Queen Rose reached the front of the arena, kissed the red-headed woman and her three sisters, touched her baby brother gently on the cheek and took her mother’s hand.
Jasmine sighed, shaking her head as she pushed back all the emotion brimming in her eyes. Ari imagined their own wedding one day. Jasmine had already told him she hoped to marry in the Garden of Evernow, planted by her father and surrounded by her mother’s favorite flowers. He hadn’t complained. It would be the perfect place to get married. Jasmine may choose to wear flowers in her hair, in place of jewels, but it would be no less regal or special. Just a little different to the wedding they were at now, which is exactly what the kingdoms needed to learn to embrace. Differences were what gave them all their special power.
Queen Rose’s mother led her to Jeremiah. He kissed the Queen Mother on the hand and Ari heard him thanking her for accepting him as her son.
As Jeremiah took his bride’s hands in his own and lifted her veil so he could look into her eyes, Ari reached for Jasmine’s hand. As words of love were spoken and promises made, Ari poured his own love and promises into Jasmine through the touching of their palms. May she always know how much he loved her. And may their love make them not only happier as people, but for all of Wintergreen to feel that magic too.
His sister had caused so much damage and that could never be forgiven, however, she’d also brought about a revolution of sorts. The Alchemist’s evil deeds had caused death and misery, although it’s only through hard times that you learn to really appreciate the good.
And what Ari was witnessing right now, and what he was feeling coming from the heart of the woman sitting beside him, was undoubtedly good.
After the Evernow
“We are lucky, oh so lucky, we are lucky, we have luck. We are lucky, oh so lucky, we are lucky, we have luck.”
The women at the apothecary sang their song of luck as they worked, distilling oils into tiny glass bottles to heal the people of Wintergreen. They’d made thousands of bottles of True Love’s Kiss over the past decade and the population of men in Cypress had almost returned to normal.
There was one woman working amongst them who was thinking of her husband as she worked. He was at home, sleeping in their bed, after doing the nightshift at the bakery in the village. She set down the bunch of thyme she’d been holding and rubbed her swollen belly. Soon their child would be born.
“I need to go home to rest,” she said, remembering that she’d promised to try to get away early.
The woman working beside her broke her song to reply. “You shouldn’t have come in so close to the birth.”
“I wanted to,” the woman said. “Without our work, my husband wouldn’t be alive. It’s important.”
“You’re important,’ said the Alchemist, overhearing them speak. “We can manage without you. Please go home and rest.”
She smiled at the man who ran the apothecary. The greatest Alchemist that Wintergreen had ever seen. He looked after the women who worked for him with a fair share of the profits from the sale of the oils they made, which meant their larders were always full. He was fair and kind. Humble too, never acting like the brother of the future queen of Wintergreen, not even with the King’s grandson working by his side as his apprentice.
The woman thought just as highly of Raphael’s sister, Jasmine, who regularly visited the apothecary to take a stroll in the garden and chat to the women while they worked. She’d done such a good job of keeping the apothecary running while Raphael had still been a boy, going to live in the palace only once her brother was old enough to become the Alchemist himself.
“Thank you, Raphael,” the woman said, wondering why a man so handsome had never married. He was still young, she supposed. Plenty of time for him to find himself a wife. His work as the Alchemist seemed to be providing him with enough joy for now.
The woman returned home, prepared some food for lunch and went to her husband. Leaning over him in their bed, she woke him by brushing her lips across his forehead.
He opened his eyes and sat up, pulling her to him so he could land a passionate kiss on her lips. She fell onto the bed and laughed.
“You came home early,” he said, placing a hand on her belly to feel for his child.
“I was tired.” She crawled off the bed and put a hand to her lower back, wincing as a shot of pain traveled up her spine.
She reached for her pocket, withdrew the cloth the Alchemist had given her and held it to her nose. The infused elixir of oils soothed her pain and her baby kicked her in response. This pregnancy would have been so much more difficult without the oils.
“I’ll make you some lunch,” her husband said, rising from the bed and stretching.
“It’s already done.”
She led him to the kitchen where the table was laden with food. There was porridge and bread with jam and a plate with slices of fresh fruit. Two cups of steaming tea laced with honey and milk sat waiting for them.
The woman sliced the butter with a knife, singing as she spread it on her bread. “We are lucky, oh so lucky, we are lucky, we have luck.”
“I’ll do that,” said her husband, taking the knife from her hand. “You sit down.”
She kissed him lightly on the cheek and took a seat. Sipping her tea, she smiled as the warm, sweet liquid slid down her throat and she resumed her song of cheer, humming it quietly this time.
They had everything in life that they needed. Life was good. Prince Ari had made sure that all of Wintergreen’s citizens were cared for, taking on more and more responsibility as his father prepared him to take over one day as King. He was proving himself to be a powerful ally to Queen Rose of Forte Cadence. The two kingdoms were forging ahead for peace, almost as if they were one, with Forte Cadence enjoying the healing power of their oils and Wintergreen learning to harness the power of the spoken word.
