by N. J. Cooper
“I have to do what is best for the realm.” He said loudly as he stepped away from her. The Queen smirked and Kyla had expected that reaction, but what she didn’t expect was Elanor’s gasp and frowning face. Kyla drew her brows together in confusion as she looked at her. Elanor’s thin face blushed as she cleared her throat and pushed her chin up.
“I didn’t think you’d make that decision.” She admitted to Zarek as he came up to the platform and the Queen took her seat. Kyla sat next to her, showing her that she wouldn’t be intimidated by her presence no matter what happened with Zarek. Kyla was still holding the Queens betrayal of the realm in her mind and if she knew of a way to get to her without proof, then she would do it. As it was though, Kyla had to sit there and pretend like the Queen was just being a bitch because of Kyla’s relationship with her son. Kyla drew her thoughts back to Zarek and Elanor.
“We should continue the ceremony.” Zarek muttered looking at the officiant, grabbing Elanor’s hands in his. Kyla waited with a tense breath for the splintering of her heart as Zarek wed but it never came because Elanor pulled her hands away.
“Actually, I should rephrase. I was hoping you wouldn’t make that decision.” She murmured. Everyone gasped as she stepped back from Zarek and a tear rolled down her cheek, “I’m sorry, Zarek. I can’t marry you.”
“Elanor! What are you doing?” A woman on the other side of the aisle demanded. She was slim and blonde with so many of the same features as Elanor, that Kyla had to assume it was her mother. Elanor shook her head as Zarek frowned expectantly.
“I’m doing what is right. King Zarek just gave up the one thing he wants more than anything because that is what is best for the realm so I need to do the same thing, I need to give up what I want to give the realm what it needs. And trust me, Ma. It’s not me.” Elanor explained. Her mother scoffed, her mouth opening and shutting as she tried to argue but Elanor shook her head and looked between Zarek and Kyla.
“Kyla, I have been on two realm-saving missions with you and both times, I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t save the realm, I ran. I didn’t shed blood; I didn’t fight for us. I still have the best interests for Velatem, that hasn’t changed but my view has. I don’t believe I can give Velatem what it needs. I think what is best for us and our future, is you.” She said to Kyla before turning to Zarek with a sigh, “And Zarek, trust me I wanted to have it all. I wanted to marry you, I wanted to be the princess and eventually the Queen, but I realise now that I was in love with that image. I thought I needed that to be happy and you have shown me that’s not true. I want to be happy and I don’t think we will be if we are forced into this. After everything that has happened since Kyla got here, we both deserve happiness. Lucky for you, I think your happiness and the Oracle is what is best for Velatem.” Elanor explained and with each word there were more gasps and murmurs throughout the pews. Kyla stood with a small smile.
“Elanor, stop this at once!” Her mother screeched as her father stood, folding his arms across his chest with a scowl.
“Mom, I’ve made my decision. I’m not marrying, King Zarek.” Elanor forced towards her parents when the Queen stood and waltzed forward.
“Elanor, you disappoint me. But if you wish to take this route then I will have no choice but to follow through on the consequences of such a decision.” The Queen threatened. Elanor bit her lip and blushed but nodded.
“No! Your Majesty, please! We did everything we were meant to. We can’t be punished for our daughter’s hasty decision, we can change this, please!” Elanor’s mother begged, coming around from the pew with Elanor’s father and up to the Queen who shook her head.
“Mom…” Zarek tried but the Queen held her hand up.
“No. The laws are the laws. You are the King; you need to stop trying to break them.” The Queen snapped as Elanor sighed. Kyla was lost on what the hell had them so bent out of shape. What consequence? Zarek turned to Elanor with a wincing expression.
“Elanor. You realize I have no choice, if this is truly what you decide, I must remove your parents from the High Council. With you refusing marriage, as noble as I believe your reasoning, means technically it is against the laws and their honour is lost?” Zarek said through a clenched jaw. He didn’t want to say it, let alone do it anymore than Kyla could stomach it but Elanor raised her chin in defiance.
“I’ve made my decision.” She said then turned to her parents.
