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

by Rachel Higginson

  I would get out of this. And I would see that Arrick made it out as well.

  “Enough!” Haeman yelled and I felt his words directed at Arrick. “Enough of this foolishness. The king has demanded your presence. You will cease this pointless bickering and go to court!” To his men, he commanded, “Take them to the wagon and lock them in manacles. I have no more patience.”

  Men closed in around me. Someone started to drag Oliver from his mount. Arrick watched me with anxiety bright in his gaze.

  I glanced around the clearing, sure there was some way to escape. There was nothing but trees and branches and two royal armies. They would soon search us. And in doing so, they would find that one thing I was so frantic to keep hidden.

  Wait. The crown.

  My fingers played along the edges of my satchel. If they took the Crown of Nine from me, I would have no claim to it. But if I…

  I lifted my chin and held myself with whatever regal air I was capable of. “Stand back!” I commanded. The men were so surprised by my command that they obeyed. I resisted the urge to smile. “Unhand my friends, now,” I told them. This time they ignored me. “Unhand my friends and let us go.”

  My hand disappeared into the depths of my pack, diving straight to the hidden compartment at the bottom.

  “Give up, m’lady,” Haeman groaned. “You have lost. Do not be a sore sport. I’m sure that once the prince is—”

  But I was not listening. Once I had decided on my actions, my limbs had begun to tremble and I quaked with fear, but also with purpose.

  Arrick’s voice rang out above the others, but I paid no attention when he shouted, “Tessana, don’t!”

  I shut out the doubts that screamed through my head and pulled the Crown of One Hundred Kings from my satchel, holding it high for all to see.

  There was an audible gasp as the men around me shrank back from the sight of the lost diadem. Whispers rippled through the clearing.

  With unsteady hands, I set the crown on top of my head and blinked away tears that had an origin I could not define. “I am Tessana Allisand of the house of Exentia, the rightful heir to the Elysian throne and the Seat of Power over these Nine Kingdoms. You will do as I say, or I will strike each and every one of you down.” My voice only wavered once, but my hands continued to quake as I dropped them back to my sides.

  I hadn’t realized my eyes had shut until the crown settled low on my forehead and the weight of it rocked through me like a powerful storm.

  There was power in this gold, in these gems. It buzzed through me, bringing my blood to life. I opened my eyes and found the guards around me agape. Even Oliver’s mouth hung open.

  “But you are dead,” Haemon whispered.

  I met his wide eyes. “I assure you, I am not.”

  Another guard demanded, falling to his knee in front of me. “H-h-how is this possible?”

  This was not the time to explain all the intricate details of my past. “It does not matter how it is possible, only that it is. Now let my companions go so that we can be on our way.”

  Even on his knee in reverence, Haemon remained difficult. “I cannot, Your Highness. His father has demanded his return to court. It is by royal edict I have been charged to bring the crown prince home.”

  His words bounced around my head as if they were a different language. Father? Court? Crown prince?

  My frantic gaze sought Arrick’s, even while another guard nudged him with his foot. “No wonder you were so desperate to flee, huh, Your Majesty? I’d want time with my own lost bride as well.”

  Whatever sense of purpose and power I’d felt from the crown drained out of me as quickly as it had filled me. My mind spun as realization dawned, as all those floating puzzle pieces I’d been wrestling with for weeks pieced together. “No,” I whispered. “It cannot be.”

  I glared at Arrick as his features transformed before me. The dark hair. That jaw. That nose. Those eyes. Those stupid, bright blue eyes.

  I was a fool for not figuring it out before now.

  I had relied too heavily on my knowledge of the past, of the boy I thought I knew. I hadn’t considered the years that had refined him into a man, this man. I had leaned on experience, but I had none. I had clung to logic when this defied all rationale. I had seen it all along, but I hadn’t understood.

  “Taelon,” Haemon urged. “We must be on our way. This crown, this princess, we must take her directly to your father.”

  “Taelon.” I had to pry the name I hadn’t said aloud in eight year’s time from my lips.

  His eyes fixed on mine. “Tessana, please understand. I did what I thought was best—”

  My voice rose with my fury, “Tessana! You knew! You knew the entire time!”