The women in the apothecary now sang their song of luck from their hearts, with eyes as clear as their minds, and slowly their fortunes were being restored.
A tight pain rippled across the woman’s belly and she set down her tea.
“Tommy,” she said. “I think the baby’s coming.”
His eyes lit with joy and she stood to receive his embrace.
Yes. She was so very lucky. They all were.
THE END
The Empress of Evernow
BOOK THREE
For Tamar - with thanks for your magic touch
Before the Evernow
The woman stumbled, falling in the hot sand and crying out. She didn’t call for help, for there was nobody else there. Instead, she cried out to her departed ancestors, asking them to ready the heavens for her arrival. She couldn’t take another step.
A gust of wind sent sharp grains of red sand flying toward her, filling her eyes as it turned her skin raw. Her veil had long since been sliced to shreds and flown into the air in a red cloud of lost hope.
She covered her face with her hands and curled into a ball, her body unable to spare any tears. Her wait for death would surely not be long. She’d already lived over twenty-seven Shinings. Her time had been drawing near, whether she’d been released into the desert or not.
Her hands left her face, pulled to her belly as if by a magnetic force as she remembered the baby that’d just been taken from her. A daughter with a crumpled face, masses of black hair and a scream as certain as the horrors that lay before her as a child born in The Sands of Naar.
Her daughter would grow without a single touch from another human, until she reached her time. Then she’d be touched, except only in the very place she didn’t want to be, not just once but every twenty-eight turns of the sand, until her purpose was served. If deemed worthy, she’d be allowed to live. If not, she’d be released.
The woman rolled to her back and spread out her arms wide. Let death take her quickly now and carry her into the sky that she could no longer see.
Something slid under her shoulders and her knees. She gasped, and more sand
filled her mouth, causing her cracked lips to seek each other out to seal the gap.
As she was lifted into the air, she realized what had hold of her.
It was a man, cradling her in his arms, pressing her against his chest and covering her with a fine cloth to protect her from the sting of the sand.
She’d never been touched like this before. Never been fed by her mother or held by her father. Never been embraced by a lover or struck by an enemy. This woman cradled in the stranger’s arms had never before been picked up when she fell. She was untouched.
Until now.
“Am I dead?” she called over the wind.
“No,” the man shouted back. “You’ve just been reborn.”
Rani
THE BEFORE
Rani stood at the window of her bedchamber and watched the sand falling, unsure if she wanted the grains to fall faster or for time to hold them still. She felt tooth against tooth as she ground her jaw, aware that the sand would continue to fall whether she was watching or not.
The Orbs of Time were her obsession. Two enormous crystal globes, sitting on top of each other, joined by a spiral that allowed sand to slip from one to the other as gravity exerted its mysterious force. When the moon reached its highest point in the sky, the last grain of sand would fall, and Rani would watch the timekeepers turn the orbs and the sand would begin its never-ending journey once more.
“I knew I’d find you here,” said her father, coming into the room and seeing what held her gaze. “Why are you always staring at the orbs like that? I wish you wouldn’t.”
She shrugged, lifting her veil from her shoulders to cover her hair, as her father stood beside her to take in the view for himself.
The orbs sat in the center of a large circle of grass—the only blades to sprout in this brutally hot, sand-covered kingdom. The carefully tended lawn was ringed by tall stone buildings that defined the border of the part of the Capital known as the Round. Access was provided by a single archway that Rani had never once stepped through. She’d lived her whole life inside the walls of the Round, not just as one of the wealthiest inhabitants of the kingdom, but as the daughter of the wealthiest inhabitant of all. For her father was His Royal Highness, King Horus, the Emperor of The Sands of Naar. And Princess Rani was his heir.
“The Shining will be here soon,” Rani said, not lifting her gaze from the orbs.
Approximately every three hundred and sixty-five turns of the sand, the sunrise would peek out from behind the dunes and shine through the archway at such a precise angle that the crystal of the orbs would glow, bathing the Round in multicolored beams of spectacular light. Rani would see her seventeenth Shining soon.
Her father snapped her shutters closed, robbing her of both the daylight and her view of the orbs.
“Sorry, Father,” she said, bowing her head, and reminding herself why it was better when she didn’t speak.
She wasn’t sure why she’d mentioned the Shining, anyway. She knew they upset him. He’d seen his thirtieth Shining already, which meant he wouldn’t see too many more. Soon, she’d take his place and be crowned Empress. A title that was as meaningless as it was frightening, for she was yet to produce an heir of her own. The pressure on her mounted with each turn of the sand.
Feeling her way through the dim light, she made her way to her chair and faced herself away from the window, waiting for her father to let the light back in.
Her father opened the shutters and she released a breath, welcoming the returning light as she adjusted her veil. She liked hiding underneath this layer of fabric.
