Academy of Falling Kingdoms Box Set

by Marisa Mills

  We crammed together into the basket, so tightly I was pressed up between Sterling and Tatiana, and I sucked in a breath as the man squeezed in as well. He fiddled with the device hanging under the balloon and flames hissed to life.

  Different magic, same source, Lucian grumbled.

  The balloon began to fill, and after a few moments I felt it gently lift off the ground. We floated over the trees, and passed a few small villages. There were fewer balloons in the sky now and we had a clear view of Aubade, rising up in a steep series of ringed walls, each revealing a new landscape of parks and streams.

  We began descending towards some kind of fortress, a rectangular outcropping on the edge. A waterfall plunged off the sides towards the ocean. Down below, I could see men in uniforms and torches. I swallowed and tried to combat the dryness in my throat. There were so many things that could do wrong with this plan. And if someone recognized Alexander… I shuddered to think what Aubade might do to the prince of a kingdom they were warring with.

  If he’s recognized, we’ll fight our way through, Lucian said.

  The balloon landed, and two men helped secure the ropes, tying them down before opening the door. The four guards standing by the gates tensed as we spilled out of the basket. They were armed with swords. It might be possible to fight them, but now that we were in the kingdom, there was nowhere to run.

  Jessa fluffed her hair, took a deep breath, and strode forward.

  “I am Jessamine, my father Kai works on the council of foreign trade and commerce,” she said. “These are my employees, we seek rest and shelter.”

  Two of the guards exchanged glances.

  “The army has just been deployed,” one of them said. “Not a great time for commerce.”

  Jessa shifted her stance. I recognized the minute changes; they were the same little things—the tip of her chin, the straightening of her back, and the narrowing of her eyes—that Alexander changed when he was trying to exude royal authority.

  “Obviously,” she said. “That’s why I’m bringing them into the kingdom. These are the best saddle-back pigeon defluffers I’ve ever seen, and my father’s business interests depend on stable production. We can’t risk this war impeding our commercial assets. They’ll stay in my family’s estate tonight until we find them more suitable lodging.”

  I held my breath as the guards whispered together for a moment. Jessa’s story wasn’t very convincing. We were wearing a mixture of strange, dirty clothes but also bearing very fine weapons. I saw one guard looking enviously at Dorian’s sword, it was far nicer than his own.

  A guard cleared his throat, before turning back towards us.

  “We’ll have to confirm you are who you say you are,” he said, sounding awkward.

  “Of course,” Jessa replied promptly, but with a tone that said she was mildly annoyed. She walked ahead, unperturbed. With a nervous glance to Alexander, I followed. Four more guards appeared out of nowhere and walked alongside us. Hair rose in prickles along my skin. This felt like a trap. Where were we being taken? Had we been caught already?

  The guards took us to a station and into a waiting room of some kind. I sank down onto the velvet-cushioned sofa and clasped my hands together to keep from fidgeting. Arched windows looked straight out over the ocean, and bright lights illuminated the wide, two story room we were in. The guards stayed with us, and a young woman offered us fresh coffee. Jessa gave her another coin and handed me a mug. For a long time, we waited in near-silence. Finally, the front doors opened, and a young woman entered. She was surprisingly tall, but I recognized her as a relative of Jessa’s. Her wavy blonde hair was cut short about her face; her eyes were pale green. The woman’s dress was blue chiffon and her jewelry extravagant. Without a word she swept past me and Viviane sitting beside me.

  “Darling!” the woman exclaimed, flinging her arms around Jessa.

  Jessa returned the hug with equal enthusiasm. “Bella!”

  The guards relaxed and I took a deep breath. The woman in blue signed some papers before leading us outside. Once we’d put some distance between us as the guards, I relaxed a little, though we were still drawing looks for our unusual clothes.

  “I’ve been so worried about you!” Bella said. “And when Mother and Father didn’t return…”

  “They’ve been confined to their rooms,” Jessa said, “but they looked well last I was them.”

