Fated Magic (The Fated Saga Book 2)

by Sariah Skye

  Braeden reached out, clutching his fiancée on the shoulder. “Careful, Kiki—she's still healing, you know.”

  Kiarra jumped back as if she just realized she'd been hugging a rat. “Oh! I'm sorry!” she said with a chuckle. She turned and acknowledged the queen, offering her an apology, but the queen just laughed and insisted it was fine, but encouraged them to take the remaining chairs in the room. Kiarra chose one large plush cushion instead, tucking her legs under her, but Braeden sat in a nearby chair, reaching for her hand and pulling in into his lap. I exchanged a grin with her that clearly spoke, “Everything is all right with us.” A few weeks ago I would have been disappointed in this but now, I was happy about it for sure. I grinned happily at her, giving her a playful wink.

  “Sorry to interrupt; we saw Finnian to the portal and made sure he got through all right,” Kiarra explained. “He said he's set to return in the morning.”

  Queen Valessia nodded slightly in acknowledgment. “Good, good. I was about to explain to them...” she trailed off, obviously they were privy to her reason for asking us here. Kiarra nodded knowingly and remained quiet.

  She turned to us once again. “The Court is in shambles. It will be a long time before it is put back together as it were—if it can ever return to what it was.”

  Maxxus spoke up now. “What can we do to help, Highness?”

  “I'm glad you asked. I believe you will be instrumental in helping restore the Court and Kingdom. But first, I want you to know that I have sent out couriers—well, whoever is feeling up to it,” she added with a dry chuckle, “with scrolls to give out to citizens and posters to place on walls, publicly apologizing for your treatment by the Court over the years.”

  I lifted my head to stare at her blankly, not sure I heard her correctly.

  Maxxus let out a low whistle as she continued.

  “It will take some time, of course for everyone to acclimate to the idea, but I'm confident that in time you will come to be respected.”

  I laughed shortly. “Tell that to those two dragons we just encountered.”

  “Yeah, I don't think they got the memo,” Gabriel added with a snort.

  The queen was unphased. “As I said, it will take time.”

  It was a great gesture, but really, it meant little. I no longer lived here—my life was in the human world now. If not Pineville, then Castle Danger. I squinted and frowned as I spoke: “It's nice but...” I started, but I wasn't sure how to tactfully state what was on my mind. Where was this when I was growing up? Perhaps I would have wanted to stay had I been treated halfway decently.

  “Too little, too late,” Maxxus quipped, straight-faced. “Where was this years ago?” He was pushing his white-knuckled fists into the arms of the chair, struggling to keep his composure; the red anger was slowly creeping up on his unshaven face. I dared to glance at Gabriel on the other side of me and, he had virtually the same expression on. “And why did you come after us at all?”

  “I believe you know what happened,” the queen said, rather dryly. “We were manipulated.”

  I turned Maxxus and mouthed, “Nicodemus.” Immediately a growl rumbled in his throat.

  The queen took this in stride, with a slight apologetic smile. “But, you're right; it should have been sooner. It should never have been that you were treated this way—ever. Treating dragons the way you've been treated just on appearance is wrong. It's one reason why we began having such hard time with humans—” she offered the brothers a smile, “—no offense.” Gabriel and Daniel both insisted that none was taken.

  “Humans are so easy to prejudice; I didn't like the fact that we were allowing it in the Court. But, I had little choice. Old attitudes take generations to die off,” she let out a low sigh and appeared far away for a moment before she turned back to me, teary eyed. “I wish I could have done more, sooner, and I'm sorry for that. The fact that given everything you risked yourself and your friends to come, when others in your position would have ran or simply ignored it means that, all of our generalizations about pink dragons were in fact, completely wrong. I just wish I could have implored this attitude on the Court before my husband died but he was unyielding in his position that pink dragons be annihilated.” She spoke this last statement with an incredibly bitter taste in her mouth. “Unfortunately, he realized only too late, I’m afraid, the value your kind can have on the kingdom.”

