Keepers of the Crown

by Lydia Redwine

  Riah cried out in agonizing pain once more. Glista kicked her way out from under him and slammed his head hard enough with a boot to have him falling over in the biting snow. She then darted away towards the wolf which he had slain.

  Riah was groaning as he stretched his screaming limbs and struggled to crawl towards Ukkonen. Riah fell, flopping on something hard as stone. The world spun and twisted, growing grayer. Zoka. And the sky. They were flying.

  The world suddenly blazed. Red flames erupted below. The trees flailed in the flames before they came crashing into the snow. A scream of fury curdled the air. Glista was still standing, but her wolves were retreating. Aminon and the others were rising in the air after them. Angry, hot tears pressedinto Riah’s eyes. He shuddered as Zoka blew another wave of fire towards the forest below. He could no longer see Glista.

  They flew away as fast as they could, leaving the blazing forest behind. “The Trials are over,” Riah thought grimly. “I’ve kept my head on my shoulders.” But what would the cost be? The dragons had fought off the wolves almost effortlessly, but using their flames weakened Even when Zoka felt as though she could collapse, she endured the flight home, carrying her new master on her back. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go,” he hissed inwardly. The Trials were supposed to be organized, challenging affairs. But this had just been...a fight. Pure and bloody simple.

  “If it helps you feel any better, I had to battle Barak during my

  trials,” Arria said as she pressed a dampened cloth to Riah’s brow. He winced at the contact. She had sped on Gamgee's back after seeing Zoka passing her own fortress with Riah slung across her back. Arria drew away for a moment as Riah held the cloth in place. “That is how I received this.” She pulled her tunic up so he could see a scar which ran diagonally from the underside of her left breast to her hip on the opposite side. The firelight dancingin thegallery’s hearth withintheFortress oftheDragons gleamed on a now-closed wound.

  Riah winced.

  Arria then pulled her pant leg up enough to reveal yet another sizablescar downtheinsideofherthigh.“Andthis.Iwas also battered and bruised for a few weeks. When I woke from being knocked unconscious, Leviathan Marked me.” She paused as if she could not decide whether to continue or not. “That was the most painful part,” she murmured.

  “Great,” Riah muttered. Next, Arria handed him a needle and thread.

  “Stitch yourself up while I work on your shoulder.” She acted as if it was nothing. Normal even. Riah had never been stitched up let alone done the task on himself. But he clenched his jaw until he felt his teeth would break from his gums and set to work. Arria dabbed what she called an herbal remedy and what Riah called a terribly scented paste on his right shoulder.

  Riah cried out at the first prick of the needle and pull of thread. He had never minded blood until now.

  Arria began speaking softly as if to distract him. “I am glad you came to us. You are the closest thing I’ve had to a friend aside from Gamgee.”

  Riah paused to glance up at her. Faces flashed in his memory. Faces he had left far behind which were now fading. He could barely remember the voices of all the friends he had left behind. But then, they had not been true friends. They wouldn't be standing here clenching his shoulder as he stitched himself up. Well...Saffira would. She probably would have stitched him up herself and then cooked a full meal for him. He shoved her from his thoughts. She was far away now.

  “Did you have any friends back home?” he asked as he grunted with the pain of the needle. It hurt, but at the same time, it wasn't as painful as Glista’s blade had been. Or the bite of the wolf.

  Arria was silent for a long moment. When she finally released a sigh, she said, “No. Not in the woodlands. But there was one friend who came from the Ruins of Enboria just north of where I dwelled. But he is not my friend any longer. He would not aid me when my father promised to sell me.”

  “I would have carried you away on a dragon, and you would have never gone back,” Riah muttered.

  “So now you’re full of yourself after all that they did to you today?” Arria whacked his head. He would have laughed but the motion caused his needle to slip and pierce his flesh in one of his most tender spots. He cried out, and Arria was instantly apologetic.

  Riah’s eyes were glazed with tears when he finally grinned. “Never. Do. That. Again.”

  “Restrain from being an arrogant prick, and I will restrain from throttling you.” Riah choked out a laugh. He soberedthenext moment. “Zoka set that wholeforest on fire. So, yes, I am somewhat full of myself. I’m proud of them.” He shrugged, a small smile lifting his lips.

