MidKnight: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Tangled Crowns Book 2)

by Ann Denton

  “She didn’t like that option.”

  “Of course, she didn’t. She’s a reacher, that one. She doesn’t just want water. She wants everything. She wants my hills because of the river access.”

  I swallowed a sigh. The regional battles were close to the heart. Mother had always said it didn’t do to get involved in those frays. You couldn’t win.

  I merely listened as Sunya ranted about Isla, claiming the queen wasn’t satisfied with her share of the river closer to its mouth because all the diversions for farming made the mouth of the river too shallow for ships.

  I didn’t bother to point out that Isla had an entire coastline and the Sedarian fleet of ships were always at the ready to take trade goods to any location. That didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was the fact that Isla couldn’t access the local river.

  Connor rescued me just as I was growing uncomfortable, wondering how I could continue to hold a placid smile.

  “Care to stretch your legs, wife?” he winked.

  “Of course, excuse me,” I practically leapt to my feet. Blue had to fend for himself as I latched onto Connor, eager to escape. He led Blue and I out to the gardens. Shiter and Fuzzy—I decided on the bear’s name as we walked outdoors—followed.

  The animals darted off to stretch and do their animal things as Connor turned to me.

  He handed me the scroll that Jorad delivered.

  “I need to read it? It’s not just for you?” He handled most of the kingdom’s official correspondence.

  Connor nodded solemnly but didn’t say anything.

  Nervous butterflies flitted through my stomach. “What could be so important that Jorad interrupted our first meeting with the nobles?”

  “Read,” Connor’s answer was terse and put me on edge.

  I glanced down at the message and saw Queen Diamoni of Sedara’s seal. I gulped. That was serious. The most powerful monarch in the seven kingdoms of Kenmare had written to me directly.

  I flipped over the parchment and read the message. It was a single line.

  You have seven days to find Avia. Or we will take over the search.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Holy sard!” I nearly stumbled off the path. Connor caught my elbow and held me steady.

  “What does that mean?” I whispered frantically.

  Connor stared darkly at me, “I had Quinn tell Declan to pause on researching coins and dragons and everything else that kept him up last night. I told him to look at our confidential documents. Anything that might indicate what the hell Sedara has to do with this.”

  My chest felt tight. “They’ve always been a good ally. At least, they were before their ambassador and Willard met in the woods.”

  “I think that might have been Meeker on his own,” Connor said. “None of his staff have had feelings or thoughts of disloyalty or secrecy. Quinn and I have checked. And Meeker hasn’t been spotted anywhere.”

  I arched a brow. “Or Meeker could be working with those involved in whole shite dragon-djinni-kidnapping debacle.”

  I stared down at the parchment. The black lines looked as sharp as blades. “But this note from Sedara. Did I misread the tone?”

  Connor shook his head and reached for the note. He reread it. “It reads like a threat to me.”

  I pressed my lips together and watched Fuzzy scare a half-dressed noble couple out of the bushes. I couldn’t even laugh.

  I didn’t understand. Why was everything turning on its head? I didn’t need another nation threatening me when it already looked like Sultan Raj had it out for me. I didn’t need anything else, much less a threat from the most powerful monarch. Why would she do this? “Mother and Queen Diamoni always got along.”

  Connor nodded. “They seemed to, though they never visited one another.

  I thought back. Connor was right. I’d been sent once or twice in my teen years. But always by myself on a gargoyle. “Yes, that’s odd isn’t it?”

  “Mother never liked the ocean,” I said. “She always refused to let Avia and I even board a ship. She’d send our fathers to do any christenings or whatnot.”

  “Yet, she somehow convinced Queen Diamoni to send over Declan.”

  I shrugged. “The way Declan speaks, the Sedarians were just happy to be rid of the embarrassing bastard prince.”

  Connor took my hand and turned me toward him. “She might not have loved him. But Diamoni knew how powerful Declan was.”

