“He was a fool to aid you further than he needed to, a mission he failed because of his heart.” His unimpressed gaze trickled over me. “I am taking over the reins of this negotiation. Kiros is only one half of Berovia.”
“I am aware.”
“We are willing to sign the treaty. We have no feud with you lunas, but we do ask for a few minor exchanges.”
I inhaled sharply. “You can write them down and give them to Cedric to give to me.”
“I’d be happy to go over them with your advisor.”
I cursed under my breath. I didn’t have one with me, but I did have Nissa. She was smart, smarter than most at court. “You can go over terms with Nissa Avery.”
“I’ve met her.”
“Perfect,” I said deadpan. I tried to walk away before he could say anything else, wanting to be anywhere else but there.
“Oh, complete forgiveness over past grievances is expected as part of the treaty. This is, after all, for peace.”
My teeth would have shattered if I kept going. Instead, I rolled my shoulders back, thinking of the kingdom and how much we needed this. “Magaelor forgives you,” I stated, unable to say I did, but… I was Magaelor.
I heard him walk away and found myself wiping a tear under the dim light of an oil lamp. I shouldn’t have let him bother me so much. Unlike they believed, I really did understand the casualties of war and how it wasn’t personal, but André was my brother, and I loved him so much. When he died, I felt like a part of me had died. Magaelor had lost a future king, and Florence lost her husband. I couldn’t just overlook his death. It didn’t matter if I had a hundred years, I would never get over it. I didn’t want to hate Rory Evermist, but I did, and it was what it was.
I ambled through corridors until I found Blaise. He was talking with a few of his men but smiled when he saw me. “Are we still not talking?”
He must have noticed my bloodshot eyes. Stupid tears. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple, brushing my hair out of my face. “What happened?”
“I can’t forgive him.”
“Who?” He pulled me at arm’s length.
“Rory, Cedric’s brother.”
He sighed. “I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
“You were right, but I don’t care.”
He straightened the crown on his head. A flash of pain crossed his expression, but he hid it quickly. He always did. The Ring felt heavier in my pocket when I looked at him. “Blaise, I have something for you.”
His eyebrows flicked up, mischievousness in his eyes. “Do we need to be alone for it?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not that.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Ring. “The Ring of Immortalem.”
His eyes lit up. He grabbed my hand in his, and I white-knuckled the Ring in the other. “Let’s go.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
“Wait.” I grabbed the sleeve of his tunic and pulled him back until he faced me. “Maybe we should wait, until after we kill the necromancer. I need the Dagger, or Sword. If the mer king takes them…” I shuddered, thinking of the consequences of the necromancer staying alive. “I can’t. I know you’re in pain, and I want to ease it more than you know.”
His expression softened, and I closed my eyes.
“I can’t give them up yet.”
He tilted my chin upward with his thumb, and I peeled back my eyelids to look into his determined gaze. “Love, I was never going to let him take them. We can go. The Sword and Dagger will be easier to use without the curses, and we still have some days before he wants to perform the ritual.”
I sucked air between my teeth. “It is a different ritual than he’ll be expecting.”
“You’re using the dead instead of the living. An ingredient has changed, but not the spell itself.”
I winced when he said ingredient. I could see the internal conflict as he fought against the darker desires of his heart. The curse tugged him in a different direction than where he wanted to go. The pain coursing through him took its toll. I could see it when he thought I wasn’t looking.
“Okay.” I exhaled deeply. “Let’s do this, but if he attempts to take the Objects, I will take the Sword and cut his head off myself.”
Blaise blinked twice. “I don’t doubt it, love.”
THIRTY-THREE
Frost melted under the sprays of the sea, and water swashed ashore with the rising waves. Against the bright crescent moon, the water was as black as ink, and depthless. The pebbled beach reached to the edge of the water, where we waited for him. Snuggling into my fur coat, I searched for any warmth it had to spare. Blaise didn’t hide his pain this time. It crinkled the skin around his eyes, bursting blood vessels in his eyes. My lips parted, and I wanted to do anything to take away his suffering, but the only cure remained in the four Objects wrapped in cloth, in Blaise’s hand.
