Crown of Sunlight

by Payton Taylor

  Across the table, Westin’s parents exchanged a look, but Sunny wasn’t sure what it meant.

  The rest of the meal passed with them asking her questions about Earth and herself while she tried to answer as best she could. When Tansy asked her about her Gift, she replied that she was a Thief, which got her a few raised eyebrows and a low whistle from Joel who asked, “Really?”

  Sunny frowned, unsure of why she’d need to lie, “Uhh, yeah. . .”

  Joel’s eyes gleamed, “Swear to Myrkur!”

  “I swear.” “Prove it.”

  Sunny gave him a devilish smile and put her arm on the table, “All right. You. Me. Arm wrestle.”

  His eyes narrowed and he smiled back, matching her for deviousness. He traded places with Ariella to sit across from her while Axe hurriedly cleared the table. Everyone gathered around to watch, even Westin’s parents.

  Joel grasped her hand in his and Axe placed his hand on top of theirs as he counted down, “Three. . .two. . .one!”

  He let go, and Sunny gathered as much strength as she could from Westin to push against him.

  But damn he was strong.

  They were tied for a moment before Joel slowly started pushing her hand toward the table. He grinned triumphantly at her, but Sunny's competitive streak wasn't about to let him win.

  That’s when it registered that there were five other Combatants in the room. She could feel their Gifts as if they were just waiting to be used.

  First, she tapped into Joel’s Gift, using it against him, and they were tied once more. His eyes widened and he pushed harder, but she wasn’t done.

  Reaching out with her ability, she grabbed the Gift nearest to her, which happened to belong to

  Ariella, and that was all it took to slam his fist onto the table. Immediately she jumped to her feet, letting out a whoop as Tansy yelled, “BOO-YAH!”

  Everyone laughed and immediately started teasing Joel. Westin lifted her hand and announced her the winner in his deep booming voice, as if they were at an actual wrestling match.

  Sunny laughed and took a bow as Joel called for a rematch. Westin had to call it an evening when Sunny started telling people to sit on her back while she did push-ups.

  As they left, each member of Westin's family hugged her tightly. She felt a pang of sadness as they asked if she would be at the next family dinner.

  She knew she wouldn't be.

  "I am so sorry," Westin said after they had left. "I completely forgot our family dinner was today. I remembered to cancel it the last two weeks, but tonight I got a little. . .distracted." He gave her a heated look and Sunny blushed under his intense stare.

  She answered softly, "I loved them." He raised his brows.

  "No, really," she insisted. "I never had a big family—it was just me, my mom, and Jo. You guys love each other so much, I'm a little jealous," she said with a soft smile.

  He returned her smile with a sad one of his own. He understood that Jo was all she had and she needed to get her back.

  As they readied themselves for bed and said their goodnights, Sunny lay there feeling confused and guilty.

  She'd had so much fun tonight and had actually enjoyed herself. And that made her feel like the most horrible person ever. She was glad for the distraction, but it wasn't fair. Jo probably didn't have any distractions, and Jo probably didn't get to enjoy herself.

  What kind of sister am I? Sunny thought, outraged.

  She felt her eyes well up, but she wouldn't let the tears fall. If Westin noticed she was crying, he would comfort her, and she didn't deserve anyone's comfort.

  Chapter 36

  Jo

  Writhia, 5219

  Ettria

  People always talked about how soothing it was to have someone brush their hair, but Jo knew that it could be just as soothing to be the one doing the brushing. Growing up, her mother had brushed her and Sunny’s hair every night before bed, and after she died, she and Sunny would sometimes stay up late watching movies and brushing each other’s hair.

  Now, as she stood behind Zoë’s tresses, she could almost pretend she was back home with Sunny.

  Zoë’s eyes met hers in the mirror, large and curious. Jo didn’t think she’d ever had her hair brushed by someone else before. Over the past week, she had grown close to the quiet girl. She felt responsible for her somehow, as if it were her fault that Zoë was there in the first place.

