surely such a large party will draw unnecessary attention.”

  “The Cavolia are known for their large clan. If anything, their presence will camouflage ours.”

  I mulled that over as he opened the gate to the horse pen and let me through first. The earth was softer here, trampled by heavy hoofs. I walked around the edge of the fence in search of the pretty lady that was to carry me home. Arrick stayed by my side.

  “Perhaps,” I allowed. “But I barely trust you and your rebel army. What am I to do with a horde of thieves and mercenaries?”

  Arrick stepped in front of me, halting me in my steps. His large body leaned against the fence and his hand fell to my shoulder to hold me in place. The expression on his face darkened and a storm flashed in his blue eyes. I swallowed against the fluttering of panic in my chest.

  “They will not harm you, Tess.”

  “I know.” Although I didn’t.

  His expression intensified. “You are holding secrets, Tess. Elysia means more to you than you’re letting on. Share them with me so that I can help you.”

  My tongue lay like stone in my mouth, heavy and gritty. My heart pounded. The last thing I could reveal was my secrets.

  His voice dropped low and coaxing when he said, “Tell me, Tess. I want to help you, but I have to know the truth first.”

  Grasping at the fine threads of resolve unraveling inside me, I whispered, “I have told you everything that I can, Arrick. There is no great secret, only a wish to go home. Your help is appreciated but not necessary. If I am a burden on you, then I can be on my way and you may be on yours and we shall never meet hereafter.”

  He stepped forward, closing the small distance between us. “I did not suggest we should part ways, Stranger. Merely that the more information I have, the better I can protect you.”

  “And yet I do not need you to protect me.”

  His blue gaze narrowed. “Experience disagrees with you.”

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from snapping at him. “I need to ready my horse, Commander. If you would move.”

  Frustration ticked in his jaw. His eyes moved to the strap of my satchel and down to the pouch that rested at my hip. I cradled Shiksa against my chest with one hand and moved my other to rest on my waist, an innocent gesture if one did not consider the hilt of my blade just an inch away from my ready fingertips.

  Arrick’s gaze lifted to meet mine. “You have always been difficult, Tessa. I have known that since the very first day I met you.”

  “And you have always been overbearing, Rebel King.”

  His body stiffened at the title and I realized I’d just given myself away. That was the name Gunter had called him.

  Movement to my left caught my attention. Arrick stepped back, sweeping his arm to the side. “Your mount, m’lady.”

  Eret held out the reins of a horse different than the one I had been riding. Her white mane fell against her long neck brushed and shining. Her saddle had been polished and her hooves gleamed. She held herself like an empress.

  I tucked my sleeping Shiksa away and stepped toward the horse. My hand drifted down the side of her neck, enjoying the coarse hair and power hidden behind her magnificent gray coat.

  “What is her name?”

 
Arrick was right behind me. I could feel the heat from his chest and the brush of his breath over my neck. “Her name is Finare.”

  “She’s Soravalian?”

  “I bought her from Gunter,” Arrick explained. “He had already chosen the name.”

  “What does it mean?”

  Arrick’s voice was little more than a whisper when he said, “Gunter rescued her from the Valleys of Minilin when she was nothing more than a pretty foal. She was alone and starving. Her name means Lost Princess.”

  My blood rushed with boiling fire at the same time my hand stilled. Tears pricked behind my eyelids, but I refused to let them fall.

  When I opened my eyes again, Eret and Arrick had disappeared and I stood alone with Finare. She stared at me from the eye that faced me, her head still lifted high as if daring me to judge her, daring me to tell her she wasn’t a lost princess.

  “So we both know what it’s like to be lost,” I whispered to her. She didn’t move. She simply watched me, as if sizing my own history up against what she knew of the world and man. At last, her muzzle dipped to touch the back of my hand that held her reigns.

  I felt the cool wetness of her nose and knew she had accepted me. No matter how silly it seemed, Finare was meant for me. The gentle buzzing in my palm as it rested against her mane assured me that I could trust this lovely mare.

