The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set

by Heidi Catherine

  Lily lay back down and shook her head as she tried to absorb this news.

  “Who else did you think would rule it?” he asked.

  “I guess I thought you might have a brother or a cousin or someone who’d take over.” The truth was that she’d never really given it much thought at all.

  “You’re my daughter, Angel.” He crouched down beside the bed, reaching for her hand. “That’s why I sent you to the Terrace. I needed you to remember who you are. I’ve been a terrible father to you and I’m sorry for that. I’d like to start again. Can you ever forgive me?”

  Lily blinked at this man, who was both familiar to her and a stranger at the same time, resisting the urge to pull away from his clammy grasp on her hand. She could never forgive him. Not for the Terrace and not for taking her from her family and locking her in a lighthouse. She didn’t want to rule Feldspar. She was the future ruler of Forte Cadence. Although, really, she didn’t want to rule that kingdom, either. All she wanted was to be free.

  “There’s a story that I tell Mother to help her sleep,” said Lily, avoiding his question. “It’s about a girl who lives with her stepmother and dreams of meeting her Prince and living in a castle. I feel like that girl sometimes.”

  “You can be that girl,” said the King. “We can use the amethysts to find you a Prince and you can live in the palace.”

  “What about Mother?”

  “It’s time she left the lighthouse,” he said. “You can help her with that. You see her in a way that nobody else does. Nobody knows her like you do.”

  Now it finally made sense to Lily. Father didn’t want her to find her Prince and live with him because it was what was best for her. He wanted to use her to lure Mother away from this wretched lighthouse.

  “I can try,” she said, honestly. The palace would be easier to escape from than the lighthouse. And if she were Queen of the kingdom, then nobody could stop her. Could they?

  The King rubbed his hands together. “I’ll get you some more soup, shall I?”

  “That would be lovely,” said Lily.

  “We need you nice and strong.” He smiled as he opened the door.

  “Oh, Father,” she said, smiling as sweetly as she could. “I forgive you.”

  She saw his shoulders relax as he slipped out the door.

  As soon as she was alone, she brought her hand to her mouth and quite literally wiped the smile from her face. She didn’t forgive him! Not even close. But he didn’t deserve the truth from her. She was going to tell him whatever she needed to in order to get what she wanted.

  Freedom.

  MICAH

  THE NOW

  Darkness fell and with it came a sense of trepidation.

  Micah wasn’t used to trusting strangers like this. Although, she reminded herself that she’d trusted Rose back when she’d been trapped in the palace as a Whisperer. And Rose was the last person she should’ve trusted. But that had worked out for the best.

  Meeting Enid on the beach had just seemed too convenient. Perhaps Jeremiah and Rose were whispering for their safety and that had influenced things. Or perhaps sometimes good luck just happened in the same way that bad luck sometimes did. Or maybe they were walking into a trap?

  She wrapped her shirt around her body a little tighter to keep out the cold and paced the shrubs that were keeping them hidden.

  “Should we wait somewhere else?” she asked, directing her question at Griffen. “In case it’s an ambush.”

  “Good idea,” he said, always happy to take the lowest risk option to keep Pip safe.

  “It’s not an ambush,” insisted Azrael. “You can go, but I’m staying here. We need to show Enid a sign of good faith. Getting us to the lighthouse won’t be without risk for her.”

  Micah sighed. “Okay. We stick together. We’ve seen what happens when we don’t.”

  “We’ll get Gabe back,” said Pip. “We won’t give up on him.”

  “Thank you.” Micah was starting to see what Griffen liked so much about Pip. She did have a kind heart.

  “How long do you think we have to wait?” asked Pip, sounding more like her old self.

  “It’s only just gotten dark,” said Raphael.

  “Can I take a moment to say something?” Micah cleared her throat, wondering if this might be the last chance she had to talk to them as a group. “I want to thank you for coming on this crazy quest with me.”

  “You didn’t tell us it was crazy when you asked us to come.” Raphael’s voice was laced with amusement.