  “So, now that the king has died, you're able to advocate for Leorah?” Gabriel said. “I thought that the monarchy was equally split between the monarchy.”

  “It is—or well, it's supposed to be. I loved Athalos, don't get me wrong, but he was... stubborn. He wouldn't even change his stance for his own drake.” She spoke directly to me, as a stray tear fell down her face. My breath caught in my chest when I realized what she was saying.

  “You... had a pink drake?” I asked in a small voice, and she nodded slightly.

  “Well, we're pretty sure about it. I became pregnant and as you know there are magical ways to see what sort of drake you're having. Boy or girl... sometimes some parents get excited when they learn one of them is to have the same magic as they are,” she said, with a smile and it quickly fell as she spoke. “We had a 'magical' ultrasound as it were, and that's when we learned...” the queen glanced away, staring shamefully everywhere but at me. She sniffled and took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself before continuing. “Athalos insisted we terminate the pregnancy. I tried to talk him out of it, but it was done before I even had a chance to think.”

  No one said anything to that. Horrified at her admission, we all exchanged remorseful looks; most of them directed at me. I couldn't help but realize the obvious truth.

  That easily could have been me. And, why the hell wasn't it?

  The queen sat in silent reverence for awhile, no one daring to speak. It was I who let out a little cough, clearing the air. “Your Highness... I am so sorry for your loss.” It seemed like the right thing to say, though it was a voluntary loss. Or, maybe it wasn't... the king could have easily pushed her into it. Dragons' wasn't necessarily ones to be manipulated so this was surprising.

  The queen forced an appreciative smile my way. “Thank you. I can't believe I went along with it. I regret nothing more in my life than that single decision. I live with it every day, and mourn the loss of that poor drake who didn't have a chance. But Athalos was unyielding. I even offered to go into exile and have it alone and go live in the human world. He could have told everyone I died or disappeared. Ran away. He assured me it would be too difficult; humans were too volatile and we'd be exposed.” She sighed, uncomfortably fidgeting her hands in her lap. “Anyway, it was clearly a ruse. He was more concerned about his station in the Court; he was gunning for the throne and surely, this is one thing no one would be able to overlook.” She paused, thoughtfully, “I pushed hard to get him to change his mind, but I was one against an attitude shared by many. I figured, in the end it was perhaps the right thing to do. I couldn't imagine the ridicule and torment they would have to suffer; I told myself it was the best choice for all involved.” She laughed dryly at herself. “But, I couldn't make that same decision again, I knew when someone else came to me, requesting her pink drake be saved I was in a position to save her. So I did.” She spoke carefully at me, allowing me time to process what she was saying.

  I felt a slight nudge at my side as Maxxus reached over to grasp my hand. I looked over at him as he appeared slightly teary eyed. “You know what this means, right?”

  I blinked slowly. “That dragon was... my mother?” I had never known why I was spared; not even my father or grandfather knew.

  She nodded. “Yes. Miradoste had been a great and wonderful friend as we grew up together in Ne’emire. She'd had the same 'magical ultrasound' as it were and confided this very thing in me; she said the thought of killing an innocent drake before she had the opportunity to prove herself—you— just didn't feel right. She said she'd do anything it took to allow you to survive.
Including allowing you to be stripped of your magic.”

  I nearly fell out of my chair. Weak kneed and slack legged at this notion that invaded my brain—it was my mother who saved me, who put the magic block on me—the mother who seemed irritated with my very existence, who barely even spoke to me…

  ... it had all been an act.

  It took Maxxus and Gabriel both to gather me from my overwhelmed state of being and pull me back into the chair. My mind was blank. I couldn't think properly. Everything I knew about my existence and my mother was a lie.

  I heard a sob from across the room on the cushions and I figured it was Kiarra but no, my brother had gotten to his feet and was staring at me, openly sobbing at this confession. “Leo...” was all he said in a small voice.

  And that was it. I lost it. All composure, all control. We ran across the sitting room and threw ourselves at each other. Braeden hugged my so tightly I thought my spine would snap in half, but I didn't care. All the while we were muttering unintelligible things between sobs like “Did you have any idea?” and “I can't believe she really did that” and “it was her all along.”

