Ascension (Royals of Aeterna Book 1)

by J Haney

  “You are young. You have no idea what is in store if you do this.” Lesser King Jerrin, the ruler of the Otso, or I think the Normals call them Wolves, sounds almost threatening.

  “I am young. Yet, at the same time. I have been between both realms. I have seen the differences and resemblances. I have visited every region in this realm and most in the Normals realm. I can speak more languages than we have invented. I may not understand Lesser King Feyer, but I can promise I will learn to, because that is what I should do, even if I have to ask for help from another. I’m not afraid to admit my shortcomings. Now can all of you say the same about any of what I have just said?”

  Growls, snarls, and chuffs follow her words, but they do not know her. Do not know just what she may do if outright challenged. Many Lesser Kings have lost heads over less. They are fortunate that Zane is not here. I fear that my father would have been called out otherwise.

  “We have much to discuss in the coming days and months, and I would offer you dinner, but with the issues from the last few days, I think we’d better not.” May smiles. “We are not out of the woods, but I release you each to your lands. Go home, see your families, and be prosperous.”

  I crack a smile, be prosperous. It was something her father often said. The Lesser Kings begin to vacate the throne room, and Cale begins to escort us back to her chamber.

  “My Queen, I must stop at my rooms. If you permit.” I say, keeping my tone in my station in front of Cale. She may have declared love who you must, but until her name and seal are on parchment, the laws are still the laws.

  “Of course, go ahead. I’m enjoying the walk and air.” She smiles at me, but she’s thinking about Zane. I wish that we were as connected to each other, without her bite, without her claim, I can only feel her, she doesn’t really feel me. Can’t hear my loving thoughts.

  I nod and take my leave. My heart pounds, I am not deceptive by nature and have often been told I have an honest face. I suppose this has now come in handy. Lady Adria has made her threats, and though what May wishes to do in dissolving the laws of passage could lift this burden of her love from my shoulders, at the moment, it would only look bad for her. It would appear as if she didn’t’ care for her people—only her own lust-filled agendas. That is not a foundation to build a realm or relationship.

  As the Queen’s Lady in Attending, I have certain privileges. Like the privilege of access. Anywhere the Queen can go, I must follow and not always straight behind her. So if say she was to go into the Royal Chamber, the rooms that should have housed the King and Queen, but she has refused because they were her parent’s rooms, I could enter virtually unchecked.

  I had been afraid when Lady Adria asked for her little favor, a pint of my blood. I didn’t overthink it, but now as I watched her disappear during May’s announcements, my heart sinks. What could she have possibly wanted access to? Did she mean my Queen harm? I am halfway to the security rooms when a feeling of peace surges through me. I try to ignore it, but it nags at my brain. With a huff, I stop at the security room doors, turn on my heel and head straight for my Queen.

  “Cale, move aside,” I say to my once loyal guard. Since I was a child, he had been with me and was the closest thing to a loving brother I had ever had. Which, seeing as we share a mother, makes sense. Something very few are privy to knowing. Though thirty years separate us, he had always been kind to me.

  “She’s gone to lie down. Perhaps you should let her be?” Cale advises me, I simply roll my eyes, and he steps aside.

  The door to May’s playroom opens, and it is quiet. No matter, she is probably showering, I can hear the running water in her bath. I knock. “My Queen?” I say softly, we may be in her private rooms, but the balcony is near and the door open. The chance that Cale or any other in the common room might hear is rather high.

  She doesn’t answer. I turn the knob expecting to find her tits deep in a bubble bath, but the room is empty. Fuck… Running water and her in an emotional state. Fucking portals!

  25

  W aking with a long stretch, the cover pulls off me, and I sit up, looking around quickly. I’m looking at my room. Damn, that was one whacked-out dream. Never has one been that real. Climbing from the bed, I spy my cap and gown. Graduation! I’m so excited to walk across the stage today and show off my accomplishments. Daddy is going to be so proud of me.

  As I head for the bathroom, something is weighing on my heart. Trying to shake it off, I strip my clothes. Looking in the mirror at myself, something is different. I rub one shoulder and then the other trying to rid the deep ache. What did I get into? Looking around for my phone, I don’t see it. Guess I lost another.

