The Fate of Crowns: The Complete Trilogy: A YA Epic Fantasy Boxset

by Rebecca L. Garcia

  She placed the stallion and key cards onto the table. “Let it begin.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Adius’s sharp blue eyes found mine in the small crowd that had gathered. He was who Morgana was talking about when she said she needed to get word to an important person.

  Dusk settled over the fae land. The sun disappeared behind the snowy peaks, shifting the sky from red to purple. “Adius.” My heart swelled. He hadn’t aged a day since I’d seen him. His brown hair was slicked back, blending into a well-groomed, short beard at the sides. “You came. No one told me you would be here. I had hoped.”

  He dropped to one knee, bowing his head. “Your Majesty. I was relieved to hear of your survival. I came as soon as I was given word.” He looked up and nodded in Morgana’s direction as she approached us.

  “Please, stand.” I exhaled slowly. “Tell me everything, Adius! I’m so glad to see you.”

  His face blued. The winds picked up, gusting through the narrow walkway between the mountains where stragglers ventured through the snow. Spell shields kept the wolves at bay, and Blaise had ordered for all glamours nearby to temporarily be taken down. My hair swept back in the strong winds. I covered my eyes from the flurry of snowflakes.

  “We need to move north,” Morgana stated, interrupting before Adius could respond. “A blizzard is coming.”

  I sighed. I wished we had influence over the weather, but even magic had rules. “Yes. Let us move. Are the horses fed?”

  She nodded. “We can stop at Enchante for shelter until the blizzard passes.”

  Flashbacks of the gallows, where fresh nooses were hung by feral fae with empty stares and evil smiles, came back to me. “No way. The last time I was there, need I remind you, they tried to kill me.”

  “There are no fae there anymore,” Morgana replied. “They were captured by Blaise’s men. Honestly, Winter, do you not ask questions at Lepidus?”

  I scratched the back of my hand. I did need to be more on top of current news, know what was happening in all kingdoms, but I’d been preoccupied with everything. Thankfully, the herbs Morgana crushed and put inside capsules lessened my nerves, although I could feel my anxiety buzzing just beneath the surface, alerting me to it being almost time to take another.

  Adius cleared his throat, bringing me back to what was going on. “Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I will join my men and find you shortly.”

  I nodded. “Yes, of course. Sorry, Adius.”

  “A queen must never apologize,” he said simply, then walked to a small group of men huddled with fur coats on.

  I turned my attention back to Morgana, whose arms were hugged around her thin torso. “Are you sure there are none there?”

  “Blaise has been finding the feral fae and locking them in the dungeons at Lepidus. If there are any, they’re hiding.”

  “They’re at court?” My eyes bugged. “He should just kill them! He has the dagger.”

  “You sound like your cousin,” she warned. “There has to be a trial, to see what is truly in their hearts. Even the fae have rules.” She looked behind us at the guards in navy suits with pointed ears and wings that were tucked away due to heavy winds.

  “Enchante it is.” I brought my frozen fingers to my lips and breathed life into them. “It’s so cold. Cedric’s lucky he didn’t come.”

  Morgana arched her eyebrow at me. “You told him not to.”

  “He has matters to attend,” I said simply. “His family has been worried about him. Xenos suspects him in my escape. Cedric has been trying to contact the army who stayed behind to fight the king’s men off when we ran through the forest. He left everything behind, a huge mess, to follow me into this…” I looked around. “The ice tip of nowhere.”

  “I agree. Although it is breathtaking, it’s virtually uninhabitable. Although, Lepidus is situated in the best spot for the weather.”

  I shivered. “I miss the heat.”

  “When it’s too hot, you miss the cold, and vice versa.” She smiled knowingly. “Too much of anything is bad.”

  “I miss Magaelor.” I looked longingly at the mountains. Beyond them was home. It was cold there too, but it did get warmer in the summer months and was nothing compared to the freezing temperatures in Niferum. I longed for gray skies, the Gothic, tall buildings I’d become accustomed to, and the castle I’d grown up in. “I took it for granted.”

