by K.N. Lee
When Koa stepped through the gates she entered a massive courtyard of stone. Their path was lit for them. On either side of the carpet were artificial trees of stone and black clay. They weren’t real, but they were beautiful. Art.
Even Koa could appreciate the mastery. She examined the sculptures as she followed her escort through the courtyard and to the stone doors that led into the palace. Once inside, light seemed to fill every dark space. Chandeliers, torches, candles, mirrors reflecting the light, and light discs were positioned all over the wide corridor.
It was then that Koa contemplated flying away. She’d thought of it often. It would be her last chance. She took a peek over her shoulder. She could still see the door. She’d just promised her father that she would keep her abilities a secret. She wasn’t sure why such things were so important.
She could simply lift herself into the air, and head for the Gate, but visions of her mother being harmed kept her firmly planted to the purple carpeted floor.
Koa felt numb, like she was walking to her prison cell.
Each corridor led to another corridor of a different theme. From one of light and mirrors they stepped through grand arches to a corridor of dim candles and artificial flowers in vases painted with paint that seemed to have a light of its own. There was a corridor with walls filled with paintings and soft music played by a small creature that resembled the one at the Gate. Tunes was what her father called him, but all Koa remembered was how creepy he was. She shuddered as she recalled Tunes’ bulbous eyes.
Koa watched it buzz around with short black wings as it blew eerie melodies out of its flute. She tapped her chin and furrowed her brows as she tried to remember what kind of creature it was.
With bat-like wings and rubbery, yellowish skin, she was sure she’d seen that creature in a book from her father’s study. Koa spent hours in there, reading anything that she could get her hand on. The Netherworld tomes always intrigued her. Now she was faced with the creatures she’d studied.
“An imp!” Koa shouted triumphantly. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked around in horror. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud. Everyone glanced at her with disapproval, but the imp continued playing its flute until they went into the next corridor.
Koa was relieved to find that the maze of corridors had finally ended, and that they were finally in the main ballroom where the prince and the royal family awaited them.
She stepped into the room, from carpet to shiny granite floors and a flood of light and decorations overwhelmed her senses. She didn’t want to admit how beautiful it was, but her eyes widened at the spectacle. Hundreds of chairs draped with gold silk lined either side of the alleyway that led to the dais where the thrones stood.
Her heart thumped. She felt something she hadn’t expected. Koa’s face flooded with blood as her eyes met those of the prince.
No one else mattered. Nothing else existed as Koa’s eyes cut through the crowd and down to the set of five thrones as Koa and her father stopped before the platform.
“Princess Evina, 1st Queen Katya, 2nd Queen Lera, your highness, King Greggan, and Prince Jax, behold King Alsand of Elyan and Princess Koa.”
Koa heard the introductions but something odd was happening. She stared at Prince Jax with her mouth agape.
He was the most attractive person she had ever seen in her life: piercing dark blue eyes, dark blood-red hair, and a perfectly sculpted chin and nose. Koa felt her face flush as he looked her up and down. Then, he did something that made her grin, despite her previous fears and doubts.
Prince Jax winked at her.
2
Koa’s grin widened. A weight was lifted from her shoulders and she felt light as air.
Excitement flooded her small body. She held her head a little higher and beamed a smile at the young prince.
Everyone in attendance could read her expression. Whispers swept through the room as the guests watched the exchange of looks between Koa and Prince Jax. Jax sat at the edge of his seat, his youthful face bright with surprise. Koa wondered if he’d been imagining her as an ugly troll. She never even considered the prince actually being attractive.
Maybe this isn’t so bad, she thought as she admired Prince Jax’s perfect face. She’d never seen anyone that looked like him, and from the citizens of Lyrinia that she’d encountered so far, Jax probably never saw anyone like her. Growing up in Korea, Koa was kept from others, but everyone had the same dark eyes and black hair.
