She cries out again. Paralyzed with pain. The power is too much for her to handle, too much for her to control. The room is spinning and she can no longer keep her eyes open. She needs a healer. She needs her friends.
Help.
* * *
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Rowan opens her eyes slowly. Her body is no longer in pain, but healed completely.
Standing over her are Lola, Solana, and Pepper, who are crouched at her side. She groans while she sits up, her head is still fuzzy and her palm is throbbing from the black gem lodge in its center. She can feel the crystal’s power running through the black veins now covering her entire right arm. It feels exhilarating and powerful.
“What happened?” She blinks up at them.
“I heard you calling for me,” Pepper smiles. “I came running to find you nearly dead.”
“It seems Pepper has failed to mention that she inherited healing powers from her Shevka side,” Lola comments.
“I didn’t know,” Pepper looks down at her palms. “I had no idea I was capable of such magic, but when I saw you hurt…instincts took over.”
“Would you like to tell us what happened to you?” Solana points to her hand.
“I don’t know,” Rowan shakes her head. “But I think this may be the answer to stopping The Overseer.”
Lola reaches down offering her hand to help Rowan up. The dungeon is still dark aside from a lantern lit in Solana’s hand. She has so many questions to ask, but there is no time to waste. She doesn’t know how long she has been unconscious for, but after being inside The Overseer’s mind, she can imagine he isn’t too happy. The four of them run down the dark corridor of the dungeon. They check every cell hoping to find Melani, or Knot, her twin brothers, or Shadow.
There is no sight of anyone.
Rowan tests her magic with a flick of her wrist. Her hand burns bigger and brighter than it ever has before. Her other hand lights up but what is most striking is the color of the flame—black. She doesn’t know what this means for her magic, but if it is connected with the power of The Overseer from the crystal, then it can very well be powerful, dark magic.
When they open the door exiting the dungeon all the lights in the palace are out, and the only light they have is from the moon shining through the windows. Usually the castle is lit at all times, something doesn’t sit right in her stomach. It is eerily quiet. They collectively look at each other waiting to come up with a plan. Rowan has no plan, but if one thing is certain getting out of this castle will not be easy. Even if they succeed in escaping, the Darkwraiths surrounding the castle’s perimeter will be ready, waiting to feast on them.
“Where is Shadow?” Rowan whispers.
Lola shrugs her shoulders and Pepper shakes her head.
“The throne room, his collar was chained to The Overseer’s chair like an animal,” Solana spits. “Last I saw he was beaten bloody.”
Rowan recalls right before she lost consciousness she called for help. She pictured the three females who have helped her through everything. Then they were there. She recalls being inside The Overseer’s mind, wanting answers of how he became so cruel and wondering why he’s torturing and using manipulative force to make low bloods his slaves. She received flashes of memories like pieces that fit together to complete the bigger puzzle. It was almost like he was forced to show her. Almost like she was manipulating him herself.
Pepper said she heard her calling for her. She did call for help, in her mind. She thought of her friends who she never thought she’d see again, and willed them to help her. That is exactly what she did, she willed them. This crystal, the same crystal that is linked to The Overseer’s magic and is linked to all the Cirvka performers collars, is now a part of her body and connected to her veins up to her mind.
“You broke us out of our manipulation, can’t you do the same to Shadow?” Lola asks.
She closes her eyes and in her mind she talks to Shadow telling him where she is. She doesn’t feel a connection. Doesn’t feel the power itching through her brain. She presses the pad of her thumb to the crystal. She wills Shadow again, but still something feels off. The crystal feels silent as opposed to the humming feeling she felt earlier. Shadow’s face is a cloudy vision in her head instead of the vivid picture she had right before summoning Pepper, Lola, and Solana. The link was like a thread connecting her to the three of them when she pleaded for help, but with Shadow, she feels nothing.
Feeling frustrated and frightened she decides to test the crystal on one of the three it has already worked for. She wills Pepper to poke Lola, wanting to see if maybe the stone is only resisting Shadow. But she is wrong. She can’t control Pepper.
She tries again.
She can’t control Lola.
She tries again.
She can’t control Solana.
Nothing.
Can the magic be gone?
Maybe The Overseer figured out a way to keep her out? After all, Madame Tallulah, the most powerful sorceress and oracle, is on his side. When she and Lola we’re looking through Madame Tallulah’s book, the same book that had the drawing of her amulet, had the same drawing of the black obsidian stone. There is no doubt the sorceress created the stone. If the stone was made for the same reasons as her amulet was made then it’s entirely possible she created this black stone to harness The Overseer’s power. If that’s the truth; she might have found a solution to destroy the power in her palm.