  “I’m trying to be serious,” she said, smiling. “I’m really grateful you listened to me. I’d never have gotten this far on my own. All the attempts to find Lily in the past have failed and it’s got to be because the kingdoms weren’t working together. But we’ve had Azrael to heal us, Raphael to keep us safe with his elixirs, Pip to keep us strong and well-fed, and Griffen to protect us.”

  “And your whispers,” added Pip. “We’d never have found that boat without you. And who knows what other luck your whispers have brought about.”

  Micah smiled again. “I wonder if Feldspar has a power?”

  “Maybe they look through the crystals they mine?” suggested Azrael.

  “I think it’s our visions,” said Raphael.

  Micah nodded in agreement. “I think you might be right.”

  “Well, I’m having a vision of a boat right now,” said Griffen.

  Micah could just make out his large frame in the moonlight. He was peering out to the water through the trees.

  “How close is it?” asked Raphael.

  “Still a little while off.”

  “Have we got time for a quick whisper?” asked Azrael.

  Micah breathed a sigh. They needed all the good luck they could get.

  They stood in a circle and grasped hands.

  “Focus on our safe arrival at the lighthouse,” said Micah. “Bring it to the front of your mind.”

  Following her own instructions, she imagined them on a boat, arriving safely at a lighthouse.

  “The Whisperers are whispering,” she said.

  “The Whisperers are whispering,” they all repeated. “The Whisperers are whispering. The Whisperers are whispering.”

  “We have arrived safely at the lighthouse,” said Micah, keeping her voice low.

  “We have arrived safely at the lighthouse,” her companions repeated in a hush. “We have arrived safely at the lighthouse. We have arrived safely at the lighthouse…”

  They chanted quickly, knowing they didn’t have much time, sending their wish into the sky, over and over.

  “That’s enough,” said Micah, dropping Raphael and Azrael’s hands. “The universe has heard us. It’s out of our hands now.”

  “Do we step out of the bushes?” asked Pip.

  “Enid said to wait here,” Azrael reminded them.

  They watched as the shadow of a boat beached itself on the sand and a man climbed out. Another man remained on board.

  “I don’t know if we can trust them,” said Griffen.

  Micah nodded, a similar feeling of unease building in the pit of her stomach.

  “We can trust them,” said Azrael.

  “Friends of Enid!” the man called. “Please show yourselves.”

  “Here we go.” Micah was the first to step from the safety of the scrub, holding up her hands as she approached to make no mistake she was unarmed.

  Her companions did the same, although they all knew that Griffen still had that knife tucked in the back of his trousers. Hopefully, he didn’t need to use it.

  “Who are you?” asked Micah as she approached.

  “I’m Enid’s husband, Robb,” the man said. “Carson’s father. I’m helping you in his name, even though I don’t believe you can save the children. But Enid says it’s worth a shot.”

  “We’re going to do our best,” said Raphael, positioning himself between the man and Micah.

  Micah huffed. Hadn’t Raphael realized by now
that she didn’t need a man to protect her?

  “Who’s the other man?” asked Griffen.

  “Me brother.” Robb waded back to the boat. “Someone had to help me row here.”

  Micah eyed the two men in the darkness, hoping Azrael had made the right decision.

  “Quickly and quietly on board.” Robb held the boat steady. “I need to return this boat before it’s noticed missing.”

  Micah was first on board and the others quickly followed, same order as last time with Griffen and Pip on one side, and Micah, Raphael, and Azrael on the other with Robb’s brother who sat silently avoiding eye contact.

  Robb pushed the boat free of the sand and climbed in. He was a big man and the boat tipped dangerously to one side. Micah leaned over, trying to help balance the weight.

  “This ain’t going to work.” Robb pointed to Pip. “Move to the other side, girl.”

  Griffen shifted in his seat, clearly not happy to be separated from the woman he was here to protect.