Koa saw something familiar in Jax’s dark blue eyes. She saw mischief, even as he sat beside his father who looked like an evil statue. Koa liked that look. She shared the same craving for mischief. Mischief meant fun was in store. She took her hand from her father’s and found herself drawn to the prince. She wanted to speak with him, to share stories, and play games.
He’s cute, she thought as she smoothed her dress. Koa never thought she’d be married at the age of twelve, but she suddenly wasn’t so opposed to it. I’m a princess, she thought. He is a prince. Isn’t it every girl’s dream to have a fairy tale wedding?
Koa didn’t try to hide her admiration and her father smiled down at her. “I told you that everything would be all right,” he whispered.
King Greggan stood. The entire room quieted. Koa’s smile faded. She looked at the man’s face and felt instant warnings flood her mind.
He was pale like his son, and shared the same shade of blood-red hair, yet his was long and in a single braid while Jax’s was short and messy. King Greggan had a long red beard as well, that he stroked as he looked down at them, as if in thought.
Koa couldn’t help thinking that he looked like one of those Vikings that her tutor had taught her about. All he needed was a helmet with horns.
There was something different in the king’s eyes and Koa identified it immediately. She swallowed.
Evil. There wasn’t another word to describe what she saw.
Koa saw it, and she hoped that her father did as well. She did not trust that Netherworld vamp.
While everyone bowed, Koa and King Alsand were allowed to simply nod their head to the king.
King Greggan clasped his hands before him and looked at the Lyrinian sword.
“Come to bind our kingdoms and return the sword your ancestors stole?”
King Alsand looked up at King Greggan and tilted his head. Koa noticed that this was a heated topic, but her father, being the diplomat that he was, would play this like a game.
“Stole?” King Alsand repeated, feigning ignorance.
King Greggan did not reply, but his dark gaze held a deep hatred for her father that didn’t need words. That look made Koa uncomfortable. She’d never seen such hatred before.
King Alsand grabbed the hilt of the Lyrinian sword and withdrew it. King Greggan flinched, but it was such a tiny action that most wouldn’t have caught it.
Koa did.
Her father ran his finger along the black blade. “I do believe it is my family name engraved into the sword’s metal dear friend. The angels passed it on to my line. You may forget your history,” he tilted his head. “I don’t blame you… history can be terribly boring at times. But,” he raised a finger, “the House of Vangelis once sat on the throne of Lyrinia.”
King Alsand looked at Greggan with innocent eyes, but Koa could see the fury silently building behind them. Her eyes went to the Lyrinian blade. It started to glow.
“That is, before the House of Tulach started that little squabble that led to the great divide and forced my family into the Eastern Dominance.”
King Greggan’s mouth twitched. “Little squabble,” he said and nodded his head. He stroked his beard as he regarded her father with silent hate.
“That’s right,” King Alsand replied. “As I am King Alsand Vangelis, and you are King Greggan Tulach, we should remember our history, lest we repeat it.” He slid the sword back into its scabbard. “And my family will keep what is rightfully ours.”
“Rightfully ours? You sound like such a human.”
>
King Alsand shrugged. “So be it.”
King Greggan’s gaze went from the sword to young Koa. His eyes lingered on her pale face and she felt herself grow self-conscious. She struggled to keep a straight face and not look away.
She would not show fear. She would not let the vamp king see that she wanted nothing more than to hide behind her father like a little girl. Instead, she held her head high, just how she’d been taught.
Never show fear, her father would say. Never.
King Greggan nodded then. Koa wasn’t sure why. Maybe he was agreeing with what her father had just said. Perhaps he was admiring her. She feared that both options were false.
“Yes. I believe you’re right.” His eyes lifted to her father’s and he mocked an innocent look of his own. His bushy red brows rose. “So, you wouldn’t mind if I marry your daughter, rather than give her to my son, would you?”
Koa’s jaw dropped. Her stomach sank. Even Prince Jax was visibly surprised by his father’s words. The only person who wasn’t surprised was King Alsand.