  I bit my lip, hoping that Jessa’s parents were still alive. Kit seemed to be more reasonable than his father, so I was pretty sure he wouldn’t follow through on the king’s threat to execute traitors.

  Bella nodded and smoothed Jessa’s hair with her hands. “I’m so happy you’re safe,” Bella said, “and after that awful demon attack. And now this year—”

  “We hope to stop it,” Jessa said. “We need your help.”

  “Yes, of course. Absolutely. And you have…” Bella trailed off and looked over us, as if just noticing we were there.

  “My friends,” Jessa said quickly. “They’re from Aubade too. We can trust them. They helped me escape.”

  Bella’s eyes flitted between us. She had a sly, clever face, and when her gaze lingered too long on Claribel, I realized she wasn’t fooled. Maybe she’d believe some of us were from mages, but not all of us. I cleared my throat.

  “Claribel, Sterling, and Briar were trying to escape violence from the fighting,” I said, “and they helped us find our way safely here.”

  “Yes,” Jessa said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

  “And you are?” Bella paused, arching her eyebrows.

  “Wynter Wilcox,” I said. “Rosewood,” I corrected quickly.

  Something flashed in Bella’s eyes, a sudden spark, but it was gone so quickly that I wondered if I’d imagined it. Bella leaned close to Jessa, and the two of them whispered so lowly I couldn’t hear. Then, Bella turned to us, her face tense. I smiled and stood taller, trying my best to be charming.

  “Belladonna, Jessa’s sister. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Bella said. Then she pressed on, not pausing again until we came to a wide arched entranced in the stone wall of the alley and pulled out a large set of steel keys to unlock the gate. She opened the main door and pushed it open.

  “Welcome home,” she said.

  Seventeen

  WHILE REVERIE WAS A CITY of shining crystal and white, polished stone—with some exceptions, like the Rosewood estate—Aubade was dark and rough. The streets looked as if they’d been carved from the night sky, and the buildings were made of rough, yellow stones. As I followed Bella through the front gardens, between buildings, I saw snippets of the sea, so dark it seemed to blend into the horizon, which was marked only by the line of stars above its fold.

  “You seem rather enthusiastic about the scenery,” Bella said.

  My throat was dry.

  “It’s been a long time since Wynter has been in Aubade,” Viviane said, her voice thick with forced sympathy. “How long has it been? Two years now?”

  “Yes,” I said quickly. “I’ve been longing for home for a while now.”

  Bella hummed. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “What are your plans now that you’re back in Aubade?”

  Bella’s eyes narrowed. It felt like a challenge, like she was trying to find the holes in my story.

  “I suppose I just want to familiarize myself with the kingdom again,” I said. “It was so different being in Reverie with all those scheming nobles.”

  I knew a lot about those scheming nobles.

  “It’s so comforting to be back in Aubade. They’re at least competent. In Reverie, the aristocracy and the Council spend so much time fighting, I’m surprised they ever manage to accomplish anything.”

  “It’s a terribly inefficient way to manage things,” Bella agreed, gesturing vaguely. “It’s much easier when it’s just the senate and the chancellor.”

  I nodded.

  “Agreed,” Viviane said,
evidently catching on, “especially considering the king’s slow response to the demon attack. Poor Jessa! We wondered if King Gregory was even going to bother with an investigation. Wynter was attacked, too; you know.”

  Bella shook her head. “It’s so awful.”

  We passed through another gate and a large silver fence, before emerging in rose gardens.

  “This is incredible!” Tatiana exclaimed. “I’ve never seen this many varieties of roses.”

  Bella straightened her back and smiled, evidently quite pleased. “Thank you,” she said. “I fancy myself a botanist, so I’m quite invested in breeding as many kinds of roses as I can. I’m quite devoted to them.”

  The estate before us was made of large, gray bricks and round, stained glass windows.

  “This is huge!” Briar whispered as we entered the polished tiles in the wide, open entry hall. White curtains blew gently from the outer windows, made of floor to ceiling glass panels. A large oak table with twelve chairs had been filled with food, and my mouth watered at the smell of spices and meat.

