Chapter 22
I reached out to touch Ash, but my hand met only emptiness.
There was so much I had wanted to talk to him about last night, but after that single kiss, he’d insisted I needed to rest after my ‘kick-ass display of magic.’
It didn’t take much convincing. Between the shock of everything wearing off and being wrapped in the warmth of his arms, sleep quickly came for me.
This morning though, the absence of Ash left a larger-than-usual ache inside me.
It felt like an invisible rope tugging me, pulling me toward him. I had planned to take a shower, but the urge to find him was so strong that I quickly changed clothes, brushed my teeth, and followed in the direction of that invisible pull. Down the stairs I went, through the manor hallways, all the way into its school section. Beginning to think I was imagining the tug, I found myself standing in front of a door covered in children’s drawings.
Slowly, I opened it, peeked inside, and for a moment, I wondered if I was still dreaming.
Ash sat at a tiny child-sized table, in a child-sized chair, surrounded by a group of young children looking to be between five and seven years old. He was in the middle of telling them a story, a small dark-skinned boy with curly hair perched on his lap.
“Are there really flying bicycles?” the boy asked, his eyes wide with wonder.
“You’ll have to come see for yourself one day,” Ash replied with a smile.
A shy, curly-haired blonde girl who seemed to be the eldest, spoke next. “My mommy says no one is allowed to go above because the kingdoms are closed.”
“Your mommy’s right.” Ash nodded, “but if I have anything to do with it, the kingdoms will one day be open again, and every one of you will be invited to visit my Kingdom of Ambrosia.”
The girl’s face lit up in a wide, toothless grin. Another smaller girl with dark brown hair chimed in, “Miss Pearl called you Prince Sebastian; so, are you really a prince?”
It was then that Ash noticed me standing in the doorway.
His face glowed with the biggest smile, making my heart melt in my chest as I walked over to the little table and took a seat in a tiny yellow chair.
“This is my friend, Areya,” Ash told the children.
“Are you a princess?” the same child asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
I chuckled and shook my head, but Ash leaned in and whispered to her, “Don’t pay any attention to her. She is a princess. She just likes to keep it a secret.”
“I knew it! I knew it!” the girl squealed. “She’s so pretty, just like a princess!”
I laughed, covering my face with my hand.
Ash gave her a playful nod, chuckling. “She is pretty, isn’t she?”
There was nothing I could do to hide the blush spreading across my face.
“Did you save her from a fire-breathing dragon?” the girl asked, completely serious.
Ash burst out laughing, and I couldn’t help but join in.
“Actually, Amelia,” Ash said, “Areya is the one who saved me . ”
The children around us gasped in awe.
Amelia’s expression turned thoughtful, as if she were piecing something together. Then, in a loud whisper, she asked, “Are you going to marry her?”
Giggles erupted from the other children.
Ash smiled and whispered back,” You’ll have to ask her that.”
He looked at me with a playful gleam in his eyes.
Now, I was blushing harder than ever, my cheeks as red as ripe tomatoes. The heat flooding my face was almost unbearable and I contemplated crawling under the tiny table to hide. The girl, however, was waiting for me, her face serious, expecting an answer.
The intensity of her seriousness made me press my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle a giggle. Amelia leaned in toward Ash, loudly whispering, “She didn’t say no.”
Just then, thank God, the door opened, and Madam Pearl entered, wearing a knowing smile. “All right, children let’s give poor Areya a break and line up for recess. It’s beautiful outside.”
The kids scrambled toward the front of the classroom, forming a line behind Madam Pearl. Ash set the small boy down from his lap, and as Amelia turned to leave, she called out, “Bye, Princess Areya! Bye, Prince Sebastian,” before running off with the others.
Within moments, the room emptied, leaving only Ash and me. He stood up and offered his hand to me with a smile. “Accompany me to breakfast, Princess Areya?”
I did my best to hide my grin as I took his hand and stood. “I’m not a princess,” I insisted as we walked to the cafeteria. Even so, with his hand clasping mine, I felt like one.
