The High Mountain Court (The Five Crowns of Okrith Book 1)

by AK Mulford

  “Ugh, everything is a game to her. She’s arranged duels where the winner gets to promenade with me around the gardens, an archery tournament I must attend, and, oh, there’s this card game tomorrow night.” Neelo frowned. “Mother has long been in possession of a High Mountain ring.”

  “The Shil-de ring?” Hale mused.

  Neelo leveled him with a look and said, “Yes.”

  “Why would Queen Emberspear not wear it herself?” Remy asked. All eyes turned to her, and she instantly regretted speaking. It was not their goal to convince the queen to keep the ring.

  “Because it would take all the fun out of her revels if she knew the games of fire spinning and poison drinking could not harm her,” Carys cut in with an annoyed tone.

  “I’ve missed you Carys.” Neelo laughed morosely. Carys winked at Neelo. So the two of them knew each other too. Carys didn’t look like a Southern Court fae, but, now that Remy thought about it, the fae warrior had a hint of a Southern lilt. Her words always seemed to go up at the end of her sentences. Remy spoke all the three languages of Okrith: Ific, the common tongue, Mhenbic, the witch’s language, and Yexshiri, the native tongue of the High Mountain Court. “So she’s gambling away a priceless talisman for fun?” Remy furrowed her brow. All the eyes looked at her again. She should really stop talking. It was their goal to get this ring after all.

  “You mean rather than give it to her only child?” Neelo’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Yes. The Queen doesn’t think to the future or to whoever might possess the ring if it leaves the Southern Court.” Neelo looked to Hale again. “I know you’re terrible with cards, but you’re welcome to come.”

  Yes. An invitation.

  “You know I’m always up for a bit of fun.” Hale gave Neelo that charming smile of his. It did nothing to Neelo’s gloomy facial expression. Remy liked that. The prince’s charms did not work on the Heir of Saxbridge. It was nice to see him knocked down a peg.

  “It’s at nine o’clock at the Crownwood Parlor in Ruttmore,” Neelo said. “Come if you like.”

  The edge of the promenade led right under the café balcony. People lingered along it to gawk at them. The two heirs to the different thrones were far more fascinating than the gardens. Neelo looked to the group with a stony, tight face but bowed their head. The flustered group responded with flourished, deep bows to the heir. This was part of the royal world: bowing, simpering onlookers.

  A server arrived with a tray of steaming hot coffees in painted ceramic teacups. They placed a miniature mug before Remy. She looked at the thick black liquid inside. It smelled nutty and spicy, unlike anything she had smelled before. She looked around the table as the fae all picked up their delicate cups and began sipping. No one added cream or sugar like they did with tea, Remy noted. What was this strange elixir they called coffee?

  She lifted her cup and took the smallest sip. Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. The strong, bold flavor blasted over her tongue and down her throat. Bri chuckled at her as she took another sip. Remy wished they drank their coffee with cream and sugar to cover the bitterness. A pleasant warmth spread through her body though, along with an electrical current of sudden energy. She took another sip of the bold, revitalizing drink, its flavor more pleasant on the second try.

  Another server arrived and laid out a huge tray that ran the length of their table. A selection of breads and crackers ringed the edges of the tray while the middle held an assortment of dented copper bowls.

  Talhan pointed to the bright red sauce in the center. “Careful with that one,” he said to Remy with a wink.

  The Twin Eagles descended on the tray, grabbing crispy round crackers to scoop up food from the bowl of yellow potato and beans.

  Remy grabbed a triangle of soft, buttery bread and dipped it in a warm, thick mixture. She took a tentative bite. A spicy explosion of ginger, cumin, and chilies burst into her mouth. Remy had to force down the indecent noises she wanted to make. It tasted that good. These green witches may seem passive, but their magic was as powerful as any other. Remy felt like she was floating outside her body—the flavors dancing on her tongue pulled her into the clouds better than any alcohol she had ever drunk.

  “Good, right?” Talhan said through a greedy mouthful of food.

  Remy hummed happily as she bobbed her head and reached for another cracker.

