Holiday Crown

by Nikki Jefford

  “I’m staying right here.” Steel entered Malon’s voice, sending an icy wave of uncertainty crashing over me.

  Ryo laughed. “How do you figure that? You have no weapon, and you’re outnumbered. I doubt you could fight a toddler in your condition.”

  Malon’s teeth gleamed when he smiled. “I don’t need a weapon. I have your son, Lark, and your niece.” He looked briefly in my direction before returning to Ryo.

  I had to hold back a scream. Not Fraya! Not my baby girl.

  Malon leaned forward, his cruel gaze shooting down at Ryo. “If anything happens to me, my accomplice will stick a dagger in Lark’s heart. Then again, maybe you don’t care. I hear the golden prince isn’t even yours. Sharing a female—an elf—you really are a lost cause, Brother.” This time Malon did manage to sneer.

  Taking a step forward, Ryo snarled up at the blackguard. “What is it you want?”

  Malon leapt to his feet, giving us all a start. “I want my brother Albedo back, you cretin! Dahlquist was his birthright. Since he’s no longer alive to claim his rightful title, I will ensure that his son does.”

  All mouths gaped open.

  “Son? What son? Albedo wasn’t mated long enough to father a child,” Ryo said.

  Malon grinned. “He was virile enough to impregnate his mate with twins in one night.”

  Albedo’s widow had twins? Pitberries! What were the odds? Only an Elmray could cause this much aggravation. I backed away slowly while Malon’s focus remained on Ryo.

  “Take off your crown, and set it at my feet,” he instructed.

  “And after?” Ryo demanded.

  “Then you are dismissed to locate a faerie with the authority to crown my nephew. You will bring in all of the castle’s captains and servant heads to bear witness. Afterward, I will release you from the castle. Once you are through the gates and across the drawbridge, I will send your son and niece out safely. Do as I ask, and this I promise: No harm will come to you or your family.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe this?” Ryo demanded.

  With a smile, Malon stuck out his tongue then retracted it. “I am not a liar like Lyklor. You have your nephew to thank. If it were up to me, I would hunt you all down one by one and slit your throats.”

  My fist tightened on my bow. Who was this mysterious Elmray heir, and how had he gotten into the castle? Given the date of conception, he’d be nearly the exact same age as Lark—still a boy. It was a wonder Malon chose to obey a fifteen-year-old he’d only just met. Then again, he looked weak from years of neglect. The smug smile on his lips communicated his belief that he would soon regain his strength after running us out of the castle.

  Not happening!

  As Ryo removed the crown from his head and started slowly toward the dais, I turned on my heel and headed out of the throne room. I had to find Fraya and Lark before Malon’s nephew was crowned. The search required swift care. We had no idea who this boy was.

  As I ran out of the throne room into the corridor, I was hit by more questions. Why had Malon taken Lark and Fraya but not the twins? Having all of the children would have given him an even stronger hand. I could only come up with one of two conclusions: Either Reed and Ronin had gotten away, or Fraya and Lark had set out on their own and been captured. But Jhaeros would have never allowed the teens to venture out. He wouldn’t have let anyone take them, either, not without a fight.

  Heart racing, I ran for the suite we were meant to meet up in later.

  The guards stationed along the walls leading to the throne room gave me wary glances but kept to their posts. They weren’t mine to command. There was nothing they could do to help, anyway.

  Skidding to a stop, I faced the nearest guard and asked, “Did you see Fraya or Lark come this way in the last hour?”

  “I did not, Lady Keasandoral.”

  Yep, utterly no use at all.

  I pushed forward, bow clutched in one hand, the arrow in the other. I had a full quiver on my back, but I felt better with an arrow in hand—even one I couldn’t fire at Malon. Not yet. What about the nephew? A boy? No doubt he’d been brainwashed by his mother. I’d never met Oreal, but Mel had given me an earful. The horrid female had slapped my sister. I owed her one. As for the female’s twins . . . I shuddered to think what kind of monsters she and Albedo had created. From the way Malon had spoken, it sounded like only one of Albedo’s twins was at the castle aiding him. The other must be a backup.