  “We are all guilty of doing that.” She linked her arm with mine. “Come, let us go before we are trapped here. Many people have come.”

  I looked over my shoulder. “A couple hundred at best.”

  “There is at least twice that many, and it’s a lot closer than you were yesterday. I am certain many more wished to come, but it was short notice. I couldn’t get word to everyone for fear of it landing in the laps of spies. Once news travels, more will come. Of this, I am sure. Edgar eventually caught wind of what was happening, but it was already too late.”

  “Have you consulted your cards?” I searched her gaze. “Please tell me.”

  She grabbed the reins of her ash-gray horse, then footed the stirrup and jumped on its back. Frustration crossed her expression. “Destiny has not been showing me, which is not the worst thing, Winter.”

  “How is it not?”

  “Because, if I can’t see the outcome of your war, then neither can anyone else.”

  ***

  Adius settled on the bench in front of the fire we’d lit inside an abandoned home. Part of the roof had caved in, but Morgana and I had repaired it using a banned spell I learned back home. I made a note to un-ban some once I was queen.

  Flames hissed warmth through my extremities, stinging them back to life. “Thank you for coming,” I said once again.

  “I came for Magaelor. You are the rightful queen, anointed by our creator and our ancestors.”

  The burden weighed heavily. “I’m grateful we all managed to get out of the blizzard on time. This village isn’t much, but it has shelter. We will have food once we reach Redwinter,” I explained.

  “Ah, the royal province, from the days when lunas ruled all of the land here.” He rolled his staff between his hands. The handle was black, with a dragon’s tail twisting up into a head. “It’s a shame the land was split into two kingdoms. Should have never been. Although, we did get the better half.”

  “Yes. No blizzards,” I said in agreement. “Right now, we’re in Silverwater. They only have two provinces.”

  His pupils shrank as he stared into the crackling fire. “I’ve studied our maps,” he said kindly. “I am surprised they’ve kept anything from the old, as they’re so…” He drummed his fingers against the splintering bench. “Untraditional.”

  “Yes. But they’re also lazy. Why change things, from their perspectives.”

  “King Blaise seems to be doing a lot of things King Azrael did not,” he replied. “I’ve read the writings brought into Magaelor, and newspapers. I believe we are in a new age, and the young ones are getting things done differently. For a faerie, he is ambitious.”

  My lips cracked when I smiled. “When I am queen, I will get things done too.”

  “You are queen,” he reminded me.

  I nodded. “Officially.”

  “Your cousin,” he spat, growing more and more agitated. “He has lost half of our country’s wealth, not to mention allowed Berovians into the kingdom. Giving them titles and positions at court. I watch them practicing their magic on the grounds where our ancestors are buried.” His mouth twisted in disgust “He has no integrity. We need our true ruler back, and I have come to fight for your place on your throne, as I would have done for your father. You are his heir now that he is dead.”

  “Yes, I was shocked to hear of his death. Do they know how it happened?” I asked.

  “We believe it is foul play, but there is no way of knowing. He had a ring on, the Ring of Immortalem. Whoever has it is responsible.”

  I was half grateful I no longer held onto it but a little surprised t
hey knew about it. Of course, Ashur would have told them before he cozied up to Edgar.

  “Good. I mean, not good.” I shook my head. “You will, of course, be the commander of this army.”

  He stood and bowed at his waist. “An honor, Your Majesty. Although I do not condone working with the fae, I understand it is a means to an end.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. He, like my father and many others, still looked down on them. Even I couldn’t break an age-old view, although I would try, delicately. “My friend,” I said, treading carefully. “Cedric, he’s a light fae.”

  Adius’s face whitened. “A Berovian?”

  I guessed Berovians out-worsened fae. “Yes, but he’s not like the others. He saved me from Xenos, broke me out of the castle, and brought me home.”