“Mom. Dad. I am sorry but I don’t want this. I thought I did but we must do what is best for the realm and I want my own chance at happiness.” Elanor shrugged. The Queen scoffed.
“Fine. Let the girl have her happiness. Vanessa and Eric Dior, you are removed from your titles on the High Council. Please leave the premises with your disappointment of a daughter. You are no longer on the High Council.” The Queen sneered. Vanessa gasped and narrowed her eyes on Elanor as her father grabbed her elbow and yanked her from the platform, dragging her down the aisle. Elanor smiled weakly at Kyla as she left, the door slamming shut behind them. Zarek ran a hand through his hair, a hand on his hip as his mother turned to the crowd.
“As you can see, we have no need for a wedding. Thank you for attending and we will see you all for the Elder Trials in a few days.” The Queen announced but Zarek frowned and stopped her.
“Wait. What about Kyla?” Zarek asked. Kyla wanted to know the answer to that too. The Queen rolled her eyes.
“What is it with you two? She is not approved Zarek, Elanor or not. Now announce the trials and dismiss these good people.” The Queen snapped standing to the side. Zarek clenched his jaw and she had a feeling that wasn’t the end of it, but he turned to the people anyway as they were standing, ready to leave.
“The Elder Trials have now been changed. We are in need of two new representatives for the sorcerer community as well as the vampires, giants and goblins. Please get your nominees in within the next two days. Thank you for your understanding in this unusual predicament and I vow things will be cleared up soon and you will have your Queen. Until the Elder Trials. See you then.” Zarek said then turned away from the crowd and left the room with his scowling mother.
Kyla turned on her heel and left the room, barging passed the others to find her friends who she had left at the infirmary. They were waiting for her outside the hall and she couldn’t help but wonder why they hadn’t come in and stood up for her but it didn’t matter anyway, the Queen had said she wasn’t going to be with Zarek and was most likely going to force the next one on the list on to him but as far as Kyla was aware, there was no one else on the list. So, while they thought over that, she was going to come up with a way to expose the Queen. Wyatt was leaning against one of the walls as Sky had her arms folded and waiting.
“Wow. Who would have thought Elanor would do that?” Sky scoffed. Kyla frowned.
“How did you even know what had happened? You were out here.”
“Kasyn. He was in there with you and came back to tell me.” Sky shrugged as if it should have been obvious and maybe it should have but it was getting harder for her to understand the way the shadow realm worked. Especially since it was now the anchor that held the Outlands there.
“Right and Onyx is still there?” Kyla couldn’t help asking. She didn’t like the idea that his soul was still in any realm, even though the Shadow Realm was infinitely better than her own soul absorbing all that evil. It still made Kyla uncomfortable that it was connected to the Outlands and he had escaped from there before. But Sky wasn’t worried. She nodded with a smile.
“Oh yeah. He’s harmless. Don’t worry Kyla. He’s not going anywhere. I’m the only one that can get from here to the shadow realm and I alone can dictate who goes in and out of the portal to the Outlands. He can’t get in there. Even if he got my amulet. The dark magic is drawing from my soul, if he takes it, the magic will leave, like you and the Oracle separating. And even then, he is in no shape to do much of anything. He is powerless and there are a lot of creatures over here that wan
t revenge on him for not fulfilling his promises to them so he begged me to lock him in the castle dungeon, which I happily did and now he stays there as human as can be, reading all day. Sometimes I let some other creature in there to torment him a little, just to remind him why he’s there but mostly he just whines.” Sky explained as they started walking back through the mansion, down to the foyer where they would be taken back to school until the Elder Ceremony.
“And what about Kasyn? You can still see him but now we can’t?” Kyla asked, feeling better that Onyx was completely subdued. Sky’s smile faltered slightly.
“If I touch him, I can pull his soul through to this realm and he can be seen but it’s the same as before. He isn’t real unless I am in the Shadow Realm. He can’t taste or feel. He’s just an essence. So, it’s better if he stays over there. Spirits aren’t meant to walk our plane and I don’t want to screw anything up by messing with that. I wish there was a way we could make him real again, but it’s just not meant to be.” Sky saddened, her eyes looking passed Kyla to where she assumed Kasyn was out of sight, but not to Sky. Kyla nodded.
