Taelon lifted one eyebrow. “Is it a crime to speak an opinion now? Perhaps Elysia has made yet another law and forgotten to inform the rest of the nine kingdoms?”
The guard sneered at him. “No, it is not a crime. Although it should be.”
Taelon sighed. “Well, then you are welcome to petition the king about that, but for now, we will be on our way.”
The guard reluctantly backed off.
“Are you all right?” Taelon asked.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m anxious to get going. Did you have any problems with the guards?”
He jerked his chin. “No more than usual.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but he held his hand out to me and motioned toward the carriage. “We should be on our way, before they try to detain us longer.”
“Will it take long to reach Sarasonet?”
His fingers tightened on mine. “We should reach the capital city by sunset tomorrow if we make no extra stops.”
I nodded, hoping to hide the tremble that shivered through me. Of course, Taelon noticed. He turned me to face him.
His voice dropped and he leaned in. “Tessa, you have only to say the word and I will race you back to Desmondin.”
I held his gaze, regretting the emotion I knew flashed over my face. “I have to go home. No matter how afraid I am. No matter what I will face. The guard, this wall… this journey has done nothing but solidify my resolve.”
“If you change your mind, even if we are on the palace steps, my offer still stands.”
I smiled, I couldn’t help it. “Thank you.”
His answering smile was brief but tender. I felt it move through me, setting butterflies to riot in my belly.
He let go of my hand and I breathed in renewed peace. Yes, I had fears and reservations. I had doubts and so many insecurities I thought they would choke me. But I also had Taelon.
23
I felt like weeping when we rode into Sarasonet. The former glory of the capital city had all but been erased.
The Elysia of my childhood was a collage of waving white and gold banners atop pointed roofs in the villages and towns spread out along the mountainside. The streets were steep and from a distance, the houses and shops seemed built on top of each other.
I remembered looking down at Sarasonet from the palace towers and counting the flags and banners as they waved in the wind. On holidays, the villagers would add more colors, representing the festival. During the Days of Light, pink banners would wave next to orange flags. Over the First Night of Winter, navy blue banners with gold etching and white embroidery would be tied to the point.
The wind gusted sharply this high in the mountains, so the flags always seemed to have a life of their own. They danced and fought the whipping wind.
But as we moved through Sarasonet, not a flag could be found. The tiles of the shop rooftops were sad and worn. The streets were not kept. Trash blew from one side of the road to the other while our horses picked over the steep terrain.
We rode by the well in the center of the city, a place that was once the heartbeat of the village, now abandoned and void of life. Unlike the village we’d driven by at the border, the people in Sarasonet did come to watch us as we passed. They did not smile or wave or shout their hellos. They merely glared at us.
More doubts piled on. How had things changed so drastically in the last eight years? Was I only remembering what I wanted to see? Had things truly been as bright and jovial as my nine-year-old mind pictured?
Oliver whistled through his teeth. “This cannot be right. This cannot be the capital of the realm.”
“Something’s happened,” I announced. “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
“I think you misunderstand, Tessana. Something is happening. But not just to Elysia. This, whatever this is, is overtaking the entire realm. It looks as though you’ve arrived just in time.”
A weight descended over me. “I think you’re right.”
Just then, a raven landed on the top of the nearest building. I jumped when it cawed. I felt its beady-eyed stare follow us down the road, even though I knew it couldn’t see me through the distorted, hazy glass.
“Have you noticed all the birds along the way?” I asked Oliver when I was sure he would hear me.
“Mmm,” he grunted. “There have been a few. And all of the same breed.” He had been leaning back with arms folded over his chest, but now he pressed into the window to watch another few ravens hopping from rooftop to rooftop. “Heprin didn’t seem to be overrun with them. Are they mountain birds?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. I suppose they could be. But I remember them from Tenovia and Soravale as well.”
“Are they crows?”
“Ravens, I think.”
He looked at me. “What’s the difference between a crow and a raven?”
I shrugged as the carriage rolled to a stop. “I have no idea. But I know these are ravens.”
“How do you know?”
I sighed impatiently. “I don’t know how I know. I just do. I’ve dreamt about them. And in my dreams, I always know they’re ravens.”
Oliver’s gaze narrowed. “How scientific of you.”
I stuck out my tongue at him and that was the precise moment the carriage door opened.
The footman, unamused, cleared his throat. “The Palace Extentia,” he announced.
It was my turn to clear my throat. “Thank you,” I answered primly.
I straightened my traveling gown and pressed shaking hands to my hair. I wished for time to change, freshen my face, and gather my wits. But there was none.
I shared one last look with Oliver, knowing this would be the last time I spoke with him for a while. He would not be allowed to see Tyrn, and so he had to stay with Taelon’s people until I could summon him.
I hated leaving him. I hated even more that he’d come all this way only to have to wait outside like a servant.
“Be smart,” he whispered as I stood. “Only take the heads of those who most deserve it.”
I smiled. “I’ll try,” I promised. “But you know how I like collecting heads.”
