"You will stay here until I decide that you have learned respect for your betters. Then, and only then, will you be able to go home to protect your territory. I hope for your sake that no one thinks of taking your place before then."
I jump down, landing on my feet. Thank goodness I didn’t try that in a dress. Talon and I leave the room, leaving the Elvin lord hanging there.
"Good job, your highness."
"Thank you, Talon. Were you able to send a mage to the healer's rooms?"
"Two, with explicit instructions to not leave your father's side, to test everything the healers give him first, and not to let Viktor anywhere near him."
"Good. Thank you."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see him incline his head.
"Of course, your highness."
"Now we need to make sure I look the part. Elves are only impressed by finery."
"I bet Avren is prepared."
"I will summon him now."
We walk outside, Talon magically opening the doors to clear my way before I need to. Once outside, Avren flies down, landing at the bottom of the palace steps. They are so high that he can actually bow down to me when I stand at the top and he is at the bottom.
"I assume you prepared for everything since you knew about this all beforehand."
"I left everything you will need in the Queen's chambers."
My mother's old chambers. No one has been in there since… since her death. This is something I will have to overcome as well.
"Very well. I need you to make sure the lord hanging in the throne room is properly cowed. Also, make sure all the council returns to their homes and closes up the borders as I asked, rather than plotting to kill my father and me both."
I leave, not bothering to wait for a response. Avren will make sure everything I asked is in order. He wants this, he won’t do anything halfway.
"Is it wise to leave Viktor and Avren in charge of anything? No disrespect…"
"That’s all right Talon, I want your honest opinions. As for Avren and Viktor, they will protect this country because they want it to be around for me to take over. Therefore, I can trust them to see to the security of it. However, you are right, I do not entirely trust them, which is why I left you in charge of making sure the healers and kitchen do their job properly."
"Of course, your highness."
He follows me silently, making sure no one bothers me with what I assume is a similar glare to the one he gave me when we had first been introduced. It has not cowed me, but others are properly put in their place with just the one look. I am glad more now than ever that I kept him by my side.
I reach the door to my mother's old room and stop. Her things have been packed away into trunks, but as the queen has never been replaced, it all still resides in there. Even without her things everywhere, I know the memories that I have of us in that room will whisper across my consciousness, allowing me to see and feel all the things my mother means to me. I am not sure I can do this alone.
"Talon."
"Yes, your highness?"
"For the next ten minutes please be my friend rather than my champion."
He says nothing, so I am unsure if he will agree. I grab his hand, squeezing harder than I should have. I hope he is tough enough to take it.
"Just… please do not leave me alone. Please."
The last please has me almost in tears. I still can’t look away from the door and I know this, more than anything, will be the hardest thing I ever have to do. I am replacing my mother. I am becoming a queen, something neither of us ever bothered to hope for. I don’t want to do this but Talon is right. I can’t let Viktor and Avren control my entire life. I can’t let them kill my father and take over this kingdom. I will take care of this place… but I will do it my way.
"I am here… Elainne."
I sigh as I feel him squeeze back. I am glad Talon is here.
"Let's go."
He opens the door with his free hand, no magic to taint my mother's memory with the urgency that we actually feel. I step inside and release his hand, but link my arm through his. I need the contact. If I don’t have it I fear I will end up buried in the past, lost to the future.
"Is that your mother?"
I look at the portrait over the fireplace. She and I sit on the rug as she reads to me. The painter managed to capture her essence. Her kindness, her love for me, everything that made her beautiful.
"Yes."
"She was beautiful. You look so like her."
I don’t. Not physically. She has brown curly hair. We are similar in that way, though mine has streaks of red in it when the light hits it. She always said it came from her mother. Her features are soft and human. She has a peaches and cream complexion. Chocolate brown eyes. A smile that goes on forever. I am too Elvin to look like her. I leave my curls wild because it is the feature we share. No matter that my aunt complains that they are too human and not dignified.
"I am nowhere near as beautiful."
"I bet she wouldn’t agree."
I smile. No. Talon is right. She always said I was the best of both worlds. Combined to make the most exquisite beauty that the world has ever seen.
"You are right, of course. I do believe it’s a mother's job to love her child or children to distraction."
He snorts and tugs me so that I turn and face what Avren left me. Dresses, armor, jewelry, and shoes. Everything I will need. Nothing so fancy exists anymore. These belonged to the empresses of old and no Elvin royal has ever worn anything so fine.
"You should wear this one."
I’d been looking them all over, but focus on the one Talon has gone over to and is stuck on. He fingers the material and looks over at me in shock. I go over, expecting something very uncomfortable, because it certainly looks like it will be. A long full skirt with a train that is as long as I am tall. It is a deep green, deeper than the leaves in an Elvin forest combined. Light sparkles almost like the sun breaking through the clouds. The dress shimmers and shines. A gauzy material wraps around the top, holding hundreds of shimmering crystals around the neckline breast. A sweetheart neckline makes it more risqué than I am used to. The sleeves trail to the floor, long and flowing. I rub the material in my fingers. It is softer than silk. Almost like the smoothest cream turned into a fabric.