  A knock at the door startled them both. They never knew who or what to expect at the door.

  The king walked in and looked surprised but delighted to see Jo with her new “friend.” Then he told Zoë to go back to her room because it was time for Jo’s “lessons.” She had been attending these lessons for the past week, but she thought of them as more of a full-frontal attack on her mind.

  After Zoë scurried from her room, the king led her to his study where Cerise waited for them. If possible, Jo hated Cerise even more than Azmodeous. She was waiting for them, wearing her usual skin-tight black dress, her raven hair spilling like ink over her shoulders. She smiled coldly and Jo suddenly felt as if a million ants were crawling under her skin.

  And so it began.

  Lessons always consisted of Cerise coming at her with everything she had, making Jo see her worst fears, or think she was on fire, or taking away all sense of feeling altogether. Whenever Jo pleaded for her to stop, she always replied with, “Make me.”

  And when Jo asked the king to make her stop, he only said, “Make her.”

  Then, she stopped feeling the ants and immediately felt as if she was underwater, unable to breathe, her movements slow and resistant. Her first instinct was to claw at her throat, but she couldn’t feel her arms. Though her mouth was open and the room was full of air, none of it made its way down to her lungs. Or, if it did, she couldn’t tell the difference.

  All she could think of was making it stop, she just wanted the bitch to stop. If only she could find just a scrap of Cerise’s mind to grab onto.

  With all of the energy she had left, she focused solely on Cerise with a one-word command, STOP.

  And just like that, it let up.

  Jo opened her eyes and saw that Cerise was frozen in front of her, unmoving. Hatred simmered in her poison green eyes.

  “Excellent,” the king said, leaning against the wall. “Again.”

  Her concentration broke and immediately Cerise was on her.

  At once, Jo’s entire world consisted of nothing but pain. She was being burned alive, and the flames were everywhere, flames she could actually see. Where they licked at her skin, it blistered and burnt. A terrified scream tore through her parched throat as she tried to beat the fire away.

  Later, Jo would realize that the only way Cerise could have put so much detail into the hallucination was if she had actually seen someone burn to death before. Because the flames seemed as real as any fire Jo had ever seen. So real that she couldn’t help but fall to the ground and roll back and forth, trying to put them out. She was in survival mode.

  Through the flames, Cerise grinned maniacally.

  That demonic grin was the last thing Jo saw before the pain became too much and everything went dark.

  *****

  When she awoke, she was back in her room, lying in her bed. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before she smelled something delicious.

  On the bedside table next to her sat a silver platter and on it was the most extravagant cupcake Jo had ever seen. It was chocolate, with thick white icing and tiny pale purple pearls.

  Hesitantly, she picked it up. The smell of dark chocolate wafted over her. Her stomach grumbled, and she wanted nothing more than to devour it, but the king had told her she was to be present at all dinners from now on. Every night, different members of the king's court dined with them so they could meet the future queen. Jo dreaded the dinners almost as much as her lessons.

  She dressed quickly in a dove-gray gown and braided back her hair. She didn’t like when the maids had to help her; she wante
d to be alone as much as possible there.

  One of the guards stationed outside her door led her to the dining room where tonight she would be dining with Councilman Rourick and his wife.

  She picked at her food, pushing it around her plate. Though she was starving, she could never force herself to eat in front of these people. Their thoughts swirled in her mind and made her feel nauseous.

  As they ate, the stares were the same as usual. Mrs. Rourick glared at her with a mixture of disdain and envy while her husband stared at her hungrily. His thoughts became more and more obscene as the evening wore on, and Jo couldn’t help getting angrier and angrier.

  Finally, she’d had enough.

  She took hold of his mind with her own—it was unsurprisingly weak—and forced her thoughts into his.

  I don’t doubt you recall what happened to Councilman Renier. I suggest you look at me with more respect.

  She tightened her grip and showed him an image of Renier’s fingers laying on the table, covered in blood. The man's gaze fell to his plate, and he didn’t look up again.