“We’ll see about that,” he teased playfully.
When we arrived, I was surprised to see Ash grab not one but two trays.
“You’re eating!” I exclaimed.
“This is the second time today,” he replied with a grin of his own. “Ever since I woke up, I’ve been starving.”
“So, you are truly healed then?” I asked, my eyes searching his face.
For a moment, something flickered in his expression. Hesitation, maybe, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a wide smile. “I am.”
I grabbed some fruit and coffee, while Ash piled a little of everything onto his tray. We found a quiet table at the end of the room and sat down.
“The children adore you,” I said to Ash.
He seemed to be about to say something but stopped.
“Tell me, Ash,” I urged. “Please, I want to know everything about you.”
He looked at me for a long moment, something heavy in his eyes. “When I was eight, my mother sent me down here to hide me from my father. My mother and Madam Pearl were close friends, so Pearl took me in, almost like a second mother.”
“Why did she need to hide you from your father?” I reluctantly asked.
His face tightened and he struggled for words. “He was … it’s … complicated.”
Then he paused, clearly at a loss. “I don’t want to burden you with sad stories of my past, Areya,” he said, running a hand through his hair.
“Telling me about your life isn’t a burden, Ash.” I placed my hand on his. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but when you’re ready, I’ll be here to listen.”
He remained still for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “I remember everything now. There are things I’m not proud of, things I’ve never told anyone.”
I nodded, though there came a slight sinking feeling at the thought that he didn’t trust me enough to share such things about himself.
“Hey,” he said, hooking my chin with his finger and turning my face to look at him. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I guess I’m just afraid. You never judged me before, because of the curse, but now … Now, I … What if you don’t like the things you learn about me?”
Ash was scared, nervous that revealing his truth would change how I viewed him.
“There are things I know, things you need to know,” he continued, his voice low. “It’s just that we have been down here, protected in a bubble, away from the dangers and problems above. I can’t help but want to keep it that way, to protect you. After everything you’ve been through, it feels selfish for me to even think about dragging you into the mess of my world.”
He paused, his face pained, his eyes desperate as they met mine.
Then he added, “I can’t help but feel you’re better off down here … safer.”
“Ash, listen to me,” I said firmly, my voice steady. “First, I am hopelessly in love with you. I fell in love with this. ” I tapped his chest. “Nothing you tell me is going to change that.”
His gaze softened, but I pressed on.
“Second, I am part of your world now, like it or not. I’m already caught up in whatever mess awaits us, and it’s not your job to protect me from it. I don’t want you to shield me from the truth.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but I continued before he could speak.
“And third, I want to know everything about you. The good, the bad, all of it. What burdens you also burdens me, and I want to help carry those burdens with you, the same way I know you want to help carry mine. So, stop treating me like I’m something fragile that will break. I’m ready to face whatever comes next. You and me, together, the same way we’ve faced everything else.”
I smiled and then as sternly as I could manage, added, “And we are done with the brooding; you’re more than I could’ve ever imagined, and nothing’s going to scare me away.”
He stared at me, his eyes searching mine.
I lifted my chin slightly, daring him to challenge me. “Do you understand me?”
For a moment, he said nothing, but a smirk slowly formed on his mouth. “ It’s sexy when you act all bossy.” His voice echoed inside my head.
I nearly jumped out of my seat. “What …” I stammered, trying to form words, but then something far more pressing struck me. “Wait, can you read my thoughts?”
Panic crept into my voice.
There was no amusement in his tone when he responded. “I would never break into your mind, Areya.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Any other special magical abilities I should know about before you give me an actual heart attack?”
A sudden seriousness washed over him, and he nodded. I braced myself for whatever revelation was about to come.
“I can do this thing with my tongue …”
Before he could finish, I shot my hand over his mouth, my eyes darting around to make sure no one overheard. My face burned as muffled laughter exploded beneath my fingers.
