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

by Rachel Higginson

  “And yet I am not the one that saved you.” His hand circled my wrist and he wiggled it until I felt the weight of the sword still gripped in my hand. “You seem to have done that all on your own.”

  My lips turned upward in a shaky smile. “I told you, Rebel King. The Brotherhood was very thorough with my education.”

  “As they should have been. They were charged with educating the future Queen of the Realm after all.”

  That was the second time he’d said that. Hope blossomed in my chest as fast as anything I’d ever felt. “What do you mean, Taelon?”

  He leaned in, dropping his forehead to mine. “The council has given their verdict. They’ve decided your fate.”

  My fist landed on his chest. I knew what it was, but I needed to hear him say it.

  His mouth spread wide in a proud smile. “You are who you say you are. Tessana Allisand, the Lost Princess, has returned home. You are to be crowned as soon as arrangements can be made. Your future is as Queen of this Realm, Tessa. As the first Queen to rule the Seat of Power.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned into him, overwhelmed and overjoyed. Hot tears pricked at my eyes and I could hardly breathe.

  “You did it, Tessa.”

  I shook my head. “No, not on my own. Your testimony. Taelon, you risked so much. I don’t know how to say thank you.”

  “Don’t, then. I did what needed to be done, that is all.”

  I opened my eyes and pulled back. Staring at that handsome face, I let myself get lost in this boy that had once saved my life, that had grown into a man that continued to save my life, and continued to do what was best for the nine kingdoms. “I am glad to know the man you’ve become,” I whispered to him, emotion clogging my throat. “I’m glad to know that you are as great and respectable and handsome as I’d always known you would be.”

  “You think I’m handsome?”

  I laughed, emotion bouncing through me after everything that had happened over the last few months and this announcement and almost dying at the hands of a crazed guard. “Honestly?” He nodded eagerly. “In my heart of hearts, I think you’re obnoxious.”

  His smile died and he glanced at the doorway. Our private moment was about to be interrupted.

  “There is one more thing,” he insisted.

  “What is it?” Fear pelted my nerves.

  “Your uncle,” Taelon whispered. “The council has continued his regency until your twenty-first birthday. They’re giving the realm to you, but not until you’re ready for it.”

  My mind spun. “King Regent? But he’ll still be in charge!”

  “He is to guide you, Tessa. He is to show you the ways of being a monarch and how to rule the realm. He is still King. But one day…” His hands gently cupped my face. “One day you shall be Queen.” The corner of his lips lifted softly. “And in the meantime, maybe you could guide him as well. In the ways of kindness and goodness. In the way of fearlessness.”

  No matter what had happened up until today, no matter how many brushes with death I’d faced or people that refused to acknowledge my bloodline, this man believed me.

  And I knew him to be the greatest man in the realm.

  A whimpering at my feet drew my attention. “Shiksa!” Pushing away from Taelon I scooped my foxling up and cradled her against my chest. “Oh, you brave thing. Are you okay?” Fresh tears wet my lashes as her head rolled from one side to the other.

  “What happened?” Taelon demanded.

  “She saved my life.” I looked up at him. “Twice.”

  He grinned at me. “So, the little fox and I do have a few things in common.”

  I ignored him. “Will she be all right?”

  He felt her body, moving his hands gently over her. After a minute he said, “She’ll recover. She’s beat up. But not broken.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief just in time for Tyrn and a host of other sovereigns to appear in the doorway. The royals cried out as they absorbed the aftermath of Crenshaw’s attack, astonished by the mess and rain still flooding my room.

  “What happened here?” Tyrn demanded.

  Taelon stepped away from me and faced the council. “Your guard,” he explained. “Your master guard tried to kill the future queen.”

  “Crenshaw would never,” Tyrn said. “You’re mistaken.”

  “Look around, Your Majesty,” Taelon dared. “She barely escaped.”

  “And what happened to Crenshaw?”