  He jumped to his feet. The guards surrounding him backed away. Of course they did. He was their crown prince after all. They wouldn’t actually hurt him.

  The crown pressed against my temples and I realized all of this, all of my theatrics and secrecy and hidden identity, all of it was for nothing.

  He had known me since the very beginning. My necklace. My bloody necklace! The one that he had given to me as a child.

  I took a step forward. If the guards weren’t going to kill him, I was.

  “You are holding secrets, Tess.” he had said. “Share them with me so that I can help you.”

  My hands balled into fists at my side.

  He answered, “Not the entire time.” When my face heated with mottled rage, his voice became pacifying. “Tessana, please understand. I couldn’t tell you who I was because—” I punched his chest. “Oof.”

  “Tessa, listen,” he panted. A guard reached for my arm to restrain me. I twirled out of the way and kicked out at Arrick’s, er, Taelon’s side. He crumpled back to one knee. “Tessa,” He growled with as much frustration and fury as I had pulsing through me.

  I could not listen to him. I did not want to hear one word from this liar’s mouth. His hand shot out and wrapped around my ankle before I could react. With a jerk of his arm, he yanked me to the ground, flattening me on my back. The crown slid off my head and landed next to me.

  I scrambled for it, but he was faster. Looming over me, he grabbed it with lightning speed. He pinned me in place in the next instant by resting both thighs against my sides and sitting over me. He dangled the crown just out of my reach.

  “Now, listen,” he growled. “I couldn’t tell you who I was when my own men didn’t know.” I fought against him, rearing off the ground in an attempt to unseat him. He leaned forward, settling more weight on top of me. “And I didn’t think you would react well if I told you I knew who you were. So I left my camp instead in an effort to keep you safe.”

  I fought harder and bit out a harsh laugh. “Is that what you were doing? Keeping me safe?”

  He leaned in. “You wouldn’t have survived one day without me.”

  “Let me go!” I screamed. “I order you to let me go!”

  His smile was as menacing as it was promising. “You’re in my kingdom now, Princess. I suggest you show me some respect.” He sat up and looked to his men—his royal men, not the rebels that he’d ordered to flee. “She can ride in the wagon. Restrain her if you need to. Her monk is welcome to join her.”

  He stood up and held out a hand. I lay on the ground deciding my next move. I wanted nothing more than to scream at the top of my lungs until I was red in the face.

  But then Arrick, ack, Taelon, held out my crown to me and I lost some of my fight. I picked myself off the ground and brushed at the leaves and dirt now tangled in my dress and hair before grudgingly accepting my crown.

  As soon as my fingers wrapped around it, I felt the tickle of energy run up my arm. I promptly tucked it away in my satchel again, closing the bag tightly and making sure it was secured to my body.

  Ar—Taelon waited patiently for me to finish. And when I was ready, he waved a gallant arm and said, “Right this way, Your Highness.”

  17

  The ride to S
oravale’s castle proved silent and unpleasant. After I’d retrieved my trembling Shiksa from her hiding place, Taelon’s royal guards led us back to the road, where Oliver and I were loaded into a wagon meant for prisoners.

  I slumped against the narrow bench that made my bum go numb and tried to breathe through my frustration. We had been on the road for more than a day. Taelon had made plenty of stops to make sure Oliver and I were able to relieve ourselves and eat, but I grew tired of his forced kindness. Especially when all he did was lock us up again inside the wagon that had been meant for him.

  I would have reminded him of that, had I been speaking to him.

  I could tell that my behavior was trying his patience. He stood by his actions and his decisions. But he did not understand. I had trusted him. I had believed him when he told me who he was. And he had let me.

  Besides that, he wasn’t just anyone from my past. He had been my betrothed. He was once my future. And when my life had been stolen from me, he had been the reason I still had a future—even if it was wholly different than the one intended for me. And up until now I had been beyond grateful to him. I had owed him the debt of my life.

  Except he wasn’t the boy I remembered. He wasn’t honest and admirable and loyal to his future. He had abandoned his country and his people when he ran off to lead a destructive band of rebels. He made allies with thieves and horse bandits. He lied to me.