Removing my hand, I crossed my arms, struggling to suppress any amusement on my face. Ash, though, was grinning mischievously, his laughter dying down.
But before I could relax, my chair suddenly slid toward his, our seats now touching.
I glanced at him; he hadn’t moved a muscle.
Before I could react, the room around me shifted, blurring and warping until it reformed into something entirely different. I blinked, finding myself staring at a baby fox in a pet shop window. My mouth fell open in shock.
“How?” I stammered.
“An illusion, a trick of the mind,” he said casually.
In an instant, we were back in the cafeteria, the change so seamless it left me reeling.
“I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve Areya,” he added with a playful grin.
I nodded, more than a bit disoriented, my mind spinning. “Because you’re the King of Ambrosia,” I said, almost absentmindedly, staring ahead at nothing in particular.
Ash froze, his body going rigid. “How—how do you know that?”
“That thing inside of you, the curse, it told me.” Yes, I sounded crazy.
“What the hell, Areya? You talked to the—curse?”
“Yep.” I said, still trying to process everything.
“What did it say to you?”
“It said, ‘The king is mine.’”
He stared, waiting for more. “And?”
“And I told it you were mine, and then I killed it.”
A grin spread across Ash’s face. “You’re not freaked out that I’m the king?”
“Oh, I’m plenty freaked out—it’s not every day you learn your boyfriend is a king.”
His eyebrow shot up, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Boyfriend?”
My eyes widened at what I’d just said by accident. “I didn’t mean—”
“That’s a shame because I like the sound of it,” he interrupted with a smirk.
I quickly changed the subject, my face on fire. “Tell me about your father.”
Ash’s playful demeanor faded instantly. He ran a hand through his hair before settling his arm around the back of my chair. His eyes darkened with a heaviness that made me ache for him.
“My father was a terrible king,” he began, his voice low. “He kept more human slaves than all other kingdoms combined. When I was eight, I was exploring the cells under the castle and came across a boy my age. His mother had died the year before; he’d been kept down there since.”
I swallowed hard, barely able to speak.
“An eight-year-old boy? Locked in a cell for over a year?”
“His name was Braun, and he was a little more than skin and bones when I met him. I started sneaking him food from the castle, which he happily accepted, but more than anything, he was just excited to have someone to talk to. I went to see him every day for months, bringing him food and telling him stories about life in the castle. Somehow, despite everything, he always smiled. I promised him that one day, I’d become king, and when I did, I’d free all the slaves.”
Ash paused, his gaze dropping to the floor.
“One day, when I went to see him—a blueberry tart hidden in my pocket—he was gone, and I found my father waiting for me instead. He dragged me out to the grounds behind the castle, where he had Braun tied up to a tree.”
Ash’s voice began to tremble, and my chest tightened.
“The way Braun looked to me for help—the fear in his eyes, tears rolling down his face—I’ll never forget that look. It’s seared into my memory. My father handed me a sword and ordered me to kill him. I refused, of course, and dropped the sword, but my father said if I didn’t do it, I’d end up in a cell under the castle. I didn’t care, and when he realized that, he called me a disgrace, and unworthy to be called his son.”
I couldn’t breathe, imagining an eight-year-old Ash, forced to endure such cruelty.
“Then he … made me do it,” Ash whispered, his voice breaking.
I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand. “He compelled you?”
“No.” Ash shook his head. “He used his power to control my body. Inside, I was screaming, fighting with everything in me, but I couldn’t stop myself. I picked up the sword and plunged it straight into Braun’s chest. My friend died believing I had chosen to murder him.”
He reached for a napkin and wiped his eyes.My heart shattered at the sound of his voice, raw with pain, piercing me in a way I’d never experienced before.
The depth of his suffering struck me with such force that tears spilled freely down my cheeks, born from the ache that had taken root in my chest.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, the words trembling as they left me. Unable to offer anything more, I leaned into him, letting my presence speak where words failed, offering what little comfort I could. Ash leaned into me as well, his head coming to rest against mine.