"It will suit."
I nod. It is gorgeous. "It is not practical for anything but our purposes."
He nods and moves it behind the partition before going to look for jewelry. I walk behind the partition and undress, using magic to slide the dress over my head without snagging it. I infuse the dress with magic to ensure the same. I can’t let it snag or be ruined. It causes the fabric to look like it is blowing in the wind, creating an even more distinctive look.
"Here."
Green slippers with low heels float over the top of the partition to land at my feet. I step into them and sigh. It feels like I am wearing my fur slippers, curled up in front of a fire, reading a book back home. I never expected it to be so comfortable.
"These will match, I think."
A necklace and matching earrings of emeralds and diamonds float over to me next. I fasten them on, not used to the weight they provide. Well, I will not blow away. The earrings alone will prevent that. They hang like a rope of emeralds and diamonds to brush my shoulders. The necklace rests an inch above my neckline and covers almost all of my naked skin. Diamonds and emeralds wink in the sunlight.
"I know you don’t want to hear it, but you need a crown."
"A coronet…"
"A crown. You need to project a queen to be treated like one."
Talon is right, even if I don’t want him to be.
"Very well."
"Come out here so I can make sure it sits correctly."
I walk out as Talon turns, holding a crown that makes every other I have ever seen look like a child made it. Silver and gold twists like the limbs of ancient trees. Emeralds, pearls, and diamonds sit encrusted in the knots t
hat the metals create. It looks like a crown for an Elvin queen. Today, that is what I will be.
"I almost dropped this."
I look from the crown to Talon
"Do not drop and break anything; this all belongs to Avren and dragons love their hoard."
Talon smiles, coming over to situate my crown atop my head, using some pins to keep it in place. Where did he learn this?
"I think he will understand once he sees you. You look… majestic and… striking."
When he steps back, he has artfully arranged my hair so that the curls look stunning rather than wild.
"Where did you learn to do this?"
"I have little sisters that all wanted to be princesses when they grew up."
I didn't even know he had a family.
"I cannot wait to meet them. Perhaps I can pry some circlets from Avren and they can dress as princesses for a day."
He laughs and pulls me over to the full-length mirror.
"They would love that. If you dress like this when they see you, they will want to be you specifically when they grow up."
I look in the mirror. It isn’t me staring back. The person in the mirror is stunning. She is regal, elegant, and has a commanding presence.
"I do not feel like me."
"I think, right now, you are exactly who you really are."
I take a deep breath, trying to keep the panic away.
"I am not sure I can do this."
Talon turns me to face him, hands on my shoulders. I am freezing; I know this because his hands are warm on the bare parts of my shoulders.
"You can do this. You are the daughter of a crowned princess and a king. You have a dragon for a familiar, a Kemp, and have accomplished something no one else ever has. You made alliances with the mages. You can do anything."
I release the breath that I have been holding and nod.
"You are right. I can do this."
He nods, smiling and bows before me, taking my hand and kissing the tips of my fingers before sliding a raw emerald ring on my finger. It takes up one entire section of my finger. He slips a bracelet with pearls and emeralds on my opposite wrist.
"Now you are ready."
He rises and stands behind me, staff in hand, ready for anything. I take one last look in the mirror and nod. I am ready as well.
I leave the queen’s chambers, hoping that Avren has spelled everything to not be able to be stolen. If any of the elves get in that room, there will be nothing left. I walk on, partially thinking it will serve Avren right to be robbed of his possessions, while trying not to feel bad about how it will feel to have the things – that you spent a lifetime collecting - taken from you. I can’t stop myself from worrying over it.
"Talon, please have a servant fetched. We will need someone to do errands. I will be visiting the healing rooms, the kitchen, the library, the barracks, and then the throne room. I need someone to show me around and introduce me to everyone."
"I will have someone summoned."
I see his magical message take off and split into pieces, shooting off in many directions. It will find the one to best suit our purposes and they will come to me. Efficient. I head to the healing rooms first. I want to check in on my father.
A servant catches up as we reach the door.
"Make sure food is prepared for my champion and I in an hour. We are both famished and have had nothing to eat all day. Something quick but filling, I have a long day ahead of me. Wait out here for me when that is done."
She nods and takes off, swift as a bird and just as silent. I stride into the room like I own it and cower everyone with a look.
"Your highness, your Kemp tried to enter earlier and we sent him away on your orders…"
"Very good. You two are relieved. Go to the kitchens and get something to eat. You will have very little breaks after today. Use magic to follow the servant that Talon tagged. She is going to the kitchens first then back here. If you need any help, have her assist."
Both mages take off after their hasty bows. Only Talon has been practicing court etiquette, but even they know not to mess with someone in this much finery.
