The Reign of Queens: A Kingdom of Diamond Antlers Novel

by Zachary James

  The alliance between Equadoria and the Winter Kingdom of Elkwood will only become aligned if the Majesty of Equadoria completes their terms and conditions stated. Ariadae Vox, current Queen of Equadoria must compete in the Proving. The five trials will test Ariadae’s ability to be fit as a ruling leader of the Frozen Army. She must complete the five trials to tie the alliance between the Winter Kingdom and Equadoria. If the Proving is not completed, than the Frozen Army will not be placed into the hands of Equadoria and no alliances will be attempted at a further date.

  “No,” the singular word I voice claps like thunder in the silent council chamber. Jax grabs my arm and tries to pull my attention before my reaction can get violent. The courtiers gasp with shock at my quick retort, but I will not be a puppet in these courtly games.

  “Ariadae,” he whispers. I glare at him from the corner of my eyes. “The only way we can get the army is if you complete it. It’s our only chance.”

  I stand up and so do the High Lord, High Lady, Kane, and Jax. “I will not participate in Winter Kingdom culture! We can get an army from the Mortal Kingdoms,” I spit venomously and the rest of Brennan’s court doesn’t mumble or move. Smart. Hunger roils in my stomach which begs to be filled.

  Kane looks at Jax and I, utterly surprised. I barely refrain from hurling a wad of my spit onto his face. Kane shouldn’t let this happen! He is my friend, I am his mate!

  Jax grabs my arm again, pulling away my glare. “No,” He growls. “If the Mortal Kingdoms don’t believe us, we have no army. If we have the Frozen Army, even without the Mortal Kingdom soldiers, we would still have a fighting chance to stop your mother.”

  I want so badly to fight back. I want to roar at the sun, the sky, Nirvana, and Prometheus himself. Why can’t he strike down Evaflora and save me from this downward spiral? After this summer and his helping me, I have a feeling he has no reason to step in. He is just watching the game unfold before his eyes and enjoying the sight of it. For the first time in centuries the gods will be entertained with the song of war. But the only way that’ll happen is if Equadoria partners with the Winter Kingdom.

  “The offer is only on the table for as long as you sit in the council chamber,” Lhys whispers and I see the apology in her ice blue eyes, Jax’s eyes. She has nothing to do with this and I can’t help but think Brennan made this alteration after the courtier accident yesterday. He said if it happened again. Not that he would alter the treaty.

  “I thought you weren’t going to change the treaty,” my assumption is thrown down upon him like a dagger that kills the silence.

  Brennan smiles wickedly and I can’t help, but to see Evaflora’s face painted on his. A monster is a monster, a beast is a beast. I’ll never leave the horrors of Faerie Kingdoms or Elkwood Forest for as long as I am alive. “Ever since you revealed that you have two powers and your title as Fae Druid of the Void upon your arrival, I have been waiting to see what you can do.”

  “You are a sick bastard,” Jax mutters.

  “Watch your mouth outcast!” Reyluke, Brennan’s personal guard, and the sentinel who had whipped Jax in the throne room shouts. Some of the court members flinch at the roar of Reyluke and the growl Jax bites back. I grab his wrist. He calms for a minute and faces me.

  I decide to play with the rules of this treaty. I look down my nose at Brennan, even though he is a full head taller than I, and voice my compromise with a voice of a queen who is powerful, regal. “I will participate in your Proving if you lift the exile on Prince Jax Lycus Archaeminza.”

  Brennan’s smile taunts me and I want to leap across the table and smack it off his damned face.

  Reyluke’s thunderous howl shakes the chamber. “DO NOT GIVE HER WHAT SHE WANTS!”

  Lhys glares at her husband’s personal sentinel and maybe even acquaintance. Reyluke is instantly ashamed of his outburst and becomes a whimpering puppy with his tail between his legs.

  I never break my glaring match with Brennan who is happy to oblige.

  “Do it father,” Kane whispers to his High Lord. Brennan doesn’t peel his stare away from me.

  “Let it be done then.”

  I dip the feather twice, the dark ink reflecting purple off the firelight. The pointed tip fluidly swirls my name onto the thick parchment and two drips of ink follow the final letter before I place the pen back into the well.