  I rounded the bend, stopping only to ask a guard if he’d seen the kids in this corridor. The answer was another “no.”

  “Lady Keasandoral!” a young male yelled.

  I spun around so quickly my hair lifted off my back.

  Alok pumped his arms, gasping for breath when he reached me. He lowered his voice for only my ears. “Fraya and Lark have been taken.” His eyes seemed to grab hold of mine and beg for help.

  “Did you see where?”

  He nodded vigorously. “The kidnapper headed to the royal wing.”

  Pitberries! It was as though I had instincts into the future. Something had told me that would be a place to look.

  “Let’s go,” I said, already moving swiftly back the way I’d just come.

  “Should we get help from the guards?” Alok asked uncertainly, darting a glance from side to side.

  “No.” I dropped my voice. “We have to keep this quiet until Fraya and Lark are safe.” If Malon’s nephew was keeping his eyes out, he’d take one look at the group of guards following us and know his hiding spot had been compromised. He’d promised not to hurt our family if we did as he asked. A rescue attempt wasn’t part of that bargain. If he saw us coming, he might panic and do something to my daughter or Lark.

  Alok nodded in understanding, keeping his voice down. “I heard what was happening and went to check on Fraya.” Warm affection laced his words.

  Now probably wasn’t the right time to tell Alok that after I found Fraya it was a safe bet we wouldn’t be visiting Faerie again anytime soon. I’d always preferred family time in Pinemist. This latest attack at Dahlquist was another strike against leaving the safety of our own realm.

  The guards watched in silence as we passed. They were probably wondering why the freak berries I’d been running frantically one moment and now glided by the way I’d come, appearing relatively calm. Inside, I felt like my heart was a spinning top, making my head feel dizzy.

  Luckily, Ryo didn’t walk out of the throne room as we passed. I needed him to do as Malon said so the elusive heir would believe he was getting his spoiled rotten way. I couldn’t believe we were being played by a fifteen-year-old. I wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating him. He’d abducted my daughter and Lark. It was my job to ensure it was the shortest kidnapping in the history of Faerie.

  Outside the royal wing, we found the guards slumped over the ground, sleeping. I nocked my arrow in my bow and nodded at the door leading into the open hall. Alok acknowledged my nod with one of his own and carefully opened the door. Together, we slid into the hall, night air wafting warmly over our faces. Alok didn’t have a weapon, so he followed me, inching up until he was walking at my side. In the moonlight, the blue strands in his hair shone against the black. It was a striking combination, much better than Lulu’s first attempt. She probably wouldn’t be thrilled if she knew he was creeping up on a deranged Elmray heir with me. I still remembered her excitement the first time she introduced me to him. Alok was seven at the time. He’d been abandoned by his birth mother at the Fable Festival. Lulu had found him crying beside a food cart. Once it was clear no one was coming to claim the boy, Lulu had brought him back to the castle and adopted him. I hadn’t paid him much attention over the years.

  When had he and my daughter formed an attachment?

  Without hesitation, Alok stepped forward and opened the door leading into the inner halls of the sumptuous royal wing. Several steps later, he was leading the way. He looked sure-footed. Unafraid.

  Dread coiled around my throa
t and descended into my belly as I stared at the back of his dark head of hair. “Alok, do you remember your birth mother’s name?”

  “She never told me. It was just ‘Mom.’” He didn’t lower his tone as he had around the guards stationed along the throne room corridors.

  We were alone in the royal wing. He’d led me here, and I’d blindly followed. I lifted my bow and arrow, aiming the tip at the back of his skull. Alarm turned into a sick punch to the gut. I didn’t know if I had it in me to shoot a boy in the back of the head. I lowered the arrow slowly down his neck, past his shoulder blades, stopping at his hip. I could wound him though. First, I had to be certain.

  “Are you Albedo Elmray’s son?”

  I stopped, arrow aimed as Alok turned around. My breath hitched in the microsecond I waited to see the expression on his face. Hand lifted to his lip, Alok blew shimmery dust at me. I released my arrow, but blindsided, it hit the stone floor rather than flesh.

  It was as though a tidal wave had washed over me. My shoulders and arms drooped. The bow was sucked down to the ground by an invisible undertow.

