Crown of Sunlight

by Payton Taylor

  He was on his way back to the princess’ rooms when he passed the king's private study. As he passed, he jerked to a stop.

  Power.

  So much power was coming from behind the closed door. Usually, anyone could sense Azmodeous’ power, but it was never of this magnitude. It flowed from the room like a river and Leo was sure it would sweep him away.

  He needed to see it. He needed to know the source of all that power.

  He concentrated, summoning his Gift to him. It always took a moment in the castle, when he was surrounded by Quellers. Luckily, he was a bit more powerful than most people thought he was.

  Once he was invisible, he pushed his way through the wall.

  When he entered the room, the king’s head whipped around, his eyes looking right at Leo. Stiffening, Leo double-checked himself, making sure he was still invisible. He could feel his Gift at work, turning him into a living shadow. Could the king sense him? Jo had been able to sense him once, but the king had never been alerted to his presence before.

  After a tense moment, the king shook his head and turned back to a figure in the corner he hadn’t noticed before. Shock rippled through him as he recognized the other Viannese princess, Noelani. Sunny, Jo had called her.

  Leo didn’t understand, she was supposed to be training with Airoldi. He knew they hadn’t moved up their rescue operation, they needed Leo to achieve their goals, and he was still moving things into place. Had the king found her somehow? Westin said she was anxious to see her sister… had she tried to rescue Jo without the general’s help?

  Azmodeous was pacing back and forth, muttering, “She’s more than angry with me, she hates me. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t taken her away. I would have raised her, and she would have loved me.” The king whirled on the princess. “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” he shouted, startling Leo.

  The princess, however, had no reaction. She didn’t even blink. She stood in the same motionless pose, a gentle smile on her face as if they were discussing dinner.

  Creeping in for a closer look, Leo noticed something about her features was off. Her nose was thinner than Noelani’s, her chin narrower. And her hair. The few times Leo had seen the blonde princess her hair had been slightly wavy, but this woman’s was a mane of wild curls.

  The king reached out with a trembling hand as if to caress her cheek, before yanking it back. “I’m sorry, Eleyna. I know how you hate when I yell.”

  Eleyna. This was the mother, the queen of Vianna who’d given birth to the princesses the king had brought to Writhia. Leo was amazed at how similar she looked to her oldest daughter. They could pass as twins.

  Jo had told them she was dead, but the king had claimed he would find her.

  The king raked his hands through his hair and let out an exasperated noise. “Yes, I know. I know that now, and I am trying. Can’t you see I’m trying?”

  The passive queen remained unmoving. Her form looked solid, and Leo knew she wasn’t a hologram. Power continued to emanate from the king.

  The idea struck him suddenly, falling into place. Somehow, the king was powerful enough to project his thoughts into living form. They couldn’t talk or move, but they were there, visible to the naked eye. Leo wondered how the king was powerful enough to do something like this. He’d only heard of Murmurs powerful enough to project visions in myths and legends that he’d read as a child.

  But that didn’t explain why the king was talking to the form as if it were a real person. There was real remorse in Azmodeous’ eyes as he murmured another apology for yelling and reached out to take her hand. His fingers brushed against hers for a split second before the image wavered.

  Azmodeous withdrew his hand so it could stabilize. He nodded, as if answering a question.

  “Excellent idea, my love. It won’t be long, and the blood will be spilled. Then everything will be perfect.” He paused as if listening before nodding again, “A gift! Yes, that will do quite well! Then she will see. She’ll understand then.”

  Leo, suspecting the king was referring to his daughter, backed out of the room and made his way to her suite to warn her.

  Once there, he popped his head through the wall. “Knock, knock,” he called. She insisted he knock before entering the room.

  Sitting on the sofa, and without looking up from her book, Jo replied, “It’s not knocking if you say it after you enter the room.”