  They sat eating and sipping coffee, delighting in the sunny splendor of the Southern Court for several hours. Plenty of time to get them noticed by all the highborn fae in the capital city. By the time a tray of little powdered cakes appeared in front of them, the sun was setting behind the garden’s distant palm trees. The sky was pink and orange, as if even the sun painted with more colors in the Southern Court.

  A string quartet had set up on the grass near the café, ready to entertain the evening crowds. The lively music mixed with the decadent food and balmy evening air. Remy felt even more overcome by the melodies as the coffee switched to honeyed wine. Her entire body felt like it was vibrating, every sense in her stretched to its fullest. She would never forget this moment in the Southern Court.

  Carys reached out and grabbed Remy’s hand, pulling her to stand. “Come on,” she said, her bright blue eyes twinkling at Remy. “Let’s go dance.”

  “I don’t know how to dance.” Remy yanked back on Carys’s arm, but the fae warrior merely tugged harder.

  “I will show you, it’s easy.” She laughed, swaying to the sounds. She was bubbly and loose from all that wine.

  Carys guided Remy down the marble steps of the café and onto the grass past the white gravel promenade. A few other fae had gathered here in front of the orchestra and were dancing in spirited couples. Carys wrapped her hand around Remy’s back and pulled Remy to stand in front of her.

  “I’ll lead.” Carys giggled. Her cheeks were rosy as she moved. The Southern Court was working its magic on her too. “Put your hand on my shoulder.”

  Remy did. Carys took her other hand and guided her into a simple box step.

  “I thought you didn’t know how to dance?” Carys asked as Remy followed her lead.

  “I don’t . . . not really,” Remy said, falling into a simple rhythm along to the slow tune. “I learned a little when I was a young child. I think it’s just muscle memory.”

  A few of the other couples circled closer for a better look. Carys simply offered them an effortless, if not slightly patronizing, smile.

  “Do you know them?” Remy whispered.

  “Some of them, yes,” Carys said through her smile. She twirled Remy further away from the onlookers, dipping Remy low with a laugh. “This will give them something to talk about.”

  “You used to live here?” Remy asked, clinging to Carys as she hoisted her onto her feet.

  “I grew up here,” Carys said. Remy squinted at her. “My parents were Northerners by blood but they both grew up here too . . . it’s a long story.”

  Remy pursed her bottom lip over her teeth. It probably wasn’t a long story, only one that Carys didn’t want to tell. The song slowed, and Carys spun Remy one more time before they both dropped into a bow to each other.

  Polite clapping sounded from around and above them. Remy looked up to see Bri, Talhan, and Hale leaning over the balustrade, watching the two of them. Hale’s white teeth gleamed as he smiled at them, but Remy could tell from her periphery that his eyes bored into her with an intensity that did not match that charming smile.

  The music picked up into a faster tune, and Carys swept Remy away from that intense look. She moved her in wide, arcing circles until Remy’s head was spinning. Her feet stumbled a few times at the quick, side-skipping steps. She kept pace, though, moving in time with the female fae, but Remy breathed a sigh of relief when the song slowed to its final notes. Panting from the exertion, she bowed to Carys again. Another round of polite clapping. She sensed Hale’s eyes upon her still, but she didn’t dare look his way.

  Talhan’s voice pulled them from beginning the next dance
.

  “Off to do some shopping. See you later,” he called to the two of them with a wink. They knew what he was off to buy: an item needed for the game tomorrow night. He turned to Neelo and said, “Care to join me?”

  “That would be a no, Tal,” Neelo said, their eyes glued back on the pages of their book. Talhan shrugged and kept walking.

  “Enough with this dancing,” Bri said, leaning on one elbow, effortlessly swinging her legs over the ledge and landing on her feet before them. “It’s time to train.”

  “What, here? Now?” Remy balked as Bri handed Remy a dagger and unsheathed her sword. It had been nearly a week since she had seen Bri. The training with Carys had been much less grueling.

  “Yes, here. Now.” Bri smirked. Her golden eyes also gleamed with too much honey wine. “Time to burn off all that coffee.”