“We can’t let him take the Sword or Dagger,” I said again.
“Again, I know.” His voice broke half the way through. He cleared his throat, rubbing the side of his head. “I won’t let him take them. Trust me.”
We needed one of them to kill the necromancer, but preferably both. We were going up against an ancient entity with no real knowing if our plan would work. The Dagger as backup wouldn’t be the worst idea. “Aqugar’s taking his time.”
“He could be anywhere.”
Blaise had danced magic through the water an hour before. I watched the blue sparks leave him and enter the water, then move through the waves before they disappeared. He had called to the mer king, and I hoped it had reached him. In the distance, I watched as icebergs appeared to melt into the sea. Without them, I couldn’t tell where the sea ended and the sky began.
Blaise side-eyed me. “It’s a reverse mirage.” His smoky eyes widened as he watched out at the starless night sky. “The air is colder than the sea. It’s rare, but it’s happened before. Look.” The ships at the port to the west appeared much smaller than they had when we’d arrived. The icebergs, I noticed, hadn’t disappeared but were a fraction of the size, looking to be much farther away.
I smiled, feeling the cold air circle into my lungs as I took a deep breath in. “Not many things shock me, but nature fails to surprise me.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the lapping waters. “Are you ready for this?”
I looked at him incredulously, tucking my hands further into my sleeves. “For you not to be in pain anymore? Of course.”
He exhaled a chuckle, fogging the air in front of his face. “I mean to have every part of me.”
I half smirked. “I thought I already did.”
He gazed upward and became lost in the starlight and crescent moon. “I’m looking forward to enjoying the freedom in loving you.”
Of course it felt like a cage to him. There was no freedom in loving me now, only pain. Something splashed in the waters. I hadn’t noticed the large tail until it crashed into the surface of the water, sprinkling icy droplets ashore.
Water coursed down his barrel chest and muscular arms when he emerged. The coral crown on his head was colored with oranges and reds, darkening the crimson in his compassionless stare. Hair made from green weeds, as if just plucked from the depths, slicked against the curve of his jaw and diamond-shaped face. His pointed teeth could be seen under the light of the moon in perfect clarity. “Do you have them?”
My gaze narrowed. He had sunk one of my ships, filled with eighty-four of my men, causing devastation to their families. I hated him, but he wasn’t human, and I wasn’t sure why I’d expected him to act as so. “You gave me a year,” I scowled.
“I feared you needed a nudge.”
My fist balled, but I uncurled my fingers, reminding myself we needed him. For now.
“We have them.” Blaise unfolded the corners of the brown cloth, showing the Amulet of Viribus, Dagger of Ruin, and Ring of Immortalem. Next to them, the largest Object of all, the Sword of Impervius, glimmered beneath the moonli
ght. We didn’t dare touch it. They all held curses, and Blaise and Aqugar were living proof of how dangerous those curses could be.
“Give us the Crown of Discieti,” I commanded, holding my head high. I knew he expected us to hand the Objects over to him.
“No. You were to hand them to me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, huddling pockets of warmth. “From where I’m standing, we hold the leverage.
His voice rumbled like thunder. “That was not the agreement.”
“I don’t care!” I shouted over his tempered words. “We don’t trust you to give them back, and they are ours. What do you have to lose by giving us the Crown?”
He growled. “It’s mine.”
“You can have it back for all I care.” I hissed the lie between my teeth. “We won’t betray you, because we want the curses broken as much as you. We will perform the ritual here.”
His thin nostrils flared. “Do you have what is needed?” A snarl curled his thin lips, and I looked to Blaise.
“Do we?”
Blaise gave one curt nod.
“Then yes,” I replied.
His gaze shifted to Blaise, who looked statuesque under the white illumination. Ice had frozen his jet-black hair at its ends. The Crown, secured in place, was lost amongst a sea of dark waves.