  I gestured toward the thunderstorm. “He jumped out the window.”

  As questions started flying at me, I realized that Conandra was my life now—I would always be on trial. Maybe not literally, but with these people I would always have questions to answer and an identity to prove. I wasn’t just a future Queen of Elysia, but Queen of the Realm. My quest had finally ended.

  But the journey to becoming queen was just beginning.

  31

  “You summoned me?” I asked as I swept into a mediocre curtsy. Apparently, I was more out of practice with court decorum than I had originally believed.

  My uncle raised his head from where a footman held papers for his inspection. His expression was one of undisguised disdain, but whether it was for my ugly curtsy or my overall wellbeing, I could not say. The Crown of Nine sat upon his head.

  But it would be mine soon enough.

  “Tessana,” he murmured. “I’ve been waiting.”

  “I was exploring the castle grounds. I understand that your guards had trouble finding me.”

  He frowned. “You are meant to be queen. You cannot go traipsing off where no one can find you. You of all people should know this. Let the guards do their job and protect you.”

  “Yes, Uncle.”

  I sounded docile and obedient, but in fact, I would not trust my safety with guards, even Elysian ones, ever again. Not after Crenshaw. Not after his body had yet to be found.

  Tyrn didn’t believe me the day it happened, and he was no closer to believing me now. He explained Crenshaw’s absence as regrettable, but not threatening. Tyrn believed, or claimed to believe, that Crenshaw couldn’t stand the idea of transferring his loyalty to a different ruler of the realm and so he’d defected.

  I could agree that Crenshaw hated the idea of me being queen. But it wasn’t defection. It had been an attempted assassination. Not that I could convince my uncle to care about such trivial matters as my life.

  Meanwhile, my uncle and I had formed a sort of unspoken truce. Since the verdict, he’d tolerated my existence and stopped threatening to throw me in the dungeons. But I was not fooled. He would not give me the Crown of Nine willingly. And until it was securely on my head, I would never trust him again.

  I had moved to my old room, which was both sweet and difficult. It was nearly the same as when I’d left it. My bed still bore the same rose silk bedding. My toys had been locked up in a wardrobe, but the furniture was the same. The drapes were the same.

  I’d ordered new bedding and furniture coverings, but I’d left my toys where they were. One day I wanted to be strong enough to go through them. But I hoped to not have to go through them alone.

  “Have you had any word on Katrinka?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” Tyrn sighed. “But I’m sure Maksim has only just arrived home. He’ll send word on your sister when he finds time.”

  Over the last three weeks I’d learned that Brahm had smuggled Katrinka to Barstus the same day my family had been murdered, as soon as the royal guard had found her. He’d claimed it was for her protection, that if the assassins had known she lived they would have come back for her.

  My uncle had kept her there, out of his way and out of the kingdom she belonged to. King Maksim and Queen Oleska had been raising her in secret ever since and to my knowledge had no plans of ever revealing her identity or existence to the realm. There was more that they weren’t telling me, more to Katrinka’s exile and cover-up. But I would wait until Katrinka arrived before I condemned anyone.

  No one other than
Tyrn and the royal family in Barstus had known she was alive until Conandra. Well, and Brahm Havish, who was now sitting in a prison cell after his appearance and testimony at the trial.

  I had not been allowed to see him since they locked him away. Not for lack of trying.

  Tyrn claimed to have kept Katrinka a secret for the same reason I stayed in hiding— to protect her. I couldn’t believe him. Not after everything. But, again, I would wait to decide more when she arrived.

  As for my sister, I could hardly believe that I would get to see her again. It was all I could think about these days and the excitement buzzed through me relentlessly.

  I would often close my eyes and imagine what she looked like, of how she’d grown, of the woman she’d become. My uncle had promised to send for her. And I had decided that if he did not keep his promise, I would go after her myself.

  Although the wait was killing me.

  I had written a letter telling her how urgently I wished to be with her again. But I’d asked that she only come if she wanted to. I knew how jarring it was to realize the sister you had thought dead was alive.

