Rising Queen
C.N. Crawford
Contents
1. Aenor
2. Aenor
3. Salem
4. Aenor
5. Aenor
6. Aenor
7. Salem
8. Aenor
9. Aenor
10. Salem
11. Aenor
12. Salem
13. Aenor
14. Aenor
15. Aenor
16. Aenor
17. Aenor
18. Salem
19. Salem
20. Aenor
21. Aenor
22. Aenor
23. Aenor
24. Aenor
25. Aenor
26. Aenor
27. Aenor
28. Aenor
29. Aenor
30. Salem
31. Salem
32. Salem
33. Salem
34. Aenor
35. Aenor
36. Aenor
37. Salem
38. Salem
39. Aenor
40. Salem
41. Aenor
42. Aenor
43. Aenor
44. Aenor
45. Aenor
46. Salem
47. Aenor
Also by C.N. Crawford
Author note on mythology
Acknowledgments
1
Aenor
It was nearly two p.m., and I still hadn’t quite woken up.
Across from me, Ossian slumped over the wood table, shirtless. Blue and yellow wildflowers dangled from his blond curls, and he stared into the winding tendrils of steam that rose off his tea.
I took a long sip of mine, my mouth like cotton. Sunlight streamed in through a window, clear rays bathing Ossian’s house in gold. It was a cozy space—a combined kitchen and living room in one, with a little bedroom off to the side. A salty breeze floated in through one of the open windows, and sunlight slanted in, beaming over his walls of bookshelves. Everything in his place was made of a dark wood, and his house had an earthy smell. I liked it here.
He rubbed his eyes. “I’m feeling confused about what happened last night. I remember suggesting that we have vodka to get over our heartbreak. To feel better about losing our mates, what with yours locked in a cage.”
“That’s right.”
He nodded, staring into the slanting sunlight. “But I don’t think I envisioned getting blackout drunk, sailing to London, and returning with a human. What exactly was the sequence of events there?”
I glanced at Gina, who was slumbering on the floor before a stone hearth. Firelight danced over her sleeping body, and she snored loud enough to drown out Ossian’s reggae.
“Gina called at one a.m., remember?” I said. “She was sobbing and hysterical, and I thought she was in mortal danger. I was certain she was about to die. But it turned out her best friend shagged the guy she fancied in the parking lot of a Nando’s.”
“Right.” Ossian blinked, then looked down at his pants, running his hand along the leather. “But Aenor. Why am I in leather trousers? These aren’t mine. I don’t want to be alarmist, but I find that concerning.”
I cleared my throat. “I had the idea that we needed new clothes, so we snuck into a Spitalfields Market and… we procured new clothes.”
Ossian frowned. “So, we went to London, stole a child—”
“She’s eighteen now.”
“And then we did burglary.” He sipped his tea, narrowing his eyes at me. “I’m not sure you’re a good influence, Aenor.”
“It wasn’t my finest moment,” I said quietly. “We can pay them back.”
Ossian’s three colorful birds swooped in and fluttered around his head, chirping. He turned to nod at Gina. “Should I find that human male who broke her heart and fuck him up?”
I shook my head. “No, let’s avoid committing more crimes right now. And we have a more important task, remember? We need to get Salem out of the soul cage. What if he actually feels like he’s drowning under the water? He’s not a sea fae like us.” The thought made me nauseated.
“Okay. Let’s see what we can learn.” Ossian rose and crossed to one of the bookshelves—a tall one nestled between his windows.
I blinked, trying to think clearly through my hangover, but it felt like a goddess was trying to carve her way out of my head with a sword. “I think getting him out of the cage isn’t a problem. He used his sword to open it, and we could do the same. The problem is, the Fomorians will be freed again as soon as he’s out. Then the world burns, and that is something we want to avoid. So, we need a way to kill them for good.”
Ossian plucked a book from the shelf. “And we only have a few days to do it, I think, before he misses the deadline on his destiny and all that.”
My eyebrows crept up. So many things I didn’t know about my mate. “And what exactly is his destiny?”
Ossian plopped down at the table again and slid a large book over to me. He opened another one before him. “Oh, I’m not telling you that. I assume he had a reason not to tell you.”
“But it has a deadline?” I asked.
“He has until Samhain, which is in a few days.”
It had been a warm start to autumn, and I’d forgotten Samhain was approaching. “Okay. I knew he had a destiny, but not what it was. And I know it’s the only thing that matters to him, which is why I’m baffled that he locked himself up in that soul cage. He’s a force of nature, and he seems to get what he wants.” I drummed my fingertips on the table. “He is flame and stone and blood and ash, and I’m not sure I want to see what happens when he’s disappointed.”
Ossian licked his finger to turn the page in his book “Well, he would light the world on fire.”
I shivered. Now, the breeze felt a little cooler. “Like in the old days? When he used to burn people alive in his cave for fun?”