  His conflicted eyes looked from me to the decayed mantle. “He will get special dispensation for saving the queen of Magaelor.”

  “He’s a good man,” I said. “A prince too.”

  “Unusual, but I heard the light fae royal family don’t really have any power. They’re just given a castle and crown to appease them. Xenos is the true king.” Orange glowed on his face, sharpening his jaw and nose.

  I cast my eyes down to my hands and stared at the fur on my coat. It danced from the draft sneaking through the sides of the windows. “I will kill Xenos,” I promised.

  “I was told of your capture, although they have spun a different angle, pretending you were to marry the king’s son, Prince Kiros.”

  I laughed nervously. “I had to pretend to accept the proposal so I could escape, but trust me when I tell you, I’d have died before I made him king of Magaelor.”

  “We will make them pay, Your Majesty. For now, I am in your service, devoted to returning you home. I have men. More will come. The people want you. Even Florence hates your cousin. He’s taken a liking to her.”

  Her blonde waves and bright eyes popped into my mind. My ex-sister-in-law, for a short time. “I’m not surprised. Men seem to fall at her feet. I’ll never understand why.”

  Adius’s cheeks flushed red. “Yes, well, he will be removed from the castle, then executed once we get you back, and we won’t have to worry about him again.”

  The thought of killing him churned my stomach. Deaths hovered around me, reminding me of all I’d done. Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep at night, I could hear my father taking his last breath as he’d done on the night I pulled the ring from his finger. It was a truth no one could ever know, for if they did, my head would be the one on the chopping block, not Edgar’s. “I should go and find Morgana,” I explained and stood. “She said by noon tomorrow the blizzard will have died down enough for us to get back to Redwinter. There are towns and villages there, with food, drink, and shelter, which Blaise has allowed us to use to train and build our army.”

  He leaned on his staff, pressing it on the ground under his legs. “I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask, but I know there will be plenty of time for answers once we settle. How you ended up in Berovia when everyone thought you lost to the cold here in Niferum… The details of the story are a bit hazy.”

  A lump formed in my throat. “Oh, yeah, it’s a long one. I’ll catch you up once we’re back in Redwinter.” My heart pounded. “Good night, Adius.”

  “Majesty.” He looked back at the fire.

  I hurried out the door and closed it behind me. The bitter wind hit my cheeks, pinching them, and pulled at my hair. I could hardly see a thing. A couple of Adius’s men—or should I have said my men—held my arms, escorting me back to the building where Morgana waited for me. I had to have her help me; we needed to concoct a perfect story of how I got to Berovia. Like Adius had said, there would be time for answers later. Answers I didn’t have.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Stop worrying,” Morgana said, soothing me as we rode into Redwinter province, leaving behind the ruins and blizzards of Silverwinter. “No one has reason to doubt you.”

  “What if the men in that tavern talk? Not the mercenaries, but the fisherman and labor workers who’d seen me?” I questioned, my mind racing. “I did give them some coins and told them they didn’t see me there, but you never know. It only takes one person to place me in Magaelor the night he died.” My chest tightened. “Why did I think I could get away with it?”

  “You did the right thing,” she said. “Your father was a monster.”

  “It’s regicide.”

  “Yes.” We slowed from a canter to a trot. The snow dusted around us as we led the small army deeper into Niferum. “Which is why we have explained. The feral fae attacked you, which is why you never sent word, but you fought them and made it out alive. When you tried to come home, you were picked up by Berovian pirates who were sent to attack your father. Instead, they found the princess and took you to Xenos.” She paused for a second. “I will talk to the men in the tavern. People can be reasoned with. You asked for the mercenaries to come. We can talk with them once they arrive. I will always do the best by you.”

  I knew she would. “It’s kind of perfect, but wait, how would they have known who I was?”

  “Your portrait.”

  “They’re Berovians.”

  “They were shown your portrait along with your father’s, by king Xenos.”