  Jo hated doing that, it made her almost as sick as everything else, but she had learned the hard way that if she didn’t stick up for herself, the king would force her to.

  She felt the king's eyes on her and looked up to see he was wearing a pleased smile.

  Nothing like making good ol’ Dad proud, she thought sarcastically. Great, now she sounded like Leo.

  As dinner ended, Jo gave the mandatory bow of respect before rushing back to her rooms. As soon as she was back in her room, she headed straight for the cupcake and devoured it in about two seconds. She was so hungry that the chocolate tasted like heaven on her tongue.

  She was still licking the frosting from her fingers when Leo walked through the wall shouting, “Knock, knock!”

  She was enjoying her cupcake too much to tell him that that still didn’t count.

  He stopped in the middle of the room and arched a brow at her licking icing from her fingers with an empty plate in front of her and chocolate crumbs down her dress.

  She had made a mess and felt the need to defend herself. "Hey, it's been a long day and I haven't had chocolate in weeks. I need to find a way to tip whichever servant made me that cupcake."

  Leo smiled crookedly, "Ettria may be a horrible place, but we do have some of the best chocolate in Writhia. It's one of our main exports."

  Jo snorted. "Are the other exports pain and terror?"

  He grinned. "Now you're getting it." He held his hands up as if to frame a photo. "Ettria: come for the chocolate, stay for the pain and terror."

  Jo smiled. Leo's sardonic humor reminded her of Sunny.

  Leo looked down at his arm as if he was wearing a watch, which he wasn't. "It's almost time," he told her, changing the subject.

  Jo tensed, "Time for what?"

  A knock sounded at the door, and before Jo could stop him, Leo went and opened it. Outside stood Zoë, one of the few people who was allowed to see her at will. She was wearing new clothes, including a heavy jacket, as if she were leaving.

  Jo looked to Leo, her stomach plummeting. "Oh," she said. "Time for that."

  When she looked to Zoë, she felt an almost maternal worry over the young girl. “Are you ready?”

  Zoë fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket. “I’m not sure this is going to work. The king will find us.”

  Jo put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We just have to hope he doesn’t. We’ve worked so hard to keep this plan a secret that he shouldn’t think anything is amiss. Besides, Leo and Sunny will make sure none of us are seen.”

  Zoë looked down and to the side, an almost guilty expression on her face.

  “Is there something you want to tell us?”

  Leo asked, voice surprisingly gentle.

  She fidgeted some more. “The king made me take a Blood Oath. I gave him a vial of my blood, and I’m afraid he’ll use it to track us.”

  “Agares’ bloody bird!” Leo swore as Jo felt the blood drain from her face.

  Everything they had worked for was now at risk. Her freedom was now at risk. But as she looked to Zoë who wouldn’t lift her eyes from the ground as if afraid they would be mad, she steeled herself. Zoë was an innocent child and she deserved to escape from that place as much as Jo did.

  “Leo?” Jo asked, a vague plan forming in her mind, “Do you think there is any way you can get the blood she gave to the king? Wouldn’t that end the Blood Oath?”

  Jo could sense Leo’s mind racing before he replied, “I’m not sure. I don’t know the rules of the Blood Oath, since I wasn’t there when it was made. But it could work,” he said, when he saw Jo’s expression begin to fall.

  “This is the only chance we have—we have to take it,” Jo said, heart racing.

  Leo gave her a long look before letting out a sigh. “The things I do for a pretty face.”

  Jo felt a blush rise in her cheeks, but tried to ignore it as she turned to Zoë to say, “See, I told you it would be alright.”

  Zoë gave her a hopeful smile in return.

  Leo, taking out his contact, brought their attention back to him. "Prepare yourselves, ladies. In three. . .two. . .one."

  As he reached the end of the countdown, all three of them gasped as their Gifts came flooding back into them at full strength.

  Leo opened his mouth and closed it as if looking for words. Finally, he simply said, "Good luck."

