by M. Lynn
Death hung over them all, but Dell kept his eyes facing forward, his mind on one thing. He had to get to that ship.
He no longer cared for Madra or the people he left behind. Many of them fought with the rebels. Others refused to fight at all.
And one girl had stood strong for them. Had fought for them.
The soldiers led them to a wagon that sat at the bottom of the great staircase in front of the smoldering palace. Bemus put Kassander in the back. The boy stirred and lifted his head, his gaze finding Helena.
Dell set the princess in the wagon gently and climbed in. As soon as Bemus took the reins, there was no more palace. The streets of Madra whipped by, but Dell didn’t see them. He didn’t look into the faces of citizens who’d been roused from their beds with news of fighting at the palace.
The full moon cast a silver glow across Helena’s pale skin.
Kassander spoke, but his words were lost to the sound of the wagon.
And then they heard it. Quiet at first before growing louder. Estevan Rhodipus was addressing his people.
“Citizens of Madra.” His voice hung over Madra like a cloak of hope, protecting them from the evils of that night. The words carried on the breeze of Edmund’s magic. This was why he’d had to stay behind.
Estevan continued. “The king is dead, but we are not without hope. To all those loyal to the crown, I tell you to stand down.” His words sounded scripted, lacking the anger Dell knew was hidden underneath. Cole wouldn’t risk any secret meanings. “There is a new king. I have given up my place in the line of succession to my brother, Cole Rhodipus.”
He paused. “I have suffered much and do not have it in my heart to lead any longer. Cole is one of the last remaining children of my father’s bloodline. In the coming days, Madra will be made stronger than ever before. Troops are being called home from wars we should not be involved in. The priesthood has been disbanded.” Dell flashed back to the slaughter he’d found at the monastery. “Madra will no longer be shackled to the past by priestly traditions. We welcome a brighter future. If you are a foreigner in this land, I advise you to return to your kingdom. Madran will belong only to Madrans from this point forward.”
He stopped and Dell thought he was finished until his voice began again, deeper than before. “Do not mourn my family. This night, one of my father’s men murdered Princess Helena. But she did not die in vain. She sparked this change. Cole, your new king, fights for her. He fights for all of us.”
Rage tore through Dell.
Kassander slumped forward, staring at his sister. “Is she truly dead?”
“No.” Dell shook his head. “Your brother just pinned this entire bloody rebellion on a lie.”
“Why did Estevan say those things?”
Dell’s eyes flickered between Len and Kassander while his mind wandered to Estevan. He’d never liked the oldest prince. Estevan was arrogant and seemingly uncaring. But a new respect bloomed within Dell.
“Because, little prince, Estevan loves you. He did it for you.”
A still breeze brought the briny air of the river delta. They’d made it. Dell blew out a long breath as he felt for a pulse again. Panic gripped him when he couldn’t find it.
“Helena,” he said. “Helena, you need to hold on. We’re here.”
They reached the Belaen ship and Mari rushed out, jumping over the side and landing on the dock with more agility than he knew she possessed.
Kassander scrambled from the wagon. “What are we doing here?” His eyes flitted around the ships, finally landing on the dark water. “We can’t leave. What about Estevan?”
Dell ignored him as he passed Helena down to Bemus. “Mari, we need Corban, now!”
As if hearing the commotion, Corban appeared on deck. He sprinted down the wharf and dropped to Len’s side.
“I think it might already be too late.” Dell backed away, putting his hands on his head. How had he failed so miserably? The one person who’d cared for him since his mother died… and now she was leaving him too.
A familiar wrenching in his chest had him turning away, unable to watch.
Everyone held their breath.
No sound came as Corban worked over the still princess. Dell closed his eyes. Was it selfish wanting her to stay? Her parents were murdered right in front of her. Her brother would most likely be executed. The kingdom her family ruled for generations was broken.
And yet… he couldn’t let her go. He turned just in time to see her chest rise.
A scream broke free as she arched her back, echoing through the night, as if the trauma of losing everything ripped the bones right from her body.
The sound cut off abruptly, her body sagging back to the wooden planks beneath her.
“Is she going to live?” Dell asked, desperate for the answer that would start his heart again.
Corban glanced up. “I don’t know. She… you may have gotten her here too late.”
Mari put a hand on Corban’s shoulder. “Get her on the ship. We leave as soon as Edmund arrives.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Helena ran as smoke chased her from the rooms she’d known all her life. Destroyed, just like everything else. Her mother called to her, desperately trying to find her, but she couldn’t call back as the floor tilted, sending her flying toward the dark abyss.
Helena’s eyes snapped open to find herself in an unfamiliar room, smelling slightly of sweat and salt.
The sweat was probably hers. The dress she wore clung to her body with dampness. She lifted an arm to wipe sticky hair from her face, feeling the exhaustion in every movement.
Weak. She was so weak. Why?
The memories rushed in like a hurricane hurtling toward a ship at sea. And she was utterly lost to them.
“Mother,” she cried.