“Ah, the Salem of old.” He turned another page. “I think he tried to leave that beast behind, but I’m not sure he managed it. You ask me, that’s why he’s so—” He stopped himself, then flipped another page. “It’s why he wants to achieve his destiny so badly.”
A chill rippled over my skin. My mate was a beautiful monster, and we hardly knew each other. And yet I was desperate to set him free again.
Whatever he was, I felt connected to him as if by a cord of fire that burned between us. He’d made a sacrifice for me, hadn’t he?
I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus on the book. As I turned the pages, I saw it was all about the magical creatures of the sea, but I wasn’t sure I’d find the right answers in it. “So far, the only solution I know of is that a god could take his place. With another deity or fallen god in the soul cage, the chasm will stay shut. But I don’t imagine we’d have any volunteers. And he wouldn’t be very happy if I threw Shahar in there a second time.”
“Why don’t you ask that dickhead who dumped you?” asked Ossian. “He’s a demigod, isn’t he?”
“Mmm.” I sipped my tea. “I don’t think he’d be up for that. And anyway, he’s not bottom of the sea bad. He did sacrifice part of his soul to save me from death.”
“I suppose.” He leaned back in his chair. “Look, there’s got to be someone we can ask for advice. A prophetess? A seer?”
I bit my lip. “The only prophetess I’ve met wanted to destroy my magic.” I took a deep breath. “Shahar is out there, somewhere. But I’m not sure how much she learned when she was trapped in the cage.”
“Also, she might want you dead for putting her there. It really does sound awful. Like, do you think she felt her lungs exploding that whole time because she didn’t breathe in a hundred years? Was it like a living death, stretched on over a century?”
&nb
sp; My stomach dropped. Gods, I did not want to imagine what Salem was enduring. But we were bonded, and I didn’t have the sense of drowning. Now, when I closed my eyes, I felt that fiery rope tugging between us, like a blazing cord. And the more I thought about him, the more my skin felt hot, burning almost.
I shook my head, trying to clear the disturbing sensation. It wasn’t a watery grave… No, it felt like a flaming one, heat growing higher around me, searing hot on my skin.
My eyes snapped open, and the feeling slowly disappeared again. Sweat had beaded all over my skin, and my heart was racing out of control.
“You all right?” asked Ossian.
I stared at him. I hadn’t yet told Ossian about the mate situation, nor had I fully accepted it. Having a mate was a liability. It was a weakness that made it hard to think logically.
When I’d seen Salem’s wings broken, I had felt a sense of wrongness, a sense that I wanted to do anything to fix them. And now, when I closed my eyes, I felt as if someone were holding candles to my skin. I knew Salem was in pain. And I’d do anything to make him feel better.
But why fire when he was at the bottom of the ocean? Why fire if he could withstand the flames?
2
Aenor
If I breathed deeply, slowly, I could gain control again. Trying to ground myself, I looked around the room at the cozy confines of Ossian’s home—the dark wood walls of his cluttered kitchen, the rectangular space crammed with books and knickknacks in every crevice. The warm sunlight calmed me, streaming over a row of cooking pots hanging from his ceiling.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I just feel much worse about leaving Salem at the bottom of the sea than I did with Shahar. At the time, I thought she deserved it.”
Ossian propped his chin in his hand. “Let me just ask this one more time. Why did he lock himself in the cage? Last time I saw you two, you seemed like you wanted to kill Salem, and selfishness generally defines him. So, what happened?”
“We just got to know each other a little better.”
“Right. You shagged?” He put a finger to his lips.
My cheeks burned. “Is this relevant?”
“It still makes no sense. He can’t love. It’s not possible for him. It’s, like, the first thing he says about himself. ‘Hi, I’m Salem, and I burn people and can’t love.’” Ossian let out a long breath. “You’d actually be surprised how many women love that shit. Can’t bring myself to try it, though.”
“He can’t love,” I repeated. I felt like bony fingers gripped my heart, and it was that sense of wrongness again. Just like with the broken wing, or with Salem trapped beneath the sea, his skin burning.
“That’s his thing, yeah.” Ossian’s eyes were on his book again.
Maybe none of this had anything to do with love, but instinct was driving me right now, and it was forcing me back to Salem. As I sat at Ossian’s table, every atom in my body was screaming that I need to save my mate.
“If he told you he can’t love, I’m sure it’s the case,” I said. “And I don’t know why he decided to lock himself up instead of letting everything burn. He does have a cat he’s fond of, you know.” I heard my defensive tone, like I was trying to convince myself he had normal emotions. “Anyway, it wasn’t anything to do with saving me. Let’s face it: I drowned his sister, and he’s been on a revenge mission since.”
Ossian thrummed his fingertips on the table, staring at me. “Hmmm. And yet… there he is, in a cage. Missing his chance at his destiny. And here you are, unburned and in my kitchen.”
The room started to grow dimmer as clouds slid over the sun outside. Darkness seemed to be falling fast. If it was possible, I didn’t want Salem to spend another night under the sea.