  The boy I knew once upon a time had disappeared, and in his place was a criminal who happened to have royal blood.

  “How much longer?” Oliver groaned. “I hate this carriage.”

  “That’s because this carriage is meant for convicts,” I reminded him. Shiksa crawled from the satchel that still rested against my hip and used her tiny claws to climb over my chest. Sensing my distress, she nuzzled her little face against mine. I closed my eyes against the feel of her fur and cold nose. I let my fingers play with her long tail while I decided how to tell Oliver the truth. “Oliver, they might deal with us like criminals when we get to the castle. They might lock us up in a cell while they investigate my claims. But Hugo, Taelon’s father, has always been just. I cannot imagine he would treat us unfairly.”

  “And what will happen once he decides your story is true?”

  Shiksa settled in the crook of my neck. Her tiny teeth attacked the top button of my cloak. She had grown since I first found her. “I don’t know.”

  Oliver wiggled until he sat up straight. “But Arrick believes you to be who you say you are. He clearly means you no harm as he’s had abundant opportunities to slit your throat. And if this king is as fair and just as you remember him, then he might also believe you.”

  I nibbled on my bottom lip. “That is a possibility.”

  “Then, dragon’s blood, Tessana,” he snorted. “Arrick is our only ally. Why are you mad at him? We need him!”

  I sat up and poor Shiksa tumbled off me. Her fast feet caught her before she dirtied her pure white coat on the filthy floor. Giving me a look, she jumped up to the bench again and settled herself on my lap.

  “He lied to me!” I exclaimed. “He knew who I was the entire time and said nothing! What kind of man parades a woman through highway, country, and forest without at least hinting that they knew each other in a different life?” I swallowed back the rage building inside me. “Oliver, he saved my life when I was a child. He is the reason I’m alive today.”

  Oliver’s eyes narrowed. “Which is a perfectly acceptable reason to hate a man.”

  I made a sound in the back of my throat. I didn’t want to play this game. If I wanted to hate Arrick— dragon’s blood! If I wanted to hate Taelon, I could.

  The wagon rumbled to a stop. The sounds of horses galloping over rough road ceased, replaced with shouted orders and the great creaking of wood and the clanking of chains.

  When the wagon began moving again, Oliver jumped to his feet in an attempt to peer through the tiny window. “I can’t see anything!” he complained. “Oh, wait. Is that… It’s so dark out. Is that a moat? Ooh torches! We’ve reached the castle.”

  The wagon lurched and threw Oliver against the door. He picked himself off the floor with a curse.

  When he sat down again, he tried to hide his excitement. “I’ve never been in a palace before.”

  I yawned.

  “It’s like you announced you’re royalty and now I have to suffer your spoiled temperament. Your foul mood is ruining this adventure for me.”

  I decided now was not the time to bring up the wildebeest, the fire, or being chased through the woods. “I apologize,” I’d meant to sound snide, but the words came out honest. “I’m just… I’m just… I cannot believe we were together for weeks and he said not one word! The man is abominable.”

  “But he—”

  “And now we are all but prisoners to the king of Soravale. Hugo could take this crown if he wanted. He could move the Seat of Power to Soravale and hand it to his son. And what could I do about it? Nothing. Nothing but rot in the dungeons next to murderers and thieves.”

  “Tessana, enough!” Oliver snapped. “I’ve had enough. You do not have to like Arrick. You do not even have to speak to him again. But enough of this. The Crown of One Hundred Kings is not a toy that can be passed around to any monarchy lucky enough to snatch it up. You know that. Stop acting like a bratty child.”

  I tried to glare at him, but his twitching smile ruined it. “I’m happy you’re here,” I told him. “I would probably stab someone very important if it weren’t for you.”

  He winked at me. “I’m happy I’m here too. Nobody wants to go to war just because a pampered princess feels a bit stabby.”

  When the wagon jerked to a stop the second time, we were both in a fit of laughter. The door opened, flooding our dim space with the deep blue of night. Haemon and Taelon stood together with matching looks of curiosity on their faces. They had not expected us to be in such good moods.