  “The deal was that if your magic was bound and they publicly distanced themselves from you, that you would be allowed to live. No one would know that it was Miradoste that risked it all to save you. In the past monarchies, any dragon that pleaded for the lives of their pink drake's life was instantly killed on the spot. Miradoste took advantage of our lifelong friendship and took a stab in the dark, hoping I'd take pity on her and her baby. Little did she know how close to home the idea hit me; after losing my own drake I vowed I would never allow anyone else to suffer the same emotional torment I did when allowing my pregnancy to be terminated; even if it meant my own life, I would do whatever I could to ensure whatever mother or father that pleaded for their child's life would be listened to. But, we had to assure that somehow it had just been a fluke that you'd been allowed to live; that it was an oversight somehow. The magical ultrasound had been wrong; I think officially on record you were supposed to be red or violet. She didn't ask, and I didn't give her permission. No one would know—until now. That's why they had to act as they did—that you were a burden to them. If they showed openly that they cared there was a chance that our little scheme would be found out and we'd all be assassinated.” Queen Valessia spoke solemnly, with reverence.

  My entire life I questioned my parents love for me. They'd pushed me aside and openly scorned me. Now I understood that they did what any good parent must do... put everything on the line for their child, no matter how painful it was. I couldn't imagine now what they'd had to of gone through to get me here.

  But they cared. They really cared.

  My heart swelled in my chest as I sobbed openly into my brother's shoulder. He stroked my hair with a comforting touch and we just continued to hold each other. Finally, a piece to the puzzle was finally solved.

  Except for one.

  I pulled away from him finally and, taking the sleeves of my robes and pulling them over my hands, I rubbed them against my face, wiping away the aftermath of my crying. “But—why? Why did they do it? Why didn't they just allow me to die? Did my grandfather say something to them, or... something?”

  The queen gave a light shrug. “I don't know their reasons. I don't even think your father was on board, totally at first. He was terrified. But your mother had long been a sympathizer to Cyril's plight and she didn't think it was fair. She had heard stories before from your grandfather about what a wonderful, kind and compassionate drake he actually was. I am sure Elder Aleron’s pleading for your life was the only thing that spared your life after you were born. Even Athalos had a hard time dealing with the idea of killing a helpless infant. For everything Athalos is—was…he valued Aleron’s opinion more than anything. If he assured that you wouldn’t be a problem, you wouldn’t be. The goal was to get you over to Earth as soon as possible so you wouldn’t go mad like Cyril.”

  To this, Kiarra let out a strangled cough. “Well, he was.”

  The queen offered her a sad smile. “Indeed. So she—Miradoste—took the chance that you would be too, and that, if you weren't allowed to use your magic, you wouldn't go mad. She hoped that she could get you to adulthood and that you would be free to move to Earth where hopefully, finally you could have a happy, peaceful life.”

  “I knew it,” Braeden said, gazing deep into my face and brotherly stroking my cheek with his fingers, “I knew there was a reason for their horrible treatment! There was no way the mother I knew could ever be so cruel without a purpose!! Do you get that Leo? She did it because she had to, because she was trying to save you!”

  I nodded, sniffling and smiling through my paradox of emotions. We heard titters of conversation around us, but we were allowed to have our moments before Maxxus finally spoke up.

  “Well, that explains a lot, but not why we forgot about each other,” he said flatly.

  I snorted. “Well, there is that issue of the motherfuckin' love spell,” I said resentfully. Gabriel grumbled an agreement.

  Queen Valessia raised a brow. “I did not know about this, but, in this instance it's no matter. It was quite the undertaking to keep the two of you apart, Leorah. You, and Maxxus. But after your relationship progressed, Miradoste feared that you would stay here for Maxxus, and she asked me for help in helping to forget about your relationship, but whatever we did would have to be used on everyone around you. Elder Aleron. Sir Saladin. Even you, Braeden had been made to forget. We hadn't realized just how close the two of you had gotten; and the goal was to get Leorah to the human Earth. We didn't know anything about the Order, or the Knights. That information has only been revealed to me recently.

