His face turned serious. “I should’ve never doubted you. Without you, I’d still be bound by the vow, and we would’ve never gotten the crown.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, then I focused straight ahead as the Pegasi landed about a hundred feet away, in front of the now snow-capped mountains we had left behind. King Peter stared us down, tinged wings wide, and the twelve high-ranking nobles, all armored with crystal swords at their hips, did the same.
Caleb stood tall. Nathan and I flanked the prince to his left and Peony was to his right.
Blair and Onyx remained with Petra, who was still bound. There was nothing the Queen of the Winter Court could do now. If she fought the Summer King, these new lands would slip back into death, taking us all with them. Possibly the rest of the faelands, too.
Caleb stepped forward, the crown’s golden leaves vibrant and alive on his head. “Father,” he said, projecting his voice across the grass and flowers. “Your reign must end. You are hurting the Summer realm and all who inhabit it.”
King Peter laughed. It was a sound of an insane man, like claws scraping across a chalkboard. I cringed and carefully extended my mental influence without being obvious. King Peter’s mental shield was strong and prickled with malice. Getting through it without him noticing seemed impossible.
I expected King Peter to taunt Caleb or reprimand him, but he simply extended his hand. The crown flew off Caleb’s head and sailed into King Peter’s hand. As soon as he placed it on his head, the leaves curled with anger and darkened. Some of his nobles tensed but did nothing. They didn’t approve of the king’s new allies, but they were too scared to act. Perhaps I could influence them to our advantage. But first, I needed to focus on the king.
Pressure exploded in my forehead as I tried to jostle my way past his mental shield. Please, drop the crown. Surrender it. King Peter did no such thing, and the air crackled with his corrupted magic. The new spring lands around us lost their luster, taking on a faint, dark tone.
We must work on the generals, Nathan said into my mind.
Agreed. I connected to the twelve minds. Do what is right. Be brave. Stand with your High Commander who has never let you down.
“My bastard son and my High Commander have turned against me.” King Peter snorted. “I see now I was too soft on you, Bitterbay, too trusting. I should’ve made you take the ultimate vow.”
“You took advantage of a child who had just lost his parents.” Nathan drew his sword. Caleb let vines spring from his fingers.
I pulled harder on the connection I had established with the twelve generals. Do what is right. Stand with your prince and High Commander against the monster your king has become.
The generals didn’t move. Sweat broke out on my nape as I gritted my teeth, tunneling deeper into my magic. I would not let Nathan die at the hands of his own generals.
“I am no longer bound by my vow,” Nathan said. “Generals, either join me or stand down. Help rescue the Summer Court before it all turns to dust.”
Some generals’ faces contorted with pain and others shook their heads sadly. My heart sank. They wanted to help us, but they were bound by vows. I should’ve figured it out earlier. Of course, King Peter would force everyone into slavery after we dared to defy him.
King Peter got down from his Pegasus, which backed away. The generals, one by one, did the same and raised their swords.
“My generals know who their ruler is. If you dare to fight me, you’ll die, all of you,” King Peter sneered.
“I’d rather be dead than a mindless slave,” Caleb shouted and shot vines at his father.
I backed away as Nathan charged, sword bared, but two of his generals charged at him in return, blocking his blows. The three held each other in place, and my worry went to Nathan even as Peony joined the fight. Blair also came to our aid, leaving Onyx to guard Petra.
I sent out a wave of my power into the fray. Don’t kill each other. Just block each other. This was the best I could do since their vow prevented the generals to stand down or join us. As for us hurting them, I knew Nathan could never forgive himself if he cut his own men down.
Blair’s fireball joined Caleb’s vines as they shot for King Peter. The fireball died before reaching the king—courtesy of the Shield—but the vines struck his shoulder, throwing King Peter back.