  Haemon swept a low bow, “We have arrived, Your Highness.”

  Oliver shot a warning look at me before jumping to his feet. “Fantastic news.”

  Both men looked aggravated when Oliver tried to move from the wagon. Taelon had to clear his throat and gesture toward me before Oliver took the hint.

  Already annoyed with propriety, I cradled Shiksa and stood up slowly, brushing cold fingers over my travel-worn clothes. I wanted nothing more than a bath and an actual bed to sleep in tonight, but first I would have to play nice with the king and queen.

  I moved carefully toward the back of the wagon. Taelon held out his hand for me to take, but I ignored him. Placing a hand on Haemon’s shoulder, I stepped down from the wagon and faced Taelon’s childhood home.

  The Soravalian palace was located on the great cliffs of the Crystal Sea. I could hear the crashing of waves in the distance, and the wind carried its briny scent. The air glittered with salt.

  The palace itself was luminescent in the night, made from the shimmering silver stones found in the depths of the Crystal Sea. It pulled in the milky moonlight, creating a soft glow that stood out against the tall limestone walls surrounding it.

  A carpet had been laid out to lead us to the arced entrance. Soravalian guards lined either side, standing at perfect attention. Still, their gaze drifted to me as Taelon led the way inside.

  The crown stayed tucked in my satchel with Shiksa. I pressed my hands to my side to hide trembling nerves. Oliver trailed behind me, and Haemon behind him. We made a bedraggled, curious parade.

  Inside, the palace opened up to reveal elegant hallways and ornate decor. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling lit with golden candlelight and dripping sapphires. Tapestries on the wall boasted the Soravale coat of arms in rich blues and royal silvers. Guards were stationed everywhere, holding spears and wearing helmets that sat low over their eyes. They stood so still, they looked like toys. I had the impulse to see if I could tip one over with a touch of my finger.

  “This way, Your Highness,” Taelon’s voice pulled me fr
om my dangerous imagination. “The king and queen await you.”

  I momentarily forgot my vow of silence. “They know I’m here?”

  He held my gaze. “We sent a rider ahead.”

  I cleared my throat while fresh nerves assaulted my stomach. “Of course.”

  “Tess, I tried to spare you from this. I—”

  “Let’s not keep your parents waiting, Your Majesty. It is already the middle of the night.”

  His mouth pulled into a harsh slash, but he acquiesced and turned around.

  We walked past statues made in the image of King Hugo and Queen Anatal. Tapestries of the royal family, including Taelon and his younger brothers and sister adorned the walls.

  Taelon’s siblings resembled their Vorestran mother, with light hair and tanned skin. Unlike Taelon, who only inherited his eyes from his mother’s side. In every other way he was like his father. Dark hair, muscled frame, strong chin.

  The throne room loomed ahead. The carpet extended down the hallway and through the doors of the Great Hall.

  We paused just outside, waiting to be announced.

  Taelon leaned in, his heat covering my side. “Do you remember what to do, Princess?”

  I closed my eyes as memories filled my head of the only other time I’d been in this palace. Taelon’s eleven-year-old fingers intertwining with mine. “Do you know what to do, Princess?”

  I had been eight and my father had decided I should spend time with my future in-laws. I had been petrified and painfully shy. Hugo Treskinat was one of the most terrifying royals in the realm. And Queen Anatal was no less imposing.

  Taelon had held my hand the entire time. Our parents had been pleased we seemed to get along. And I had avoided grownups as often as possible so I wouldn’t be forced to speak to them.

  Taelon’s warm whisper cascaded over my ear. “Last time you were here, they had to pry you from the pantry before your welcoming ball. You were too terrified to dance.”

  “I can’t dance,” I told my muddied boots. “That has always been true.”

  Taelon’s low chuckle did funny things to my belly, but those butterflies transformed into razor-winged wasps when the squire announced, “The Crown Prince, Taelon Arrick Treskinat, Duke of Westnovia, Duke of Charshire, First Prince of Soravale and Tessana Hadlyn Allisand of the House of Extentia, lost Princess of Elysia.”