“I’m sorry.” Kyla admitted, and she was. It sucked that her friend couldn’t have Kasyn, that she had lost so much. She wished it was different, she wished she had done things different but it’s not how it was anymore, and she had to live with that.
They fell into an easy silence then as they retracted to their own thoughts and Wyatt, who was strangely quiet led them out to the SUV’s where they got in and were taken away and back to the Academy.
~ 13 ~
“Please stand for his Majesty, King Zarek Kalan of Velatem Realm and her Highness, Queen Regent Lena Kalan of Velatem Realm.” Shemar said in a gruff voice as he stood in the middle of the stadium. Kyla stood with the rest of the crowd in the bleachers that surrounded the middle arena, her hands clasping together as she anticipated Zarek’s entrance. Wyatt and Sky stood either side of her and if they sensed how tense she was, they didn’t show it. Over the last three days she had been trying to come up with a way to expose the Queen and after finally revealing what was bothering her to her friends they had come with a plan. It was risky and she was hoping it was going to work. They had thought through every possible loophole or problem that might come up and she was pretty sure it was going to work but her plans had a miserable track record, so she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Finally, Zarek and Lena strode into the stadium. Zarek in his royal attire and Lena in a stunning dress. Lena took her throne as Zarek took to the podium. She hadn’t spoken to him since she had left and seeing him again was a powerful blow to her heart. He was hollow. His eyes were shadowed, his skin pale and even though he still looked just as regal and well put together, she could tell he was a storm on the inside. Kyla narrowed her eyes on him as he nodded and indicated for everyone to sit down. She looked to Shemar and tried to get into his mind while watching Zarek’s erratic aura. Shemar frowned and found her gaze, locking on her. She was trying to get into his mind, but he was an Alpha now and it was too strong. She frowned at him, but he must have felt her pressure on his mind because he nodded and let her in, the tension releasing her thoughts into his mind.
‘What’s wrong with him, Shemar? His aura is wavering, and he looks like he hasn’t slept.’ Kyla sent her worries and she didn’t expect anything back since he had never been able to before but his husky, deep voice grumbled through her.
‘His powers are very strong at the moment, Kyla. His emotions are strong, so his powers are feeding off it. He’s struggling to hold them.’ Shemar admitted. Kyla didn’t respond, she frowned and looked at him as he addressed them, and her heart swelled.
“Velatem Realm. Thank you. Today we are here to start the Elder Trials. Humanity. Morality. Loyalty. Each nominee will be subjected to these trials and each one will have to pass each stage before it comes to the vote. The stages are made up of two components; theory and practical. You will drink a serum at the start of the theory, it is enchanted and will run through your entire history, pulling out every memory with a scent that corresponds to the current test and that memory will be displayed on the screen behind me for the realm to witness. You must have a minimum of three memories for each category or you fail. The practical will be another enchanted serum. It will put you in a simulator situation, testing what you would do when faced with a specific problem that corresponds one of the three categories. There is only one right answer and you must get all three answers correct to move on to the voting stage.
I will begin reading out the nominees for each race momentarily, but a quick note before that. You must already be a member of that races Elder Council to compete. And if you are nominated, you MUST compete, no exceptions.” Zarek explained then pulled out a gold bowl from under the stand he was talking from. He took a deep breath and Kyla wondered whether she was the only one who noticed his shudder. She wished she could help him, make it easier on him but that was the opposite of what she was planning. What she had done, was going to turn the Elder Trials on its head and she hated that it had to be done that way, but it had to be done. It was the only way. Kyla fidgeted restlessly in her seat as Zarek began reading out the Giants nominations first. As their names were called, the giants came forward from their section of the audience and stood in the middle of the stadium. Next was the goblins, doing the same and Kyla smiled as she recognized one of them as the one that had let them stay in her hotel in the goblin area; Harlin.