“Attack!” he shouted, and the generals charged us. Peony sent up vines and small trees, blocking them. Blair conjured a wall of fire, holding them back. King Peter stared at the ground. One by one, trees rose, and one of them caught Peony. Dangling with the back of her dress caught on a branch, she shot skyward. Her scream tore through the space as Blair barely dodged another tree that shot up. She looked up at Peony and extinguished her fire as it started to catch Peony’s tree aflame. Caleb seized a branch, rode up for a moment, and then let go, falling to the grass. At last, the cluster of trees stopped growing, with Peony trapped on the top. Blair bit her lip, not daring to use her fire with Peony stuck.
The generals wove past the thick trunks and charged Nathan.
“Fall back!” Nathan yelled as he backed away, meeting sword after sword. Three generals fought Nathan while Caleb tried to handle the others.
I was sick with worry. Don’t hurt Nathan. Remember, you serve the Summer Court and what is good for it. I had no clue if my words were helpful. After all, King Peter might’ve changed his vows to make the generals serve only him.
Resist your vows. You’re stronger than them, I pressed on, refusing to give up.
Caleb tripped up three of the generals with his vines, binding their ankles, while Petra screeched like a banshee somewhere behind me. With Onyx guarding Petra, I wasn’t worried about the Summer Court Princess.
“Take that! Watch out!” Blair shot fire balls at the generals. They weren’t lethal, but nipped at them and distracted them, forcing them to retreat. She couldn’t summon anything bigger. Not with all this firewood around her.
Peony finally managed to disentangle herself from the tree, and flapping her wings hard, charged a general, shooting vines at him. He went down and so did the one next to him that Peony attacked next.
Two of the generals blinked under my influence and backed away, refusing to fight, but both grasped their sides in pain and collapsed to the ground. Hopefully breaking their vow would keep them out of the rest of the fight. A female general grabbed onto a tree, as if to stop herself from charging Nathan, and her face was screwed up too. Good. I had influenced three, but nine more remained. I needed to hurry.
A general circled the trees and charged Nathan from behind.
“Nathan!” I shouted.
He turned at my warning just in time to block the general, but three more attacked. One hit Nathan over the head with the butt of his sword, and Nathan swayed, stunned, as the four generals backed off.
“Nathan!”
My love fell to his knees, and I ran for him, rage boiling in my chest even as King Peter rounded the trees, a sickly golden aura around him.
“My High Commander. What a waste.” He deflected one of Caleb’s vines easily with his outstretched hand. “It will be a shame to watch you die. Execute him. I order you.” He smiled at his generals, whose mouths gaped open.
I quickened my pace, determined to block them, even if it spelt my death. With a shaking hand, one of the generals lifted his crystal sword.
“Attack!” Nerissa’s shout echoed from a nearby hill, and all stopped to face Nathan’s sister, who stood on top of the hill with a hundred former Vasara students, all armed with bows, swords, and hopefully, red strength potions. My heart swelled. The escapees. Somewhere, I knew, Kristen was with them.
With a battle cry, they charged down the hill, swords bared and arrows flying.
“What in the faelands?” King Peter cursed.
The flood of warriors raced downhill. Nerissa led the Vasara students, baring her own crystal sword.
Nathan rose, and I joined him as the generals formed a defensive line in fron
t of King Peter. The students met them with shouts and swings, and the generals held up their crystal swords to deflect and block flying arrows. King Peter shot vines at the students, but they kept his plant magic at bay. I watched in amazement. The students were a force to be reckoned with. We had turned former slaves into confident warriors that kicked ass.
No wonder King Peter had been eager to enslave us all with vows, especially me. I was a powerful force, a force he wanted to control, a force he feared. Just like that, it became very clear what I had to do.
27
Virgie
I balled my fists. “King Peter, face me!”
The trees parted with a tremble in front of King Peter as he slowly turned. I smiled and unleashed the full extent of my mental influence, not holding anything back. The students continued to fight the generals behind him, and Caleb shot another vine at his father, but once again King Peter easily deflected the attack with a move of his wrist.
“You dare to address me so insolently, child. For that alone, I should strike you down. You were supposed to keep the deserters in line. Instead, you corrupted my High Commander.” King Peter smiled, letting me know he’d greatly enjoy breaking me. Too bad he wouldn’t get that opportunity.