But that doesn’t explain why her three friends are standing next to her still free of any simulation or manipulation. There has to be another explanation.
The castle is starting to creep her out and standing around outside the dungeon door doesn’t seem like the best idea. They have to move and find shelter for the night, somewhere they can rest and recharge their powers.
Rowan wishes she hadn’t spent so much time in her room, granted she had no choice, but she wishes that she knew where each corridor leads to. To her, this place is a maze. One wrong turn or one entrance into the wrong room and they’re screwed.
She leads the way as they stay close behind her. Lola is grabbing her bicep and on the other side Pepper is clutching the material of her tunic at her waist. She looks behind to see Solana, her eyes vigilant as her head turns left and right checking their surroundings.
When they approach a window at the end of the hall, they look outside to see the gates free of guards. What is most shocking is what they see off in the distance. Smoke. Villages just outside the castle are on fire. She closes her eyes and can faintly make out the sounds of screaming.
“What in Lysstrom’s name are you doing out here?” A voice whispers behind them.
Rowan gasps turning around to see her brother, Rafe. “What are you doing here?”
He shakes his head. “Our new king had a tantrum and destroyed the throne room, he sent his minions to raid the village. He sent a couple of his guards down into the dungeon to grab you. I followed them to see if I could get to you first, but they beat me to it. When they came back up from the dungeon empty handed, I knew you had escaped,” he sounds relieved. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Rafe—fifth born son of King Syro, has always been the stealthiest of her brothers. He would’ve been a great spy for the throne if Syro or Arlo had not been killed. His slender body is agile and the power of speed mixed with the skill of scaling helps him to enter any room without anyone knowing he was ever there. When they were younger, Rafe would move with such silence and slyness that no one would hear him. He loved sneaking up on Rowan and her brothers and it always ticked her off.
“And you want to help me because…”
She has a hard time believing any of her brothers want to help her. They have all been cruel and greedy, but it seems a change of heart—or the face of reality—have shown them that they have a common enemy that needs to be taken off the throne he forcibly took.
“Because our brothers are either dead or missing and a lunatic is sitting on our f
ather’s throne while Mother is helping him.”
With Rowan’s magic combined with her destiny and birthright, Rafe pledges his allegiance to his sister understanding that he’d rather have her wearing the silver crown rather than The Overseer. For once in her life, she feels she can trust her brother and his word.
“Gawain is dead,” she frowns, “and Morris and Zak were helping us, until Mother took them and mentioned something about taking care of them.”
“And I don’t think she meant taking good care of them,” Lola crosses her arms. “What a nefarious creature that female is,” she spits out while shaking her head.
“Where did she take them?” Rafe’s brows furrow.
“I have no idea, they weren’t in the dungeon.”
“I’ll go look for them,” he nods. “Listen, you might be wondering where your friend is. He’s chained up and I don’t think he’ll be coming to anyone’s rescue. During The Overseer’s tantrum I was watching him…he was attacking him.”
“Who?” She holds her breath waiting for the answer.
“The Overseer’s son,” he frowns. “He is in the throne room…he doesn’t look too good.”
Her breath catches in her throat. Shadow.
“I will find the twins,” Rafe declares, “but you need to get out of this castle, Rowan. It’s not safe for you.”
“I have nowhere else to go,” she swallows hard. “And Shadow…”
“I know he is your friend, but it isn’t safe. I thought I’d let you know he is alive. He is alive, Rowan,” he repeats. “I’ve seen what that male can take and I know he is strong. If his father wanted him dead, he would be dead. We can come back for him but now’s not the time. You need to leave. There is a place, it is underground. Ferris is there with a few servants and palace guards who escaped the castle and villagers who escaped the raids. It is in the woods—“
“I can’t go in the woods! It is dark out, the Darkwraiths will kill us!” She hisses through gritted teeth.
Remembering the night she ran into the woods, goosebumps spread across her arms. The soulless, black creature, felt like death itself. Its coaxing voice made her want to invite death into her arms while her working brain screamed with the realization that the kiss of death was seconds away. She never wants to have another run-in with one of them for as long as she lives.
He puts something into her hand and closes her fingers over it. “When the time comes you’ll know what to do. Sazchlevar,,” he squeezes her hand gently. “It is about a hundred paces west when you exit out of the back castle gates. It is covered by leaves, brush them side and you’ll find a door. Knock four times, pause, two times pause, and then two again. Go now before his guards find you!”