  Leo regarded her carefully. She looked better today. She was dressed in a dark purple gown and her hair was pulled up high, out of her face, to fall down her back. He stared at her until she looked up from her book.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Do you still want to kill me?” Leo thought it was a fair question.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “It’s not your fault I’ve been kidnapped by a psychopath. Well. . .” she regarded him, “Not entirely your fault. Besides, if I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead,” she assured him.

  Leo laughed, “Right. As if you could kill me.”

  “Everyone is terrified of me. You said it yourself, I could be in your mind and you wouldn’t even know it. I could make you chop off your fingers or stick your head in the toilet.” Her tone was light and teasing, but her eyes were hard. Leo realized she was starting to hate what she was.

  He scoffed, “People are wary of you. They won’t be terrified of you until you do something truly horrifying.”

  “That wasn’t truly horrifying?” she asked, incredulous.

  “Nah, not here in Ettria, Cupcake. That was a normal family dinner—trust me, I’ve been to much worse.”

  The princess’s eyes narrowed as if she didn’t quite believe him. “And you really believe I’m not terrifying? What would qualify as ‘terrifying’ to you?”

  Leo grinned. “Nothing. I don’t think I go too far when I boast that I’m the most terrifying thing here.”

  That got her to laugh. “You?” she asked, looking him up and down.

  Leo feigned offense. “Excuse you. I am the Shadow that stalks the night!”

  Jo snorted, “Right, and I’m Queen of the Universe.”

  Leo walked over to the sofa and sat sideways, facing her. He looked intently into her eyes. “I know things,” he said in a mock whisper, “I know everything. People aren’t afraid of monsters under their beds. They’re afraid of the skeletons in their own closets.”

  She leaned back a bit, considering him,

  “You know everything?”

  “About everyone,” he confirmed.

  “What do you know about me, aside from the obvious?”

  Leo looked her up and down slowly, considering. He opened his mouth to reply when he heard footsteps down the hall. He’d almost forgotten why he’d come.

  “The king is coming,” he told her. “He’s bringing you a present, whatever that means. I caught him talking about it to a mental manifestation of your mother. I came here to tell you, so, the way I see it, you owe me one.”

  Jo blinked. That hadn’t been what she was expecting. A knock sounded at the door, causing her to jump.

  “Hide!” she whispered frantically.

  Leo clapped his hands to his cheeks, looking panicked, “Where?!” He dropped his hands,

  “Really, Seph?” he asked, shaking his head as he turned invisible.

  Jo flushed a bit before picking up her book as the king strolled in.

  And he wasn’t alone.

  Chapter 33

  Jo

  Writhia, 5219

  Ettria

  Jo’s heart was beating frantically as she looked up from the book she was pretending to read. The king was standing before her. At his side was a little girl who looked about eight or nine years old. The girl's eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between Jo and the king.

  The king gestured to the girl, “Daughter, I’ve brought you a friend. Now you won’t be so alone.”

  Jo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. A friend? The girl looked like a third-gr
ader. “But, I’m twenty-two,” she told him.

  He nodded, “Ah, good. Zoë here is nineteen. I had thought the age difference would be greater.”

  Crap, I forgot about the stupid age thing , Jo thought. But why was the king treating her like a child?

  Jo thought she might know. “Is this because I trashed my room? I get it. Act like a child, get treated like a child.”

  The king frowned and looked around,

  “Everything looks in order to me.”

  So the king hadn’t known about her fit?

  Then who had cleaned up her suite and brought new furniture in?

  “What am I even supposed to do with her?” Jo asked, then looked at Zoë. “No offense.”

  The girl remained quiet while the king replied, “She’s for you to play with, of course.”

  Play? Jo wondered as he gestured to the door.

  Two guards entered, eyes glazed, carrying a huge, ornate dollhouse between them. As they sat it on the ground, she saw that inside was a variety of dolls and accessories.

  As Jo stared at the dollhouse with a confused look on her face, the king looked back and forth between her and Zoë with a pleased smile. “Well, I’ll let you two get acquainted,” he said, backing toward the door. As he shut the door, he called, “You’re welcome, my love!”