  With a start, I realized Briar had never even seen an estate before. This was all new to him. Until a few months ago, I hadn’t seen one either. Had I really changed so much?

  Sterling put his head close to mine.

  “Bet he lives in a place like this,” he said quietly, jerking his head towards Alexander, who was talking with Bella and Jessa in the other room. Viviane found a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass.

  “Larger. You can’t even imagine how big it is.”

  “It must be nice having all that money,” Sterling said, his brow creased with irritation. “And all that…space.”

  When I’d first arrived in Reverie, I was horrified at the waste of food and resources. I realized, seeing how mages actually lived when you’d just been through a place like the Scraps, the contrast was exposed in sharp relief.

  “And since you’re a practically a princess now,” Sterling whispered, “I suppose—”

  My eyes fell on Bella, but fortunately she didn’t seem to be paying attention to Sterling and me. “The granddaughter of a countess,” I murmured. “They’re not the same.”

  Unless Alexander and I got married, like his father wanted.

  “But you like it,” Sterling asked. “Don’t you?”

  “Sterling,” Claribel said, her tone warning.

  “What are you even talking about?” I asked.

  Sterling sighed, then he pulled me outside.

  “I saw you,” he hissed, ignoring his mother. “Last night, with your prince. You told me you didn’t have feelings for him, but he was kissing you.” His fingers squeezed into a fist, all but the one he’d lost, trying to save me from my fate. An expression of pain flooded his face, and he turned away suddenly, heading towards the main table.

  I wanted to go after him, to console him, but I didn’t have the words. I would always love him. But not in the way he wanted. Was I in love with Alexander? I hated how the king had treated me—like some brood mare with an exotic gift. But the idea of being with him made my stomach flutter. And it wasn’t just because he was a rich prince.

  Like Rosewood, this estate was on the edge of the kingdom. Past the large oak table and the kitchen area, an open floored lounge faced an outdoor terrace. We piled food on our plates, then spread out among the chairs and sofas beneath a portrait of Kai and Greta, surrounded by four daughters. I found Jessa and Bella easily, but the other two were unfamiliar to me. I’d never even heard their names, but then, Jessa had never talked much about her family.

  Outside, the rushing sound of the ocean and the light playing on its rippling waves. Jessa opened the door, letting in a fresh, salty wind. A wide pool of clear water had been sunk near the end, and it seemed to disappear off the edge, blending in to the horizon.

  “Please enjoy our hospitality as long as you like,” Bella said. “Jessa and the staff can show you your rooms. Unfortunately, I’ve some business to attend to. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask one of the servants.”

  “Thank you,” Alexander said. “That is very gracious of you.”

  Bella’s smile was full of practiced charm. “It’s my pleasure,” she said.

  She suspects something, Lucian said.

  Clearly. But if Jessa trusted her, she would have told her the truth.

  What if she recognized Alexander? Or your name?

  Then, we were doomed. I fought to remain absolutely still and to keep my face cold and impassive, even as my stomach twisted in dread.

  “Finally,” Jessa said after her sister had left. “I thought she’d never leave.”

  ***

  Jessa showed us to our rooms. Viviane moaned at the sight of a large bathtub, and ran her hand through the warm water. At first it felt strange, to be alone in a soft bed again after our night sleeping under the stars, but sleep found me quickly.

  In the morning, I pulled on a pair of beige linen pants and made my way to the open area we’d been in the night before, pulled by the scent of coffee and bacon. The wide table had been refilled as if by magic, now sporting silver trays full of bread, cheese, olives, tomato paste, sliced eggs and pickled fish in a glass jar.

  “Anchovies,” Jessa said, pulling one out of the jar with her fingers and swallowing it. Viviane turned away in disgust but Tatiana giggled. “They’re great, with butter and jam on toast.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Alexander said, sniffing the jar. Jessa poured a pot of dark tea into a tray of cups, passing them out to us.

