Curse of the Cruel and Lovely : Allied Kingdoms Academy 3

by J. M. Kearl

  Jumping up, I blocked another blast and another until he drove me back several yards. When the attacks were too much for me to sit there and take them, I hit him with sheer forceful power that sent him flying twenty feet back.

  Stay down. I silently begged. But he didn’t. He got up and just like Aenea, came at me relentlessly. The king laughed as I blocked and tried not to hurt Bastian.

  “Oh to watch my traitors fight for me. Glorious day,” he sang.

  I groaned when Bastian’s sword sliced the armor and cut open my shoulder. “Fight back harder. It’s alright.” He tried to hit me again and I shoved him back. “I have made my peace.”

  We hit swords and pressed against each other. “What are you saying?”

  “I am willing to make the sacrifice for those babies. For my court. For you. Kill me.”

  I shook my head, and he kicked me hard in the leg. “I said kill me! I know you can!”

  “No, Bastian!” I cried and hot tears burned my eyes. “You can’t ask me to do that!”

  He hit me again, this time his elbow smacked my chin and I stumbled back several steps almost losing my balance. I tasted blood in my mouth.

  “Come on!” he roared.

  With my chin trembling, we met each other’s eyes. He gave a single nod and raised his sword. The king watched us intently. The babies wailed. Aenea screamed, Aric barely held her. Zyacus and Taz fought wildly against several Fae.

  I reached forward, sobbing and my power rushed out of me. Bastian crumpled to the ground, never to take another breath again.

  The king jumped from the wolf’s back. “Worthless. Now I must do it myself!”

  I had never been so furious or more heartbroken in my life. He’d forced my hand, forced me to kill Bastian. I screamed, only seeing him as someone who needed to die. The enemy, the evil that had to be destroyed.

  I channeled my wrath and hit him with the full ability of my power. It slammed into his shield and caused a repercussion blast that knocked everyone to the ground except him and me. I hit him again, and again, each time moving closer until we were within weapon striking distance.

  He swung at me. It hit my magical shield and deflected. We went to war with swords. I didn’t know how but my magic couldn’t get through. I slashed and hacked with the fury of the blazing sun. I thought he’d be better, that he’d get to me, but he didn’t. I blocked everything he had. All my years of training came down to this one moment. Then one of my strikes hit, slicing into his forearm. Neither of us seemed to know how it happened. He looked at me wide-eyed as blood soaked the fabric of his shirt. That’s right you bastard. I’m human.

  He stepped back as if he wanted to run. Not in a million years!

  I’d seen weakness—I threw everything I had at him then. My power crushed against him until he collapsed on the ground. I could see his shield dwindling as the white force of my magic battered into his, sparking like a hammer connecting with red hot metal. When his force field shattered, I drove my sword right through his throat. “I hope the afterlife is dark and torturous for you.”

  Blood bubbled up out of his mouth and his head fell to the side. I spat on his body and turned, and with a shaky arm, I raised my sword high. “The Winter King is dead!”

  34

  Visteal

  I held my sword high, chest rapidly rising and falling as I tried to catch my breath. I did it. I actually did it. I felt sick and relieved and crushed. Zyacus rushed toward me and scooped me up. He spun me around with a howl of glee. But I wasn’t cheering. I’d killed someone I cared about to then kill an evil man.

  The way Bastian crumpled to the ground with but a movement of my hand made me want to throw up. I didn’t even feel good about killing the king or the Winter soldiers along the way.

  But with the death of their king, the Winter soldiers around us stared dumbfounded. One man dropped his sword and went to his knees.

  Taz and Aric circled us, jumping up and down. “Victory!” Aric shouted.

  Astaroth slow clapped as he swaggered toward us. “I’ve waited three hundred years for this day.”

  I pulled away from Zyacus, tensing up. “Astaroth...” I didn’t know what to say. Congratulations you’re now the new King of Winter because I killed him? And now that he’d gotten what he wanted, I didn’t know what he’d do. He no longer needed anything from me. I watched him warily as he stared at me with an unreadable expression. “It is done,” I finally said. “I get to go home now.”