  “Well, he’s powerful, of course, but—”

  “No, Bloss Boss,” Connor interrupted. “Why do you think Isla was so eager to get her hands on Declan? He’s incredibly unique. He’s the closest thing there is to a wizard left.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m wondering how two queens who never saw one another were so close. I’m wondering why the queen of the strongest nation in Kenmare, the nation with the greatest navy, would willingly hand over her most powerful son.”

  I studied Connor’s eyes. The green was more prevalent than the blue when he was upset. Just then, his eyes looked like emeralds. “Well, what’s your theory?”

  “I think that Declan was sent here as protection.”

  Connor’s words washed over me like ice water. Goosebumps formed along my spine. My entire being felt cold.

  “Protection from what?”

  Connor simply stared at me as the pieces fell together in my head and I said, “Gorg brought Avia. But he was our spy master. He wasn’t a diplomat. Spy masters don’t negotiate. They steal. Information. People.”

  Connor nodded, “I think Gorg stole Avia. From someone powerful.”

  I blinked. I felt drunk. Dizzy drunk. But I was sober. And the world around me was simply wavering, changing shape, morphing to throw me off balance. I braced myself on Connor’s shoulder. I took a few breaths. What he said made sense. Too much awful sense.

  Connor rubbed my arm sympathetically. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “There’s more?”

  He led me over to a bench and helped me sit. I waved him on. If my world was collapsing, better to get it over with.

  “I’m guessing Sedara knows who Gorg stole from. That’s why they sent Declan.”

  “But why protect us? Why send him?”

  Connor shrugged. “It’s just a guess. But, if I had to bet on it, I’d say that Sedara helped your mother get Avia.”

  Just then Blue plummeted out of the sky. It felt like my heart went with him. Two countries conspired to steal a baby and keep her hidden? Did I not know my mother at all?

  I watched, dazed, as Blue nabbed a beetle that had been trundling along in the garden and pecked at it until he seemed to remember he wasn’t really a bird. He dropped the beetle and frantically wiped his beak on his feathers. He flew back to me, distress on his bird face.

  I knew exactly how he felt. Lost. Confused. The world didn’t make sense anymore. We were in the same boat.

  I petted his tummy and crooned, “It’s alright, Blue. I’ll feed you some apple when we go inside.”

  He rubbed his head against my thumb.

  “Did Lewart ever say anything to you about Avia?” I asked Connor, still staring off into the distance, trying to come to terms with all of this. The wind pushed the clouds quickly. In the distance, it looked like there was a storm.

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Connor slid the letters into his vest and took my arm, helping me stand back up. “We need to walk so the nobles don’t become suspicious.”

  He tucked my arm into the crook of his elbow and started down the stone path. After a few steps, he said, “Lewart always told me that black and white fade to grey as we grow older. He told me that time and perspective changed our view of the world. But then, he’d always follow it up with ‘One day, you’ll eat spinach. And instead of spitting it out, you’ll swallow it down and ask for more.’ I always thought he was joking about my hatred of vegetables—”

  “It was pretty intense,” I gave a small grin.

&nbs
p; Connor smiled back down at me. But his face grew serious again as he continued, “I’ve been thinking that was his metaphor. For how things change. How something we once thought was so abhorrent becomes palatable.”

  “They took someone’s child.”

  “First, we still don’t know it wasn’t an adop—”

  I turned to Connor and gave him the look. “If Sedara’s willing to find Avia, I’m pretty sure that she was taken. Forcefully. It’s too much to hope for otherwise.”

  He raised a shoulder. “You’re probably right. But we don’t know why. Maybe she was rescued from someone who wanted to—”

  “I appreciate you trying to make my parents into the heroes instead of the villains,” I sighed, “But that doesn’t seem realistic right now.” I shook my head. “I always knew my mother had a hard heart. But—”

  Ryan dropped out of the sky on the path in front of us, mounted on a gargoyle. The wind from his descent made me squint.

  Blue dug his claws into my dress and buried his face in my neck as the gargoyle snorted.

  Ryan dismounted and walked over to Connor and me. He held his hand out to me.

  He was a little breathless when he said, “We finally found what was in the sky to the south. You’re going to want to see.”

  My throat tightened so much I couldn’t breathe. I felt frozen as I stared at Ryan.