  Arria smiled too before continuing in a soft murmur. “As I was saying, I am grateful that you came here because when I was tested like this” she motioned to his stitches, “I had no one. No one but a Shadow Bearer with empty holes for eyes and no tongue who watched me from a corner even while I stripped my clothes from my blood-caked body and stitched myself up for hours on end.”

  The imagery flashed in Riah’s mind. He swallowed the sickness that stirred within him. His own voice raspy when he spoke. “Barak died, you know. In the revolt in Mirabelle.”

  Arria sighed. “Yes, I know. Leviathan was infuriated. As was Glista.” She paused to hand him a steaming cup of tea, telling him it would help. He hated it but drank it despite this. The liquid scalded his tongue but soothed his scratchy throat. “Leviathan, Glista, and I are leaving tomorrow,” Arria said. Riah flicked his gaze upward. This was news to him. “Apparently, he and Glista decided it last night.”

  “Among other things,” Riah grumbled.

  “We are setting out to find one who is prepared to be Marked and one who Leviathan believes to be a candidate to replace Silva. We should return in a week’s time.”

  “And of course I can not go due to being a battered piece of crap,” Riah muttered.

  Arria’s hand slipped down from Riah’s shoulder to brush his hand. “Thank you for being here,” she whispered.

  Riah’s lips tipped upward in a small smile. “If I actually liked you, I’d kiss you right now.”

  Arria grinned maliciously. “And then I’d blacken your eye.”

  Riah laughed, the sound warm and brightening. “Another bruise is the last thing I need right now.”

  His smile faded a moment later when another question enteredhis mind. “Aretherepeoplefrom homethatyoulove and miss? You see, even though I would never return to Gnosi, sometimes I wish…”

  Arria’s hand was on his chin, tilting his face up so her gaze could lock with his. Her voice was suddenly hard and firm. “Riah, you couldn't go back to Gnosi if you wanted to. You have to remember that.”

  Riah’s brows furrowed before they rose and a grin appeared on his expression. “Youmean tosaythatLeviathan will keep me locked up here? Never let me go back there?” Arria’s eyes were shadowed, filling with realization. She shook her head, backing away slowly. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “That Silva finished Mirabelle off. For good. It's all gone, Riah.” Her words hit him with a force harder than Glista’s blade, harder than the impact of the wolf. He was about to rise but instead sank back in his seat, his eyes wide and mouth open. Shock filled his every nerve, compelling him into absolute stillness. “Gone…” he echoed, his voice raspy. Tears pressed into his eyes. Angry tears that he was just now knowing this. He shook his head and forced a laugh. “Don’t jest with me, Arria.” But when Riah looked into her sorrow filled eyes, he knew that what she had spoken was the truth. His shaking hand came to his mouth, and tears slipped from both eyes. “W-why?” he stuttered out.

  Arria was at his side, pullinghim into her arms. “Because the Crown is there, Riah, and she was trying to find it. Lucius, himself, ordered it to be done.”

  Images shuddered through Riah’s consciousness. The glass castle of Gnosi and the forest where his mother wandered and… Saffira. What hadbecomeofher? His question was a raspy whi
sper. “Did she kill everyone?”

  “I don’t know,” Arria replied quietly. She perched her chin on his head and gently rubbed her fingers through his hair.

  Riah’s hands were on her wrists to pull himself away enough to look her in the eyes. “Who are we up against, Arria? Who does Lucius hate so damn much that he is willing to destroy an entire nation to find a stupid crown!” Even while Riah held her wrists in iron grips, Arria placed her hands on both sides of his face. Her eyes began to well with tears. “Humans, Riah. Lucius hates them. He hates you and me, and he will do anything to take the Crown of Caelae for himself so that he might rule that realm and destroy the Savior.”

  Riah’s mouth dropped open, and he scoffed. “So, this Savior nonsense is actually true? And Caelae? It’s a real place?”

  Arria’s brows rose and she nodded. “Well...of course. Lucius came from there.”

  Riah rose on wobbling legs and with a voice that became instantly colder, he said, “I need to see him.” An image flashed in his brain. Glowing blue eyes and perked ears. He had seen him. “Speak with him.”

  “W-what?” Arria stuttered.