  “I’m too full,” Remy groaned. The tight waistline to her dress felt like it was cutting into her. She should have stopped eating when it tightened, but the food was too good.

  Bri leaned in and said quietly, “We’re here to be noticed. Think of all the tales of the Eastern Prince’s ruffians sparring in the gardens.”

  Bri didn’t give Remy enough time to respond as she swung her sword. Remy lifted the dagger in her hand to block. The surrounding crowd gasped. The dancing couples around them moved out of the line of attack.

  Bri shoved Remy playfully. She hooted and ran down the promenade. Remy laughed, chasing after her. Carys was only a step behind, taking out her own sword as she ran. Bri leapt onto the lip of the reflection pool as Remy swung for her legs. Bri easily jumped the sword and swiped back at Remy. Carys entered the fray, and they took turns trading strikes and blocks. This wasn’t like their real training. Bri pulled every strike and Carys moved at half her usual speed. This was all for show. Remy couldn’t contain the laughter that erupted from her as they moved. She felt like a child chasing Fenrin around with a stick again.

  Carys leapt onto the edge of the reflection pool to attack Bri. The two parlayed, balancing along the thin stone. Remy couldn’t help the thought that crossed her mind. A little voice inside her nudged her to do it. She rushed forward, throwing out her red magic, causing the two fae to plummet into the reflection pool.

  Carys floundered when she hit the water and then popped back up, laughing so hard she didn’t make a sound. She dipped her hair into the water again to slick it back off her face.

  “You witch!” Bri shouted, though her wet face was still grinning. She turned to Remy. “What are you laughing at?” She yanked the red witch in with them.

  The cool water was welcome from the sultry evening air. Remy wiped back the hair stuck on her face. Her body shook with unstoppable laughter.

  The three of them sat there in shoulder-deep water on the smooth tiles of the pool. A whole crowd had gathered around the edge. Bri turned her golden amber eyes on them and they all scattered.

  “Ah, that was fun.” Carys smiled as her hands swirled idly through the water.

  Remy’s cheeks hurt from smiling. Her core felt like she had just done a hundred sit-ups. She had used her magic. In public. And no one had run away or screamed.

  She heard crunching gravel and looked over to see Hale standing with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking at the three of them.

  “Ladies,” he said as one cheek dimpled. “You put on quite a show.”

  “Care to join us?” Carys taunted, flicking water at him.

  “I think perhaps we should take a turn around the promenade to dry off a bit before calling a carriage back to Ruttmore.” Remy kept her eyes on the whorls of water as he spoke. “I don’t want to spend a bag of gold on compensating the carriage owner for ruining their upholstery.”

  Bri snorted but stood. Carys and Remy followed. As Remy moved to climb out of the pool, Hale’s hand appeared. He offered it out to her expectantly, and she reluctantly took it. After she climbed out of the pool, she moved to let go of his hand but he said, “Walk with me.”

  She wasn’t sure if it was a request or command as he released her hand and offered his elbow. Remy felt the eyes of people on her and knew she shouldn’t refuse. She took his arm and let him guide her down the long walk, leaving a trail of dripping water in her wake.

  Chapter Eleven

  If they had been in the West, Remy would be freezing. Her wet dress clinging to her curves would have made her shiver. The slightest breeze would have made her teeth chatter.

  But in the Southern Court . . .

  The warm air twined around her legs. The evening breeze danced with the floral scent of night-blooming flowers. And the Prince of the Eastern Court radiated heat all along her right-hand side.

  The fabric of her dress was light and quick-drying. Remy welcomed the darkening night as she feared her dress might be sheer when wet. The trail of dripping water behind her had long stopped as they crunched their way down the white gravel promenade.

  They walked in tense silence for many paces. Remy pretended she was looking at all the unusual tropical plants, but she was aware of those gray eyes upon her. They entered a smaller path that snaked its way through large bushes with waxy leaves and maroon flowers. It was darker on this trail. The umbrella-shaped trees obscured the last light of the setting sun. Tea light lanterns were lit at regular intervals along the path. Remy wondered if there was a servant lighting candles up ahead, even still. How many tiny candles did they have to light every night? These were questions the fae probably never asked themselves.