  “Did you find the dragon?” Connor asked.

  Ryan shook his head and a small, crooked grin curved his lips. “We found a wizard.”

  My jaw dropped. Emotions sloshed through me. They were so big and bright and bold that I wasn’t certain if they were joyous or fearful.

  I’d searched … so long. I’d never found any hint of a wizard in Evaness. Everyone had stories. But that was all.

  My eyes flickered between Connor and Ryan.

  “I’m scared.” It seemed silly, when I said it out loud. I wasn’t scared to rescue Avia. I was furious. But to meet a wizard …

  Ryan came and swept me off my feet, making Blue squawk in protest and crawl over to huddle on my chest.

  Ryan cradled me in his arms. “I was deadly scared when they first asked me to be your knight. Excited. And terrified I’d fail you.”

  My hand brushed his chin. “You could never fail me.”

  “When you’ve thought about something for so many years … dreamed about it … being on the verge of getting it actually kinda makes you want to puke.”

  I laughed, “So true.”

  Before I knew it, Ryan had lifted me onto the gargoyle.

  “I don’t know that I’m ready—”

  Ryan climbed up behind me. “Once you get what you’ve dreamed about, you’ll realize your dreams were all wrong. Horribly wrong.”

  “Are you trying to comfort me by insulting me?”

  “No. Dreams are just that. Dreams. Reality is reality. And we’re going to find out what a wizard is really like.”

  With that, Ryan whistled, and we rushed up through the sky, Ryan’s arms around my waist, the wind whipping my hair. Blue had tucked himself between my breasts despite my suggestion that he stay with Connor. He tucked his head under my collar as we flew higher and the cold chill of winter froze my bones and turned my breath into white puffs.

  "Just a little further," Ryan whispered in my ear, encouraging me.

  We traveled through the clouds, which were wet and unpleasant.

  "Can we go around?" I whined as my dress got soaked and my toes turned into icicles.

  Ryan's voice was warm on my ear, "No, Dearling. Just a warning, it's going to get slightly more intense before we get there. That’s why it’s taken my men and I a few days to get through."

  I didn't have time to ask him what he meant before the clouds around us grew darker. The raindrops grew larger and more intense. Suddenly, a jagged streak of light flashed ten feet in front of us. The thunder that followed was a concussive force that made my ears ring. Blue scratched my chest as he scrabbled in fear. I put a hand over him, steadying him.

  Ryan navigated upward; he flew us straight into the heart of a thunderstorm.

  He carefully steered us through the dark clouds. The lightning bolts grew closer and more intense. The hairs on the back my neck stood up.

  My jaw clenched. I wanted to yank the reins out of Ryan’s hands and pull us into a dive. I wanted to scream. But any of that might just lead us straight into a lightning bolt. All I did was clutch onto Ryan's massive forearm with my left hand, keeping the other over Blue. I slammed my lips together and forced myself to keep quiet when a bolt made my hair stand out all around me. One wrong move and we'd be burnt to a crisp.

  Ryan yanked back on the reins, making our gargoyle head straight up. I fell into the hard planes of his chest as we tilted back and darted vertically through the sky. The only reason Ryan and I didn’t plummet to our deaths was because his giant legs were wrapped around the gargoyle’s belly in a death grip. We crested the clouds, exiting the storm, and then he brought us level again.

  My heart lurched in relief that we were through the storm. My body nearly rebelled the swift change in direction. But I took a moment to breathe deeply before I launched a curse at Ryan, "What the hell—" my rant died on my lips as I saw where Ryan had brought us.

  Floating on top of the white puffy cloud in front of us was a quirky wooden cottage. It had wooden plank and shingle siding, and the roof was curved in a low arc. It looked to be two stories; the second story was an odd mixture of windowed jetties that jutted out beyond the first story. The curved roof was coved in red tiles.

  “How?” I asked as Ryan led our gargoyle to land on top of the cloud. Ryan didn’t immediately answer; he dismounted and helped me down. To my shock and amazement, the cloud’s texture was soft and spongy, like a very thick layer of moss.