“He threw me in the cell after that—Braun’s cell,” Ash said, his voice low and strained. “Told me I would stay there until I turned ten—old enough to be sent to the skids, the most brutal of my father’s training camps. They were designed to turn boys into killing machines for the king’s army. My mother, she snuck me out, sent me down here to live with Pearl in the manor. I was a broken shell of a boy, and Pearl, she helped put me back together. The manor was crowded with human orphans at the time, children rescued from above.
“Pearl encouraged me to befriend them, to tell them stories just as I had done with Braun. And I did; I made friends with all the children, making them the same promise I’d made to him.
“I told them all that one day I would become King of Ambrosia, and the first thing I would do would be to free all the slaves everywhere.”
He let out a heavy sigh before continuing.
“It was during that time that I met Lilly. She had been an emissary to my father’s kingdom. One night, after trying to rescue a young slave girl, my father’s guards caught her. They tortured her, raped her, and left her and the girl to die in a burning shed.”
I could barely breathe, my hand going to my chest as I listened in horror.
“They survived, but barely. When Pearl learned what had happened, every guard who had touched Lilly turned up dead the very next day. Lilly was traumatized, and Pearl took her in like a daughter. Lilly became her most loyal friend. After the attack, Pearl threatened to shut down the door to Ambrosia if any other water-dwellers were harmed. Lilly and I bonded over our trauma, and she became like an older sister to me.”
“My God, Ash.”
He took a shaky breath and continued.
“After two years of living with Pearl, word reached us that my father had beaten my mother and thrown her into that cell after discovering she’d helped me escape. He told everyone he wouldn’t free her until I was returned to him. So, of course, I went back.”
Ash’s voice cracked and his gaze dropped.
“When I saw my mother, I hardly recognized her, seeing her so covered in bruises, her body wasted to the point that her bones were visible beneath her skin. I saw her for five minutes before men from the skids took me away. But when I hugged her, I promised that one day, I’d return, and when I did, I’d kill my father and put our family back together. I had a younger sister, Reize.
“While living with Pearl, my father sent Reize away to a place like the skids, but for girls. A place to train them as submissive brides, prized virgins to trade in for favors to serve my father.”
His words hung heavy in the air as the depth of his family’s suffering became clear.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine the horror of being torn from his mother and sister, knowing the fates they had been forced into.
“As for my brother Xanth,” Ash said, his voice growing quieter. “He was everything my father hated. Strong, powerful, but gentle, wouldn’t hurt a fly. All he ever wanted was my father’s approval. But as the eldest son, my father only viewed him as a threat. He sent him across the world to work for the King of Titan, to repay a debt he owed.
“When I made it to the skids, life was a living hell. But I met Calyx there, and honestly, I don’t know if I would have made it through without him. He always found a reason to crack a smile, even on the worst days.”
Ash smiled faintly.
“Calyx had come from a line of people with rare magic, one outside of the four kingdoms. His ancestors were called light benders. They could literally bend light—to use it as a weapon or a shield—even bending it around themselves to become invisible. My father paid a fortune to obtain Calyx, planning to make him an essential asset once he settled.”
Ash’s face darkened. “I played the part of the obedient soldier, training, obeying, doing everything I was told. Calyx was the only one who knew my true intentions. The day I settled, Calyx said the very earth shook beneath the skids as I came into my power.
“I knew then that I could kill my father but the only way to get close enough to him was to earn his trust. So, I played the role of the cold-hearted son. I was stationed at the border overseeing a unit assisting in the transportation of enslaved people into the kingdom. That’s where I met Greyson, one of my best friends and high commanders. Greyson’s magic was electricity, another power my father coveted. Greyson had a secret though—he was half human.