He winked at me one last time. I descended the stairs, feeling marginally more confident. Taelon waited for me on the ground. His cheeks were wind-whipped and tanned and his hair tumbled over his head in wild waves. His clothing was much like mine, dirty from travel, slightly askew, and not nearly proper enough to enter court. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen.
He held his hand out to me and we entered the castle proper. Servants lined the carpet leading inside and down the hallway as a different footman led Taelon and me into the foyer with Haemon and a handful of guards trailing in our wake.
Memories flooded my mind and made each step harder to take.
I remembered running these halls as a child, chasing my older brothers as they teased me about my wild hair. I remembered holding my mama’s hand as she walked me from one task to the other. She was always smiling, always gracious with the servants.
“Give them your best, Tessana,” she would whisper in my ear. “And they shall give you theirs.”
I remembered playing dollies with my little sister and making beds out of the drawers of chests. Sometimes we would steal flowers from the vases dotting the corridors and make our dollies hair wreaths. Sometimes we would braid them into our own hair.
And sometimes we would leave them for our mother to find.
I remembered my father’s heavy footsteps as he strode down the halls. I imagined them right now, walking toward us, ready to greet his distinguished guests.
And Taelon would have been distinguished.
Any member of any of the nine royal families would be cause for my father to greet them at the entrance to his palace. Because he was courteous and kind and deserving of the crown.
And yet, Tyrn had not deigned Taelon worthy of his greeting. We were told we’d be taken to the throne room where “His Majesty would give
us a brief audience before retiring for the evening.”
Anger burned within me. I was offended on Taelon’s behalf. It was a slight for Tyrn to ignore the potential importance of Taelon’s visit. Not offering Taelon a dinner invitation was another rebuff.
If this was any indication of how Tyrn ran the realm, I could see why the villages we’d passed were falling into such monumental disrepair.
My boots clicked against the polished floor and my grip tightened on Taelon’s arm, who didn’t seem surprised by the rude greeting or behavior of the palace staff.
We passed side tables and gleaming candelabra that had been in the Allisand family for centuries. Unlike the countryside we’d driven through, the palace had remained pristine.
The throne room was near the center of the palace, away from the hub of activity. The footman led us to the doors and whispered Taelon’s name to the herald. Before I could build my courage and take a full breath, the herald swept the door open and announced our presence.
“The Crown Prince Taelon Treskinat, Duke of Westnovia, Royal General of Soravale.” He paused for dramatic effect, and finished with, “And distinguished guest.”
Taelon squeezed my arm and pulled me into the throne room as I came to terms with “distinguished guest.”
Soon enough we were standing in the middle of the ornate room, beneath a chandelier dripping with diamonds.
I glanced at the stained-glass windows depicting battles and the kings that came before my father, and at the people moving silently around the room dressed in all their finery.
The floor was polished marble, sparkling with flecks of diamonds worked into the gold and ivory swirls. Wall sconces were evenly spaced around the room, hanging with the same diamond netting that adorned the chandeliers. Chairs plated with pure gold and upholstered with white fur provided rows of spectator seating. The royal guard surrounded the room, dressed in their white and gold finery, gilded spears in their right hands, lethal swords resting on their hips.
I looked up as my uncle staggered from the throne that had once belonged to my father. It had mesmerized me as a child and even now stole my breath. A great ruby protruded from the center of the high back. Diamonds spread out in either direction and down the arms.
The ruby matched the smaller version set in the crown I carried.
Both gems were said to have been pulled from deep inside this mountain. They were to remind everyone that gazed upon them of the bloodshed before our peace. They were rumored to have been the only colored gemstone within any of the Diamond Mountains. The pagans believed that the rubies held mystical powers that would keep the Nine Kingdoms united as long as both gemstones remained in the same place. The religion of the Light taught that they had been placed there by the Light Itself.
I looked at my uncle, who stared at me with horror. I had always found him intimidating. He was excessively tall and thick across the chest. His features were not as refined as my father’s had been, and he did not carry the same presence.
He was not a kind man.
I had once heard him publicly berate a servant for not polishing his boots to his liking. My uncle threatened to have him thrown in the dungeon the next time Tyrn woke up to boots looking like “pig piss.”
Now, as he looked at me as if I were the devil incarnate, I felt my skin crawl.
“You’re dead,” he declared. He jolted unevenly down the steps to the main floor. “I buried you myself. You are dead.”
I could not find my voice. I had not expected him to know who I was. And I had truly not expected to have to defend my being alive.
Since I could not speak, Taelon spoke for me, “Your Majesty, I know this comes as quite the shock. Believe me, I was as surprised as you, but if you would list—”
“You are dead!” Tyrn yelled in my face. “How can this be? How can you be here?” He glanced around wildly, seemingly searching for someone in particular. “What sorcery is this? Who is responsible for this apparition?”
“Sir,” Taelon tried harder. “If you would listen, I could explain—”
Tyrn stepped up to Taelon, “You brought this creature here! You summoned her from the abyss of Denamon to take the throne from me! I will have your head, boy! I will mount it on a stick outside the wall so that every kingdom will see that I am the one who sits on the Seat of Power!”