Tears streamed down her face as if her body was emptying itself of everything she’d seen. Everything she’d done.
Where was she?
Light broke through the cracks between the rotting boards of the door. She lay on a small bed in the corner of a room with little else. Netting hung from the ceiling, dipping down over stacks of crates on the far wall.
The door rattled, and she reached for her knife, but it was no longer hidden in the folds of her skirt. She pushed herself up slowly, her muscles screaming in protest.
Light flooded the room as the door burst open. She shielded her eyes as a figure stepped closer.
Kassander. Her brother didn’t smile in greeting, but the relief was clear in his eyes. “You’re awake.” He hesitated.
Tears welled in her eyes. At least one person hadn’t been taken from her. “And you’re here.”
He stepped toward the bed and she reached out, pulling him the rest of the way. “I can’t believe they got you out.”
“It was Dell,” he said, his voice muffled in her hair.
Dell. He was there too. The room swayed, and Helena pulled back. “Are we on a ship? How long have I been out?”
Kassander wasn’t the one who answered.
“Over a day.” Dell stood in the doorway, his gaze latching onto her face. “It’s good to see you conscious, Princess.”
Why the formality? She shook her head. “I’m not a princess any longer.”
Dell’s smile was tentative.
Helena hugged Kassander again, meeting Dell’s eyes over her brother’s shoulder. Thank you, she mouthed.
She pulled back and gripped Kassander’s shoulders. “You and I now, kid. We’re all that’s left until we find Quinn.” She hated to think of what could have happened to Quinn. The army was in league with Cole. Did they turn on Quinn?
“Stev is still alive, Lenny,” he whispered. “I know he is.”
Helena didn’t want to voice what she thought Cole would do to Stev, so she scooted to the edge of the bed.
A memory of pain shocked through her. The knife. She felt for the wound in her shoulder but perfectly smooth skin was all she found through the hole in her dress.
<
br /> “Is this what it felt like for you every time?” she asked Dell. “Whenever Corban healed you?”
Sympathy entered his gaze. “Exhaustion? Utter weakness? A complete disbelief in what occurred?”
“That’s about it.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Mari explained it to me once. His magic uses your body’s own energy to heal the wound. It takes a while to get it back.”
Kassander stood and reached a hand out to her. She took it and pulled herself to her feet, stumbling before gaining her footing.
Kassander scrunched up his face. “You stink, Len.”
A laugh burst free from Dell, but he covered it up with a cough. “Mari left some clothes for you.” He pointed to a small stack of linen clothing. “I’ll have someone bring a bucket of water. Sponge baths are all we have, I’m afraid. But we’ll be in Bela in two days’ time.”
Somewhat clean and freshly clothed, Helena found Edmund sitting on deck, his eyes scanning the direction they’d come from. He didn’t look to her as she sat beside him, lowering herself with care.
She let the silence soak into her, soothing her fraying mind. The loss still hadn’t quite sunk in. She’d seen it with her own eyes, her burning kingdom, but it still felt like it happened to someone else.
Finally, he spoke. “Alex is going to kill me for leaving his sister in Madra.”
“Alex is the Belaen king?” she asked.
He nodded. “But there was nothing I could do. Short of tearing the palace apart stone by stone looking for where Cole hid her…”
Helena took his shaking hand in hers. “You did everything you could.”
“Then why does it feel like I failed him?”
He wasn’t speaking of Alex any longer. “Edmund, you didn’t. Stev knew what he was doing. I would give everything to change his decision, but it was his to make.”
Edmund’s chin dropped to his chest, and a strangled cry rattled through his lungs.
Helena wouldn’t let him give up. Not now. “My mother once told me Madra was a glass kingdom.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I didn’t know then she was teaching me a lesson.”
Edmund’s voice was so low she barely heard it. “Glass kingdom?”
Helena smiled at the memory. Her father refused to let her attend council meetings to learn about the six kingdoms, but her mother served as teacher. “Madra has always been fragile, sitting on the edge of its own destruction. Constant wars and inept rulers sent fissures through the surface. Mother told me when Madra finally shattered, it would destroy everything. Glass doesn’t just break. It creates shards, weapons. And once it breaks, there’s no putting it back together.”
Edmund finally turned to look at her, pleading with her for something, anything to hold on to. “What kind of shard did this create? Where is our weapon?”
She broke their stare, gazing out at the rolling waters slapping the side of their ship. She sucked in a breath, the need for vengeance coming on so suddenly it shocked even her.
When she turned to Edmund once more, her eyes swirled with every emotion in each of their chests. One simple word could shape their entire future.
“Me.”
Chapter Thirty
Plans rolled through Helena’s mind. A light had entered Edmund’s eyes at her declaration. He was with her. They may not be able to save Stev, but they could reclaim the throne.
She could make Cole pay for everything he’d done.
And she would.
As if the desire for revenge fused the pieces together, she found herself feeling whole once again. This was who she was meant to be.
Madra may have been a glass kingdom, but she was stronger than that.