Before she can ask him what he means by, Sazchlevar, Rafe sprints in the opposite direction on his trek to find their twin brothers. The ancient word he spoke is one unfamiliar to her ears. She looks down at a tiny velvet pouch, inside are coins she has never seen before. It is no form of currency, their currency is made in silver, but these coins are slightly bigger with weird ruin marks on each side. The coloring of each of the three coins is dark bronze.
“Come on,” Solana urges. “I don’t want to stay around and find out what happens when The Overseer’s guards seize us.”
“Wait,” Rowan shakes her head. “We can’t just leave them.”
“Them?” Lola asks.
“Shadow, Knot, Melani…”
“Melani is with The Overseer. I saw him bring her into his room when I was patrolling one of the corridors,” Pepper frowns.
Rowan’s heart skips a beat. Melani has been through so much, it is her responsibility to get her away from her father’s grasp. She vowed to protect her. Failing once with Lottie, she refuses to fail again. “We have to save her, he could be hurting her!”
Pepper shakes her head. “It is too risky. We need a plan and backup first. We can’t just enter his chambers impulsively.”
“As for Knoton, we have no idea where they took him. We can’t linger here much longer. Looking for him risks our capture. We have to go,” Lola gently places her hand on Rowan’s shoulder.
“We know where Shadow is, we can grab him—” Rowan begins but is interrupted.
“And what if he is expecting that?” Solana comments. “What if he left Shadow badly hurt in the throne room as bait.”
“I hate to agree, but Solana might be right,” Lola sighs. “Last time you trusted someone from your family Harlow betrayed you. I don’t even know if we can trust Rafe.”
“That underground sanctuary is our only option,” Pepper says softly.
She thinks of the broken boy, the same one who kissed her softly, who asked her to spend the night because he needed her, and who asked her to call him Mikah after hiding his true identity under his nickname for so long. She thinks of the male she slowly fell in love with, his mind currently not his own and his body broken. Alone and scared not knowing if his sister or his friends, who he has come to love, are okay.
“We grab Shadow and then we go to the woods to find Ferris,” Rowan decides for them all. She can’t leave Mikah behind. Not after everything. “We don’t leave anyone behind, you can wait outside the room while I grab him, I have my powers back and if it is a trap I can defend myself.”
“Roe,” Lola looks at her sadly. “Shadow still has his collar on. He is still under his father’s control. Even if it’s not a trap…I don’t think he will willingly go with us.”
Lola is right, even though Rowan wishes she isn’t.
“I know you love him,” Pepper steps toward her. “We will save Shadow, that is a promise, but we can’t right now. You are the rightful heir to the throne, you are fated to save the kingdom from the destruction The Overseer is wreaking. We swore to be by your side and we will, always, but we need to make the decision that protects you.”
Lola nods her head. “You’re the only one who can stop him,” she grabs her hand turning it so her palm is facing up. Rowan stares down at the black crystal on display.
“Follow me and stay close,” Rowan orders. “The Darkwraiths will lure you to them.” It will be all too easy for the creature to steer one of them away from the group without the others noticing. “I want Lola to watch Solana, Solana to watch Pepper, Pepper to watch me, and I’ll watch Lola. We protect and watch out for each other. No one gets left behind.”
They exit the castle huddled together like scared children. Each step is taken with caution as their eyes are wide and alert scanning the outside perimeter for any guards. The only sound they can hear is the wind mixed with screams in the distance. The night sky is cloudy and there are no stars in sight—no shooting stars to wish upon for a miracle. Just four best friends heading into the unknown. She clutches the bag of coins she doesn’t know how to use and in her mind she repeats the ancient word her brother said that must have some importance.
Reflecting on this past month being at Cirvka, Rowan has realized they’ve taken too much from her. King Syro, Madame Tallulah, The Overseer. They’ve all robbed her in some way and she refuses to let them take any more.
You’ll know what to do.
But Rowan has absolutely no clue what to do.
Has absolutely no clue how to stop The Overseer.
Or save her friends.
Or become a queen.
You’ll know what to do.
Will she?
* * *
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank everyone who made it to this page and gave my book a chance. The overwhelming outpour of support I’ve received from the bookish community along with the support from my BETA and ARC readers has given me courage as well as motivation to continue to pursue my dream of becoming an author. Especially a big thank you goes out to Grace and Ashleigh who made me feel this book was worth sharing with the world. To Marisa (Cover Me Darling) for helping Lastly, I would like to thank my mother and father for always supporting me and encouraging me to follow my dreams.
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Emilie MacCauley, Fight for the Crown
Fight for the Crown Page 28