  After he left, Jo and Zoë stared at each other in silence for several moments.

  “Told you he was crazy,” came a disembodied voice, causing them both to jump. Leo appeared, laughing at the startled looks on their faces.

  As he laughed, Zoë continued to stare at Jo with something like fear.

  Jo cursed to herself, the girl was probably terrified. “I’m not like him,” she said softly, “He’s keeping me prisoner here.”

  Next to them, Leo had lowered himself to the ground and started taking out the dolls, studying them.

  Zoë shrunk back at Jo’s words, “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  Jo frowned. “Why are you sorry?” “Because I’m the one who brought you here.”

  A multitude of emotions swept through Jo: shock, fear, excitement, anticipation. When she had pictured the Traveler who had brought them there, Jo had pictured an old, dark wizardly figure. Not a small child who, judging by her fear in the king’s presence, was just as much a prisoner as Jo.

  “You’re a Traveler?” she gasped aloud.

  Zoë nodded. “He made me use blood, and when it didn’t work he made me see scary things that hurt my head.”

  Alarmed, Jo looked to Leo for confirmation. He nodded, his eyes full of some emotion Jo didn’t quite understand. She looked back to Zoë who avoided her gaze, her hazel eyes sweeping around the room.

  Jo couldn’t believe the king would torture an innocent child. She shivered to think she was so closely related to such a monster. A small part of her still clung to the hope that it wasn’t true.

  Jo figured the least she could do was to show the girl some kindness. Taking in Zoë's thin frame, she rang the servants and told them to bring up lunch and plenty of snacks. Then, sitting next to Leo, she asked Zoë if she wanted to play.

  As they played, the girl talked a bit about herself, painting a picture of the sort of life Jo had only read about in Dickensian novels. She told them that she had grown up an orphan in the Wastes, never knowing her father, and her mother had died when she was three. Jo had learned that the Wastes were full of monsters and criminals, and she wasn’t sure how the girl had survived. Zoë told them that she was very good at escaping, her Gift allowing her to disappear at will.

  They finished up their game. Leo insisted that he won while Jo argued that one couldn’t win at dolls. Zoë watched them with wide eyes, giggling at their bickering.

  Jo couldn’t let this girl remain here. When Sunny and Westin came, she’d insist that they bring Zoë with them. She might not be able to give the girl a home, but she could at least save the poor kid from whatever fate awaited her at the hands of the Dark King.

  Chapter 34

  Westin

  Writhia, 5219

  Ettria

  Three days before they planned to storm the castle, Westin had never felt such fear in his one hundred-and-thirty years of living. What kind of idiot was he, to take his Match to one of the most dangerous places out there?

  He'd lost his mind.

  Not to mention, he knew they would have to part ways soon. He didn't know how he was going to survive without Noelani. Life would likely be just that: surviving. He didn't know how to be without his Match for the rest of his life. Westin felt as if he'd have to make every moment count from there on out if memories of her were all he'd be left with.

  At least he had good news to tell her: Jo was doing well. He'd poked his head into her suite for only a moment and saw that, physically, she was not harmed. And he'd had a meeting with Cassavant who had assured him that Jo was doing fine for now, despite the circumstances, and informed

  Westin that she had grown close to the Traveler and planned to have Zoë with her when the time came. Everything was going according to plan.

  Their meeting had run late, and Westin pulled out his contact, planning to send a message to Noelani that he would be home soon.

  When he looked at the screen, he'd seen Noelani had already sent him multiple messages. Westin cursed to himself. He'd forgotten to let her know he'd be running late and now she was worried. He ran the rest of the way home.

  *****

  The sun was setting as he arrived at his apartment. Right as he reached for the doorknob, the door swung open, and Noelani stood on the other side, a concerned look on her face. Her gaze roved over him as if to make sure all of him was there.

