Long Live the King (The Kingdom of the Krow #4)

Prologue

Two Months Ago

~ GALL ~

When I opened my eyes, my head hurt, and I was confused.

I looked around and frowned. My eyes blurred, but I didn’t recognize the strange place.

The wall right next to where I lay looked like the rough wall of a cave.

But the rock was reddish-brown. Directly over me, a flaming torch had been fixed to the stone.

It flickered, and sent light unevenly up the wall.

The room must be really big, because the end of it beyond my feet was dark, like the light didn’t reach it. But when I craned my head back to look behind me, it was dark on that end too. I couldn’t see any walls or doors.

Was I in a tunnel? Where? And where was my mate?

Jolting in fear for Istral, I sat up, twisting, looking for her left and right—then groaned, and gripped my spinning head in my hands.

My heart thumped really fast, and I could feel my blood rushing, throbbing so hard my head banged like a drum.

My breathing was too quick. I was having a panic.

I needed to Be Still. But I couldn’t stop the fear thoughts.

Where was she?

Where was I?

Had I hurt her? Scared her?

Had she left? Or did they find her?

I tried to remember the last thing…

Leaving her hiding in the Shadows of Shade, before I went to join Papa. The messenger had come, and then…

My grandfather.

He found me on the trail, after Papa won the battle. He was very excited to know me, and he would help. I was excited, and would have run to the camp, but he pulled me to a halt and said we had to talk first.

I didn’t want to. I wanted to get back to Papa, then go get Istral.

Grandfather never got upset, though. I remembered that. Which was a surprise. Most people lost patience with me quick if I didn’t agree with them. But he didn’t. He just smiled a lot and…

And, nothing. It all went black.

I cursed under my breath, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember anything else.

I had to sit there for a while, shaking and breathing too fast. My body was hot, but my hands and feet were cold.

When I calmed a little bit, I managed to sit up properly and throw back the quilts that had been tucked around me, but the cot where I’d been laying was narrow. I almost fell off. I had to sit for more minutes on the edge to breathe, until my head stopped spinning.

When I stopped feeling sick, I gripped the edge of the cot and stamped my feet, to see if my legs felt strong, like Papa had showed me to do if I got hit in the head.

Maybe that was what happened? Maybe I got hit, and now I couldn’t see right?

I didn’t know.

I hated not knowing.

While I was still thinking about that, a door opened somewhere nearby.

A rectangle of light widened at the feet end of the room.

I saw the shape of a very tall, very strong man walking into the darkness.

But then the door closed, and I couldn’t see again.

I heard his footsteps though and tensed, trying to remember all the right ways to fight with my hands—until the man finally walked into the dim light from the torch behind me. He smiled.

Grandfather.

I was a little bit relieved. And even more confused.

“Hello, Gall. How are you feeling?” he asked.

His voice was warm. He smiled a lot, and sounded like he might laugh soon. Which was strange, because he made my stomach tight.

“Where are we?” I knew it was rude not to answer his questions, but I was scared. “Where’s Istral?”

His smile got broader. “I know you’re worried about your mate. Very soon, I’ll take you to her. You just need to be calm first. We’ll have a little talk, then we’ll go.”

“Take me to her now!”

Grandfather smiled, but shook his head, which was confusing. “She’s asleep, Gall. Just like you were. She’s not hurt, I give you my word. Now, let’s just get to know each other a little bit before we wake her, okay?”

I didn’t know what to think about that. I stared at him, but he looked at me like he was waiting.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

His smile faded, but his lips still pulled up on one side. “I’m waiting for you to be ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“For your crown, Gall.”

I was very confused. “The heir doesn’t get a crown.”

“No, they don’t. But you do. Because you’re not just heir, Gall. You’re king.”

I caught myself, just in time before I laughed at him. “No, I’m not. Papa is king.”

“Actually, Gall, your real father is dead. But he was king—which is why you are now.”

I killed him.

My stomach flipped over, and started churning like the water when the eels were feeding. I might be sick.

I swallowed hard, trying to remember the good parts.

My blood father, the king, was dead. But my heart-father, Papa—Melek—wasn’t. He was going to make me heir. It was very important. “Papa battled the—”

The man smiled. “Melek has been crowned, it’s true. But he only has the arrogance to call himself king, because I gave him everything he needed to get this far.”

I took a better breath then. “You’re his ally?” I was relieved. It had seemed like he might be angry about Papa.