  Riah did not need to nod to confirm what he had just said. Arria staredat him. Both weresilent. “Ineedto hear it from the Prince of the Between Realm himself.” But even as he said these words, sickness coiled in his stomach. He knew his tongue would become lead and his train of thought ash the moment he stepped into that creature’s presence.

  Arria shook her head in disbelief before finally shrugging. “Fine. I’ll let Leviathan know. But you’re signing your own death wish, Riah. Lucius will not be defied.”

  “Well then, that makes him a whole lot like his enemy then. Elyon, right? The one true god who won’t be defied? But someone has to be defied, right?”

  Arria’s stare was one of steel. “Who are you really choosing in all of this, Riah? You think you chose yourself, but you chose Lucius. You chose him that the day you asked Leviathan to enter the Trials. You chose that the day you came here, leaving your homeland behind.”

  “I was choosing myself!” Riah burst out, throwing his arms wide in exasperation. He winced at the pain having forgotten his shoulder and side. “I was choosing for myself a life that wasn’t suffocating! That was away from there!”

  Arria shook her head calmly, but her voice was trembling with anger. “There is gone. You helped make that choice, Riah.”

  Riah could not speak. He sank into the seat behind him, his head in his hands. He was breathing heavily, the hot tears of anger still on his cheeks. He hated his name. He hated hearing her say it. He hated every thought and feeling he was experiencing right now. Another thought grew as a light in his mind. “And they destroyed Mirabelle’s magic first to weaken them,” hemurmured. Ragecoiledaroundhis every word. “It was Silva, wasn’t it?” He said it as fact, not a question, but Arria was shaking her head.

  “No, Riah, Glista did. Silva figured out how, but it was Glista who carried it out.” Riah shook his head in disbelief. Not in disbelief that Glista had rid Mirabelle of its magic and done it so successfully, but that he had missed it. That he not even thought to guess.

  Mirabelle. The name drifted like a forgotten whisper in his mind and body. And even as he chased that whisper, the last words of Arria sank into a sickening state in his stomach. The truth hurt.

  Forty

  Nazeria was a clustered collection of intertwining valleys in

  which were laced, at this time of year, iced riverbeds. Quaint homes were set in scattered villages. Thatched roofs over brick structures. The south and the east were all comprised of such villages. On the eastern shore, lay the Sea of Voria or as Cam knew it to be, the great sea of the north. To the far west lay a barren wasteland of mountains crowning the kingdom glimmering beneath it. But as Cam peered closer, she saw that it was not a mere wasteland. Forms could be seen among the snow moving to and fro. “Mining. The core of Nazeria’s prosperity.” Mirabelle had been stabilized by magic and Mingroth by fear. Nazeria ran on the hearts of the mountains and the trade they held with Caranthia in the east. Cam glanced towards the sea. “And that’s how they ship it all.”

  Neither the sun still huddled behind a gray cloak, nor the Lumenbirds favored the chilling air. Cam decided that humans thought the same. Her cheeks were stinging with cold though she was far too entranced by the sight below her to give much notice.

  As the wings of the Lumenbirds beat the air with sparks, the humans saw that they were approaching a towering mass of narrow, solid rock upon which a stone castle was perched. The castle was suspended beneath a canopy of black rock. The castle itself was set into the entrance of a vast mountain opening. Ice clung to the stone walls of the castle. Rounded roofs upon rising towers were set around the circumference of the structure. Snow drifted all around them as the Lumenbirds glided gracefully beneath the overhang of rock and the castle rose above them.

  Cam tilted her chin so she could gaze upward at the towers and its rippling flags of deep purple until sounds drifted from the villages below. Music. It floated towards them. It was heavy, rich, and welcoming. Drums joined horns, and Cam saw that people were beginning to appear below in the streets laden with snow.

  A blast of horns and pounding of drums sounded from much closer. Cam’s eyes flitted to the enormous steel doors of the castle on the ledge before them. Two men appeared with horns held to their lips. They were clad in purple. The doors of the castle began swinging open to reveal a dozen figures beyond it. Cam slid off the Lumenbird and stood beside Peter just as the doors opened fully, and two figures stepped into view. The one who appeared first was a graying man with a neat frame, stature, and disposition. Beside him stood a slender woman with braided russet hair tied at the back of her head. Her ivory complexion was set with two round, amber eyes and pink lips. The dress she wore was form fitting and fell to her feet in dark purple silk. The dress also had a high collar and long sleeves. Furs lined the cape around her shoulders.

