Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
“ I t’s good to have you home again,” Eleanor said as we walked through the palace.
“It’s good to be home.”
My own words took me by surprise. Did I just call the royal palace—the epicenter of the oppressive regime I’d hated all my life—my home?
I couldn’t deny it now felt familiar. My brother was here, my friends, Luther. It would never mean to me what my family’s cottage had, but life here had become comfortable. Safe.
Safer than anywhere else, at least.
But a crucial element was missing: mortals. Except for my brother, there wasn’t a brown eye in sight. They were a mile away in Mortal City. Though I’d done what I could to improve conditions there, they were still suffering, still scraping to get by.
And as I strolled past opulent tapestries and art, clad in fine garments, belly full from the morning feast, I couldn’t help feeling like I was letting them all down.
“I’m surprised Luther let you out of his sight,” Eleanor teased. “Actually, I’m surprised you let him out of yours.”
“I have a secret weapon.” I grinned. “I left Lily in charge of tending his wounds. He tried to get up, and she started sobbing that she was going to fail her first task as healer. When he got back in bed to calm her down, she looked at me and winked .”
Eleanor burst into laughter. “I’m not surprised. Our sweet Princess has a secret wicked streak. Iléana used to lunch at the palace so she could hound Luther for attention, and Lily convinced the cooks to add their hottest peppers to all of Iléana’s meals. Every afternoon, she’d start sweating and turn bright red. I don’t know who was more pleased when she stopped coming—Lily or Luther.” We both laughed, and Eleanor’s expression turned thoughtful. “I’m glad she’s following in your steps as a healer. There’s so much more to Lily than anyone sees. She just needed someone to believe in her.”
I nudged her. “Sounds like someone else I know.” Her cheeks flushed. “How are things at court?”
“I’m finding allies for you, slowly but surely. Many of the younger Descended agree our system is unjust. Believe it or not, many respect what you did at the Challenging, trying to spare that man’s life.”
That was a surprise. At the time, my attempt at mercy had been met with bloodthirsty jeers—but when it came to the Descended, I was learning first impressions could be deceiving.
“Can I count on any of the Houses to support me?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, the older Descended hold the power, and they are stuck in their ways. Although...” She paused. “House Ghislaine has been quite sympathetic.”
“Even after I killed Rhon Ghislaine at the Challenging?”
“They blame House Hanoverre. In fact, many of the Houses do. They never wanted to Challenge you, but Marthe Hanoverre forced their hand with threats. Now they’re worried they’ll pay the price for her plan going wrong.”
I smirked. “Did you let them know I can be very forgiving to my allies?”
She grinned back. “As a matter of fact, I did.” After a moment, her smile faltered. “Diem, if I may speak honestly, I have won a good deal of ground for you. But I fear if you go to Fortos—”
“—they’ll no longer support a Queen who frees a rebel leader?” She cringed through her nod, and I sighed. “She’s my mother, Eleanor. I can’t abandon her.”
“I know,” she said, her voice softening. “But you should know what it might cost you.”
My stomach twisted. I’d been agonizing over what it would take to get my mother out—how many lives I might have to trade for hers.
Now it seemed that was just the beginning of the price I would pay.
“Is there any chance the younger Descended will break from their Houses to support me?”
“Normally, I would say no, but there’s never been a Crown like you. Descended are drawn to power, and you’ve got no shortage of that.”
We turned a corner and nearly collided with Alixe. She cut an imposing figure in her Royal Guard uniform, adorned with the insignia of her new status as High General. Even her myriad silver piercings had been replaced with styles in a more intimidating black.
She bowed. “Your Majesty, I was just looking for you. I hoped we could discuss the project I mentioned back in Umbros.”
I nodded and embraced Eleanor. “Thank you for everything. You’ve planted the seed that things need changing. That’s work worth doing, whatever the result.”
As she left, I fell in step beside Alixe. “I’m dying to know, what is this mysterious advantage you think might help us win the war?”
She tensed, seeming hesitant to start. “The day of your father’s funeral, I noticed unusual black rocks covering the ground where you... exploded .”
Pain flashed through me at the memory of the cottage I’d unintentionally destroyed after my father’s death. Another thing I’d taken from Teller. Another loss I’d have to break to my mother.
“I had a suspicion about what they were,” she went on. “I gathered them all and brought them to the palace, just in case.”
I stiffened. “You collected the remains of my father without telling me?”
“I apologize, Your Majesty, but it was too dangerous to leave, and at the time...” She grimaced. “You weren’t much interested in speaking to me.”
I couldn’t deny it. In my grief, I’d unfairly accused her and Luther of scheming to get on my Crown Council. Now, such an accusation seemed inconceivable.
“What do you mean, ‘too dangerous to leave’?”
“It’s not just rock. It’s godstone.”
I stopped. “ Godstone? At my family’s home?”
She nodded. “In its raw, unmolded form. I’ve only read about it in books. We were told only the Kindred could make it, and the supply they left was all used up. No one thought we’d ever see any more.”
“Then where did this come from?”
“From you. The rocks were only present in the places your magic touched.”
I started to deny it, to claim it was impossible—but these days, that word had lost its meaning.
“In Umbros, Zalaric introduced me to a woman whose ancestors had worked with raw godstone and recorded the process. For a small fortune, she taught me the technique.” Her eyes lit up. “If it works...”
I held up my palms. “Alixe, I’m not sure I’m comfortable bringing new godstone weapons into the world. Perhaps I’m a fool for it, but after what almost happened to Taran and Luther...”