  “Your first trial is tomorrow.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  ~Ariadae~

  The eve of the Proving is a night of parties for the Faeries of the Winter Kingdom. This is their tradition that comes only with a new heir or royal, entering the family, so it’s not often that they get to celebrate this wildly, or so I hear.

  I sit in a small garden overlooking the city at the back of the castle. I stumbled upon the small balcony courtyard during my walk through the seemingly endless halls. I couldn’t sleep no matter how much I willed my body to relax and settle, but my brain is alive with fireworks. The sound of people celebrating outside doesn’t help me either. I have no idea what the Proving entails, but I do know that Trial Four is shedding the blood of an innocent. I knew about it when I signed my name on the treaty, but I feel that I may not complete that Trial. I’ve already failed and I haven’t even started it damned thing yet.

  The cold stone bench beneath me makes me shiver in my fur coat. I know it’s my fault that I’m cold because all I’m wearing beneath the wolf pelt is lacey undergarments, but I don’t want to go back to my room because I fear Jax might be awake. After I signed the treaty all he did was hug me while I cried. We didn’t speak about our fight before the meeting and I didn’t shed a tear until I left the council chamber, but now my eyes are all dried up. I want so badly to cry away the pain of Jax and I’s inevitable falling out, but no tears come. I bet even if I did cry the salt water droplets would freeze and break before they even hit the ground.

  The whole garden is covered in grey cobblestone and is surrounded by a black wrought iron fence. The glimmering fire lamps that illuminate the streets of the Winter Kingdom make the whole city radiate and aglow with life. Joyful shouts and laughter rise into the air and my stomach twists. How can anyone find entertainment or excitement in the Proving? I sure as hell am not excited for the trial tomorrow and what makes everything worse is I don’t get time to prepare. It doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t know what to even prepare for.

  “The Winter Kingdom is gorgeous before the Proving,” Kane says from behind me and I am not in the mood to turn around or even engage in conversation. The only sound I make is a heaving sigh. “I remember the night before my Proving; I had sat right where you are now and stared at the stars, trying to ignore the joyous shouts of happiness.”

  “I’m not doing this for myself, Kane,” I break my silent promise to not speak. He knows how to get right beneath my skin like a burrow beetle. “I’m doing this so my mother doesn’t enslave the rest of the humans on Abella. I’m doing it for my people.”

  I hear Kane’s shoes scuff against the stones and I smell the odor of anger. Its putridly sweet smell is disturbing to the senses. “You are nothing, but selfish and childish! I had the disappointment of my brother’s failure weighing me down, so I had the stress of a thousand lives in the Winter Kingdom burying me six feet under!”

  I whirl to the Faerie prince. He stands shirtless in the doorway, his face is shadowed, but the glow of the city makes rivers of tears burn brightly on his cheeks. I thought tears wouldn’t come again, but now they threaten to spill. He had to do his Proving and so do I. We both have our reasons to complete the ten Trials, although very different, they are exactly the same.

  “My people need me,” My broken words croak inside my throat. “My army was decimated in Solaria and I was left with a legion of one hundred warriors at my home. The borders of Equadoria are being attacked by the Forsaken and Evaflora has attacked my castle and murdered my court. I want nothing to do with the Proving, but for the sake of survival and the life of mortals on Abella, I need to do
this.”

  Kane runs a hand through his hair and stalks over to the balcony overlooking the city. He pulls a cylindrical tube from his pocket and holds the end of it to a torch, lighting the cigar. He holds it to his lips and blows away the sour, but also sweet smelling smoke. “I know,” he mumbles and a part of me isn’t surprised. “Before your stay at the Summer Kingdom the five other Kingdoms of Elkwood had been meeting and talking. We invited Evaflora, but she denied the invitation to speak with the High Fae. We knew she was keeping something from us.”

  “I know most of the High Fae in Elkwood are aware of the threat of my mother, but do you know what made her want to plan and conjure this path without consulting with the rest?”

  Kane shakes his head and blows another cloud of smoke. “Once you learned of her intentions and told Lunan, the High Lord of the Day Kingdom, he came to each Kingdom and gave us all the news. We still aren’t sure why she would suddenly want to remove the life of mortals, but we have reason to believe she is inspired by the eastern continent Pangea.”

  If mortals are treated as slaves on Pangea than how have the humans there not rebelled? How could the humans even let the Fae take control? Suddenly I remember a letter Samuel had read to me before he died. “Before the death of my court we had received a request for aid on Pangea.”

