“Shut up,” they chorused.
I frowned and took in the throne room, the place where the king had done much of his business. Had I not known better, I would’ve thought the marble floors and clean architecture made for a beautiful place.
I wouldn’t be sad when so many bad memories born in the room burned along with the rest of the castle. I looped Runs Amok’s reins around my wrist, dug into my pocket, and pulled out every scrap of explosive I had, tossing it in the direction of the throne to ensure it would couldn’t be recovered from the rubble.
Some symbols needed to be destroyed, and the castle was one of them. It was time to give North Dakota a new beginning, one free from the shadow of its mad king.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jack and Daniel handled the logistics of confirming the rest of the royal family had escaped the castle, and Montana’s king unleashed the full force of his talent to order everyone away from the condemned castle. At Daniel’s insistence, he took charge of Marshal and I rode Runs Amok, waiting until we could finish what we’d begun. I had earplugs so I wouldn’t hear the orders to evacuate, as did my parents.
Our job was to make certain nothing but rubble remained when the charges detonated, and we couldn’t do our work if Montana’s king caught us in his magic.
While we waited, Jack, Daniel, Ian, and his RPS agents were responsible for rounding up the rest of the mercenaries. Most decided dying for a dead king wasn’t worth it and quietly surrendered. The ones who didn’t faced Ian.
Their bodies would be removed from the rubble in the upcoming days, a choice I’d made, as I didn’t want to leave explosives sitting around any longer than necessary. Within an hour, the castle was emptied of the living, and during the sweep, Ian and his agents had blitzed through the bedrooms of the surviving royal family members, grabbing what they could before committing the rest to the flames.
Ian offered me the queen’s crown, and I stared at band of gold and jewels. I wondered if Veronica would ever wear it, but I didn’t question Ian on his decision to locate it and bring it to me. I couldn’t return her mother from the dead, but I could give her a symbol that didn’t deserve to be destroyed along with the rest of the castle. I set it on my knee and nodded.
“All right, Adam,” my mother said, standing beside Runs Amok and giving my leg a slap. It hurt. Although I’d grown almost numb to the head-to-toe throbbing, I twitched before controlling myself. “The only way you’re going to learn how to do this is to do it. My job is to keep the blast contained and prevent debris from leaving the grounds. Your job is to detonate the explosives. I can do both, but it’s your castle, so it’s your right to blow the damned thing up.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“The easiest way is to close your eyes, try to think of nothing, and wait. With my eyes closed, I can sense them as points of light or pale shapes. I treat them like people do candles. I imagine lighting them on fire. They explode. With time, you’ll be able to sense them with your eyes open, too. It’s a sense of them being there for me. Not visual, not an actual feel, but still there all the same. Ethereal. You can sense them, else you wouldn’t have been able to detonate the ones I’d been holding. Since you’re untrained, you probably won’t be able to sense individual deposits, but as long as they go up, I don’t care.”
“I’ll be helping your mother contain the debris as well; anything metal is my job. If projectiles escape her shield and they’re metal, I’ll stop them.”
“And if it’s not metal?”
“Well, we’ll have to hope really hard His Royal Majesty of Montana got the crowd back far enough, because we have enough explosives in that building to make quite the bang. It was built strong, so we might just incinerate everything inside without bringing it down. I don’t know.” My father dialed a number on his phone and said, “Daniel, can you confirm how many pounds of explosives we have in there?”
My father laughed. “Apparently, there’s over five hundred pounds of C4 in there.”
“That’s excessive,” my mother muttered. “Are they trying to leave a crater instead of a castle?”
“Apparently.”
My mother eyed the building, twisted in the saddle, and shook her head, pointing beyond the gate. “We should move.”
When my mother issued that sort of warning, I listened, and I was the first to make it across the drawbridge. She laughed at me and had us stop where the castle was still in view—barely. “This should do. I’ll do a double buffer for this. I don’t think only one will hold. What sort of idiot uses five hundred pounds of C4 for one castle?”
“Someone who really wants the castle destroyed and has access to five hundred pounds of C4?” my father replied before telling Daniel we’d backed away from the castle for safety reasons. “Daniel says everyone’s still backing up, so it should be clear enough. We’re clear to detonate.”
“Go ahead and give it a whirl, Adam. If you can’t get it to blow, I’ll take over,” my mother said.
In the future, if my mother suggested I do large-scale experimentations with magic I didn’t understand, I’d say no. Not only would I say no, I’d have her tossed in the nearest dungeon to make certain she learned her lesson about irresponsible talent usage. If North Dakota didn’t have a dungeon, I’d have one built just for my mother so I’d have a place to put her whenever she tried to teach me about explosives and how to create fireworks without the benefit of wires or blasting caps.
I’d also remember to avoid doing so mounted.
The next thing I knew, I was in the ditch and Runs Amok was prodding my cheek with his nose and slobbering all over me. My father leaned over, still mounted, his brow arched. “You have no control.”