Grandfather made a strange expression. “You could say that. I have put a lot of effort into positioning Melek and his mate.”

“Positioning them? For what?”

“For you, Gall.”

I was confused, but I didn’t want to say that because usually when I didn’t understand something, other people gave up trying to explain and I never got the answers. Just their frustration. I was still trying to think of a question that wouldn’t let him know I didn’t understand, when he spoke.

“You can ask me questions, Gall. I’ll always answer.”

It was like he read my mind. But if he knew I had questions and he was smiling, maybe he wouldn’t give up?

“Where am I? Where’s Istral? Why are you—"

“You should be very happy! You’re on your way home! Eventually, we’ll take you back to Valgorath City. And don’t worry, Istral is coming too. She’s beautiful, and very sweet. Very obedient. The perfect mate for a king.”

I growled because he smiled when he talked about Istral, and even though he was a little different, if he was my grandfather, then he was Nephilim, and they couldn’t be trusted with women. “If you touched her—”

“Do not fear, Gall,” he said, chuckling and putting his hands up like he surrendered. “We’re family, remember? Your mate is very safe. She hasn’t been touched. And soon, I’ll take you to her so you can return to being her Protector.”

That made my heartbeat ease a little bit. But I still didn’t understand. “How did I get here? Where are we?”

The man sighed like it had been a very hard job. Probably because they had to carry me, and I’m really heavy.

“It will all become clear soon. I promise. The thing you must understand right now, Gall, is that Melek means well, but he is unwilling to listen to true power. That means he shouldn’t be king, because he makes enemies with the people who are right.”

I didn’t understand all of that, except… “You’re his enemy?”

Grandfather shook his head. “I’m not. But he believes that I am.”

He stared at me intently, like he was waiting for me to understand. My nerves jangled. But then I noticed his golden eyes and ice slid down my spine. “Your eyes,” I muttered, because I had heard Papa and Yilan. And I knew what that meant.

“Yes?”

“They’re… the eyes of…”

“Of what, Gall? It’s okay, you can say it. I won’t be angry.”

I swallowed. “The Fallen. The bad guys.”

The man chuckled. “You’re remembering your education. Well done!”

There was a prick of pride deep in my chest, because this man said he was my grandfather, and he was proud of me? But he made me nervous, too. I didn’t trust him. Not with those eyes.

“You’re a Fallen Angel?” I asked carefully.

“Not just a Fallen. I’m the most Fallen. The one all the others followed.”

My mouth dropped open, and I had to close it because Istral said that was rude. I leaned away from the man, wishing I had more room. “You’re… you’re…”

“You would call me Lucifer.”

“The Devil,” I whispered, then clapped a hand over my mouth.

Lucifer laughed like I made a good joke. “You see, you have listened to your father well. Still… have you observed, Gall, that even though Melek is good, he’s not always correct?”

Lucifer?!

I was really scared, but tried to stay calm. My hands shook, and my thoughts didn’t want to be smooth.

I needed to get to Istral, but Lucifer was the one who knew where she was.

Oh, shit.

Lucifer. He’d said he’d take me to her. But that meant—

Lucifer stepped forward and patted my shoulder, even though I leaned away from him.

“I know your life has been very hard, Gall,” he said in a soft voice. “The bloodline I gave you did not serve you well. Your true father didn’t give you what you deserve. I wish it had happened differently. But here we are. I have returned, and I won’t let you down.”

“What do you mean?” My voice was too high. I thought he’d laugh at me, but he patted my shoulder.

“Listen carefully, Gall,” he corrected me softly. “Because this is important: I am your grandfather by blood. The blood of the most powerful Fallen ever to exist runs in your veins. Now that my son—your blood father—is gone, you are the most powerful Nephilim in the world. Did you know that?”

“What?!”

He leaned in, sliding his hand up to cup my neck. “I said, running in your veins, is the greatest power that exists in this world. Your eyes are golden, have you noticed?”

“Yes, but they won’t stay that way because—”

“No buts, Gall. I know you’ve been reduced and used and degraded your whole life. I’m here to end that. I’m quite powerful—you may have heard?”

I swallowed, my mouth felt sticky. “Yes. Very powerful. But evil power. Dark.”

The man shook his head. “No, Gall. That’s where Melek was wrong. I’m not evil. I am merely strong. And you might have noticed that your Papa, your father of the heart, Melek—he doesn’t like to be challenged.”

I thought about that, because it was true. Papa really only got angry when people pushed him when he thought he shouldn’t be pushed.