  “Was it the mortals rebelling?”

  “No, they fear a dark force that wants to conquer their land,” I whisper and stand closer to Kane on the balcony and stare out at the glinting lights of the city that seem to blend with the stars. I can’t see where the Winter Kingdom ends and the sky begins. It’s alluring and magical. “I had to deny the request because I have nothing to offer.” And I have my own war to fight.

  Kane holds out the cigar to me and I shake my head. “Smoking helps me relax sometimes,” he whispers and his words blow away the odor that quickly vanishes on a passing wind. “It started before the Proving.”

  And although I don’t think him to answer I find myself asking, “What can I expect tomorrow. What’s the first trial?”

  “I can’t tell you what it is, Ariadae. Mate or not,” he scoffs. I look down at my bare feet in an attempt to hide my shameful blush. “But I can tell you that it will test your strength. You’re a Fae now, so my father wants to see your power. He wants to see how far you’ll go for his army. ”

  “He wants to see what my powers are?”

  Kane laughs outright. “No, he wants to see your ability in hand-to-hand combat.”

  A shudder fills my bones as I remember the sight of the citizens in the Winter Kingdom. The males are gargantuan and the women have biceps as big as tree trunks. Compared to them I am just a brittle twig.

  “Who am I fighting?”

  Kane tosses the finished cigar over the railing and it plummets down to a slanted roof far below. The height of the balcony makes it seem like the castle is on a mountain itself. He looks to me, lips in a thin line and shakes his head. “You need some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.” And before I can object his end to the conversation, he saunters through the garden door and leaves me to the chill night.

  A part of me wants to go crawl back into a bed warmed by a large body, but another part of me knows the quicker I am asleep the faster tomorrow will come. If I really think about it, it’s only hours away from daylight. I breathe in, kissing the night goodbye, and wander back to my chambers. Tomorrow is my first trial and now with Kane’s hint, I’m mentally prepared. Well as prepared as I could ever be.

  <<>><<>><<>>

  The Proving is something special to Winter Kingdom culture. Most of the Fae that are eagerly jumping and running into the entrance didn’t believe they’d see another Proving for the next twenty centuries. Now, many are present as they herd like cattle into a large hole in the side of the mountain. The wrought iron gate is spiked at the ends and jagged lines and angles of metal work make images of snowflakes across the bars. The entrance into the arena is at the heart of the Winter Kingdom and I walk with Jax and six Frost guards. The tall sentinels keep the crowd of people from coming too close to me, and I am genuinely surprised by the amount of protection Brennan has given me. I understand that I am a Queen, but to these people I am nothing but a guest in their home. I guess Brennan knows how to treat his guests.

  “Are you ready?” Jax asks into my ear, his breath on my skin is hot and clammy. I nod, not ready to give away my words. I know if I talk I won’t be able to hide my fear and as I peer toward Jax at the corner of my eye, he seems unable to hide his as well. He anxiously keeps wiping the sweat from his palms onto his pants and his dark brows seem to be permanently knitted together. He notices my stare and I look towards the guard at the entrance who lets us go by. He must know who I am because he doesn’t even make a second glance our way. Jax leans down again and I grab his hand in mine. His fingers tremble a little and I know it’s not because of the cold. “I need to go, but I’ll see you tonight, I promise.” His whispers vanish and he disappears into the throng of people. The mouth of the mountain swallows me whole as I cross beneath the portcullis hanging above my head.

  The sentinels guide me into the vestibule, full of bustling Winter Kingdom faeries, and direct me to the far wall that leads further down the tunnel toward the arena. Or stage. I don’t question our change in course, but just as the six guards and I squeeze into a servants passage I want to turn back. It’s a downward stairwell that spirals into the rippling darkness. I can’t see anything, but obsidian silhouettes shifting in the tight space.

  One of the guards from behind pokes my back urging me forward. The descent down the mountain is extremely unpleasant. “Move,” he mutters his voice void of emotion or a care in the world. “I want to get out of here.” I don’t argue and ignore my internal pleas to turn around and push onward.