I sipped my tea and glanced down at the book again. Frowning, I tried to turn the page, but the paper seemed to be glued. “I’m not sure I’ll find anything about how to defeat the Fomorians in this book, Ossian. And some of the pages are stuck together.”
He grinned. “Oh, yeah. I like the mermaids with the seashell bikinis.”
“Ew! Gross…” I shut the book, then wiped my hands on my jeans. The sky outside looked dark as night now. “Looks like a storm,” I muttered.
As I pulled another book across the table, an electric tension crackled in the air. Ossian’s birds flapped wildly around his head, agitated. One of them squawked. It seemed they could feel the oncoming storm, too.
After another loud squawk, Gina startled awake and sat upright on the floor. “Is it night?” she asked, yawning. “I’m starving. Are there any cafés nearby?”
I shook my head. “No, Gina, but Ossian has a weird amount of tinned ravioli.”
“And biscuits,” he added. “And there’s a Thai place a few islands away.”
“Just give me a second to think.” My thoughts were still with Salem. I turned away from them, facing the doorway. Inhaling deeply, I tried to clear my mind.
When I’d been on the ocean’s floor just yesterday, I’d managed to seal the Formorians into the fissure for a few minutes. I’d used my magic and a little sacrifice. I’d nicked my skin, used a bit of blood magic—a tiny sacrifice to the sea god. With that, the chasm had iced over again. The problem was that I hadn’t sealed it for long enough.
What I needed was more power. And that meant a bigger sacrifice. With a large burst of magic, I could freeze the chasm over completely.
I turned around again, my thoughts racing.
Ossian frowned. “What’s that look you’re getting?”
“I have an idea,” I said.
Gina crossed to me, narrowing her eyes. “It looks like she’s thinking about bringing a tsunami down on Cornwall. She gets that look sometimes if she waits too long for lunch. It’s a bit unnerving.”
A dark melody vibrated up my spine, humming along the back of my neck. My hairs stood on end, body going cold. More power. Yes. That was what I needed. As I mulled over the words, a sort of red haze clouded my thoughts.
And after I freed Salem, I’d make a formidable queen of Nova Ys. I wasn’t the same stupid girl I had once been. One hundred years of magical weakness had taught me a little bit of wisdom. I supposed I could thank Salem for that.
Now, I could almost hear the bells of Nova Ys tolling for my coronation. I could see myself sitting on the throne, shining with power…
The temperature in the room dropped sharply, and a feeling like pins and needles ran over my skin. I was clutching the table hard. More power.
I felt as if a shadow were sliding over my soul as I spoke. “Lyr has been acting as king of Nova Ys, but I will rule instead. They’ll all bow before me, those who rejected me. Those who called me a whore. Those who thought I was unfit to rule. I will sever their heads from their bodies and decorate my gates with them.”
Was something happening to me?
My fists tightened on the table. “I will pluck the crown from the head of the first king, Caradoc. Then I will fertilize the fields of my kingdom with my subjects’ blood and bones. Every day, I will wear a gown stained in their blood. I will sow the pastures with dragons’ teeth and raise an army of the dead to vanquish my enemies.”
Gina stared at me from across the table. “That’s your last cup of tea, Aenor. You need to simmer down. Get a snack before you have any more caffeine.”
Her words snapped me out of it, and I surveyed Ossian’s home. Shadows darkened the room. Something strange was at work here. A forbidding magic was seeping into the room like blood into soil.
“Ossian.” I straightened. “Do you feel that? Something is happening. It’s… affecting my thoughts. I think.”
Ossian’s lip curled in a snarl. “You are unfit to rule. I should rule instead. I will split you with a sword. I’ll drain your blood and grind your bones into dust.” He was holding his coffee cup so tightly that he looked like he might break it. Then, with a growl, he shattered it between his fingers. “Bollocks!”
“Ossian?” I asked in the calmest voice I could muste
r. “Rage.” That was all I could get out to express that there was a spell messing with our minds and that I thought it was making us aggressive.
He stared at the broken shards of his mug. Hot tea spilled over his new leather pants. “Kill. You.”
Why did I feel like I wanted to chop him up and scatter his remains as food for his birds? And why did I have a desperate compulsion to light his house on fire?
Was I turning into Salem?
Every muscle in his bare chest had gone taut. “Head. Crush.”
The cold, tingling feeling grew stronger over my skin, dancing up my spine, and it took everything in my power not to bring a tidal wave down on the island. I drew a shuddering breath, gripping the table, fingernails digging into the wood.
My teeth chattered as I started losing control again. From the corners of the room, blood spilled across the floor, glistening red. It was inches deep. The next thing I knew, I was standing, holding a knife. I’m wasn’t even sure where I’d gotten it from, only that the urge to destroy, to cause pain, overwhelmed me.
Something terrible was about to happen. I glanced at Gina, whose panicked expression told me she was already freaking out.
“Gina!” I roared. “Get the hell out. Get as far away from here as you can.”
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