“I’m the first to admit that, Dad.”
“You all right?”
“I’m done with today.”
“That’s fair. You just lie right there while we take care of the rest.”
Runs Amok didn’t like my father’s decree, however, and refused to leave me alone until I got back on my feet. I swayed, and giving up on the idea of mounting again, I leaned against the horse and waited until someone took mercy on me.
“What the hell have you done to yourself?” Veronica demanded from behind me.
Would Runs Amok protect me from my future wife and queen? The stallion had started behaving like the perfect angel he’d been claimed to be, standing steady while I used him to keep on my feet, my arms draped over the saddle to maximize my chances of staying on my feet. “I have already notified my father I’m done for today.”
The ploy likely wouldn’t work, but I was too tired to do anything other than wait for her verdict.
She sighed. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. A couple of cuts, a few new bruises, none of which are my fault.”
“It’s true,” my father said, joining me in the ditch and giving my back a companionable slap. “The first time, his horse refused to listen and decided to plow through a window. The second time, the detonation startled Runs Amok into shying, which is hardly Adam’s fault. It’s been a long time since he’s ridden a horse. He’ll be as fit as a fiddle for you within a few days. How’s your brother?”
“Moderate concussion. He’s on route to the hospital for tests, but he should be fine.”
“Adam’s due for a round of testing, too, although not as critically as your brother is.”
“No one has told me what happened to my father.”
“He accepted a duel with Adam and suicided rather than face defeat.”
“That miserable coward,” she muttered.
“It’s done. That’s all that matters, Your Majesty.”
“I’m not the queen yet,” Veronica replied.
“Like hell you aren’t,” I snapped. “If I’m stuck with this shit job, so are you.”
Veronica’s brows hiked all the way up to her hairline. “You need a chill pill and some painkillers, Your Most Royal Majesty.”
Of course
I did. She knew just as well as I did how rotten I felt. “Sorry.”
“You’ve had a hard day. You’re allowed to be grumpy.”
“According to him, he’s done with today,” my father added.
“That’s fair enough. You can be done with today as soon as you see Montana’s king and return his horses and see Dr. Stanton, who’ll be waiting for you at the hospital. She’s overseeing Marshal’s care.”
“Who are the actual royal physicians in this kingdom, anyway?”
Veronica grunted. “I don’t want to talk about them.”
“I was going to give you the job of firing them, as they allowed a lunatic to remain on the throne.”
“Oh.”
However much I wanted to go find a place to lie down and sleep for a week, there was too much to do, and I was the only one who could make sure it got done. “Mom, Dad, you’re going to be acting as a temporary residence for Veronica and her family. I think your house is big enough for them all.”
“It is.”
“Do whatever it is parents do when they have a bunch of unstable guests on an extended visit, please. I’ll go deal with Montana’s king and his damned horses.”
“And should I have your room prepared?” my mother asked.
“If Veronica’s staying there, I’m staying there, so you may as well just put us in the same room, as I’m going to disregard any rules you may attempt to put into place regarding sleeping arrangements if we’re not in the same room.”
Veronica rubbed my shoulders. “You’re so tired. I’ll work with your parents and take care of that. Is there anything else you want me to do?”
“Stay out of trouble. Keep Ian with you, and if anyone looks at you wrong, I want him to fry them to a crisp.”
“You got it, Your Majesty,” the New Yorker replied, shooting me a salute. “Your woman’s safe with me.”
“She better be.”
Straightening, I took up Runs Amok’s reins and went off in search of Montana’s king to officially begin my reign as North Dakota’s king.
Epilogue
The funeral for the queen took place a week after I’d leveled the castle and begun a new page in North Dakota’s history, and the arrangements fell to me. After consultation with Dr. Stanton and several psychologists, I made the decision to include the king in the funeral, burying the monarchs together despite everything that had torn them apart.
Veronica and her family needed closure, and closure meant accepting everything that happened, including their father’s death. The former king and queen, barely clinging to life, made a brief appearance to say goodbye to their son and the daughter who’d married into their family.
I got the feeling they mourned more for the queen than their own flesh-and-blood child, but I wouldn’t judge them for it. Too many lives had been lost or ruined due to his machinations, but everything would change.
I would make certain it did.
As I’d planned, I stood to the side and observed, watching the solemn progression of dignitaries bid their farewells to the queen they’d loved and the king they’d hated. For the sake of the grieving family, no one spoke a word of the king’s crimes.
The king would be laid to rest with his dignity intact, something I’d carefully orchestrated in the hopes Marshal would be able to look past the hatred and loathing to a brighter future. I hoped, in time, the funeral would give him the closure and healing he needed. The visiting dignitaries played along, much to my relief, a lesson that people could set aside their personal feelings when necessary.
Few in the room held any love for the king.
It wasn’t a great beginning, but it was one I could be satisfied with.