  “I apologize for this, Lady Keasandoral. Rest assured I mean you and your family no harm. I am merely righting a wrong.”

  “Don’t do this,” I managed to say before dropping to the ground like a sack of grains.

  Chapter Nine

  Fraya

  The guards in the halls leading to Uncle Ryo’s old suites were all knocked out, slumped into green-and-gold heaps on the ground. At least they had been put to sleep rather than slaughtered. Alok wasn’t pure evil. Ugh. I still wanted to scrub my lips and burn my bodysuit.

  Back in the suite, I found my father and everyone else safe and asleep. I snatched my bow and quiver from the adjoining room, careful not to wake Gayla, whose chest rose and fell gently on the bed. My gaze paused on her, a sense of responsibility washing over me. I needed to help protect the children.

  With careful footsteps, I left the suite and set out in search of my mother and Uncle Ryo. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out the route Alok had taken—just follow the trail of unconscious bodies.

  They started toward the throne room then veered off down a corridor adjacent.

  When the halls filled with muffled voices and footsteps, I retraced my steps and peeked around the corner. Seeing the twin’s nannies, Kaylin and Peridot, heading to the throne room’s main doors, I sprinted over to them. The females wore loose day dresses and cloaks that looked as though they had been pulled on hastily.

  “Fraya,” Peridot said, eyes lighting up.

  “Do you know what’s happening?” My words rushed out of my lips.

  Peridot shook her head. “We were summoned by guards from our chambers to come to the throne room by order of King Ryo. Do you know what this is about?”

  My frown tightened. What was happening? What was Alok’s plan? “I don’t know,” I said, even though I had some idea. There wasn’t time to explain.

  “We need to get in there,” Kaylin said.

  “Before you go, can I borrow your cloak?”

  “Of course, Miss Fraya.” Peridot spoke first. She pulled off her forest green cloak and handed it to me without question. My aunt and uncles had the nicest staff.

  “Thank you,” I said, clutching the fabric with my bow.

  As Kaylin and Peridot headed into the throne room, I raced around the corner to the next hall, where I set my bow against the wall while putting on Peridot’s cloak. Glamour wasn’t one of my abilities, so I’d have to try for a disguise. I pulled the hood low over my head, picked up the bow, and selected two arrows from the quiver. I wouldn’t need extras. I never missed. The arrows I stuffed into one of the cloak’s voluminous sleeves. The bow I pressed with my elbow against my side, hidden by the draping fabric. Taking a deep breath, I rounded the corner with purposeful strides toward the throne room.

  Time to put an end to Alok’s attempt at the crown. He’d released a dangerous villain and put my entire family at risk for some petty vendetta. He had no business ruling over Dahlquist. I couldn’t wait to best the bastard. I looked forward to watching the look of dismay in his eyes when I shot him with my arrow. Did he really think he could kiss me, deceive me, make me feel things for him, then tie me up in the attic and get away with it?

  I’d shoot an arrow through his heart for toying with mine.

  Ahead of me, a broad-shouldered guard with a fancy clasp around his waist walked through the open doors of the throne room. I slipped in right behind him, using his burly physique as a wall. I followed in his footsteps, up to the dais where roughly fifteen servants had gathered. Uncle Ryo stood in front of them, his arms folded, facing the sallow figure in front of the throne. I presumed the sickly black-haired male was Malon. My stomach lurched when I saw Uncle Ryo’s crown in his pale fingers—fingers that plucked the pieces of greenery off and threw them on the ground until the crown was picked clean of its festive embellishments.

  I didn’t look for long, keeping to the guard’s shadow as close as I could without raising suspicion. I stood angled out of eyesight from Kaylin and Peridot. I didn’t want them to recognize me in the cloak I’d just borrowed and wave me over or call my name. My heartbeat was all over the place, and I had to keep my arm with the arrows raised enough to prevent my weapons from slipping out of the sleeve.

  A tall skinny guard held a torch beside the assembled group, casting light where the darkened windows above did not. A quick scan of the crowd made my heart drop. Alok wasn’t here. Neither was my mother. Where had she gone?

  An elderly male with cropped gray hair was called forward.