  Tessa. The name burst through me with fire. I hadn’t been called Tessa since… I looked over to where Arrick stood addressing his men. Had he truly called me that?

  Or had I imagined it?

  Unease trickled down my spine, a slow slide of suspicion and fear. Arrick Westnovian was more than he seemed. I couldn’t ignore the instinct feeding my suspicions. But the prince from my past would never abandon his kingdom for a rebel army. He would never leave his family or his people to pursue outlaw justice and anarchy. It wasn’t possible that they were the same person.

  And yet, Arrick was something. Something more than what he was letting me see. I needed answers before my lack of information got me and the crown in my possession into trouble.

  Finare’s nose bobbed beneath my hand. I turned back to her and decided that whatever time I had left with the Rebel Army would be spent with extreme caution. There was more to the Rebel King than revolution and war. Now I needed to discover if that “more” was for or against me.

  The highway snaked through the Tellekane Forest. The massive black cedars were so broad in places that Tenovians had cut through them rather than around them. Giant red leaves glittered in the warm sun overhead. Sometimes they fell to earth, swooping from side to side, mesmerizing me with their burnished warmth and contrast to the black tree trunks and vibrant green grass lining the highway.

  The forest remained a marvel. Whatever happened after this journey, I would enjoy this ride, enjoy the beauty and mystery of my realm.

  However, the farther north we rode, the more paranoid the people became. As we passed village after village, the townsfolk would hide inside their homes. Windows would shutter, doors would slam, and pulley platforms would lift hastily out of our path.

  Maybe it was our large traveling party, or maybe experience had taught these people to be wary of men on horseback. I noticed new construction in several places, set against the backdrop of scorched bark and withered branches. More than one village had been burned.

  And where an entire village had been left intact, long ropes could be spotted, hanging from the same branches in which they built their homes. Gallows.

  The Tenovian people lived in dread and grief. The trees that sheltered them had been made to punish them. The armies supposed to protect them abandoned them instead.

  I had done nothing. I had hidden away in my little untouched corner of the realm. I had let this darkness grow until these people knew nothing else.

  The nine kingdoms needed leadership and direction. The Elysian army needed a queen.

  We would reach the border between Tenovia and Soravale this evening and Elysia in three more weeks. I was close, but not close enough.

  I looked around at the men traveling with us and wondered what would happen if I confessed my mission. Would they accept my undertaking and charge with haste toward Elysia? Or would they take away the one thing that gave me claim to my throne?

  I knew there were men in Arrick’s army that I could trust. They had proven themselves to be decent, loyal soldiers with the realm’s best interest at heart. I had even begun to tentatively trust Arrick. But I dismissed the idea once my gaze landed on the Cavolian men surrounding me.

  Gunter had not brought his entire traveling horde with him. He had chosen a select group of warriors to accompany us. The rest of the horde had ridden in the opposite direction.

  Gunter and Arrick rode side by side at the front of our caravan. Their heads were bowed closely in discussion.

  Oliver had been silent all day as he recovered from the mead. His face had shed its greenish tones and returned to its usual pale. Shiksa slept inside my satchel, content after a dinner of Tenovian soft potatoes and a thimble of water.

  I slouched in my saddle and gave my back a rest from the grueling position I’d been trying to get used to. We would stop soon for the evening meal. Or at least I hoped we would. As gentle and intuitive as I’d learned Finare could be, I needed rest, and for the ground to be still for just a little while.

  “What was that?” Oliver demanded.

  I sat up straight once again. My eyes had begun to drift shut. “What was what?”

  “I heard a scream,” he whispered.

  I leaned forward, straining to hear. “I hear nothing.”

  We fell silent, waiting. It didn’t seem as though the rest of our party had heard anything, either. But when my gaze moved to Arrick, he sat straight as a rod in his saddle. He’d pulled his hood over his head, hiding his face. His head moved with short jerks as he surveyed every inch of the forest around us.