  “If you have no word of Katrinka, then why have you summoned me, Uncle?” I asked when I could stand being ignored no longer.

  He sighed impatiently again but lifted his gaze to focus on me. “I wanted to inform you that Ravanna Presydia will be residing with us as my guest. She has graciously agreed to take you on as a student and teach you the proper ways to be a queen.”

  Unease tickled the back of my neck. “But I thought you were going to do that?” I didn’t trust my uncle, but I trusted Ravanna even less.

  Gunter’s warning echoed in my head, as did Crenshaw’s, and I knew that even after Conandra, the Crown of Nine was still in danger.

  Tyrn laughed without humor. “And what do I know of being queen? Ravanna is the only queen in the realm that controls her own kingdom. And her own army. You should consider yourself fortunate to have her tutelage.”

  “I have tutors,” I reminded him. “And teachers and instructors and masters. I do not need another.”

  His pale blue eyes flashed. “You do need a teacher. You especially need a mentor. And a husband. Your tongue moves without restraint. That will never suit you as Queen. When Ravanna is finished with you, you’ll need a man to help temper your shortsightedness.”

  “A husband?” I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. No. No no no no no.

  He held my gaze with a challenging glare. “Yes, a husband. The council wants to see you married as soon as possible. Your coronation will be the perfect opportunity to start looking for someone suitable.”

  “Uncle, you can’t be serious!”

  “I’m quite serious. You will have a husband within the year if you want the realm to take you seriously.”

  “Because I’m a queen and not a king? I don’t think the realm will have trouble—”

  “Because you are not a woman but a girl. Because you are not yet a queen, you are only a princess. One that has not even been crowned. Because this realm is looking for strength and unity and solidarity and you are a child that goes traipsing through the woods without a care in the world, as if the butterflies will protect her from all those waiting to slit her throat. If you want to be queen of this realm, Tessana Allisand, you must grow up. You must act like a queen. A husband will help with that.”

  I let out a slow breath. My uncle could search for a husband all he wanted, but I would have the final say in whom and when I married.

  And it would not be within the year.

  When I did not reply, he flicked his hand toward the doors. “Off you go. I’ll see you at supper.”

  I curtsied one last time and turned from the Seat of Power that would one day be mine.

  “There you are.”

  I lifted my gaze from my gold slippers to the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. “Taelon.”

  “I’ve been looking for you,” he smiled.

  “You and half the guards.”

  “What?”

  I shook my head. “Is everything all right?”

  “It’s time for me to go,” he murmured.

  My heart dropped to my toes and I felt like crying. The monarchs had been slowly dispersing over the last few weeks. The Treskinats were one of the last families still here. They were to leave today.

  I would miss them dearly.

  I had already said goodbye to his parents, but I hadn’t been able to find Taelon when I searched for him earlier. “It is quite strange, isn’t it?” I asked him. “We spent the past eight years separated, but this time it feels more final than the last.”

  His lips pressed into a frown. “But it isn’t. I shall be back in a few months for your coronation.”

  I nodded. “Yes, I know. We’ll see each other again.” My heart pounded. I was right. This time was more final.

  He was going home to his kingdom and his crown. His future. And I was staying here. With my kingdom. With my crown. With my future.

  I closed my eyes and pictured him as Rebel King once more. I had known things were impossible then, but not entirely. Because he wasn’t responsible to anyone. As Crown Prince of Soravale, he was responsible to an entire kingdom of people.

  “Tessa,” he murmured, leaning into me. “What is it?”

  “I’m to marry soon,” I confessed. “My uncle says we will begin searching for the right husband at my coronation. A queen should be married. Especially one that rules the realm.”

  Taelon’s body tensed. “I will not be gone long, Tessa. Remember that while your uncle fills your head with all the things a future queen should and should not do.”