“Kyla, stop fidgeting. Your poker face is slipping.” Wyatt teased in a low voice with a smirk. Kyla stilled and tried to relax, leaning back in her seat.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done it. This was a stupid plan.” Kyla whispered. Wyatt shook his head.
“No. It was the only plan. Kyla it’s too late, we’ve put it in motion, and we can’t exactly go down there now and pull the bowl of names from the King.” Wyatt replied and Kyla knew it was true, but her stomach was turning, and she couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad. Finally, after calling out the vampires, it was their community. Zarek read out two names that she hadn’t heard before; Seth Longsdale and Hanna Cortez and Kyla’s hands scrunched together, her knuckles turning white. Any second now. He called out the third name.
“Queen Lena Kalan.” He read, his voice faltering as the crowd gasped and Kyla held her breath, waiting for what happened next. Zarek found her coy gaze and frowned then looked back at his mother who had stormed up to the podium to see the piece of paper for herself.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded to the crowd and held the paper up. Kyla took a deep breath and sat up straighter, waiting for the Queens narrowed gaze to fall on her. It found her within seconds and glared and despite the nervous bubbling in her stomach, Kyla smirked.
“This is absurd, the Queen can’t compete in the Elder Trials. She’s already on the High Council.” One of the other Elders said from where the High Council sat in padded chairs next to the giant screen behind Zarek.
“She is not technically on the High Council anymore. She is the King’s mother and when he marries, she will not even have a place on the platform let alone a seat at our table so I fear, since she is an Elder on the sorceress Council, that she is bound to compete in the Elder Trials.” Another Elder explained through thick lips and a balding head. Zarek ran a hand over his head and scrunched the piece of paper up.
“Mom. I think they’re right. You have to compete. But you want to be on the High Council, don’t you?” Zarek asked, and only Kyla saw the slight wince on her face but she pushed her chin up and nodded.
“Very well, then.” She muttered and went to stand by the other nominees. She held a scowl and Kyla was really hoping that what she had done; getting Wyatt to distract and Sky to help her and Kasyn to get that note into the ballad box, that it was actually going to work and the Queen would fail the tests with the proof being shown on screen for the entire realm to witness. There was only one more part of her plan that was making it harder and harder to not run
from the stadium. One that had taken a lot of planning and letting Shemar in on what they were doing. He was hesitant at first and she had been worried he would arrest them for treason for speaking against the Queen, but he hadn’t. He had said she wasn’t Queen anymore and he could feel their sincerity now that he was an Alpha, so he helped them. More than he should have and risked a lot but as Zarek went back to the bowl and picked up the last nominees name, Kyla winced.
“Kyla Alexis Rhodes, the Oracle. The defender.” Zarek read then snapped his head to hers. More gasps rang through the stadium and within seconds everyone was stood and shouting and growling and threatening.
‘She’s not an Elder!’
‘Is this a joke? She’s only been here a few months!’
‘She saved us! Let her compete!’
‘The Oracle deserves a chance!’
Kyla’s mind swum with the different comments that hit her ears when finally, Zarek boomed over the speaker.
“Quieten down!” he called as everyone slowly drained the volume from their comments and sat down, still either grumbling or shuffling with excitement. Finally, he looked at her again.
“Kyla, come down here please.” he strained. Kyla stood as Wyatt and Sky whispered good luck in unison. She went down to the stadium, not looking at the Queen as she made her way to the podium. Zarek held the paper up.
“Do you know who put your name in here?” he demanded. Kyla smirked. She knew but she wasn’t about to tell him. Not until it was over because then it would all make sense. She shook her head.
“No.” She lied. He sighed and looked over the crowd, she followed his gaze to where he was looking at Sky and Wyatt. They had grins on their faces and were waving. He shook his head and looked at her.
“You’re not an Elder. You can’t compete.” He said and she thought she heard a regretful tone but if things worked out, he didn’t have to worry. She was going to get in and be with him and if the plan worked, then the Queen would be exposed to. Shemar stepped forward then and cleared his throat.