To Koa’s horror, he nodded. She yelped. “No!” She covered her mouth with her hand as her plea seemed to loudly echo throughout the ballroom.
Her father put out a hand to silence her. He looked up at King Greggan.
“If that is your wish, my daughter, Princess Koa of Elyan in the Eastern Dominance will be glad to be your bride. As it states in the treaty—that the angels comprised, mind you—the first born female of the House of Vangelis will be offered to the House of Tulach for peacekeeping. So, the male counterpart is of little concern.”
Koa felt her face go red with fury. She shook her head. She bit her lip as she looked into his eyes. Her eyes stung from tears and she risked whispering to him, “Please, father.”
King Greggan showed his first smirk then. “Are you sure, dear friend? I’d hate to have to break the treaty ‘that the angels comprised’ due to a misunderstanding and start the war up again.”
Koa was nudged forward. She resisted her father’s nudge. She didn’t want to go. Such an injustice did not sit well with her. She could have screamed but she knew what would happen if she didn’t go willingly. Many people would die. She whimpered and stood before the vamp king.
“Let the wedding begin,” King Alsand said, and Koa knew that her entire world would end. It was official.
Childhood was over.
“Just one second, friend,” Greggan sneered. His eyes were twinkling with malice. “Don’t you want to check with the angels first? We have our very own referee here. Let’s ask him, if this is agreeable to the treaty.”
Koa dared to hope. She’d never seen a real angel, and her interest was thoroughly sparked. Perhaps the angels could save her from this horrible fate. Everyone went silent, and the entire room turned to look towards the back of the room.
Koa followed their gazes. There, in the back, stood two men. One was as tall as a giant and muscular. He didn’t wear a shirt, only an iron breastplate that covered his right shoulder and chest, dark pants under armor, and iron gauntlets on each wrist. Scars covered nearly every inch of his bronze colored body.
Koa had never seen anyone with so many weapons. An axe, a dagger, shiny weapons she couldn’t identify, and a spear. He looked like a warrior god, but it was the man beside him that held her attention.
The man with the bright blonde hair was tall, but not as tall as the other. He wasn’t as flashy either. Only a silver gun peeked from a holster at his side. He was quiet and reserved, but Koa sensed that he was calculating, and perhaps the most powerful being there.
And she was right.
King Greggan’s voice boomed. “What do you say, Master Halston?”
Master Halston gave a single nod. Everyone waited in silent anticipation. “I’ll allow it.”
Koa almost didn’t hear the words that came from his mouth, for their eyes locked and she suddenly doubted everything she thought she knew. It was as if he spoke to her with that one look. He urged her to be brave, to trust, to be patient.
Koa had never seen that man before in her life, but somehow she felt inclined to obey. But at twelve, she couldn’t help but resist.
And she did.
She turned to run, and before she could get even two feet, her body was held immobile by silver bands. Tears stung her eyes as she looked at her father. His face was paler than she’d ever seen it. His eyes were glossy with tears of his own. But what hurt her more than anything was that he did nothing to stop it. He raised a hand, but withdrew it, and stood by in silence.
Koa’s face heated. “You liar,” she growled at her father. “I hate you.”
3
Now, at twenty-one, Koa remembered the day her life had changed with stunning clarity. Childhood was no longer a blur. The pain returned with full force. When Koa had broken him out of the prison in the Ivory Tower, Prince Jax had returned her memories to her, and now she would have to deal with what she’d always wanted.
The truth.
Her vision of the dark world before her was blurred by hot tears. The truth truly did hurt. Halston had warned her for years. He’d told her that she was better off not knowing what had happened to her during her time in the Netherworld. Koa shuddered at the memories of what Greggan had done to her back then.
Koa wanted to rip herself free and fly after Halston. The look on his face when they’d parted made her ill. She needed to be certain that he would survive. Even though she had her Jax back, she knew that she would not be able to handle the death of the angel that doomed her, and yet became her best friend.
Jax’s grip on her waist tightened as they approached the first cavern that led out of Lyrinia. The deafening howls of the Wraith made Koa squeeze her eyes shut and cover her ears with her hands.