  We kept our pace, steady and clipped. I listened until I imagined screams and everything terrifying. My vision jumped from tree to tree. I had just started to convince myself the danger was only in my head when we emerged from a tunnel through one of the black cedars. I saw the raven first, perched on a low hanging branch, its beady eyes fixed on our caravan. Then a true scream, loud and wrenching, ripped through the air.

  The horses surged forward. More prepared this time, Oliver and I dug our heels into the bellies of our mounts and chased after the rebel army and Cavolia. We stayed closer this time, trailing by only a little.

  The highway speared through another black cedar and then we found them.

  The Ring of Shadows.

  Six of them, dressed in black and wielding death as though it was a tangible weapon they held in their hands.

  They turned to face us one at a time and I realized that no matter what had happened in my past, this was the moment I truly and finally faced real evil.

  15

  The Ring of Shadows was as dark as its name suggested. The troops were dressed in black from the hoods that hung low over their foreheads to the leather boots propped in equally black stirrups. They sat atop black leather saddles on black horses. Their hands were covered with black gloves and they wielded swords with blades made of dark steel.

  The only thing that wasn’t the color of inky death was the stone embedded in the hilt of their swords. One large, sparkling diamond settled in the base, so white it appeared almost blue. It caught the sun no matter how they positioned their weapons, glinting aggressively. In fact, the jewels seemed to pull in the light as if they were made from something more than just gemstone.

  The Shadows stood in front of a wagon filled with perfume and oil, whose scents we could smell in the wind. A family cowered in front of the wares, clutching each other in panic.

  “The rebel army,” a Shadow sneered.

  Arrick urged Thief forward. “This is not your ground,” he said to them.

  The six of them shared a look. Their mouths were hidden behind black scarv
es, but their eyes flashed with hostile amusement. “Is it not?” one of them taunted. “How foolish of us.”

  “You know that we punish trespassers,” Arrick allowed, barely masking the tone of hope. Not hope of a positive outcome, but hope of battle. He wanted to fight these mercenaries. He wanted to punish them for the villages we had seen living in fear, the village we had rescued from flame, and all the other torture these Shadows had inflicted on the realm.

  “Aye,” the Shadow said. “And you know that our threats go far beyond mere punishing. Engage us, Arrick Westnovian, and we’ll end you.”

  It was Arrick’s turn to sneer, “I welcome the challenge.”

  Blades lifted on either side. My hand fell to my hip where I found my own short sword hidden beneath my cloak.

  “We have no fight with you, Rebel King,” the same Shadow declared. “Our fight is the same as yours—against the powers that be.”

  Arrick did not seem to enjoy the comparison. His words came out with barely restrained fury. “It’s interesting then, how you attack the innocent and powerless.”

  Oliver coaxed his horse in front of mine.

  “Be on your way, Shadows,” Arrick ordered. “Out of the forest. Out of Tenovia. Out of this realm.”

  “We heard the rebels were on the move,” a Shadow’s glare fell to me. “But we had no idea you were carrying such beautiful cargo.”

  A different Shadow spoke up next, “Has the Rebel King finally found a wench to occupy his nights? Or is she of greater importance than keeping the king of thieves’ bed warm?”

  “I told you to be on your way,” Arrick snarled. He revealed his blade, pulling it halfway from its sheath.

  A part of me wondered why we hadn’t started doing just that already. I was beyond ready to make these men pay for their sins.

  A raven cawed nearby and every Shadow lifted his head to follow the sound. The great black bird, a bird I was realizing was very common in the Tellekane Forest, took flight. Its silky, feathered wings flapped with long thrusts as it soared upwards.

  The Ring of Shadows shifted as their horses moved restlessly beneath them.

  Behind the six Shadows that surrounded the merchant family, horses and riders flooded from the forest, funneling onto the highway. I counted ten, then twenty, then lost track.