“Where is the body?” Aqugar asked.
My eyes widened. “Body?”
Blaise cast his eyes downward. “I already have their soul.”
Soul?
“One soul is not enough.” His jaw clenched. “This is why you should hand the items to me. I can find dozens of sailors to kill.”
I found my voice broken and felt dry in my throat. “You need to kill people to break them?”
Aqugar gripped into the pebbly shore, his talons screeching against the smooth gray edges. “The curse is centuries old.”
Blaise sighed. “I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t find the right time.”
“Who did you kill?”
“One of the feral fae. A man.” He looked down at the Dagger. “An irredeemable one.”
“Where is he?”
He glanced at a derelict shed not far from where we stood. It was the same wooden shelter Cedric and I had slept in when we’d come to this same beach last year.
“You had him brought here?”
“You must be angry.” Sadness poured into his expression, tugging my heart to him.
“I’m not.” I let out a cool, shaky exhale. “I only wish you’d told me. You did what you needed to do, and the feral fae are hardly upstanding citizens.” I shuddered, recalling how they’d placed my head in a noose when I fled Niferum. Their twisted, dark eyes haunted me sometimes. “I know you want to save them,” I said. His mission was to bring them back from the darkness they’d tipped into.
“This one was not worthy of bringing back.”
If Blaise was saying that, then that particular fae had to have done some terrible deeds. “Why do you need souls?” My eyes flicked from his to the mer king’s. “This isn’t sacrificial magic, surely?” I gave Blaise a panicked look.
“No,” he replied, and the mer king interrupted.
“Souls hold great energy. We need a powerful blast of magic to destroy the curses attached to these.”
An idea flickered into my mind, burning brighter by the second. We knew we had souls to bring back the necromancer, and we could use that same energy to break the curses at the same time. “What if I told you I know exactly where to find such strong energy?”
The mer king’s slimy, long eyebrow arched. “Where?”
Blaise got the same idea. His resolve strengthened as he looked at the godlike mercreature. “You’ll need to hand over the Crown of Discieti because my love is right. There’s a way to break the curses.”
Aqugar shook his head, frustration in his features. He disappeared under the surface, and my heart skipped a beat. “Oh great, now he’s gone and is probably going to murder a bunch more of my people.”
Blaise lifted his index finger in the air, the cool gusts of wind pulling between us. “Wait.”
The air smelled like snow and pine, with a brush of salt. It was quite delightful when compared to the fishy stench of the port in Magaelor. I clicked my tongue as minutes ticked over, but to my surprise, Aqugar re-emerged holding a crown of pure gold, two pieces twisted around each other into a circle. On the outside, gems of blue glistened from the gold, made brighter by the sheen of water coating them. Aqugar looked at me, warning in his glare. “If you do not bring this back to me once the curse is broken, then I will ensure every mercreature in this ocean attacks every ship on sight.”
I swallowed thickly. “Why do you want the crown anyway, after all the trouble it’s caused?”
His eyes widened as he admired it from his hand. “Without the curse, the compulsion element will be easier to use. As of now, when I place it upon my head, the curse grows stronger, making it agonizing to use its powers.” Something faded in his bottomless eyes. “You will bring it back to me, Winter Mortis, or it will be the death of your men.”
He threw it to Blaise, who caught it with lightning speed. The mer king ducked beneath the surface, his scaly tail appearing like steel under the light of the moon and crashing against the water as he swam from the beach.
I inhaled deeply, a smile curving my lips. “Is it possible we may be able to get everything we ever wanted?” I pressed my finger against my bottom lip. “Maybe it is possible for us to have it all.”
Blaise blinked disbelief. “Was that… optimism? Coming from Winter Mortis?” His eyebrows furrowed, followed by a slight smirk.
“You know what? For once, I am feeling pretty good about things. We have a way to kill the necromancer and destroy your curse. Vahaga’s gone, and I have the people I love with me. I even have peace with Berovia, something my father could never achieve during his reign.”