  Then, he disappeared and they were on their own.

  Chapter 37

  Westin

  Writhia, 5219

  Ettria

  W estin and the princess stood out of sight, a safe distance away from the castle. They were waiting for Leo, who had had his spiders take care of the Quellers so that he could meet with them.

  They planned to storm into the castle unseen.

  Westin was nervous.

  Of course he had prepared for this type of mission before, but never with his Match.

  He kept showing her the floorplan to the entire castle, making her memorize all the exits. As he went over the plan once, then twice. . . then three times, she finally said, “Okay, Wes, I get it.”

  Noelani would nod her head after every point he made, twirling her hair. Westin noticed she got quiet when she was nervous. He didn't know how to calm her. It was likely nothing would.

  They had brought weapons. He had been cleaning and sharpening them religiously throughout the week. Not that he needed them often, but it was nice to have them as an extra precaution. He was hoping that would be a last resort. He didn't want Noelani to have a death on her hands. He knew she would be strong enough to do it with her sister's life on the line, but he didn't want her to have to deal with the guilt after taking a life for the first time.

  Knowing Leo would arrive any minute had Westin on edge. There was no going back now. His soldier's instincts were telling him this would not end well.

  If it did, he would join his family at the safe house Cassavant provided for them. His father had contacted him, letting Westin know that his family had arrived safely. Westin would not receive the location until after the plan succeeded. He did not want the king to be able to torture the info out of him.

  Westin hoped his guilt would ease a bit.

  Knowing he did at least one good thing for all the bad he had done under the king's spell.

  "Please don't be a hero," he said before he could think better of it. "I know you would do anything to get your sister back, but if one of us is caught, it won't help her. We can't do anything for Jo if we're dead." He heard himself speak in his "general" voice that he reserved for his soldiers.

  Noelani was staring up at him with frightened blue eyes. He didn’t want to scare her, but she needed to be prepared. They stood staring at each other for a moment and then she threw her arms around him.

  "Thank you," she said.

  Her head came off his chest to stare up at him with a sheepish look. "Sorry, I needed a hug, I guess. I'm so
scared, Wes. I'm just trying to be brave—"

  He cut her off by grabbing her shoulders, giving her a little shake. "Listen to me: you are brave!" he said fiercely. Then he kissed her. It was a desperate sort of kiss that he was hoping conveyed a message that said he believed in her.

  She pulled away first, giving him a gentle smile before saying, "Leo's here."

  When Leo appeared, his eyes darted between the two of them, noting their proximity to each other. "Nice," he chuckled.

  "Alright, come on kids. Grab Daddy’s hand while we charge the castle. Extra candy for whoever draws first blood,” Leo said, sticking his hands out, palms up. His head tilted to the side, mouth twisted in a smirk.

  Before Westin could utter a word, Noelani raised a brow and said, “Well, aren’t you demented.”

  “Very much so,” Leo said cheerfully.

  Westin rolled his eyes, “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered.

  He and Noelani stepped forward, taking Leo’s outstretched hands. Immediately the three of them disappeared, and they took off toward the castle together.

  *****

  They made their way to a hidden entrance near the back of the castle. Westin knew there would only be one guard by it, so he told Noelani to incapacitate him. He wanted to make sure he had trained her well.

  He felt her hand slip from his and within a second the guard went down quickly.

  “Did I mention how much I love having super strength and invisibility together?” Noelani whispered so quietly Westin was sure he was the only one who had heard her.

  He wished she could see his pleased smile. They cast out their heightened senses, listening for any and everything as they slowly trotted along.

  The entrance opened into a tunnel that ran beneath the castle. The tunnel was built as an evacuation route for the royal family, and only the king and his military personnel knew about it. The walls were rounded and paneled with stainless steel, in case of emergencies, with lights set into the walls at equidistance, so it was brightly lit. Westin had chosen this as their entrance because it was the most secluded way into the castle.