  Word was spreading. Many of the Winter Fae dropped their weapons and surrendered. There was no need for me. I’d fulfilled my bargain and the prophecy.

  “I suppose you do,” Astaroth said.

  The knot in my stomach loosened until I saw Aenea and the twins lying on Bastian’s body. Aenea stroked her father’s face and shook from sobbing.

  Tears sprang to my eyes as regret and sorrow pounded me. Seeing his lifeless body crumpled me. I fell to my knees and cried into my hands. Why did I do that? Why did he make me do that to him? Why did I listen?

  Zyacus knelt before me and pulled me into his chest. “What’s wrong? We won. It’s over.”

  Tears flowed down my cheeks. “I should have found another way. I should have been able to just knock him unconscious or…” my voice broke. My throat ached. “Bastian, I’m so sorry.” I suddenly couldn’t breathe. My lungs constricted the harder I sobbed.

  Zyacus grabbed my face. “Shh, baby look at me.” I couldn’t meet his eyes. I wanted to tear away. “Listen, there was nothing else you could have done.”

  “You don’t understand,” I cried. “Bastian helped me. He—he wanted to be on our side. He was my friend.”

  Zyacus’s face softened and he held me until my tears stopped and I gained some composure. After Zyacus helped me stand, I wiped my face and stared at the ground. There was no way I could stomach looking at Aenea. Not after what I’d done.

  “Visteal.”

  A shot of horror stabbed me. I knew that voice. My gaze lifted to Aenea’s face. With watery eyes, she moved in and wrapped me in a hug. I lost it again. I didn’t know why she was hugging me. She should stab me in the gut for what I did. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

  “Shhh. I think he knew this would happen. When the king took my children we had no choice but to follow his orders,” she whispered. “My father told me you would need something to push you to best Valefrost. He—he told me goodbye,” her voice broke, “and I didn’t understand at the time but I do now.” Her babies clung to our legs, forcing us apart. She bent down and scooped them up. “Just know it was a sacrifice for us all and be at peace with it.”

  I couldn’t find any words, so Astaroth shrouded Bastian in a black cloud and the body disappeared. He held a hand out to Aenea. “Come. I’ll send you back to the castle so you can prepare with your family.”

  She carried her children through the mist and vanished.

  The Winter Prince for once didn’t have a stupid expression. “You did what you had to. I will make certain Bastian will be remembered for what he did today. And of course everyone will remember the human girl who killed the Winter King.”

  I slowly nodded. I didn’t care about notoriety. If no one knew my name years from now it wouldn’t matter to me. I hadn’t done it for glory. It was all so I could save my people from destruction. So the boys and I could get home. Helios and Firo rode up on horseback. They dismounted and approached us.

  With a nod to Astaroth, Helios said, “My father is dead, as is yours. Let this settle our feud.”

  Astaroth smirked. “I never had a feud with you, Helios. But Winter and Night will not attack you further today. Now is a time to rebuild. Many things will change.”

  Although it wouldn’t matter to me, I hoped the people of this realm could be happy. I hoped things would be better and balance would indeed come to Faerie.

  Helios turned to me. “You held up your end of the deal. It’s time I do mine. Are you ready to go home?”

  I was so ready but I
had to get Gideon, and Froststorm would likely come with us as well as Pixie. I had no idea where two of them were. Froststorm was easy to spot. She was circling in the sky above us. “Yes but I have to get my other friends first.” I started to walk off then stopped. “This settles anything between Faerie and my world right? You won’t come during the next blood moon in five hundred years?”

  Astaroth lifted a shoulder. “That was my father’s doing. He is dead. If anything we owe you a debt, Princess. Coming to your land to steal isn’t on my mind.”

  That wasn’t exactly a “no”, more of a dance around it without answering directly. But such was the way of the Fae. I likely wouldn’t even be alive in five hundred years to fight them on it anyway. “The only thing I ask is that you treat humans and the faeries with respect and stop enslaving people. We all worked together during this fight. Let the balance we fought for become a reality.”