  “This is Mural. He can perform the ceremony,” Ryo said with bitter disgust.

  Malon’s grin made the contents of my stomach turn to ash.

  “Very good, Brother. Shall I make the announcement, or do you want to address your gathered subjects . . . one last time?”

  Uncle Ryo turned and faced the group with a grim frown. “Malon and his nephew have kidnapped my son and niece. I must hand over the crown in order to save them. I apologize for this disruption in leadership, but no kingdom is worth the price of my family. My hand might be forced tonight, but I promise you this doesn’t end here.”

  Malon snarled. “I should cut out your son’s tongue for your insolence.”

  A dark shadow fell over Uncle Ryo’s face as he turned. “Touch one hair on my son’s head, and I won’t just keep you alive; I’ll make sure every second is agony and that your torture lasts for an eternity.” I’d never heard my uncle speak with such cruel conviction. In this case, I was encouraged by his sense of vengeance. If only he knew he didn’t have to worry about Lark or me.

  I craned my head, desperate to spot Alok. I wanted both blackguards in my sights. He must be awaiting his ill-gotten crown in the antechamber beside the dais. Coward.

  “Enough threats,” Malon snapped. “It is time to crown the rightful king of Dahlquist, Albedo’s son, our nephew. King Alok Elmray.”

  “Alok?” Uncle Ryo choked.

  Just wait until Mom and Dad found out. They’d be gagging too.

  The guard in front of me shifted to the left. I shuffled the same way, keeping my head bent but eyes alert.

  “Send your officiator up to the dais,” Malon commanded.

  Uncle Ryo must have given the elderly male a look of consent because the frail faerie shuffled forward.

  “And you, Brother, you will do the honors of placing the crown on our nephew’s head.”

  Gritting his teeth, Uncle Ryo made his way up the dais. With a nasty smirk, Malon held the golden crown out to him. Uncle Ryo clutched it in his hand.

  “You there, with the torch, stand up here with us, but not too close. I have not seen much light in over a decade.” Malon’s bitter laughter crawled over the stone walls enclosing the throne room.

  After the skinny guard stepped out of the crowd, the guards and staff moved forward as though following the light his torch cast. I wasn’t expecting the wall of m
uscle in front of me to move so quickly, leaving me with only the cover of the cloak. Naturally, that was when Peridot noticed me from the cluster of castle staff she stood with. The confusion wrinkling her forehead smoothed out as she smiled at the sight of me. I thought I saw her lips moving. Heart jackhammering, I hurried forward as though I could blend back in with the guards. Hopefully she would comprehend my wish to remain hidden. In my haste, the bow slipped from my elbow.

  Horror washed over me when I felt it leave my side and clatter to the floor. The guards in front of me turned to look. I pulled back my hood and yelled, “Uncle Ryo, stop! Lark and I are safe.”

  Not wasting a second, Uncle Ryo bellowed, “Guards, seize him!”

  I dove for my bow and shook an arrow free from my sleeve. As I straightened, the skinny guard on the dais threw his torch to the ground. A crackling wall of fire flamed up, cutting us off from the throne. It burned from one wall to the other, forming a deliberate barrier. Uncle Ryo was trapped with Malon and the guard who had to be Alok, glamoured again.

  I bellowed in frustration. The elderly faerie would be no help to Uncle Ryo at all. But I could still shoot through fire. Flinging off the cloak, I strode forward as close as I dared without getting singed. Behind the flames, Malon and Alok closed in on Uncle Ryo and started pulling, pushing, and twisting around in one dark mass.

  My heart rate was all over the place. I tried to steady my breath as I lifted my arrow and watched for an opening. Even with two against one, Uncle Ryo was able to fling off Malon. The gangling Fae seemed to roll away and disappear off the back end of the dais.

  Pitberries!

  Well, he wouldn’t be able to hide for long. Alok was the mastermind behind this whole terrible affair. He was the one to beat.

  As though sensing my mind on him, his glamour morphed into the handsome boy with whom I’d shared too many kisses and exploratory touches.

  Uncle Ryo’s mouth gaped open, still looking shocked by the truth. Alok took advantage of his surprise and whipped out a small crimson pouch.