She gave a wry smile. “I thought you might say that. But we could use it for shields. Nothing can pierce godstone once it’s forged, so even if our enemies have godstone weapons—”
“—we could protect our own from getting hurt,” I finished excitedly. “Alixe, that’s brilliant.”
Her chest rose proudly. “I’ve put the godstone in the palace armory. Would you like to come with me to test the process for the first time?”
“I’d love to. I was on my way there already to gather weapons for my trip to Fortos.”
Alixe smiled as we resumed walking. “Godstone also repels magic. If this works, it will make your army difficult to beat against mortals or Descended.”
Complex feelings washed through me. Though I hated the thought of using my father’s ashes for tools of war, it felt fitting to know he would be with me in battle. If his sacrifice kept my loved ones protected, at least some good would come from the pain of his loss.
“There’s not much of it,” she said. “Do you think you can make more?”
I frowned. I didn’t even know how I’d made that . “When I return from Fortos, I’ll see what I can do,” I offered.
We stepped into the corridor leading to the armory, and we both came to a halt. In the past, I’d seen one guard at the door, two at most. Now, the hallway was lined with them—including several in Emarion Army uniforms.
Alixe and I exchanged a wary look.
The Lumnos Royal Guards snapped to attention in salute. The army soldiers straightened, though it seemed more an acknowledgement of a threat than of a Queen.
As we came to the door, a guard stepped in our path. “Your Majesty. Vice General.”
“Alixe is High General now,” I corrected him.
His blue eyes flicked to Alixe, then back to me.
“Step aside,” she said. “Her Majesty is here to visit the armory.”
“I’ve been ordered not to let you in.” He swallowed. “Either of you.”
“The Challenging is over,” I said. “I am the Queen. Whoever gave those orders, I overrule them.”
Again his throat bobbed. “The Regent says you are not yet coronated, and until you are, he still holds the authority of the Crown.”
“The Regent is mistaken,” Alixe cut in. “Her Majesty has been coronated.”
“His Majesty the King of Fortos says otherwise,” an army soldier interrupted. “He says the coronation ritual was never completed.”
I thought back on that disastrous day. We’d gone around the Kindred’s Temple, each of the Crowns shedding a drop of their blood to affirm my reign—until mine had split the heartstone in half.
Wait. I stiffened. The elderly Montios King, to my left, was last in the order. He never got his chance before the Guardians unleashed their bombs.
The Fortos King was right.
I wasn’t coronated.
Alixe stood boot-to-boot with the guard. “We don’t answer to the Fortos King. This is Lumnos, and you will obey the command of your Queen.”
He trembled as he raised his chin. “The Regent has ordered us to use force, if necessary.”
His hand moved to the hilt of his blade. A flurry of clinking signaled the others doing the same. Shimmers of light danced across the walls as shields rose into place. Alixe’s fingers curled around the handles of her shortswords.
I stepped closer to the guard. “I don’t believe we’ve met. What’s your name?”
“Werrol Corbois, Your Majesty.”
“Ah. A fellow Corbois. Tell me, cousin , did you attend the Challenging?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, I did.”
“Then you saw what I am capable of.” I gave him a smile thick with false friendliness. “If I want to come in, Werrol, do you really think you can stop me?”
His face went pale. Impressively, he held his ground. “No, Your Majesty, I don’t. But if I let you in, the Regent will execute me. At least here, I’ll die in battle with honor, not with my head on a traitor’s pike.”
My mind cycled through all the ways I could do it. Tie them up with Arboros vines. Push them back with Meros wind. Trap them behind a line of Ignios fire.
I could let loose to make a point. Leave them humiliated—or worse.
But as fierce as my temper was, it had nothing on the ruthlessness of Remis and the Fortos King. If I embarrassed them, they’d take out their wounded pride on these guards.
And as much as I shouldn’t care one bit whether these Descended lived or died… godsdamnit, I did.
My jaw clenched hard enough to snap.
“Where is the Regent?” I demanded.
The guard slumped with palpable relief. “A meeting in the reception rooms, Your Majesty.”
I spun on my heel, storming back down the hall with Alixe close behind. As we passed a clump of Emarion Army soldiers, they snickered at each other and grinned.
I flicked my wrist.
Light exploded around me. Glowing tendrils speared through the soldiers’ shields as easily as paper, looping around their ankles and tossing them on their backs. The cords pulled taut as I walked away, tugging them behind me in a shouting, struggling heap.
“Take this as a warning,” I shouted over my shoulder. “My mercy has its limits.”
I let them drag a little longer before a twitch of my fingers dissolved my magic to mist.
I raised an eyebrow at Alixe. “Too much?”
“Arguably, not enough,” she said. “Mercy isn’t a familiar concept here. They’re going to think Remis has something over you.”
I sighed. “He does. He’s right about the coronation. The Guardians attacked before it was complete.”
She glowered. “If you were any other Crown, it wouldn’t matter. The other realms have no Challenging, so the new Crown reigns from the moment they’re selected. The coronation is just a formality to renew the Forging sp—” Her eyes went wide. “ That’s why our magic kept coming back. The Forging spell enforces the borders. If the rituals aren’t done promptly, it begins to break down.”
“That would explain why it’s getting worse over time,” I agreed.
“At least this means they’ll have to complete your coronation soon.”
I smiled grimly. “Unless they plan to kill me and coronate my successor instead.”