“Give. Me. The. Crown.” Each of my words vibrated with power. Until now, I’d been afraid of the extent of my power, of its effects. But no more. The faelands had given me this power for a reason, and it was my right, no, my duty to use it.
To my satisfaction, King Peter’s mental shield flickered and he flinched. He wasn’t immune to my power.
“Give me the crown. Your reign is over.” I glared at him, poked hole after hole into his mental shield, finally understanding why I had previously failed influencing him. I had treated him like anyone else, but with a king, I couldn’t just remove the whole shield in one swipe. I had to drill at it, make it fall away, piece by piece.
King Peter shot a gnarly vine at me.
“Stop,” I yelled, and it froze an inch away from my face. I turned my attention back to the king. “Remember who you used to be when you became the king and remember the vows you made.”
The muscles in the king’s face gave an involuntary twitch. Behind him, a student fell, impaled by a crystal sword. Blair shouted for Peony to climb down. I pushed all the clamor and everyone else into the background, imagining that it was just the king and I. Everything else vanished. Triple vines that reminded me of Cerberus shot for me.
“Down,” I yelled, and they obeyed like a good lapdog.
“Give up the crown,” I yelled at the king. I expected pain to explode in my skull, but it didn’t. I was on the side of rightness. My magic didn’t harm me when I fully believed in its goodness, when I was serving a higher purpose.
The king raised a hand toward his head and removed his crown, but before he could hand it over, a vicious screech sounded, tearing him out of the trance. I turned toward the cacophony. Onyx was on her back, a vine pinning her to the ground. Petra had escaped and was now racing as a flash of faded yellow and blonde hair toward King Peter. He blinked at the daughter he claimed to have missed so much, yet had ignored for the last half an hour since our battle had raged on.
No happy reunion awaited him. Petra sneered and motioned her left arm up and down, and a branch obeyed her. It swung down, knocking King Peter off his feet. Before he could react, a pointed root rose from the earth.
Petra growled, centuries of anger and injustice crawling across her features. “I will have what’s mine!”
The root slammed into King Peter’s shoulder, impaling and pinning him down.
He gasped as his mental shield dropped completely from the pain.
“It’s mine. I’m ready to be queen!” Petra snatched the crown from King Peter’s head. His eyes widened. “You are not worthy of it,” Petra sneered. “You failed to protect two of your children! You failed to protect the Summer Court!” Petra put the crown on her head in front of her diadem. The two united. The golden leaves on the crown turned to wicked thorns surrounded by poisonous flowers.
The king reached out his hand for the crown, lips working wordlessly, but Petra snapped her fingers and another branch dove for him.
This one went through his heart with a sickening, wet thud.
I flinched. The whole battle seemed to fade away. The king froze, mouth gaping open, his eyes becoming unseeing. The scent of floral blood filled the air. Petra haughtily raised her chin. I reached out with my mind, but her mental shield was a blast-proof bunker. She smirked. “Virgie. Nathan. I’m afraid I won’t be needing you in my court.”
The generals all stopped fighting as Nerissa held up a hand to stop the attack. Behind Petra, the students froze, straining to see the new development as the weight of their vows broke.
I didn’t dare to look away from Petra. In my periphery, I noticed Nathan inch closer to me. His sword was in his hands, but he knew better than to try to strike her.
The ground rumbled. The trees around us thinned and sprouted barbs, thorns, and poisonous blooms. Petra smiled. Now that her father was gone, she had true, full control.
“Watch out!” Peony shouted as she landed in front of me. One of her green wings was bleeding, but her face was hard with determination. She waved her hands, and vines rose in front of her.
“I’ll fry her.” Several fireballs materialized in front of Blair as she hurried toward us.
Onyx appeared at our other side, ice crystals in her hands. If she attacked Petra, this part of the faelands would die. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to intervene.
“Do you really think you can just take the crown? You missed the coronation ceremony and of course, the approval of your people,” I said, doing with my magic what I had seen Onyx do so many times. I would create my own blade, even if mine was psychic. As I spoke, I envisioned a purple sword, ready to cleave Petra’s shield in two. I glared right into Petra’s toxic, green eyes. “Answer me.”
