Stella and Sol Box Set

by Kimberly Loth

  Leo undid the locks, clicking and clanking. The sound jarred Zwaantie’s ears. Several voices floated in from the hall. Zwaantie didn’t recognize any of them. Sage collapsed on the floor and wrapped her arms around Zwaantie. Her hands were warm and welcome.

  Zwaantie’s well burst again, and Sage sobbed with her. Zwaantie cried for the loss of her husband. Sage for the loss of her best friend. A hole opened up in their lives and would never be filled again.

  People spoke in low voices around them, but Zwaantie didn’t pay attention. She only wanted to escape the pain. Nothing else existed. It was so raw and real and would never go away.

  A voice rose above the rest.

  “Unhand me at once,” Zwaantie’s mother yelled. “This is an outrage. How dare you humiliate me like this.”

  Zwaantie untangled herself from Sage. This was a problem she had to handle even if she didn’t feel like it was possible to handle anything at the moment.

  King Ajax hovered over Mother, his face filled with rage. “Your son killed my son. You’re lucky you aren’t locked up in the dungeon. Sol just became an enemy of Stella.”

  Zwaantie had trouble comprehending his words. Did that mean they were going to kick her out as well? Mother sputtered. “I saw no such thing. Raaf would never kill anyone.”

  Zwaantie jumped up and spun towards her mother. This was too much. She might not know the details, but she knew exactly how her husband died. “Yes, he did. But he was trying to kill me. Not Ari. Ari saved my life.” She turned to the guards. “Get her out of here and lock her up.” Raaf was acting under the influence of the Voice, but Mother was being spiteful. Zwaantie wouldn’t let anyone distort the reality of Ari’s death.

  Mother turned to Zwaantie, her face a mask of anger. “How dare you.”

  Zwaantie clenched her clammy fists. “The Voice wants me dead. He can control anyone—including you. I’m not safe with you in this room. Get her out.” The guards didn’t move. Perhaps they were suspicious of her as well.

  Mother’s bright blue eyes bored into Zwaantie’s. Sage climbed off the couch and fished a necklace out of her pocket. She clasped it around Mother’s neck. They must’ve taken them off before the wedding. Fools.

  “Why did you remove that necklace? We told you it was for your own safety,” Zwaantie said.

  Mother smoothed her skirt. “It didn’t match my dress. I’m Queen of Sol. I had to make a good impression.”

  Zwaantie gripped her own hair. “If you’d kept them on, Ari would still be alive. This is your fault.” She couldn’t even begin to fathom their stupidity. For the first time in her life, Mother expressed some vanity, and now Ari was dead.

  Mother snorted. “You think Raaf did this? You must’ve seen it wrong. You were focused on your groom and distracted.”

  Zwaantie grabbed her mother’s shoulders and shook her. “Raaf killed Ari. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  The annoyance in Mother’s face didn’t change, and they stood staring at each other for a few moments, neither one saying anything. Zwaantie’s fingers dug into her mother’s shoulder.

  Mother glanced down. “Let. Go. Of. Me.”

  Zwaantie shoved her away. “Get her out of here,” she commanded the guards.

  Mother struggled as they dragged her out of the room. Zwaantie should feel some guilt, but instead she felt relief. This was one less thing she’d have to deal with, one less complication she didn’t need. Especially now after defending Raaf.

  “Have they caught Raaf?” Zwaantie asked the king.

  “No. We’ll be staying in here for the time being. He could be halfway to Sol by now, though, if he had people in town hiding him. If not, we’ll find him. Guards are scouring the castle.”

  Zwaantie let out a breath. She worried this would be her life. Constantly hiding from others who might want to do her harm. Even her own father wanted to hurt her if he was the Voice. She’d never say that out loud to Mother. Not without proof. She hoped she was wrong.

  Zwaantie’s mother was stuck in Stella for now. Zwaantie wanted the border sealed up tight. Solites would stay on their side as long as she was in danger. The ones she loved were dying. But a sealed border would mean the kingdoms weren’t truly joined, and the vipers might start killing people again. One night of peace did not mean they were gone for good.

  She couldn’t wrap her head around anything. She needed Ari. He always knew what to say and would comfort her. But Ari was dead.