  In my descent, I pass torches that seem to be randomly scattered throughout the stairwell keeping a mental track of each one. I don’t see any other doors leading off the servant’s passage, but just in case, I’d like to know my way out of the mountain. I’ve already seen sixteen torches mounted on the thick jagged rock. The stone isn’t grey cobble or placed tile. The walls, ceiling, and floor are brown jagged stone and look as if the tunnels were carved into the mountain. A chill slithers across my skin at the thought of all of the weight of the Winter Kingdom and snow atop my head. What if it all came crashing down?

  “Keep moving,” a sentinel grunts and I didn’t even realize I had stopped. Shaking away my fears I ignore the growing burn in my legs and thighs. “We’re almost there.”

  “Oh thank the gods,” a voice whispers from the back and it makes what feels like humor bubble in my gut, just scraping beneath the fear that burrowed itself into my skin.

  “At least someone shares the same feelings,” I call out into the dark and know everyone will hear me. My voice even carries down the passage and bounces back echoing. The servant’s passage is echoing everything and making our whispers louder and a part of me wonders if it’s on purpose. Too often do servants and the help see things and whisper in their quarters. If the High Lord placed a spell on the tunnels so all secrets could be heard I have to wonder what incident gave Brennan the reason to do it. I would ask my guards because they seem quite personable, but the stairs round one last time and I’m staring at an open doorway. Fear floods my body like a warm flush and I run out of the tunnel.

  A thousand screams make the mountain shake and I literally jump at the sound. I peer around the Proving center and look down, down, down, hundreds and thousands of feet below to Faeries talking and laughing, arguing and kissing. A billion faeries fill the seats of the colosseum that has to be the size of the whole Archaic Mountain range. I barely see the dust sized faces at the opposite side of the dirt stone seating that descends into an ominous pit, the size of an ocean. I wish I was exaggerating, but there is an entire valley within the pit. Green hills roll from a thick forest at the north end of the arena. Sapphire rivers glitter between the green like snakes in gr
ass. Snow covers the southern end of the valley which is to my right and my mouth goes dry at the sight. A whole kingdom could fit into this mountain, who am I kidding, the whole Winter Kingdom is here beneath Archaic Mountain, ready to watch me complete the Proving. If I can complete it that is.

  A sentinel of the Frost guard who brought me down here grabs my upper arm. I look to his tawny curls and cold grey eyes. His pale blue armor is plated leather and covered in the swirls that have become common imagery in Winter Kingdom culture. “You need to get ready, Milady.”

  I nod. “Where should I go?”

  He answers with a slender finger pointing to a wall along the walkway that appears to wrap around the whole arena. A slim door is the target of his pointing and I nod my thanks. I abandon my personal guards and enter the brightly lit chamber. The space flickers with a glow as bright as the sun from the many candles openly burning around the square room. A table is at the center and I see my clothes for the Proving and small ivory bowls full of creamy liquid in every shade of blue.

  I strip off my deer hide shift and fold it onto the table where my new clothes are. The overseers of the Proving must’ve been told of my arrival because two young women, frail and thin compared to the many muscular women I’ve seen in the Winter Kingdom, walk into my changing room. They smile at me and with the flickering candle light the symbols and swirls of paint on their skin shimmers like sunlight bouncing off of lapping waves. A memory of the ravine in the Summer Kingdom flashes through my mind and I ignore the sound in my ears of the turbulent waves that churned beneath the bridge like a roiling beast.

  The twins, I realize, dress me into skin tight brown pants, black hide shoes with fur leg warmers. My top is dark brown like the pants and a braided pattern of blue yarn creates a thinning triangle descending down the front. A cropped black top is placed over the shirt and I admire the midnight blue stitching creating the beautiful swirls. The short top is slanted across my shoulders making it a tank top and the twins wrap my hands in brown bandages that cover my knuckles, palms, and forearms. My exposed upper arms are pale white from the winter and I shrink away from the cold silver armlet they place on me. I shiver at the chilly metal and the twins laugh in sync with one another. I shake harder, but not from the cold. One twin braids the top of my hair letting the rest of my fiery waves fall around my shoulders. The other twin takes the ivory bowls and begins painting triangles, swirls, and dots of electric and midnight blue patterns on my face and arms. I can only wonder how good I look, but assume the twins are proud because they hug one another, and then me. Never do we exchange words as they kiss my cheeks, avoiding ruining the fresh paint, and guide me back towards the walkway I came from. I want to ask where to go, but that’s when I notice their thin lips and hollow cheeks. They don’t have tongues.