The smirk stayed on her face as she waved her hand and the first half of her rainforest charged. Blair unleashed her fire, keeping them at bay. Onyx widened her stance.
“I am the rightful heir. The Summer lands have always been mine!” Petra shouted as her tree army split around her and continued its advance. She pointed at Onyx. “Unlike her, I’m a real princess, not a gutter trash, half fae.” Petra turned to me. “I always told father that all mentalists should be forced to take the ultimate vow as soon as they could talk. You’re insufferable. Always poking around your head where it doesn’t belong. Your father was the same way.” She flashed her teeth at me. “He was forced to take the ultimate vow. He was unable to do anything without Father’s approval. Watching him suffer was so amusing, Virgie.”
Rage like I’d never felt before shot into my chest, and the pressure in my head exploded. A lilac glow shot out of me, shaped like the blade I’d imagined, and Petra’s eyes widened. The blade cleaved at her invisible barrier. She took a step back, but I wasn’t done yet. A lilac bubble formed around Nathan and me. Petra backed away more as my magic bubble slammed into her mental shield. The Summer princess turned her hands into claws and screeched, clasping at her head like that would stop the mental intrusion.
Onyx, ice sword in hand, and Blair, holding a fireball, inched closer. Nathan held out his hand. “Don’t touch Petra. Virgie’s got this!”
I pressed harder against Petra’s mental shield. It groaned, then the cracks appeared and spidered out until the remains shattered. I didn’t stop there. I shoved out a bit of my magic at the generals, commanding their attention.
Excitement surged within me. I was done trembling and hiding. I was a force to be reckoned with.
“Petra. Take off the crown,” I shouted, my voice reverberating through the bubble.
The generals and students gaped. Behind them, more Summer fae warriors had arrived, but they too stood still, unmoving. Only the trees Blair had set on fire crackled as they burned.
“Take off the crown. It will choose its r
ightful ruler,” I pressed on.
Petra’s face contorted as her hands reached for her head. She twitched, but her muscles refused to obey her. She removed the crown and placed it on the ground. Thick silence hung in the air as everyone waited. The air shifted again. The colors returned to the trees around us. A blue jay flew past us, followed by a flock of white birds. The trees all stopped advancing, going still. The crown reverted back to its original form, golden leaves shining in the sun.
“Prince Caleb Kallan, you’ve shown courage, wisdom, and the ability to listen to the counsel of others. Take the crown, but only if your people agree,” an ancient voice boomed through the sky, and my skin exploded in goose bumps. The Grand Librarian was still with us.
Caleb stepped forward but didn’t reach for the crown. I wasn’t worried about Petra snatching it away. My purple magic still had her fully trapped and the longer it bound her, the harder it was for Petra to get out of my grasp.
I looked at the generals, offering them a reassuring smile. Relief crossed their faces. They hadn’t wanted to fight the students or their prince. From what Onyx had told me, I knew that generals played an important role in choosing a new monarch.
One by one, the generals bowed their heads. The one in the center spoke, “We trust our High Commander, Nathan Bitterbay. If he believes that Prince Caleb Kallan is the rightful heir, so be it.” Behind him, the newly arrived soldiers nodded as did the Vasara students. Nerissa smiled proudly.
Nathan stepped forward and clasped Caleb’s hand in a firm grip. “Not once has Prince Caleb let me down. He demonstrated kindness when he set out to rescue earthbound fae. He demonstrated bravery when despite being trapped and held in terrible conditions by vampires at Nocturnal Academy, he returned to the school after his escape to rescue the fae. He continued to demonstrate courage as he repeatedly stood up to his father when he went awry. Prince Caleb demonstrated diplomacy when he did everything possible to improve the relationship with the Winter Court. He proved his leadership when he led us into the wastelands to restore them. Most importantly, he shows humility by not snatching up the crown but waiting for our decision.” Nathan shook Caleb’s hand. “I fully support Prince Caleb Kallan, son of King Peter, becoming the new king.”
The Nocturnal and Fae Prison Academy Boxset [A Complete Paranormal and Fantasy Series Boxset] Page 118