  Flipping the water on, I notice the tray that is usually over my tub isn’t there. I remember dreaming of smashing it. What the fuck? I rub my head as I lean against the counter. I have to shake this feeling. I have a graduation to get to.

  Showered, I’m in my closet looking for my outfit. What the hell? I left it right here. What the fuck is going on? I need a drink of water. Walking to the kitchen, I notice all my blinds are closed. That’s odd. Turning the blinds, I see that it’s dark. What the actual fuck? I have to be dreaming. I smack my face, ouch! Nope very much awake. I lift the blinds and then fight with the window. Is that stone? I check another window.

  Blocked and barricaded.

  I sit down as everything comes flooding back to me. Val, Zane, my parents. I wasn’t dreaming. My life is one big nightmare. Looking around from my place on the floor, I realize that who, or whatever has me, has been planning this for a long time. It matches my house in Rhode Island to perfection.

  “Is someone there?” I call out. Nothing. “Hello?” How long was I down? Am I going to die here?

  “Hello, Maya.” Dawn answers.

  “What the fuck kind of game is this?” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Who the fuck are you?” My body is starting the burning and itching I get when my tiger is trying to get out. It’s something I’m learning she does when I’m scared or hurt.

  I need my Guard. I need him so bad. Somebody help me…

  26

  T en days. It’s incredible the amount of change that can happen in just under two weeks. A month ago, I was consort to the High Queen, mated to the only man I have ever let touch me, and well on my way to possible happiness. I didn’t need the titles or the money that had been stripped of me because of my father’s debts; all I needed was May and Zane.

  It was first thought that our High Queen had accidentally portaled again. That she might have just needed to step away. Who could blame her? Father was assassinated, mother took her own life right in front of her, and the General has been run out. She must have been feeling very neglected and alone. I tried to get a sense of where she wound up, but the sensors said there had been a disturbance in the system right around the time I believe she disappeared.

  Too convenient. They’ve ignored my pleas to check the upper chamber. I’m almost certain that the boarded windows have been messed with. They have kept me from May’s rooms, and by they, I mean Lady Adria and my father, who has not left the castle since the funeral. The Lady lives here, but my father has his own lands, his own castle thanks to my forced sacrifices.

  “I hate to believe he is up to something sinister,” I say to my brother Cale as I walk the garden maze. Lady Adria is allergic to Westenra Ocher. An orange wandering vine that creeps along the hedges, so it is one of the few places her claws do not reach.

  “They are having an announcement in the courtyard, dear sister, you should be in attendance.” He walks beside me, as our stations are similar now that I have lost my titles. We dare not touch, though, as the rumors would be vast.

  “I need you to trust me,” I say softly.

  “Always.” He smiles gently as I look at him. “What is going on?”

  “I need to-” the trumpeting of the Royal horns stops me. “May?” I say, gathering my skirts and running for the stairs sprint out of the garden. Out of breath and fe
eling like my chest is going to cave in, I arrive in the front courtyard. The Aeterna banners fly, and I can see not only my father standing on the presentation stairs but also Lady Adria. She is adorned in her fine clothes, jewels, and on her head is her Princess Tiara. Being the sister to the King, she is very much a Royal.

  My heart sinks, and my stomach turns, as it has in the many days since May disappeared.

  “Thank you for coming.” Lady Adria says to our press and courtly guests. We are not without tech. It’s just reserved for the very wealthy or nimble-fingered amongst us.

  She waits as pictures are taken. “I am the Lady Adria, Daughter to King Wrynard, and sister to King Maynard. I am also the confidant to our High Queen Maya. I have here a letter, in her own hand, that states she is alive, she is well, and she intends to return. She goes on to say that I am to remain the Royal Regent and continue in her absence. I will be in close communication with her, and all of her decisions, actions, and creeds shall flow through me.” Camera flashes follow murmurs and whispers as she holds up the letter, and even I can see from here it bears the seal of the Meleke Hight Court.