  “You’re a big bastard, aren’t you?” said Robb. “Don’t worry, I’ll sit on this side with you. I ain’t gonna touch your girlfriend.”

  “She’s—"

  “It doesn’t matter, Griffen!” Pip hushed. “Let’s get going.”

  Micah shuffled over to make room for Pip. There weren’t enough oars for her to row on this side, but from what Micah had seen last time, there wasn’t a lot of point in Pip rowing anyway.

  “We can take turns,” said Pip.

  “Okay,” said Micah, not intending to hold her to that.

  They hauled the boat over the waves, toward the darkness of the ocean.

  “Just to be clear, I’m not getting off the boat when we arrive,” Robb called out to them. “And we’re not hanging around to wait for you, either.”

  “You’re going to leave us out there?” Pip’s voice was laced with panic.

  “That’s right. If you’re not happy with that, we can turn around now.”

  “That’ll be fine,” said Micah, nudging Pip to keep her quiet. It was a miracle they’d found a way over to the lighthouse. It would be foolish to ruin that now.

  Besides, it was likely the man they’d left in the cage would’ve been discovered by now and raised the alarm. Being out here in the middle of the ocean was the safest place they could be right now.

  Micah’s arms burned, her muscles still sore from the last time they’d been used like this. Ignoring the pain, she rowed on.

  “Can you feel her?” she leaned forward and asked Raphael. “Is your elixir working?”

  “No,” he said, avoiding turning his face. “I keep thinking of that tower back there…”

  “That wasn’t a lighthouse,” she said. “We saw her under the water and we know a girl with red hair lives there with the Queen. This has to be right.”

  Going to the lighthouse was the right plan. It had to be. At any rate, they’d come too far now to turn around.

  “Would you like me to row?” asked Pip.

  Micah shook her head. “It can’t be much further. Save your strength. We don’t know what we’ll face out there.”

  “Hush!” The whites of Robb’s eyes flashed at them in the moonlight and he pointed to a tall shadow looming in the distance.

  The lighthouse. A strange name for a building with no light. It was just a tall dark shape sitting in the water with waves crashing at its sides. Could Lily really be trapped inside?

  They got close and just as Micah was wondering where they might be able to dock, Robb threw a large anchor into the water.

  “I go no further,” he said, in a coarse whisper.

  “You have to get us closer!” said Griffen.

  “Please!” said Micah, looking at Robb’s silent brother, who still seemed not to want to have anything to do with them.

  “I don’t need a hole in the boat from those rocks.” Robb pointed to the rocky outcrop the lighthouse was perched on. “Out! Now! Or you return to Feldspar with me.”

  Micah removed her shoes and put them in her small bag of belongings, which she tied around her waist.

  “I’m gonna count to ten,” said Robb. “Then I pull anchor and head back.”

  Micah considered for a moment if they should kill this man and take control of the boat but dismissed it straight away, ashamed she’d become so desensitized about the idea of taking a life.

  “Ten!” Robb pointed to the water.

  “Come back for us tomorrow night,” pleaded Pip.

  “Nine!”

  “We can’t start a revolution if we’re stuck out here,” Raphael pointed out.

  “Eight!”

  “We’ll meet you right here,” said Pip.

  “Seven!”

  Micah plunged into the water, gasping as the cold swallowed her up and salt leeched into the back of her throat. She bobbed to the surface and looked back at the boat.

  “Six!”

  Raphael was next, followed shortly by Azrael.

  “Five!”

  Pip jumped in, her skirt billowing in the air before being swallowed by the ocean. Griffen didn’t wait for any further numbers to be called before following her, his eyes never leaving Pip.

  Not bothering with the rest of his countdown, Robb hauled the anchor from the water and he and his brother took hold of two oars in the middle of the boat and maneuvered themselves away.

  Feeling herself sinking, Micah kicked and dug at the water trying to propel herself toward the rocks. It wasn’t all that far, but in these freezing and rough conditions, it seemed like the other end of the world.