Frantic, I reached for my uncle’s elbow and shouted, “Uncle Tyrn!” He stilled, his words dying in his throat. I tried again, “Uncle Tyrn, if you would only listen, we could explain to you—”
“Uncle Tyrn?” he asked, his eyebrows rising. “Did you say Uncle Tyrn?”
“I did,” I confessed breathlessly. “You are my uncle. And I can assure you I am quite alive.”
The violent energy raging through him died to chilling confusion. I was no less afraid now than when he’d been about to lay his hands on Taelon. “Who are you, then, that you should call me uncle?”
“Tessana. I am your sister’s daughter, Tessana Hadlyn Allisand, oldest daughter to the hundredth king of Elysia.”
His raspy whisper seemed to be dragged from his throat. “It cannot be.”
My voice broke with desperation. “It is I. On the day my parents were murdered a monk rescued me from the palace. I have been living in secret for these last eight years.”
“Where?” he demanded.
I swallowed, feeling as though I’d said too much. “Heprin. I’ve been living in a monastery in Heprin.”
His harsh laugh was unexpected. “In a monastery? Well of course you have! No one would ever think to look in a monastery!”
I swallowed back a fresh wave of panic.
He stepped back and raised his voice so the whole room could hear. “You expect me to believe that you were kidnapped from this palace by a monk from Heprin. Living in total secrecy for the last eight years? And now, you have decided to emerge from hiding and reveal your existence. Now, after I have believed you to be dead for the better part of this last decade. Now after the wounds from losing my sister have finally closed, you have appeared to rip them open and cause me fresh grief?”
If he felt sorrow for my mother’s death, he did not show it. And while he might not have felt the anguish like a hot blade in his gut, I did. I ignored Taelon’s tight grip on my elbow and said in a low voice, “I can prove it.”
Tyrn leaned in. He had pale blue eyes the color of ice, hard as the diamonds that adorned the crown on his head. “Then by all means, Tessana Hadlyn Allisand, prove it.”
I let go of Taelon’s arm, immediately regretting the separation. My whole body trembled as I felt every eye in the room boring into me. My uncle hovered over me, his gaze as cruel and bitter as his words.
I needed to proceed carefully. When my uncle mistook me for my mother, he had made it very clear that he would not have the crown taken from him.
And that was, in fact, what I’d come to do.
I reached into my satchel. My numb fingers found the hidden clasp, opened the false bottom, then wrapped around the Crown of Nine.
Energy hummed beneath my skin and that familiar buzzing I felt every time I touched this precious gold filled my body. There was something inside this crown, something otherworldly and mystical. Magic had been banned for longer than I had been alive, but if I didn’t know better, I could easily believe this crown held powers, held magic that should not exist. I pulled the unmistakable crown from my bag and held it for my uncle to see.
The room echoed with a collective gasp. Chairs pushed back as people rushed to stand. But I focused on my uncle’s reaction, which was greed and depthless hunger and an equally otherworldly need.
His hands twitched and I braced myself for his attack, even while my grip around the crown tightened. He leaned forward and I saw the truth of his nature. He would take the crown. He would rip it from my hands if he had to.
Taelon stepped swiftly in front of me. His hand fell to the hilt of his sword and I held my breath.
“You recognize the Crow
n of Nine,” Taelon declared over the din of voices. “Who else would have had access to it since the day it went missing? You mistook her for her mother when you first saw her. Your Majesty, this is Tessana Allisand of the house of Extentia.”
Tyrn stepped forward, closing the distance between the crown and himself. “The Allisands are dead,” he argued. “Every last one of them. And that crown belongs to me.”
Taelon’s entire body tensed, readying for a fight. I felt Haemon and the other guards come to life behind us. “It belongs to the Allisands.”
“It belongs to me!” Tyrn bellowed. “Guards! Fetch me my crown and throw these imposters in the dungeon where they can rot for the rest of time!”
“You will have war if you touch me!” Taelon shouted back. “My father will tear this kingdom apart piece by piece until there is nothing left for you to rule!”
I grappled for a solution. This hadn’t gone exactly like I had planned.
Actually, it had gone nothing like I’d planned.
“Bring your war!” Tyrn’s face turned a blotchy red and his entire body shook. “You will not make it beyond my wall!”
“Conandra!” I shouted above the two men about to tear each other to pieces.
The room fell silent. Just like that. Taelon’s shoulders sagged with defeat and my uncle’s shrewd eyes fell on me again. “What did you say?” he asked.
I held my chin high, “I called for Conandra.”
“Do you even understand what you’re asking for, child?”
“If you ignore who I am and take this crown from me, you will have war,” I told him. “After all of these witnesses saw me and after you yourself mistook me for my mother and your sister, word will spread and the entire kingdom will be infected with doubt. However, should you enter into Conandra, culpability is removed from your shoulders. The council will decide if I am who I say I am. If this crown belongs to me or to you. And when they decide, then you can either peacefully forfeit the throne to me or…” I struggled to say this last part. It was too much. Too wrong. “Or, I shall be the one that forfeits the crown to you.”
He leaned in, a smile lifting the corners of his thin mouth. “Very well, Niece, Conandra it is.”
Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1) Page 21