  Zwaantie looked around at those with her. The king, Leo, Sage, and Lyra.

  She wiped her eyes and let out a breath, ready to tackle the problem at hand. Anything to distract her from the pain. “How are we going to find Raaf?”

  King Ajax put a hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t going to do anything but stay safe. We’ll find him.”

  “Excuse me? He’s my brother.” She saw Raaf kill Ari, but she planned on asking Raaf how the Voice had gotten to him to discover exactly what drove him to shoot at her.

  “He wants to kill you.”

  Zwaantie clenched her fists, knowing she would be fighting an uphill battle. “What will you do to him when you find him?”

  “That depends on how we find him,” King Ajax said with a frown.

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “He’s under the influence of the Voice. You can’t hurt him.”

  Leo snorted. “He killed Ari. How can you be thinking of him?”

  She wrung her hands. She didn’t know how to explain how powerful the Voice could be. “I know, but it’s not his fault. It’s the Voice.”

  “She’s right,” Sage said. “Can I lead the investigation?”

  “Yes,” Zwaantie said, relieved Sage was helping her. This had to count for something. The two people who loved Ari the most, defending Raaf together. “Sage knows everything, and she’ll make sure Raaf doesn’t get hurt in the process.”

  The king ran a hand along his face. “I don’t understand anything about this Voice. We’re stuck here until they determine Raaf is no longer in the castle or even City of Stars. The guards should finish their search sometime this evening. We need to get some rest, and then I need a briefing on everything. We can’t make any decisions right now.”

  “No. We need to make a plan to find the Voice and destroy it.” Zwaantie needed purpose, a job. Something to move her forward, or she might fall apart. The Voice had taken everything from her. It had to go.

  Sage tugged on Zwaantie’s hand. “We can’t do anything in here. Come, I have a sleeping potion. When you wake up, we’ll gather everyone together and make a real plan.”

  Zwaantie wanted to argue, but no one else wanted to fix the problem now. Except her. Though it wouldn’t bring Ari back. Her heart clenched again. He was really gone. Maybe she would let Sage give her a potion, and she’d wake up and find Ari alive and breathing.

  Zwaantie collapsed next to Sage onto the couch, took the potion, and swallowed it before she could change her mind.

  Sage wrapped her arms around Zwaantie. Ari filled her thoughts as she fell into the darkness.

  Chapter 2

  The Lost Love

  Leo watched the love of his life sleep in the arms of his sister. He should be the one holding and comforting her. That was impossible though because that love of his life was grieving the love of her life. Not to mention that he was still furious with her.

  He clenched his fists. He still wanted to be angry about Zwaantie’s betrayal. He wanted to yell and scream and tell her how much she’d hurt him because she’d taken his heart and torn it to shreds.

  How could he though? Ari was dead, something Leo could barely even begin to process. He knew the ache in his chest was minor compared to hers. The world would be a dimmer place without Ari. He could hardly fathom that not long ago, no one was dying. The prophecy given by the Old Mother changed everything.

  “Do you think she’s asleep?” Leo asked Sage, who kept wiping at her own tears.

  “She won’t wake up for several hours,” Sage replied in a qui
et voice. She twirled Zwaantie’s blonde locks around her fingers and stared off into space.

  Leo glanced around the room. His father and mother sat in the opposite corner whispering in low voices. His dad probably was wrestling with his own grief. Two weeks ago, his wife died and now his oldest son. Yet, he was completely put together. Leo wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same.

  Perhaps Lyra was briefing him on the Voice. He was glad they’d shut Zwaantie down. As much as he wanted the Voice gone and Ari’s murderer brought to justice, they’d make bad decisions in the state they were in. They needed to take a deep breath and think about things first.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Sage. He was worried about her. She’d never lost anyone close to her before, and Ari was her best friend.

  “I took a numbing potion, so I don’t feel anything. But no, I’m not okay.” Of course she took a potion. That was her solution for everything. One of these days she’d run into something a potion wouldn’t solve.

  “How long do you think we’ll be stuck in here for?” Leo asked, itching to get out and do something.

  “Too long. You want a potion?”