  “Watching you from afar, somehow we knew you were destined for great things; what, we didn't know. I assumed, perhaps you’d go live with humans and become a great doctor or a scientist or something brilliant. We knew the choice to save you was the right one and, turns out, I was right,” she said, offering me a wink of which I laughed through my emotional outburst. “Which brings me to my next confession.”

  Feeling woozy, I stared at her open-mouthed. “There is more?”

  She nodded and motioned to the chair I had been sitting in until I had my little blubbering fit. “You might want to sit for this.”

  I swallowed nervously and did as she requested. I caught the eyes of my friends around the room in various states of shock and elation. Maxxus appeared confused and a little angry, but his eyes sparkled with happiness at my new revelation. “But why did that make me forget my magic?” he wondered aloud to himself.

  “Ah, well, that's a simple one. I'm afraid when the Court learned of your gift, we blocked your magic too. Aleron had tried to keep it secret, but when you carried one of your weapons to Court one day, we felt the magic and figured it out. It is a rare gift and a powerful one in the wrong hands. Once we knew what your intentions were, we would restore it.” Queen Valessia's expression was apologetic. “I was not for this choice, but I was overruled by the council. Many weaponforging dragons had used this talent to craft powerful weaponry to give to the humans to overthrow different organizations, centuries past. Court. Monarchies. Kill entire families of which they had feuds with. We just simply weren't sure if you could be trusted with it, yet. You were allowed to keep your regular Earth gift but I'm afraid since the magic was suppressed, that's why you struggled with mastering it. For that, I'm very sorry. I did the best I could at the time, going along with everyone else, but now I realize it was wrong. In the end, I’m afraid I’m a very weak ruler.” She sighed sadly.

  Maxxus' eyes and mouth narrowed in frustration, and I could see the myriad of emotions playing across his eyes. Anger. Frustration. Shame. Finally, understanding. “Dragons aren't as accepting as we think we are, huh?” he said, raising his brow and giving me a knowing smile.

  I nodded. “That's for sure.”

  The queen rose and crossed the room to stand before us. “After all this, I hope you
'll be open to what I have to ask of you next.”

  I passed expectant looks between my friends and Maxxus, curious about what her request might be.

  “This affects—all of us?” I asked, motioning around the room with a flourish of my hand.

  She nodded slightly. “Yes, but it affects the two of you the most,” she said, pointing to Maxxus and myself in turn. “You can refuse if you would like, but I suspect you will not.”

  My forehead crinkled with anticipation. “What is it that you want?”

  “Not want. Need. As you know, it is unusual for a single dragon to continue in the monarchy after her mate has passed. I can choose another candidate, and it can be voted upon, but I don't think the Court or the realm is in any shape for an election,” she said, turning away and speaking to the wall for a moment. “I need to name new rulers; in times of distress the remaining monarch can name her successors until Anarach can stabilize.”

  She paused and we waited for her to continue. I exchanged a shrug with Maxxus.

  The queen turned around and faced us solemnly. “I want to name you two for my successors: you, Leorah and Maxxus. I want you to take over for me as King and Queen when I step down.”

  And for the second time again that day, I fell out of my chair in a heap of surprise.

  Chapter 24

  I pushed a hand to my chest and from my crumpled mass on the floor I looked up at the queen and squeaked out in an utterly appalled tone, “Me? Us?” I dared to take a glance at Maxxus who, was slumped in his seat, eyes wide and mouth agape like he'd just witnessed a terrifying scene or a beautiful miracle; the verdict was still out on which.

  The queen grinned, and held out her hand to me and insisted I take it as she helped me to my feet. I struggled to compose myself and stood before her. “But, why us? Surely there is someone better...”

  “There can be no one better.” Braeden declared this from nearby. “You put everything on the line for the Court, and the kingdom. You would make amazing rulers.”