  Cam scanned the contents of the queen’s appearance with interest, noting that the way in which the woman held herself was elegant without being rigid. At last, Cam’s eyes fell on the crown of the queen which was fashioned of silver threads woven together and topped with tiny, purple jewels.

  The queen’s lips were lifting into a smile. “Welcome, comrades, to theNazerian Court!” Her voicewas merry, smooth, and utterly regal. As if her voice had been birthed from moon dust and the early blush of dawn. “Your arrival has been much anticipated since we heard the tragic news of your own homeland. We wish you to know that we carry the greatest of sorrows for you and your fallen people.”

  At this point, it was apparent that some higher level of respect was expected to be shown to this woman. Each of the company slipped into a brief bow. Cam was not sure what to do. Who would speak to the queen first? Although the queen seemed friendly enough, Cam doubted she was the sort of person one walks straight up to. Fortunately, Owen took the first step, having already made the queen’s acquaintance in his previous venture here. He slipped into a bow as he pressed a light kiss to the back of her hand. She smiled wider. “Welcome back, Sir Owen.”

  Cam’s brows rose. “Sir...Owen?”

  Owen was speaking. “Might I make an official introduction, Your Highness, with former Royal Cole Caddell with whom you have been corresponding these past months…” Owen trailed off as Cole stepped forward. Cole clasped his ample hands around those of the queen’s, his smile sparkling in his eyes.

  “And I would like to introduce you to my daughter of whom I have spoken at times in my letters.” Cole turned to beckon Cam forward. “Camaria, Your Highness, is the reason we all didn’t die when Apollyon schemed against Mirabelle.”

  Someone cleared their throat and spoke before thinking. “Well...it was Elyon really. He um...killed the whole army and all.” Cam turned to Peter, a grin lighting her face. His face went red. “Not that you weren’t spectacularly helpful, Cam…” Peter huffed and stopped speaking. Cam only laughe
d.

  The queen was smiling broadly as she stepped towards Cam. She embraced Cam as she spoke to Peter. “And you must be the young man Lord Caddell speaks so fondly of. Peter, isn’t it?” Cam did not seePeter nod. Shewas thinkingabout howgood the queen smelled. Like lilac and fresh snow and the aftertaste of a bonfire. The queen pulled away as she said, “We will be happy to grant your entire company rooms within the castle for tonight. Tomorrow, we will move each of you into cottages outside of the castle until a more permanent solution can be arranged. I hope this arrangement will suit the entire company.”

  Permanent. The queen meant to have them stay as long as they wished. Cam’s heart clenched in her chest. But this woman owed them nothing. She was doing this out of pure kindness. “At least, I hope that is the motive,” Cam thought.

  Colewas replyingto thequeen. “Weareonlygr ateful that you have allowed us refuge in your homeland.”

  Elizabeth smiled once more. “Then I suppose all of you are quite exhausted and hungry. We are prepared to serve the food at your earliest request. My entire court will be present to dine with us. You can make their acquaintance then. But first…” she summoned the elderly man to her side and smiled.

  “This is Simeon, my head advisor, leader of the royal scholars, the godfather of my son and heir, and the head of the Spirit Followers inmynation.”At these words, Simeon held their gazes with akind expression andnoddeda greeting. “It is hewith whom you will speak with most concerning your search…”

  “Pardon the interruption your highness, but...we have already found what we were looking for,” Cole cut in vaguely.

  Elizabeth looked slightly surprised. “That is delightful news, then!” she announced in a manner which revealed the news wasn’t much of a matter. But Cam could see through her eyes that thoughts were swirling. Questions and delight and… Elizabeth had been the one to provide the chest full of documents speaking of the Crown. Cam remembered that now. It seemed so long ago that Elizabeth’s discovery sent the Seekers out of Mirabelle. “And likely saved our lives,” Cam remembered. “What would Silva have done if she had found all four of us in Mirabelle instead of just Adria and Mista.” The thought shuddered through her, leaving her stomach writhing and bones chilled.