Montana’s king joined me off to the side, and he held an infant girl in his arms. Before I could say no, he gave the baby to me to hold. “Her name is Julia, because I told Mackenzie it wasn’t possible to mishmash Jessica and Pat together into something respectable. Her middle name is Patrice, as my queen is determined to name our children after our friends. I’ve been informed our next daughter will have Jessica in her name come hell or high water.”
Julia slept without any sign of waking up, and after some disconcerting uncertainty and a little help, I supported her head and cradled her. “I’ve never had someone randomly hand me their baby before,” I admitted.
“It’s a hazard of being royalty. You’ll get used to it. I’ve heard a rumor your queen is insane and wants to compete with Mackenzie for the highest number of children. I wish you well with that. Mackenzie’s already eyeing me like I’m dessert, and Julia isn’t that old. She can be terrifying sometimes.”
“Only sometimes, Your Majesty?”
“Will, please. I do regret we had to meet under these circumstances, but I don’t regret that the circumstances existed. Change is never easily won.”
His Royal Majesty of Montana knew better than most the price of change, as I couldn’t imagine knowing I had a child and watching from the sidelines to win the rights of people like his queen, believed null and without powers, options, or hope.
I likely had a lot in common with Montana’s queen. “This is going to cause problems with your daughter’s betrothal to Prince Adam, is it not? Because I do mean to do what I can to end that practice.”
“It won’t cause any problems. For us, it’s an official away to ensure that there’s no doubt my daughter is picking her fate. It’s verified she’s strongly bonded to her Adam. They won’t live the rest of their lives wondering if they’ll be able to be together. When the time comes for you to call for support for the cause, Montana and Texas are prepared to stand behind you to see it done. No child should go through what you’ve gone through, although I do regret having to martyr you for that cause.”
“It’s already been exposed. What else are they going to do? Tell people a second time? It’s done. If it wins children the right to choose their spouses for themselves, so be it. I have nothing to hide.”
“And you have everything to gain, including your queen. I assume you’ll want to marry her as soon as possible?”
“That’s the idea.”
“For a king, the courts are open seven days a week, and there’s nothing wrong with a civil ceremony now and a proper one for the public later. It’ll give her and her family something positive to distract them from their grief.”
“Are you always full of good advice?”
“I try to be. It’s my job.”
“How is that horse of your queen’s doing?”
“Runs Amok? He’s doing what he does best.”
“Running amok?”
“Exactly. He’s not usually that opinionated, but unfortunately, he is what he is, and that’s my fault. Magic has changed us, and it’s changed the animals, too. Runs Amok is one of the smartest horses I’ve ever worked with, but that intelligence comes at a price.”
“He has a mind of his own.”
“Exactly. And he’s smart enough to understand what the gear I put him in does. It’s part of his training. Think of him as a rescue dog with hooves. He’ll break through a window to pull his rider from a fire if necessary.”
“Or run through a window to make sure we bust into a castle.”
“Indeed. He’s still not clear on the concept of explosives and forced entry outside of crashing through glass. I’m not sure I want to teach him that, either. He might find some new way to vex me. Anyway, I’m sorry he gave you a difficult time. Mackenzie insisted I loan him to you, as for her, Runs Amok is a perfect angel incapable of wrong doing.”
I was probably crazy for asking, but I blurted, “Where can I get one like him?”
“Runs Amok should be introduced to a few mares next season. I’ll reserve a pair of foals for you and your queen as a wedding gift. You should go stand with your queen and use Julia as a distraction to help everyone through the rest of the viewing. Oh, one more question. Have you given any thought as to what you’ll do about Prince Marshal?”
Unlike the rest of his sibl
ings, Prince Marshal wasn’t old enough to fend for himself and didn’t want to go abroad to find his way into the world yet. I sighed. “I’m going to offer to adopt him legally.”
“Good. If you need help with him, I can introduce him to some of my siblings. Having a few extra friends won’t do any harm, and he’ll need them. I’ve also taken the liberty of discussing his talent with Dr. Stanton. He’s not the only one who has dreams, and there are ways to train his talent so it isn’t as much of a burden on him.”
“You, too?”
“Me, too. He’ll have a rough time ahead of him, but he’ll be all right. The real question is, will you be all right?”
I stared across the room at Veronica, who spoke with Ian and his parents beside her mother’s closed casket. As always, one simple truth remained.
Veronica was worth any price. However much I regretted the how of it, we had a future, and while it’d been founded on blood and misery, we’d do everything in our power to make it bright for us, our children, and our children’s children. I smiled at Princess Julia and returned her to her father. “Yes, I’ll be fine. Everything I’ve ever wanted is right here.”
And it always would be.
Want to continue reading about the Royal States? Check out Susan Copperfield’s other novels or join her mailing list.
About the Author
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Susan Copperfield is the royal romance, urban fantasy loving alter ego of award-winning novelist RJ Blain.
Under the super not-so-secret identity of Susan, the Royal States of America is explored, where the work of sixteen founding royal families preserved the United States from destruction and civil war when magic swept over the world.
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