"All of you healers go as well. This is your one chance to get a break from the patients and get something to eat. Or you may sit outside of the room."
They don’t wait to be told again and hastily retreat. I nod to Talon, who erects magical walls and a ceiling that blocks sight and sound out. It looks like frosted glass but is not cool to touch. Inside is my father, Talon and myself. Just how I need it to be. I sit in the chair next to my father's bedside. He is sitting now but still looks wretched.
"I will find a way to undo this father."
"I know what these cuffs are. Their magic cannot be undone."
The cuff still sits on the same wrist, refusing to come off and refusing to transfer the magic back. Talon sits against the wall, reading a book on ancient artifacts. He is very good at anticipating my needs.
"I did not know that my Kemp and familiar had planned this."
"You have a dragon for a familiar as well as having a Kemp. My, my, my. I never thought you would amount to much and now you have stolen my kingdom."
I look away, sighing. "I know you do not believe me. Elves never trust anyone. But I honestly had no idea this was going to play out this way. It’s true I came to convince you to leave the human kingdom and mages alone, but I planned to challenge you the honorable way."
"I believe you, daughter. You are too like your mother to have plotted this up. She was in no way a dumb woman, but neither was she very good at pretenses."
That is true. My mother had been honest. Diplomatic, but honest.
"You will stay king of the Elvin lands."
"We both know if that is true it will be in name only."
I look at my father. The pinnacle of power cowed. His skin already looks ashen and sunken. His power has left him and everything about him, including his presence, has deflated.
"Did you ever regret it… not searching for mother's killer?"
"I found her killer the day after her murder. They were quietly executed and the family members that knew stripped of their titles and possessions and exiled."
I look at him, unable to form even a single-word sentence. He never let on that he cared, in fact, he publicly said good ridden to human baggage.
"I let you and everyone believe otherwise because there was no reason for an inquiry. She was not Elvin. I owed her family the death of her killer. That is why. They left her in my care and I failed. I righted my wrong. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Elainne, you were never an elf, not truly. You were happier with your mother. When she and my nephew died as part of a plot to bring hostilities to the nations; your aunt and I, well, we both knew it would be best for you to live there rather than here. Looking at you now, perhaps we were wrong. I do not think you are human, but neither are you Elvin, and I could not leave my throne to one not purely of our people.
"You know I never loved your mother. Our marriage was forced upon us both. I did respect her for how she handled it though. She represented herself with so much more dignity in our marriage than I did. I was a bit proud of how she was able to carry herself here, away from everyone and everything she had ever known. The day you were born, I even liked her a little. It was the only day we showed real affection for one another. Even then, I knew that you would be her child and not mine. Now, look at you. Heir to two kingdoms. A dragon to serve you. You will rule the entire continent, maybe others. I am glad your mother and cousin died. It set my blood to be on the path to rule the world. Even as I hate you for what you have done to me, I am truly proud as well."
I rise and walk through the spell, the wall falling down around me and dissipating into nothing. Talon follows, keeping anyone from being able to see the tears rolling down my face. How dare he! How dare my father be truly proud of me for something I don’t want. How dare he find fault with me up until this happened, making me more like him. How dare he be
glad that she died.
"This way, your highness."
Talon manages to pull me away from the foot traffic into an area that sees less than its share of visitors. I slowly drop to the floor, his magic arranging my skirts as I go. I can do nothing but cry into my hands.
Talon reaches over and pulls me close, hugging me like a child. I am a child. A child that had lost their mother. One that has done so much for a father that can never truly love me. A child that is sick of being a child. I am sick of being used and having my will trampled upon. I am tired of it all. It ends today.
After a few minutes, I am able to get myself under control. I thought facing my mother's room was hard, but it held her comforting presence even after all this time. My father just disappointed me more than I could have ever thought possible.
"If you are ready, your highness, we have things to see to."
I nod. "Keep looking through that book. I will not let anyone else choose my path for me."
He nods. He doesn’t bother denying what he is doing. I like that about Talon. So far, he is proving to be a bigger help than hindrance. The real test will be surviving in my uncle's court.
"I wish I had paid more attention to my mother's beauty lessons. She tried to make me a proper lady."
Talon casts a spell and a warm breeze blows around us. It relaxes me and dries the tears.
"Use a mild spell to hide the puffiness of the eyes and you will be perfect."
I tilt my head to the side.
"You can do that?"
He sighs and grabs hold of my face, chanting under his breath.
"My sisters learned how to hide pimples when they were ten years old."
I am less adept at magic than a ten-year-old. Great. Then again, I never hide my flaws. It became a point of pride… or spite… to accentuate them so my father would disapprove of me even more than he already did.
"Thank you. I shall rely on your superior knowledge for all future clothing choices."
He smiles and nods.
"It would be a pleasure to be of use."
I smile and squeeze his hands in mine, take a deep breath, and leave the room. I am ready to be a queen.
Champion Complete Series Page 39