“He hated the slave trade as much as I did since his mother had been sold when he was a child. We started working on a plan together. Training with my power at every conceivable chance. I only saw my father twice during those two years, but I learned to shield my true thoughts behind a mind submissive to my father. Even with the heir power, my father never saw through the trick. He was too arrogant. When I turned twenty-three, with Greyson’s help, I faked my death, compelling all the right people until word of my death reached my father.
“He believed I had been killed in a trade deal gone wrong. My father came to the border to execute my supposed killer himself. I was waiting for him. I deceived him by taking on the mind of the man who was supposedly guarding my killer. Instead of handing him the dark-root laced sword, I plunged it into his heart and looked into his eyes as he died.
“After he took his final breath, I felt the heir power transfer into me. I went home to my mother, brought Greyson with me and immediately requested the return of Reize and Xanth. I tracked down where my father was keeping Calyx and made him my second-in-command. The first thing I did as newly appointed king was to go to Pearl, and together, we ended the slave trade. I ruled for three hundred years, and my kingdom flourished as human and divine lived together as equals.
“Fifty years after I came into power, a new king rose in Titan, and since then, there was peace across all three kingdoms, that was until I received word from the King of Astern that his children were being slaughtered by Agidius, his hidden heir. Calyx, I, and a small group came to the king’s aid. That’s when I found Cynthia, the Queen of the Dark Kingdom, disguised as a servant. It had been a trap to lure me there. Agidius released the curse, and I fought long enough to warn Pearl, having her relay the message to activate Ambrosia’s blood wards, locking my people inside, out of the reach of Agidius and the curse.
“The King of Titan at the time was my ally, a kindred spirit who had risen against his own father, just as I had fought against mine. He represented the beginning of a new era, a different kind of rule in Titan—one built on change and hope. I stood by his side, guiding him, mentoring him, helping him lay the foundation of a new beginning in his kingdom.
“I had created the same wards for his kingdom linked in his own blood, and they also went up that day. The curse claimed me and then I awoke, knowing only my name. Agidius quickly tracked down Calyx and me, making us his second and third. And, well, you know the rest.”
He finished his story, his gaze locking onto mine, searching silently for a reaction.
I struggled to find the right words, to grasp the enormity of what he had just shared.
“Ash, your story is incredible. You are incredible, I can’t believe everything you’ve been through. I’m … I’m at a loss for words. What you’ve accomplished—everything you’ve done—it’s amazing.”
It was true. I had always known Ash was good, but hearing his full story—what he had been through, and the sacrifices he had made—I suddenly felt very small, almost insignificant next to the brave and powerful king sitting beside me.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice hushed.
“What?” I blinked, snapping back from my thoughts.
“I know that look, Areya; you’re worrying about something.”
I hesitated, feeling vulnerable. “It’s just, I truly don’t feel worthy of you. You deserve to have a powerful queen by your side, not me.”
Ash’s eyes softened, and a playful smirk touched his lips. “I thought we were done with all the brooding,” he teased, glancing down at me.
I forced a small smile.
Ash held my gaze, a soft smile settling on his lips. “I fully intend to have a powerful queen by my side, Areya.”
It took a moment for his words to register, to realize he was referring to me.
“Oh. I … I’m not—”
“No brooding, remember?” he cut in before his tone grew more serious. “My kingdom has always been the most important part of my life, but if you decided you wanted no part of it, I’d lay down my crown without a second thought and follow you, wherever you wanted to go.”
I stared at him, taken aback. The implication of his words shook me to my core.
Ash would give up his kingdom, his legacy, for me.
Before I could find the words, he leaned in, kissing me on the lips. My heart hiccuped at the sensation, his soft lips against mine, erasing all worry from my mind. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. “Thank you, Ash. For sharing your story with me.”
I rested my head against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. For a moment, everything faded away as we existed together, enveloped in each other’s presence.
But then a thought crossed my mind. “If Agidius went through all that trouble to lure you into Astern, why didn’t he take your heir power? And how did he know where to find me?”
“That is what we are going to talk to Madam Pearl about.” He looked up at the clock on the wall, adding, “Right now.”