  She kicked out again. It was no use. Her bag was weighing her down. She was going to need to untie it and hoped it washed up on shore.

  Her friends were struggling as much as she was, their heads disappearing then reappearing as the water grabbed at them with icy fingers.

  “Dump your belongings!” shouted Micah. “They’re weighing us down. Take off your shoes.”

  Trying to tread water, she got to work on the rope of the bag around her waist. But just as she felt it begin to pull loose, a huge wave swallowed her up and dragged her under. She tumbled, holding onto her breath as she waved her hands and waited for the ocean to decide if it was going to keep her or spit her back out.

  Enid’s son crossed her mind. Had he drowned like this out here? Surely many people had. It’d be a miracle if all five of them made it to the shore alive.

  She moved through the water, not by any choice of her own, relieved when finally the tumbling stopped and she was able to break through the surface and take in a breath of sweet air.

  “Lily!” she cried, no longer caring if they arrived by stealth or in a riot. If there was anybody in that lighthouse, they’d surely have heard or seen them by now.

  Then a sharp pain grazed her shins and forearms and she cried out, taking a few moments to realize she’d been tossed onto the rocks. She crawled forward, ignoring the pain until she was free from the water, and lay down on the freezing rocks, powerless to check if any of her friends had made it or if they were still in the water.

  For the first time since they’d set out on this journey, she let tears roll down her cheeks, saltwater merging with saltwater in a giant puddle of terror and relief.

  LILY

  THE NOW

  As soon as Father left the room to fetch her some more soup, Lily scrambled from Mother’s bed and headed for the balcony. She was desperate for some fresh air in her lungs after being cooped up in Mother’s bedchamber. Desperate to clear her head from all the lies she’d just told him and just as desperate to see if there was any sign of her Prince coming to rescue her.

  She’d had more dreams of the lighthouse crashing into the water, certain that something or someone was trying to warn her. Now that she’d been brought back here, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to escape again in time. Father would make sure of that. It seemed she had no choice but to do what he’d asked and somehow achieve the impossible by convincing Mother to leave the lighth
ouse and come with them to the palace.

  Opening the balcony doors, she stepped out and gasped. Gripping the railings, she drew in deep breaths, trying to steady herself from the shock of what lay before her.

  Instead of seeing the raging sea below, all she could see was… dirt. For miles and miles, brown dirt where there should have been crashing waves and swooping gulls. Straining her eyes, she saw the ocean in the distance. This was a view she’d become familiar with from the Terrace and the realization that she was still in the palace hit her hard, making her question if she was losing her mind.

  Reminding herself that this was a good thing, she went back into Mother’s room, immediately noticing differences that would be impossible for someone unfamiliar with the room to pick. But to her, they were glaring now that she was looking for them. The blue agates that lined the foot of Mother’s bed were smaller than the ones in the lighthouse, and the large one that always dug into her thigh when she sat in the chair beside her bed was absent. Instead, flat agates lined the chair. The curtains at the balcony door were a slightly darker blue and the quilt on the bed had a softer feel to it.

  She now also understood why the room smelled different. Instead of the salty tang of the ocean air, it was dry and dusty. And the sound of the waves and gulls had been replaced with silence.

  The walls were still curved though, leaving her thinking that the room must be located in some kind of turret. Why would Father have such a close replica of Mother’s bedchamber right here in the palace? Or was it the other way around? Had he replicated her bedchamber in the lighthouse when she’d moved there to make her feel more at home? Somehow, that seemed more likely.

  Lily’s immediate instinct was to run and she had to stop her feet from taking her immediately from this strange room and out the front door of the palace. She’d learned her lesson the last time she’d acted in haste and remembering that kept her feet glued to the floor.

  She needed to be clever about this. She had to bide her time so that the next time she made a run for it, she could truly be free.

  Climbing back into bed, she pulled up the covers and waited for Father to return. There was no doubt in her mind the lighthouse was going to crumble into the ocean, and it was going to happen soon.