  Helios and Astaroth glanced at one another. Helios nodded. “I will work to change things.”

  “Things will be as they should be,” Astaroth said.

  I rolled my eyes at the cryptic answer. I couldn’t tell him what to do, and honestly, it wasn’t my problem anymore.

  “And Firo,” I narrowed my eyes at him. “There won’t be any more trouble from you, will there?”

  His eyebrow arched and he gave a charming smile. “I’ll keep my mischief to myself. Although, don’t be surprised if you see me at your wedding celebration. It’s sure to be one for the history books. The anticipation of how the kingdoms will react is killing me.”

  It was time to leave behind this world and face the reality of our own.

  Sitting on Froststorm’s back with Gideon on my lap and the boys behind my stomach fluttered. Months of being away made me a little nervous about finding what we’d be going back into. Helios opened a portal. On the other side the looming stone of the academy awaited. A sunset stained the sky shades of light blue to burnt orange. The trees were in full bloom and the grass was vibrant green. Everything had gone back to the way they were supposed to before the blood moon had destroyed so much.

  Firo waved from below and shouted, “Don’t be too surprised if things are… a little different!”

  I didn’t like that. Different? Different how? “What does that mean?”

  Froststorm didn’t wait for a reply, she took flight and we soared into our realm. We flew over the fence and through the magical barrier, landing in the open area by the sparring rings.

  Groups of students ran toward us. “What do you think he meant by things being different?” Zyacus asked. “Everything looks the same to me.”

  “I have no idea.” I hit the ground and set Gideon down. He stretched then took off running and dropped to roll in the grass. Pixie buzzed off Zyacus’s shoulder, squealing as she chased Gideon. When she started rolling she plucked handfuls and started shoving grass in her mouth. Strange thing.

  When the students from all three of our kingdoms got closer they whispered and pointed. I didn’t recognize many of them. There didn’t appear to be any professors outside now but that would soon change.

  “Who are you all?” a girl asked wearing a blue Hesstian uniform. Then her hand flew to her mouth. She stepped closer staring at Zy. “Holy phoenix, Prince Zyacus?”

  He smiled. “I’m back.”

  “And Princess Visteal!” a boy shouted, shoving his way closer. “We didn’t know what happened to you all. Why are you so… bloody.”

  A girl blurted out, “Rumor was you were stolen away to some distant land.”

  “It wasn’t a rumor,” I replied. I didn’t feel like elaborating on why we were bloodied.

  “Oh and Prince Aric!” a girl from Collweya squealed. “Where did you get that dragon? Is that where you have been all this time?”

  Froststorm let out a low growl and the students collectively moved back.

  “We’ve been in the Faerie realm,” Aric said, rubbing his forehead with the back of his arm.

  There was a lot of explaining that I didn’t feel like doing. “Where is the headmaster? And Professor Magnevera?”

  “Probably inside,” a girl answered.

  I didn’t notice it at first but as I watched the gathering students it became odd. When I left, Delhoon stuck with Delhoon and so forth. But they weren’t gathered by kingdoms. A group of girls with various uniforms all spoke amongst each other.

  A boy in black watched me in a way that disturbed me. It hit me that I recognized him. He’d been in some of my classes. There was something different about him now. His hair seemed shinier, his skin perfected. He had an allure about him that wasn’t there before. As I looked closer I picked out the red ring around his irises. He was a vampire, and so was the boy next to him and the girl on his other side.

  And how did I not notice before but each group kept a gap between them? That’s when I really started inspecting the others. A trio of girls, two from Collweya and one from Hesstia, all had a silver shine to their eyes. Were they wolf shifters?

  When a boy shoving his way to get closer to us bumped into one of the vampires, he turned and hissed. “Stay on your own side, wolf.”

  Oh my unicorn. This was what Firo meant.

  Growling, the boy who’d been called a wolf shoved him. “Don’t tell me what to do, bloodsucker.”