  He stepped into me until we were only an inch apart. I felt consumed with his body heat, with the masculine scent of him, with everything that was Taelon Treskinat, future king of Soravale.

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  He leaned closer. “Gunter is here while I am away. Your uncle might loathe his presence but know that the Cavolian has pledged his loyalty to you. He will not let anything happen to you while I’m away.”

  “And what of Eret?” I whispered. The temporary rebel commander had been thrown in the dungeons after his promise of fidelity to me. My uncle had not cared a bit that the rebels swore an oath to the crown and to the realm. I had visited him more than I should have. He was not suffering too badly, but I knew he longed for his freedom. “My uncle is determined to make him regret his pledge.”

  A flicker of a smile flashed over Taelon’s mouth. “Don’t worry about Eret. He will be free soon enough.”

  I didn’t ask any more questions.

  It was best if I didn’t know.

  “I will be back, Tessa,” he murmured. “Don’t forget about me while I’m gone.”

  My breath trembled in my lungs. “I could never,” I whispered. “I would never.”

  His lips brushed over my mouth in a fluttering kiss that was over before it began and his fingers traced the line of the pendant I still wore around my neck. “Until we meet again, Stranger.”

  “Stay out of trouble, Rebel King.”

  He pulled back and graced me with a dazzling smile. “Never.”

  Then he was gone, stalking down the corridor with power in each step and the air of a royal thick around him. I watched, unable to tear my eyes off him until he was out of sight.

  Oliver’s voice broke into my wandering thoughts. “He’s gone, Tess. You can stop staring longingly at the hallway like a lovesick toad.”

  I turned to my friend. “Aren’t you supposed to be working harder on your vows, Oliver the Silent?”

  His grin greeted me. “Perhaps,” he allowed. “But I’d much rather have a conversation with my friend, the Queen, then worry about vows waiting for me half a kingdom away.”

  “I’m not Queen yet.”

  “That is a coincidence.” He linked his arm with mine and tugged me down the corridor. Guards stepped into our wake. Supposedly they were protecting me, but this felt little different than when I’d been
on trial. Oliver continued. “Because I am not yet a monk.”

  “That is a coincidence,” I agreed. “We both seem to be waiting on rather large destinies.”

  “And while we wait, we should probably get into as much trouble as possible.”

  I laughed. “Agreed!”

  We talked all the way to my rooms. Oliver was no longer posing as a Soravalian servant. He was in residence as my invited guest.

  We had sent word to Father Garius that my quest was complete and that he could soon expect an invitation to the coronation. Until then, Oliver would stay with me and help me adjust to palace life. It wasn’t easy.

  I found it especially troubling to not have anything expected of me. I often tried to help with chores and cooking, but both maids and cooks would chase me off. I had classes and responsibilities, but nothing that truly challenged my mind.

  Just like the last eight years, Oliver was the only thing keeping me sane.

  “Let’s get Shiksa,” he suggested, “and steal some tartlets from the kitchen. She loves the cherry ones.”

  “Because you spoil her with them!”

  He paused in the hallway, “Here she is now.”

  I bent down to scoop her up. She was just now back to her old self, able to leap from bed to wardrobe and back to the ground again with all the energy a pup of her age should have. “How did you get out here, little one?” She curled into my arms, her claws digging protectively into my sleeve.

  “Tessana,” Oliver warned.

  We stepped into my room and I gasped. The place had been destroyed. Bedding had been ripped to shreds. Clothing had been torn and thrown on the floor. Paintings had been sliced down the middle and furniture had been chopped to pieces.

  “Dragon’s blood,” I cursed. The guards peered in behind me and quickly got to work summoning the rest of the royal guard to investigate.

  I shared a look with Oliver and he murmured, “Never a dull moment with you.”

  I blinked at the room, unable to process what this meant. “Look,” I whispered.

  “What is that?” He walked to the center of the room and picked up a long black feather.

  “This isn’t over,” I heard myself say. “They won’t stop until I’m dead.”