“I want to go back!” Koa shouted and tugged her body from Jax’s grasp.
Jax wouldn’t let her go. He held on and wrapped his other arm around her. “Koa, listen. You cannot go back. This is our only chance to make it out.”
“He’s right,” Evina, his sister, shouted over the howls. “Let Halston do his job. He can handle it.”
Koa wiped her cheeks of tears and turned to face the first set of caverns.
“Shadows,” she breathed. Memories of the Shadows reaching out to her with their cold hands pulsed in her mind. Halston was not there to protect her from them with the power of his angelic glow this time.
Jax gave her a tender squeeze and whispered into her ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Koa.”
His warm breath made her shiver, and she glanced up at him. His face was so close that they could kiss. If she wasn’t fearful for her life, she might have kissed him, just out of the passion she felt from having his body pressed to her. His eyes met hers, twinkling in the dim light of the Netherworld’s Disc Moon.
With a wry smile, he looked ahead. He gave a nod to the entrance of the first cavern. “Don’t worry. We will make it.”
The howls of the Wraith were cut off the second they flew into the cavern. The cold seeped through her skin and into her bones. Koa shivered. She wrapped her arms around Jax’s neck and buried her face into his shoulder. Black, with a dimly lit path below, the cavern reminded her of an eerie forest at night. The smooth black stone that covered the floor was littered with perfectly spaced discs of yellow light.
A flying beetle the size of her fist buzzed before her face. It examined her. Koa smacked it away and cringed when it let out a loud bellow of pain that sounded like an old man. She watched it dart away and wiped its blood onto her jeans.
Jax kissed her forehead. He spoke softly. “We’ll make it. I promise.”
Koa nodded but bit her lip to keep from sobbing.
Halston.
The look in his blue eyes as they parted wouldn’t leave the forefront of her mind. The Ivory Tower could not be the end of him. She needed him.
Koa looked over at Evina. She rode her disc with mastery, as if surfing along the air. Her red hair flew behind her,
and she stood with perfect balance with her arms crossed under her large bosom.
“Watch out!” Koa screeched when she saw a glowing arrow cut through the dark.
Evina veered out of the way just in time. Koa’s eyes widened when she looked ahead and saw that there was a squad of guards from the city. Battle-worn soldiers hovered in the air in battle formation. No Scayors or Syths, just vampires that had vowed allegiance to King Greggan.
Jax held her close. “You have any more of those vials from the Alchemist?”
Koa swallowed. Her throat was dry. She shook her head. “No,” she whispered. She tensed as she watched the soldiers.
A woman used her disc to fly ahead of the formation. Koa paled. “Second wife,” she breathed.
Queen Lera, Greggan’s second wife, held her daggers in her hands. “What do you two think you’re doing?” She spoke to Evina and Jax. “Traitors to your own kingdom!” She was not their mother. With her black hair and gray eyes, she was covered in the tattoos of Netherworld dialect with the only ink that could permanently stain a vampire’s flesh.
No, this vampire woman was not the motherly sort. With her hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head, and wrapped in chains of vampire fangs that she had pulled out from her victims, she was a warrior who lived for battle.
“Just get out of the way, Lera.” Jax was calm. He took his arm from around Koa and she stepped off the disc to fly by his side. He took out his daggers, clinked them together, and ignited a red glow that caused the air to sizzle. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”
Evina snorted a laugh. She pulled her large curved sword from its place along her back and pointed it at Lera. “Oh no, no. Unlike my brother, I would love to make you bleed,” she hissed. She waved Lera on. “Just come a little closer.”
Lera grinned, but her eyes were not filled with joy, but hate. She clinked her daggers’ hilts together and they glowed red as well. She held them ready at her sides. Her eyes went from Evina and back to Jax. “The king doesn’t want you dead, but I have been given clearance to stop you at all costs. Do not expect me to show mercy, because I won’t.”