Bringing her shaking hands together on her lap, she laced her fingers, imagining how it would feel to entwine hands with someone who lived in a body other than her own.
“Has your time come yet, my daughter?” her father asked, as he did more and more frequently these days.
“No.” She cast down her eyes, letting the sleek black strands of her hair cover her face. Given that her mother had been released only moments after Rani’s birth, her father took it upon himself to ask about these things. She didn’t want to discuss such delicate matters with him.
“Are you pleased about this?” he asked.
Her gaze sprang up to meet his, as her dark eyes widened and she shook her head. “I’m afraid.”
“The future Empress cannot be filled with fear!” He bent over her, careful not to risk the chance of an accidental touch. His face was so much like her own, with almond shaped eyes and skin the color of spun gold. A male version, not all that much older than Rani herself. He’d been a mere thirteen Shinings at the time of her siring. “Do you hear me, daughter? You’re a Princess. Start acting like one. And stop grinding your teeth!”
“I’m sorry, Father.” She stilled her teeth, let out a breath and searched for words to fill her mouth instead. None came. Words never came easily to Rani.
“The Board is concerned,” her father said. “The Chairman thinks you’re hiding your time from them.”
“I’m not.” She felt her teeth connect and dropped her jaw, not wanting to disappoint her Father further with this habit she knew irritated him.
“He wishes to inspect you, to see for himself. You must go to the Conception Center at even-time. He insists upon it.”
The shaking of her hands spread through her body until it reached her legs. “Please, no. Plenty of girls my age haven’t yet reached their time. I’m not unusual.”
“Daughter! You’re highly unusual. One day, you’ll be Empress of The Sands of Naar. An heir must be produced. There cannot be a delay.”
Rani knew she couldn’t make her time come sooner any more than she could make the sand run faster. How to explain this to her father? She responded instead by turning and glancing back out her window.
“Daughter,” he said again, only this time with a softer voice. “There’s no choice here. Please, I don’t wish to see you released.”
“And I don’t wish to be Empress.” The words were out before she could stop them and this time instead of grinding her teeth, she bit down on her tongue.
Her father sighed, returning to the window and looking out as he gathered his thoughts. “It’s the role you’ve been born to. It’s an honor to rule our kingdom.” He blinked at her with such sincerity that she almost believed him. Did he believe himself?
“We don’t rule it,” she said, crossing her arms, keeping her voice low. “The Chairman does. If we ruled it, we could change it.”
Her father’s eyes widened at this unusual display of defiance, and she saw the edges of his patience begin to fray.
“You’re young, my daughter,” he said. “I had these same ideas once and they led to nothing. You must accept the laws here.”
“Can’t Sharma inspect me? She’s on the Board.” Rani was pleading now but didn’t care. There was nothing more to be lost. “Why does it have to be the Chairman?”
“He insists on doing the inspection himself.” Her father ran his fingers through his slick hair, displacing a few strands that refused to go back in place. “You know he doesn’t trust Sharma.”
Rani ground her teeth as a sign of defiance more than the habit itself. The whole idea of having a woman on the Board was to represent the interests of the females in the kingdom. What was the use of that when they had no say?
Her father sighed. “It’s beside the point, anyway, Rani. It’s been decided. The Chairman will inspect you at even-time. Make yourself ready.”
“Father! Tell him no. Please! I’d rather die than have him look at me.” She locked eyes with him, pleading with her whole body, not just her words.
He shook his head. “You know I can’t say no to the Chairman. He has the power to have both of us released immediately. I must protect you, my daughter.”
“You’re the Emperor. He won’t release us both.” She couldn’t let this go.
“I have other children, as you know. Just because they’re in the Growing Center doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We can both be
replaced if needed. The inspection must take place.”
She closed her eyes, imagining what an inspection by the Chairman might involve, and shuddered. There was no way she was going to let that happen.
Never before had her words been able to save her, which was why she used them so sparingly. But right now, they were all she had to put an end to this. She had to find the right ones, whether there was truth to them or not.
“Father, I lied to you,” she said, which was a lie within itself. “My time came at sun-up.”
She watched as one of her father’s eyebrows shot up and he studied the serious expression she held to her face. She needed him to believe her. This inspection couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t.
“Is this true?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
She nodded. “I was embarrassed to tell you. However, I see now how important it is that I tell the truth.”
He studied her a moment longer, then a smile spread across his face, his joy blurring his ability to see her lie. She’d just told him the one thing he’d been waiting so long to hear.
“Excellent! You should have said so to begin with.” He clapped his hands. “I’ll have you added to the registry immediately. Congratulations, Rani. I’m so proud of you.”
She offered him a weak smile, surprised he was this easy to fool. Her shaking hands steadied as the threat of the inspection evaporated.
“Don’t look so afraid,” her father said. “You have fourteen turns of the sand to prepare yourself for the siring. There’s no need for you to see the Chairman at even-time. You can relax now.”
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 44