  "I was so worried," she whispered, crossing her arms and moving out of his way so he could enter the apartment.

  Is she mad?

  “Sorry,” Westin said, holding up his contact. “My meeting with Leo ran late, and I just got your messages."

  She sighed. "It's okay." "What's wrong?"

  She stood there quietly, her hand crushing a piece of paper in her pocket repeatedly. Must be a note from Jo. . .

  "I'm fine. I just. . ." she trailed off. She was afraid, Westin realized.

  He'd scared her. Badly. She must've thought he wasn't coming back when he was her only hope of rescuing her sister.

  He walked forward and grabbed her chin gently. "I'm sorry. I should've sent you a message. I wasn't thinking."

  She briefly closed her eyes, "I know, I know. Really, it's okay. I don't mean to be a big baby." She laughed softly and ran a hand through her hair. "I just thought. . . I thought you'd been caught. That maybe something happened to you, or to Jo."

  Westin scanned her face. "I'm sorry," he repeated. He knew what would cheer her up.

  "I have good news."

  Westin told her about Jo and everything Cassavant had said.

  Noelani brightened. Positive news about Jo always put her in a good mood.

  “Great, let’s get to work!” She took off toward the training room with a bounce in her step.

  News about Jo also renewed her motivation to get her back.

  Smiling slightly, Westin trailed after her.

  *****

  They started with the knives.

  Noelani's favorite were the throwing knives. That's what she was best at, and she had incredible aim. After hitting the target over twenty times, she came over to Westin with a thoughtful expression on her face, as if she needed to ask him a question.

  Instead, she landed a kick directly on his stomach.

  “Good,” Westin choked. She definitely wasn’t holding back anymore.

  She flashed him an arrogant grin and aimed a punch at his face, which he barely deflected. The more she smiled, the more distracted he got. The Match bond had grown stronger, though he’d done everything he could to fight it.

  He swung out at her, but she dodged quickly, so his fist barely grazed her shoulder. After training for the last few weeks, she was almost as fast as he was
. And her dancing background gave her excellent footwork.

  She gave him a coy grin. “Oh,” she crooned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “General Airoldi missed! The student has become the master!

  MWAHAHAHA!” She threw her head back in dramatic laughter.

  Westin couldn’t help but laugh with her. He could feel her playfulness and it was infecting him, too. He tried to use her distraction to his advantage and attempted to sweep her legs out from under her. But she must have been paying more attention than he’d realized because she jumped over his leg and spun as she landed, kicking him squarely in the chest, hard enough to make him stumble a few steps.

  "Make sure you pay attention to my feet," she mocked, looking maddeningly triumphant.

  Westin rubbed his chest. “You’re getting better at using my strength against me.”

  She jumped up and down before running off and doing some sort of graceful flip.

  “Show-off,” Westin called, smiling.

  “Me? Show off? Never!” The mischievous glint in her eyes that was always near the surface was out in full force.

  “All right, get back over here. You can show off again when you finally succeed in pinning me.”

  She let out a whoop and pumped her fist in the air as she trotted over.

  They fell back into their sparring, punching, and dodging, neither gaining the upper hand.

  Noelani moved like smoke as if they were dancing instead of fighting. She was one of those rare people who was completely aware of her body and the space around her at all times.

  Westin aimed a swift kick at her ribs, but her body pinwheeled away in a graceful twirl.

  "The big bad general will never catch little ol' me," she mocked in a high-pitched voice, putting a hand to her chest.

  Westin zoomed to her and knocked her flat on her back. Noelani lay there, chest heaving. Her face suddenly tightened as if in pain.

  "Ouch."

  Westin immediately crouched down beside her, "Are you okay? I'm so sorr—"

  He was now the one on his back. She'd kicked his legs out from under him.

  Leaning over him with a devilish grin, Noelani said, "Works every time. This is the reason women always succeed. Men always underestimate them." She shook her head and then looked back at him. "I should get a reward for that."