  “I don’t believe it,” I say under my breath as Lady Adria dismisses everyone. “I won’t believe it,” I growl, pulling from Cale as he tries to stop me. I run, run past the crowds and the cameras straight for her. I grab her arm.

  Bam!

  I am smacked harder than any man could ever hit. My face stings as I touch it looking at the blood on my hand. “How dare you touch us!” Lady Adria hisses.

  “I want to see that letter. I want to know where May is!”

  “May?” Her lips curl up wickedly. “You speak of our High Queen so casually? Do you deem yourself her friend?”

  “I-” I go silent, admitting what we are, that would sign my death warrant.

  “Speak, child.” My father turns me to him. “What have you in that little pea brain that makes you think you are above any?”

  “I-” I look at them, then my brother, who shakes his head no. “I am her Lady in Attending. I am hers.”

  “Do you lay claim to our High Queen? You a sniveling little Mechkan?” Lady Adria laughs, pulling me in close so she can whisper. “Stupid girl.” She tries to lift me by the collar. “Guard-”

  I roar. I may be a stupid little girl, but I am a massive Mechkan…

  ***

  It’s hours before I can resume my biped form. Deep in Konargh Antarr, my father’s kingdom, I find a line with some clothes and steal a pair of shoes from a stoop. I may not be able to feel my Queen for the distance between us, but I have a fairly good idea in which direction Zane has headed. Once I turned, the tables spun. Cale would not attack, and his hesitation was enough to leave a hole for me to run through. I should have killed her. I know she has done something. Somehow gotten ahold of the Royal signet and forged those papers. May would have never put her in charge. Never.

  I head north toward the mountains. It is the best place for Zane to hide. Plenty of wild game to eat, tree cover and caves. He needs to know what’s going on. Needs to understand how much we need him. It’s time he stops sulking and comes home.

  27

  S everal days north of Rinewalled is Luciteal, a provenance of Fjall. The mountainous land is home to many species, and most keep to themselves. Here I have been able to fade, disappear into the vastness of the caves. I’ve let the tiger go and allowed my truest form to take hold of me. The Mantigara is- troublesome, however. He likes to hunt the farms, and we have depleted three of their lesser livestock. The locals are blaming the Otso, as I’ve made a point of leaving mutilated messes. I don’t want them to come for me like the monsters in the old Hollywood movies. You know torches and pitchforks?

  My head has been pounding. I know that Valaria has tried to make contact. I’ve heard her scratching at the walls of my psyche. With the Mantigara at the helm, it’s easier to dial her down. With him, in charge, she is a dull three instead of the three hundred and sixty she is otherwise. I felt something shift when I couldn’t be sure. The Mantigara is nocturnal, so I’m not sure how long I have been gone. Days, weeks, maybe more. It’s been an endless cycle of nights, but if the stirring of the Otso is any indication, we are coming upon the moon.

  So it’s probably been nearly a month. I have not been away from the castle for this long since I was in battle, and even then, I was hardly alone. It is strange, and yet I am hardly missing it. I have freedom for the first time since I was a child, maybe for the first time in my entire life.

  The Mantigara doesn’t care, it doesn’t love, or hate, it doesn’t long like the tiger or the man. Pure instinct and adrenaline pump through my veins. I am the King of my own world.

  Tap.

  My head jerks up as I hear skittering near the entrance of the cavern I call home. I’ve scented the area. Nothing comes near here. Nothing that has any fucking brains, at least.

  Skit, tap, crunch goes the leaves and twigs just inside the entrance. My heart begins to ache, and whispers fill my ears. How the fuck did she find me?

  I curl my tail around myself, trying to blend into the rock. Maybe I can just pretend she isn’t there, and she’ll go the fuck away.

  “Zane!” I hear Valaria call me out. “You cocksucking son of a bitch! If you don’t come out, I swear to the Gods of this world and all the realms we touch that I will bring my people’s wrath upon your cowardly head! I have a dozen Mechkan guard with me, and together, I’m sure we can make quite a mess of your happy little hideaway!”

  She’s bluffing. I know this because all I smell is her pungent little body. If there were others, I would know. I stay quiet. Still, maybe she will think I’m not in.