  “So now what?” Viviane asked, sipping her cup and looking out through the window at the ocean, which was a dazzling blue in the daylight. Jessa’s sister had left early, which would make it easier for us to search for information about the demon chamber, but I wasn’t sure where to begin looking.

  “We need to find Dorian,” I said finally. “Either Celeste has him locked up somewhere, or he escaped and is in the city trying to break into the demon chamber.”

  “Great,” Tatiana said. “So Aubade could fall at any time.”

  Jessa’s face paled, but she didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

  “There’s an escape pod,” Jessa said, nodding out towards the edge. The infinity pool was reflecting the white clouds in the sky. “Installed during the last war, I don’t think we’ve ever used it.”

  “Clever,” Alexander said, rubbing his chin. “So if anything goes wrong, we meet back here.”

  “We should split up and see what we can find,” I said. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”

  “Agreed,” Alexander said.

  “Well, you can’t go out looking like that,” Jessa sniffed, looking at our clothes. Sterling and Briar were wearing a mixture of the clothes they’d brought with them from the Scraps, and some accessories they’d found in their rooms, including a weird hat and a woman’s cloak. The rest of us were in dark satin pajamas and robes.

  Jessa led us down the hall to one of her room, then opened the closets of her sisters’ rooms as well. “Help yourself,” she said, gesturing at all the clothes. Viviane flipped through the colorful dresses, frowning in distaste, until she finally selected a few garments and threw them on the bed.

  “Who’s first?” she asked.

  An hour later, we were in gowns and Viviane had done our hair and makeup. Aubade’s dresses were more casual, and we didn’t even need corsets to cinch them up. They hung loosely around my legs, with my arms and shoulders exposed. Jessa picked out a smart blazer for me to match the slate gray of my dress, and pinned my hair up.

  “We’re going to a library, not a ball,” she teased Viviane, who stuck her tongue out at her.

  “Plus we don’t want to attract attention,” Alexander said, stepping into the room in a navy suit and a white shirt with a high, stiff collar. “Though that might be difficult with blossoms so lovely as these, everyone will want to stop to pluck them.”

  “Yo
u ain’t plucking nothing,” Sterling said, coming up behind them. His eyes widened when he and Briar looked us over. He’d probably never seen me so dressed up before.

  Briar and Sterling refused to wear the stiff, colorful mageware, but Jessa found servant’s clothes they tolerated: dark gray vests, wool caps and crisp black pants. Not that different from what we wore in the Scraps, but all well-made and finer than anything they were used to. After a shower, they looked cleaner than I’d ever seen them. Sterling’s dark features stood out against his sun-speckled skin. He’d filled out since I’d left, with broader shoulders. Briar grabbed an apple from a tray of fruit and a handful of walnuts and stuffed them into his pockets. In the Scraps, we never knew where our next meal would come from.

  “Leave it,” I said softly. “We’ll be back for dinner.”

  Once we were all dressed, we reconvened in the living room around the long wooden table. Claribel was still sleeping, but we decided not to wake her. Jessa and unfolded a map of the kingdom’s downtown area.

  “Aubade’s national library is here,” Jessa said, pointing at the map. “Though I’m not sure what we’ll find. Or we can try the Chancellor’s personal library. It’s quite expansive.”

  “How hard will it be to get in?” Alexander asked.

  “The Chancellor lives on this estate, and he does business here at the Chambers. The Chambers are open to the public, but his office isn’t,” Jessa said, moving her finger across the map. “If we’re looking for information that we can’t find in Aubade’s national library, it’s probably in one of those two places.”

  “Well, we’re pretty good at breaking into places, ain’t we, Wynter?” Sterling asked.

  “Not with that accent,” Alexander said. “I really think you should stay here.”

  “And do nothing?” Sterling asked, crossing his arms. “Besides, Wynter has the same accent,” Sterling said. But then he looked at me funny, probably realizing I really didn’t sound like him anymore.