“To be fair, I don’t think Amos ever wanted peace.”
“More evidence to how I did the world a favor by removing him from it.”
He nodded, and I exhaled shakily. My stomach churned, reminding me I still needed to eat. It had been a long night. As we left the beach and stepped back into the chilled carriage, something Morgana had said to me when I was a child sprung into my mind; if it sounded too good to be true, then it probably was. Was having it all reaching too far? Or just reaching enough?
THIRTY-FOUR
I awoke to screaming and shouting traveling up the hallway. I bounced out of bed and rushed to the door, the icy cold floor shocking me through my bare feet. I threw open the doors, and four guards stood in my way. “What’s happening?”
“We’ve been ordered to keep you inside.”
“By whom?” I demanded.
“The king.”
“Can you at least tell me why?”
One looked to the other, hesitance on his face. “A group of faeries from the south attacked the castle an hour ago. They breached the walls and defenses.”
“Why did they attack?”
“They were trying to free the others.”
Understanding washed through me. “The feral fae.”
“I’ll alert the king of your being awake.”
“Oh.” I looked at their swords with a smirk. “You’re not going to keep me in here. I’m the queen of my own kingdom, and your king’s word can’t control me.” I stepped back and closed the doors.
After several minutes of trying to pull on my own dress, the doors opened and Nissa stepped inside. “Your Majesty.”
“Nissa. Do you know any more of what happened? I wanted to go downstairs, but I can’t tie these back.” I groaned as I tried to pull the strings on my corset. Nissa took over, worrying her fingers with the ribbons.
“There were like fifty of them. They were awful. Their eyes were so black.” She shuddered and blew out a tense breath. “One of Kiros’s men was really hurt, and one of ours, but don’t worry, they’re being healed. The solises actually helped,
using their magic. Fire magic is pretty impressive. I never know—”
“Where was Blaise during it?” I was mad at myself for sleeping through it. I rarely slept so late, but last night’s journey back to the castle from seeing the mer king had exhausted me.
“He was fighting them. It hurt him to do it; I could see it in his eyes. He has loads of them hoarded away in his dungeon though. It’s a little creepy.”
I winced when she pulled the strings tight. “I know why he’s doing it,” I said, a tad breathless. “He’s trying to reunite them with their humanity.”
“That’s actually kind of sweet.”
I smiled. “It is. So are they all gone now?”
“Blaise had to leave to one of the neighboring towns. He took most of the soldiers and guards with him. He wanted to capture as many of them before they got too far.”
I inhaled deeply as she tied a knot at the top of the corset. She helped me finish dressing, then moved around to face me. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled. I’d gotten so used to having her around, I’d forgotten she was once my enemy. “I wanted to come to you sooner, but they wouldn’t let me in each time I came.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Warning.” She grinned. “Mai was planning on coming up too.”
“She doesn’t need to. I’m leaving. I have business to attend.”
“Do you think it’s safe without Blaise here?”
I rolled my eyes. “I doubt the feral fae will return with him chasing them down. Besides, our people are here, and so are the solises. We have magic.” An uneasy feeling settled over me. We did have magic, and it was torturing the people we’d loved and lost with each spell. I licked my dry lips and sighed. “Nissa, I need to talk to you about something. In fact, bring Mai and the new girl here.”
Concern guided her tone. “I’ll get them right away.”
I nodded and watched her hurry away. Once the doors closed, I sat on the bottom of the large four-post bed. The posts were made from wood colored somewhere between white and gray. Gripping my fingers into the thick blanket, I hoped I was doing the right thing. I had to start bringing the truth to my people, and telling my ladies was a good place to start. If they were anything like me, they’d be heartbroken. They had grown up with the same religion I had, and those beliefs were so deeply entrenched into our lives and magic, it was going to be hard to swallow. Honestly, if it hadn’t come from my brother, I doubt I would have believed it. I just hoped the word of their queen would be enough.
The Fate of Crowns: The Complete Trilogy: A YA Epic Fantasy Boxset Page 79