  “This is the home of the wizard who helped Quinn,” Ryan whispered.

  “The thought beads?” I asked.

  Ryan nodded.

  Quinn’s beads were some of the best magic I’d ever seen. He’d had them since he was a kid and they didn’t fail over time, like most mage spells would. They didn’t fade with distance. Quinn and his spies could travel across the sea to Sedara and still communicate via thought. Each of my knights and I had a bead as well. Hope blossomed. I felt certain this man could help us recover my sister.

  Ryan murmured, “I showed Quinn the mental image of the wizard after I found him. He confirmed it’s the same man.” Ryan gestured at the little cabin. “This house must have been what we spotted flying south after the attack. The wizard’s our best bet to ask about Avia. Even get help with Abbas. Or the dragon.”

  Blue tweeted plaintively from inside my dress. I helped him wriggle out so he could perch on my shoulder.

  The door of the cabin opened and a man with an eye patch and a long golden beard trailing his knees popped out. He was dressed in a bright yellow shirt and trousers that had been mended so often with so many colors that I couldn’t tell which ones belonged to the original pants. He only had one shoe on, and the shoe’s toe curved up into a point. He looked like a jester fallen on hard times.

  “What’s the difference between a princess that’s lost and the lost princess?” the wizard called out instead of greeting us.

  “I don’t know,” I told him as I looked up at Ryan, curious.

  Ryan shrugged at me. I assumed that meant he hadn’t spoken to the wizard when he found him last time.

  "I'm searching for one, you're searching for the other. Both will be found by a different brother." The old man gestured toward his door, waving. "Come in, come in, so we can begin.”

  I whispered to Ryan as we walked toward the cottage, "Are you sure this is a good idea?" This wizard was obviously incredibly powerful, if he could levitate his home. But he didn’t seem all there.

  Ryan nodded, “We’ve still got a dragon to fight, and Declan says wizards …” he trailed off as we reached the stoop.

  I reached the old man’s steps and extended my hand
delicately, so he could kiss it. “Thank you for inviting us in. It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Bloss Hale, the Queen of Evaness.”

  He didn’t take my hand, just widened his single eye and let his grin stretch ear to ear. “There is no need for royalty here, there’s nothing but loyalty here in the clouds, with only crows and snows and sunset glows allowed.”

  I retracted my hand and pasted on my court smile, the fake one. This wizard either enjoyed speaking in riddles, in which case I was certain I’d soon have a headache, or he had lost his marbles. I hesitated, but Blue flew right into the living room.

  “Oh, ho! Quite the friend you have! You like supernatural men, then? I’ve been called bewitching a time or two, it’s true.” The wizard winked at me with his good eye.

  Ryan stiffened beside me. I just laughed. “I am looking for a man who can tame a dragon. Would that be you?”

  “Step into the flame to earn bright fame!” he gestured to his living room. “The name is Donaloo, or it was before I went askew.”

  Donaloo led us to his cramped living room. Three chairs and a small round table huddled close to a brick fireplace. The fire crackled merrily, and a teapot sat steaming on the table, as if we were expected. Maybe this wizard wasn’t quite as far gone as he appeared.

  The wizard served us tea in tankards after we sat. The side of the cup burned my fingers when I picked it up, but I swallowed my gasp, trying to remain polite. If this wizard wasn’t intimidated by the thought of facing a dragon, then I needed him.

  "Ryan tells me you are the one who created beads so that my knight, Quinn, could speak to us. Thank you. He and I are quite grateful."

  Donaloo waved a hand dismissively. "What is power for but to give voice to the voiceless and choice to the choiceless?"

  “Your magic is astounding. The beads still work perfectly. I’ve never seen such a spell,” I tried to take a sip of the burning hot tea. It tasted like boiling mud. My fear about the wizard’s sanity increased.

  Donaloo looked at me. “Spells come in all sorts. Sorting through the spelling can be quite a feat. After all, M-I-N-U-T-E can mean time or a bit, W-O-U-N-D can mean wind up or a hit. The spelling’s in the details. And the details are in the spells.”