  I nodded. “What if they think Xenos had something to do with my father’s death? If they believe he sent pirates to attack us, then they’ll think him behind it. He also has the Ring of Immortalem. Adius knows it is missing. They won’t believe him if he says he took it from me.”

  She pulled the reins to a stop. “Good. A war is already starting, Winter. Right now, it is us against them, and we’re only trying to save our own necks. A small lie to lead the kingdom to greatness is sometimes needed. We can’t stop what’s already unfolding. It’s time to break down the old and make space for the new. It began with Blaise. It will end with you. I’ve seen it coming for a long time.”

  “Seen what?”

  “A reckoning.” She chilled. “All young kings and queens.”

  “All?” My mind flitted to Kiros. “Even in Berovia?”

  “Yes.”

  My question was halted when Adius rode to our side. “Your Majesty, I apologize for the intrusion, but we have word more of our men will be coming. It seems your plan of sending decoy ships to the ports worked, but Edgar’s forces are almost at the border.”

  “Will our people make it in time?”

  “They’re ahead, yes.” His eyes crowned with absolution. “Not all, but most will make it through. We have stationed soldiers at the village to wait for them, then guide them here.”

  “Great. I will be traveling to Lepidus first. I have matters to discuss with King Blaise.”

  “Do you need me to accompany you?”

  I shook my head. “No need. I’m well protected there. You take our people and get them settled. They will be hungry after the journey. Blaise is having food sent in parcels. They should be there when you arrive.”

  Morgana leaned over. “I have business with Licia, so I will come with you.”

  Her statement seemed to appease him. Looking over at the castle, he nodded. “If you need anything.”

  “I won’t hesitate to send for you,” I replied quickly.

  After he was gone, I turned my attention back to Morgana, who was at the edge of words. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten.” She finally said, and I rolled my eyes.

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  “I wished it were under better circumstances.”

  “Now is no time for celebrating.”

  Morgana nodded. “I agree, but I will say it regardless. Happy birthday, Winter.”

  I swallowed thickly, remembering how I’d lied to Kiros about my seventeenth to stall the wedding. “Thank you.”

  ***

  The obsidian walls loomed against the pale horizon.

  We entered under the vined arches. Guards swept apart, opening the doors. “This way.” I walked Morgana to the throne ro
om. It wasn’t hot, but it was noticeably warmer than outside. I could feel my fingers and toes again. I’d noticed lilies had been placed around the castle in various vases. Had Blaise become accustomed to them, or were they for me? It was conceited of me to presume it. I shrugged the idea away. More than one person could have a favorite flower.

  A woman, inches taller than me, crossed our path and tossed her long, white hair over her shoulders. It looked as if it had been woven from silk. She stopped and stared at me with bright, silver eyes. I recognized her as Darlina, Blaise’s ex-lover.

  “I heard you were back,” she growled quietly.

  I rolled my eyes. The last times I’d seen her, she’d been tangled with Blaise in the library, and afterward, she’d threatened me in the gardens. “Yes. I am,” I said with an excessive smile. “Where can I find Blaise?”

  “You mean His Majesty.” Spite guided her tone. “It’s none of your business.”

  I lifted my chin. “I am the queen of Magaelor.”

  “Not yet.”

  “I’m the rightful queen, and I wouldn’t let Blaise hear you speaking like that. He’s quite protective of me.”

  Morgana tugged my arm. “Let’s not engage in childish word warfare.”

  “Listen to your crazy friend.” Her eyebrows crinkled, and her lip tugged in a mocking smirk. “Away you go.”

  I clenched my jaw. “You should watch who you’re talking to.”

  “You too.”

  Morgana pulled me again.

  “Okay.” I shrugged her away and turned on my heel, glancing once more over my shoulder. Morgana’s hand firmly grasped my wrist. Once we were out of earshot, she leaned in. “Must you? That girl was unpleasant, yes, but you are, as you keep pointing out, a queen. Act like it. Rise above petty, juvenile behavior. You have an example to set.”

  My face flooded with color. “She provoked me!”