  I threw out my magic, putting a barrier between them that forced them apart. “Enough.” I’d just left a war. I didn’t want there to be another one here. How were there so many vampires now? Why so many wolves? I thought Zyacus was the only one, from some ancient bloodline. Was anyone human anymore?

  “Stay out of it, witch,” the wolf said, coming toward me. Witch? What is a witch?

  Zyacus stepped up and grabbed him by the shirt collar. “I will tear you apart limb from limb if you come at her again.”

  The boy immediately lowered his head and backed away. After everything I’d been through this day, let alone the past months, the last thing I wanted to deal with was trivial squabbles within this academy. I turned to the boys. “Let’s go inside.”

  Zyacus turned to Froststorm. “You should go flying. Explore the area.”

  “What a splendid idea,” she said.

  “Just no attacking any towns.”

  She leaped off the ground and the wind from her wings nearly knocked me off my feet.

  “Amazing armor,” a girl said when I walked by.

  The students followed us inside like a mob chasing after the town crier. I shoved through the doors and marched for the Headmaster’s office. Zyacus took hold of my hand. “So I think I know what Firo meant by things would be different.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I didn’t like it either. We’d only gotten a glimpse. So much more could have changed.

  Taz’s boots clopped loudly on the stone floor beside me. “Well, no one remembers me. Not that I’m surprised or anything.”

  “Our friends will,” I said, giving him a little pat on the back.

  Looking back over his shoulder briefly, Aric leaned in and whispered, “So there were a lot of vampires. Way more than before.”

  “The problem with that is I sensed a lot of wolves and we know from Faerie that they hate each other.”

  Aric smirked. “I do kind of hate you, Zy.”

  Zyacus chuckled. “Shut up or I’ll give you another beating.”

  “Oh, is that what you think it was?” Aric looked to Taz. “Now you have to say who won. You dodged answering last time.”

  Shaking his head Taz said, “I’m not picking sides.”

  I smacked both Aric and Zyacus in their chests with the back of my hands. “Quit bickering. Or the only winner here will be me.”

  Aric lifted an eyebrow and tried to not smile but failed miserably. “Damn, Vis, you take down one immortal Fae king and think you run the show?”

  I slammed my fist on the headmaster’s door. “I don’t think, I know.”

  The door pulled in and my mother stood on the other side. Her eyes widened and then she flew
at me, throwing her arms around me. “My baby girl!” She pulled back and took my face between her palms. “You’re home.” She started crying as she hugged me tighter. “I was sick with worry. I tried everything. I tried to get to you.”

  “I knew you would,” I said sniffling. “But you don’t have to worry now.” I couldn’t hold back my tears. I wanted to collapse into her safe arms and let her rock me to sleep like when I was a small child. She would hum songs and I had no worries.

  “What happened there? Why are you all so bloody?”

  Zyacus rubbed his cheek as if trying to wipe away the dried blood. “We just fought in a war.”

  “A war?” she exclaimed. She slowly shook her head as if she couldn’t believe anything she heard. “Visteal you should have never done something like this. Your father and I could have helped. We could have done this together.”

  I knew that was what she would want and that’s why I didn’t tell her. “I’ll explain everything but for now… I just want to go home.”

  She hugged me again and kissed my forehead. “Alright. I was here today because Madison told me a few days ago you’d be coming back. I’ve been waiting to see if it were true.”

  It came in handy that my grandmother Madison had visions. “Where is she? Where is Father?”

  “They went to the kitchen a few minutes ago to get something to eat. You must have just missed them.” Mother looked at Zyacus. “I can send you home if you’d like to see your father. And you as well, Aric. It would greatly help. At the moment we’re… things aren’t well with the three kingdoms.”

  His eyes flicked to me then back to my mother. “What happened?”

  “Both Enden and Kyria blamed Visteal for yours and Aric’s disappearance.” She pressed her lips tightly together. “It’s been difficult to even keep the academy open. The blood moon brought many changes. Tensions are high.”