  “Zane! Please!” She reeks of desperation and filth. How the fuck long has she been out in the wild? Why isn’t she clean or with Maya? She roars, and I can feel her barreling down the corridors. Shit! Brace for impact! I dig my claws into the stone as I am slammed into by over nine hundred pounds of fuzzy-wuzzy. She grabs ahold of me, and we roll. I may be longer and stronger, but she matches me almost pound for pound.

  I’m pinned to the ground, and she sits on my fucking back, then pounds me with her massive paws like I’m a pinata full of candy! I roar, claw, and scratch at the cold stone floor, trying desperately to dislodge myself.

  How could you run like that! She needed you! I needed you!

  She’s roaring, and my head feels like it’s going to split open as her screams echo between my ears. The smashing of her paws becomes the beating of fists, and her screams become sobs. “She’s gone.” Valaria sputters, and I stop struggling. I may fight the Mechkan, but I won’t hurt her prone form. My legs go limp, and I turn my massive head as her naked little body falls against me, her arms wrap around my neck.

  Tightness, choking. What the fuck? I try to fight her, but the chord around my head grows tighter with each bit of fight. My head is jerked to the side, and this little bitch turns me around.

  “There, now you can’t run away.” She purses her lips. “This is tinsail chord. They use it to break the pyrian, now if it can level a two-ton beast like that.” She snaps her fingers. “What do you think it will do to you?”

  My eyes narrow, and a low hiss escapes my throat.

  “Oh, hush up.” She tugs, and I chuff. “You don’t wanna come home? Don’t care about May? Or where she is? Do you really not feel her despair? The moment I left the castle walls, it and you are all I’ve been able to feel.” Valaria sniffs. “It’s all wrong, all broken. My heart is shattered. I’ve betrayed my Queen. This is all my fault.” She drops to the ground. Legs turned this way and that, her hand drops the tinsail, and I feel it lessen around my throat. “You should just kill me. Tear me to bits and leave me for the animals. I deserve nothing less.” Her body shakes in a sob. She’s filthy and smells awful, but I love her as much as my Queen. I do something I haven’t in quite some time, stand on my own two feet. I pull her up into my arms and cradle her against me.

  “I-” My voice sounds strange as i
f it isn’t mine. She looks up at me, tears streaking the dirt on her rounded cheeks.

  “We have to find her. I just know that she’s alive, but I don’t know for how much longer. Lady Adria-” I snarl, and she cups my cheek. “Open your heart, Zane, maybe together we can find her and set things right.”

  28

  A caged animal. That is precisely how I’m being kept. Like a caged fucking animal. My anger has not evaporated in the least. If anything, it's getting worse. My aunt is the one behind this. Speaking of Adria, she’s been trying to force me to sign a paper stating I’ve run off to clear my head and deal with my emotions or some bull shit. It’s also because of her my kingdom thinks I’ve done exactly that, I’m sure. I can only imagine what she’s told them.

  “FUCKING CUNT!” Okay, so, I scream out random shit to make myself feel better.

  “Now, what’s the sense in all the language?” Oren’s voice breaks into the room. I forgot to mention he’s helping my aunt in this sick form of torture.

  “Oh, I don’t know you’ve got me caged like a fucking animal!”

  “Adria told you what you had to do to get out.”

  “Yeah? Fuck you. I refuse to lay down and take it up the ass.”

  “Well, you do like it that way. However, you’re a little rounder than how I like ‘em.”

  “That’s because a real man knocked me up, you cock sucker. Now he has a cock that you’d love sucking. Big, gorgeous, and beyond delicious.”

  That’s right. I’m pregnant. I had no idea, not until I came out of my tiger form, and I had a belly like no other. I rub my belly. It’s okay, baby, they’ll find us. We won’t have to live down here.

  “Now, now.” I hear Adria’s voice through the speaker system. “It’s time to calm down, or else it’s the gas for you again. Now, back up and put your hands on the wall, or I swear I’ll cut that little bastard out of your belly while you sleep. The gods only know what kind of abomination you're gestating.”