  He shook his head. He didn’t want to lose control of his own thoughts and feelings. “She really loved him, didn’t she?”

  Sage rested her chin on Zwaantie’s head. “Yeah, but their relationship was really about how much Ari loved her. She stole his heart. I still can’t believe he married her.”

  Leo swallowed. This was going places he didn’t want it to. “You know, I loved her too.”

  “I know. People can’t control their feelings, though. Ari made it easy for her to love him.”

  “And I didn’t?”

  Sage snorted. “No. You didn’t. You were gone. Also, your mind works too hard. Once Ari decided he had to have her, every action he had was for her, and when she was in the room, he saw no one else.”

  “That’s dangerous.” Leo couldn’t imagine risking his entire kingdom for love. Though Ari did. He put his own feelings above what was best for the kingdom.

  “That’s love.”

  Leo scowled. Maybe he didn’t love Zwaantie the way he thought he did. He didn’t really want to talk about this, but if it kept Sage’s mind off Ari’s death, he’d do that for her. She was one of his favorite sisters because she told him the truth. Candace did as well, but Sage was nicer about it.

  “What do you know about love?” he asked, in hopes to change the subject. But one thing Sage hated doing was talking about herself.

  “More than you think.”

  He hadn’t expected an answer. This was new. Sage had a fling now and again, but she never got too close to anyone. She couldn't. Not with her job.

  “Oh yeah. Who?” He wanted to bring things back to work, but he also wanted to subdue his curiosity.

  “Who, what?” Sage asked with a raised blue eyebrow.

  “Who are you in love with?”

  “Who said I fell in love with anyone? Even if I did, it’s none of your business. I don’t want to talk about me. Let’s talk about you.”

  “What about me?”

  “You still in love with Zwaantie?”

  “Of course.” His insides still ached for the loss of his brother, and here she was bringing up old hurts.

  “Are you going to marry her?”

  “What? No.” How could she even think that? After everything Zwaantie had put him through. From pretending to love him, to Phoenix, to Ari. Marrying that woman would be like asking for his heart to be broken time and time again. Plus, she was Ari’s bride. It would be an insult to his memory to marry her. Also, she’d never go for it, even if he wanted to.

  “You have to.” Sage dropped her eyes and fiddled with the edge of her wrinkled dress.

  “Why?” Leo asked. He’d expected her to argue that Zwaantie would be lonely, and that they could find solace in one another. Not that he had to marry her.

  Sage stroked Zwaantie’s hair. “Stella’s still unsafe. You have to marry her, otherwise little Raaf—oh stars, she’s going to need to change his name. Anyway, he could still die.”

  Leo rubbed his forehead. He hadn’t thought about the ramifications. She’d betrayed him not once, but twice. He did love her, but he also hated her. A lot. There had to be another solution. Her marriage with Ari surely fulfilled the prophecy. There was no reason to think otherwise.

  Leo was grateful he’d forgiven Ari before he died. They’d stayed up talking the night before the wedding. Ari said how hard he tried to stay away from Zwaantie and couldn’t. He’d tried to do the right thing, but Zwaantie consumed him. While Leo loved her, he didn’t understand the all-consuming love, but he saw it in his brother’s eyes.

  Zwaantie, on the other hand—she might have fallen for Ari—but she knew better. She knew the stakes, and she did it anyway and lied to Leo on several occasions. He wanted to move on with his life and forget this whole nightmare.

  “The vipers stopped though.” He’d make Sage see reason. He needed to quell her idea before it got out of hand. Once Sage latched onto an idea, she didn’t let go, and she was very good at persuading others. If left unchecked, she’d convince everyone, including his father and Zwaantie, that they needed to marry.

  Sage shrugged. “The prophecy didn’t say anything about the vipers stopping. Only that they would kill little Raaf. Maybe the vipers stopping all together was something deeper than the prophecy. That doesn’t mean they won’t kill little Raaf.”

  Sage made a good point.

  No, he couldn’t think this way. Zwaantie would shatter him.

  “She might not agree to marry me.”

  “She will. Trust me, after Ari, she’ll toe the line. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if vengeance will be the first thing on her mind.”

  “The Voice you mean?”

  “Yeah.” Sage chewed on her lip. “Do you really think it’s her dad?”