  The parrots nesting in the palm trees were quiet now, only the softest tittering as they settled to sleep. In the silence she heard Hale’s slow, steady breaths. She could hear her own heart beating through her ears. She knew keenly that no other eyes could see them now. They were alone.

  “You’ve been avoiding me,” Hale said to the night air. Remy thought it would be a relief for one of them to speak, but now she wished for that awkward silence again.

  “That’s ridiculous. I am right here, holding your arm,” she replied, giving too much of her attention to the yellow-leafed shrub illuminated by a lantern.

  “You haven’t looked me in the eye since the night of the full moon,” Hale said.

  Ah yes. That night.

  Four witch hunters had nearly killed Remy. The past weeks of training with Bri and Carys had helped her nerves some. Though she wasn’t planning on dueling with four fae males anytime soon, she felt like at least she knew how to hold a weapon now. Remy knew the attack wasn’t what Hale was talking about. It was what happened after on the trail around Silver Sands Harbor and in that cabin after the full moon had whispered her mother’s words to her. Something had shifted between them, something intangible that the harder Remy tried to grasp, the more it evaded her. She wasn’t sure what that feeling was, but it frightened her to know that Hale felt it too.

  “I think we should head back,” Remy said, peeling her arm off Hale’s. She was doing precisely what he had accused her of: avoiding him. But she didn’t care. She made one quick step down the path and Hale caught her hand.

  “Remy.” The weight of him wielding that word felt like a boulder on her chest. “Look at me.”

  Remy relented, looking up into those smoky gray eyes. She felt her emotions pull in every direction. It was new, thrilling, terrifying and yet also . . . familiar, comforting. Her chest tightened. She wasn’t sure how many disparate feelings she could hold at once. She wondered if anyone else ever felt that way, like they were free falling every time they looked into a person’s eyes.

  Not any person. Just this one person.

  Remy didn’t know how to look at him. She wasn’t sure how much he saw. She wondered if Hale felt that same pull looking into her brown eyes, if he’d get trapped falling into the flecks of green. She tried to keep her expression determinedly neutral, if not slightly perturbed.

  The dimples flashed on Hale’s cheeks, but his voice filled with gravel as he simply said, “Hi.”

  How could she feel that
one syllable word echoing through her entire body? The things that sound did to her.

  “Hi,” she replied breathlessly.

  It had to be the Southern Court and the honey wine. The food and drink, the sweet smells, the warm air: it had made her drunk on revelry. She had danced in the twilight, dueled in a fountain, and now she wanted to kiss a prince in a hidden garden. But it was not her doing, it was all the magic of the Southern Court, she reassured herself.

  Hale looked down to where their fingers still interlocked.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “For that night and for what I said. I’ve wanted to apologize every day since, but you’ve been keeping away from me.”

  “I . . . ,” Remy said, struggling to find the words she wanted to say.

  “That day really frightened me,” Hale said. “More than I was willing to admit. And I felt responsible—feel responsible, for your safety.”

  “Right.” A long-held breath escaped Remy’s lips. He was feeling guilty about the attack. That’s what he had meant.

  “I pulled you into this,” Hale said. “I asked you to come with us. I made you put yourself in danger and I promised I would protect you.”

  “You have protected me. You did protect me,” Remy said. Hale shook his head like he wouldn’t believe it was true. “And Bri and Carys are helping me to take care of myself.”

  “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Hale said. “You were brave and powerful before their training too. You fought off those fae. If there had been even one fewer, you would have dispatched them all.”

  She noted the way he said dispatched. He did not want to say kill. But she had killed one of them, and he had killed the rest. It still bothered her, the fact that she had killed that fae. Training with Bri had not lessened that feeling, but it had taught her that the feeling was okay. All warriors carried the ghosts of those they killed with them. Bri made it okay to feel powerful, to know that she would kill again if it came to it.

  “You better watch out.” Remy tried to lighten the tone. “I won’t need much protecting after another few sessions with them.”