She stood on deck with Dell on one side and Edmund on the other. Kassander stood at the rail, eagerly scanning the shores of Bela.
White cliffs loomed over the sea surrounded by lush green forests and a white sandy beach. The docks were not quite the bustling port of Madra, but plenty of people witnessed their approach.
Four figures stood at the end of the wharf, waiting. As soon as the sailors tied the ship off, Edmund led them forward.
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. “Etta can be quite intimidating, but it’s really her horse that’s the scary one.”
Dell laughed. “Her horse? You’re scared of a horse?”
“You haven’t met Vérité.”
The woman who stepped in front of the others was not what Helena had expected. She didn’t wear the long gown of other queens Helena had met. Instead, fighting leathers stretched across her small frame. Long golden hair twisted into a braid that hung over one shoulder, but no crown sat nestled in the tresses.
“That’s the queen?” Helena asked.
Edmund chuckled.
The queen’s stern face transformed as soon as she saw Edmund and she sprinted down the wharf, throwing herself into his arms and wrapping her thin legs around his waist.
Dell raised an eyebrow and Helena looked on in shock. No formality or sense of decorum. Who was this queen?
Edmund squeezed her so tight, Helena thought the queen would explode.
“I’ve missed you, Edmund.”
Edmund set her down. The smile on his lips didn’t reach his eyes and Helena wasn’t the only one who noticed. The queen touched his face.
“I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through.” Her tone was serious, but it didn’t hold the weight it would if she knew the truths he was really carrying. She didn’t know everything he’d left behind.
A man joined them, hugging Edmund just as hard as the queen had.
“Alex,” Edmund said. “I need to tell you something.”
“Camille is still in Madra,” the man said, releasing Edmund. “I know.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Alex clasped his shoulder and turned to Helena and Dell. “I imagine you have stories for us.”
“How did you know we were coming?” Edmund asked.
“Ara is in Cana. Near the Madran border. Apparently, the Canan ambassador rode for the border as soon as the rebellion began.”
Edmund nodded as if it all made perfect sense.
“Am I the only one thinking that still doesn’t explain how you knew what happened so quickly?” Helena asked.
All eyes turned to her.
The queen studied her from loose-fitting trousers to soiled tunic. “Ara is a magic wielder. She can direct her voice to be heard over a great distance.”
Magic. Of course.
“Are you going to introduce us, Edmund?” the queen asked. “Or are you just going to be rude?”
Edmund wrapped an arm around Helena. “This is Princess Helena of Madra.”
The queen’s eyes widened.
Edmund continued, pointing to Kass. “Prince Kassander.”
“Edmund,” the king said his name as a curse. “Are we to have Madran forces showing up on our shores demanding their return?”
“The only way I go back,” Helena started. “Is to reclaim what’s mine.”
The queen smiled. “I like her.”
Edmund introduced the others as another man ran toward them. He launched himself at Edmund, thumping him on the back. “Never leave again,” the young man said. Dark curls flopped into his eyes.
“Hey, Ty,” Edmund said. “Meet the prince and princess of Madra.” Edmund looked to Helena. “This is Prince Tyson.
Tyson shot them a grin. “Ty is fine.” He turned back to Edmund. “Matteo is here too.”
A shadow crossed over Edmund’s face, and Helena slipped her hand into his. As they were led down the docks, she leaned in. “You okay?”
“I used to think I loved Matteo. When I left for Madra, it hurt. But not like this. Not like Stev. I can’t tell any of them about Stev. I can’t have them looking at me as if I’m broken. Especially Matteo.”
“You’re not broken, Edmund.”
She only wished she could feel that way herself.
Matteo greeted them, not meeting Edmund’s eyes,
and then the royal family led them through the village. No guards followed them. The people smiled as they passed, but none bowed. No beggars sat on street corners. Elderly folk did not live in shacks at the edge of town. It was as if the village was frozen in time, untouched by poverty or strife.
But Helena knew that wasn’t true. They’d fought for what they had. The queen who looked more like a warrior had risked everything to give her people their freedom.
Why couldn’t Helena do the same?
She glanced back over her shoulder to where the sea could be seen between the squat buildings and thatched roofs. Madra was out there, across the expanse. Her people went on with their lives now under the rule of the wrong brother.
And she would fight for them.
Cole Rhodipus didn’t know what was coming for him.
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The story continues in Glass Princess! Will Helena and Dell ever return to Madra to fight for the throne? Find out now. Get your copy here: michellelynnauthor.com/glassprincess
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What’s Next?
A vengeful princess. A man who wants to save her.
* * *
On the shores of Madra, rebellion has won.
Her family dead or missing, Helena seeks help from the kingdom across the sea. Bela. She knows it from stories of magic and war but now finds herself at the mercy of the intimidating Basile queen. Etta is everything Helena wishes she could have been for her family and everything she hopes to be still. Convincing the foreign warrior queen to let her stay is easy. Convincing her to train a princess she barely knows is something else entirely.
When shocking news comes out of Gaule, Helena realizes the fight for Madra hasn’t ended. It has only just begun.