  “Maybe. Though, wouldn’t it have made more sense to come and kill her himself? Why send Raaf and pretend to be sick? If he is the Voice and is looking for power, an invitation to Stella would be a great opening. I don’t know. Maybe Luna meant someone else.”

  “Unless he was worried about how things would work if he crossed the wall.”

  “We can’t prove anything.”

  “We still aren’t any closer to destroying it.”

  “We need to. Ari wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. We can’t risk Zwaantie dying.” Her safety was paramount. She was also the only link they had to Sol. If something happened to her and the Voice discovered how to cross the wall, Stellans could be slaughtered or enslaved.

  “Yeah. She loved her brother a lot. She probably hasn’t had much time to process anything, but this is going to mess her up pretty good. I mean Ari dying would’ve done it, but Raaf pulled the trigger. That makes it much harder for her.”

  Leo didn’t know how to respond. He had been hoping to simply move on with his life without worrying about Zwaantie. She had a lot of people who loved and supported her. But because of the prophecy, he would probably still have to marry her. He’d have to be her comforter, and she would need him in the coming months. He wanted to be clear across the kingdom from her.

  He squeezed his fists. He didn’t know if he was up to this.

  “It’d be easier to figure out how to kill the Voice. If we capture Raaf, we might be able to get answers out of him.”

  “Unlikely. Phoenix didn’t have a clue the Voice was influencing him when he went after Zwaantie. Luna fought it. Why couldn’t Raaf? He was her brother. He should’ve been aware.”

  “No clue. Maybe Luna was stronger. I can’t imagine he’d really want to murder his own sister. We fight sometimes, but I’d never hurt any of you. The Voice must be incredibly powerful to overcome him.”

  “We might get some answers from her mother. I can’t believe she denied Raaf killed Ari. I was afraid Zwaantie was going to kill her.”

  “She still might. You think she knows something?�
�� Zwaantie’s mother always made him nervous. She was the most judgmental woman he’d ever met. When he was in Sol, he loved pushing her buttons. He still remembered the look on her face when Zwaantie stepped out in a Stellan dress.

  Sage shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll let her sit in the dungeon for a few days before we question her. I’m glad she’s not my mother.”

  “Me too.” He would have run away for sure. Maybe that explained some of Zwaantie’s poor decisions.

  “This could cause a war between Stella and Sol.”

  “I’ve already thought about this. If Zwaantie wasn’t the crown princess, it would’ve. But I doubt she’ll allow it to get that far. All we need to do is assassinate her father, and she’ll become queen of Sol. It was probably a good thing Ari hadn’t ascended to the throne yet.”

  Sage let out a breath. “Can you imagine? Prince of Sol murders King of Stella. It’s going to be bad enough as it is. People are going to be crying for blood. Hopefully they don’t take it out on Zwaantie.”

  “I’m sure Viggo can figure out how to swing it so she doesn’t take any blame. She’ll need to make a statement.”

  “She can’t defend Raaf. People here won’t understand he was under the influence of someone else. I’ll talk to her.”

  “I can’t believe we have to think about these things. We’ll barely have time to mourn him.” He wanted to hide in his room and cry for the brother he would never see again. He couldn’t though. Leo had to hunt Ari’s murderer and worry about protecting Zwaantie.

  That would have to drive him. Revenge. Otherwise he wasn’t sure he’d get through this. Maybe when the Voice was dead, he’d have time to grieve.

  Chapter 3

  The Worst-Case Scenario

  Raaf wandered around his orbs. The glowing lights comforted him. He’d missed them when he’d been in Stella.

  Wilma had kept them safe, and no one had been the wiser. She’d enjoyed it too much. He’d have to be careful, or she might like the position for herself. After he eliminated Zwaantie as a threat, he might have to find a way to eliminate Wilma as well.

  He stopped in front of the large orb, the one that controlled the collective conscience. The orb was taller than him, and it spun slowly about a foot off the ground. It didn’t hurt to look at, and swirls of light pulsed within. He wanted to place a hand on it and allow it to comfort him, but he’d been warned to never touch it or risk contamination. He nearly had a heart attack when Wilma touched one of the smaller ones.