Tower of Tempest: A Steamy Fantasy Romance (Stolen Crowns Book 3)

Chapter 19

We sat in the massive library of the sky court with its domed ceiling, this one not clear glass like most others in the sky court, but instead painted to look like a starry night sky twinkling above us. Bookshelves stacked on top of each other, stretching all the way to the high vaulted ceiling—no stairs anywhere. Instead long glass bridges hung overhead, crisscrossing, stretching between shelves. Sky elementals flew upward, landing on the bridges and walking to the shelves to pluck out books they wanted. Big platforms stood in other areas where bridges didn’t reach. A woman soared above me, landing on a platform and studying the books in front of her before reaching for the one she wanted.

Tables were scattered about on the ground floor, the chairs perfect for my wings, while Driscoll, Leoni, and Prince Lochlan squirmed, clearly uncomfortable with the skinny backs.

My wings twitched. They’d been doing that a lot lately, ever since we arrived here. I wanted to fly, stretch out my wings and see what they could do. But I didn’t trust I wouldn’t fall if I took the leap.

We’d had to ask one of the librarians to get books for us, and she’d stared at me with curious eyes that kept darting to my wings. I knew she wanted to ask why I didn’t just fly up and get the books myself, but thankfully she refrained.

So instead, she listened to our request and returned later with a stack of books teetering in her arms.

Those books sat in front of us now, looming and intimidating.

I ran a finger along the dusty spines. Prince Lochlan grabbed a book and flipped it open. He’d asked if it was okay to fill Leoni and Driscoll in on Gran’s identity, and I’d given him permission.

I hadn’t meant to pry yesterday in his room, hadn’t meant to ask him about his shadow getting taken, but something in his eyes had looked so pained when I’d brought it up that I couldn’t help but offer to be a listening ear if he’d needed it. It had been a surprise when he’d told me his story, but I appreciated it, and in return, I’d opened up as well. It had felt good. Up until he’d basically rejected me.

I cleared my throat. “So what are we even looking for?”

“Anything about the survivors of the Shadow War, anything of significance that happened during the Shadow War that we can trace back to your gran.” He leaned forward. “We have to know who’s after you and why, and it all must lead back to your gran, to something she did during the Shadow War.”

“Maybe my gran is the only one who can answer that.” I leaned back in my chair with a sigh.

“Unless you die first, then we don’t get any answers,” Driscoll said.

Leoni and Prince Lochlan turned to stare at him.

He raised his hands. “You all are testy today.”

“No one’s dying,” Leoni whispered from next to me, her hand hovering over the sword sheathed at her side.

“I agree,” the prince said, an edge to his voice that made Driscoll wince.

I wasn’t used to this serious side of Prince Lochlan, but ever since he’d seen my ransacked room yesterday, he’d been somber. The teasing, the flirting, gone. I missed it.

I sighed. “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, Driscoll.”

“Well, no one plans on dying,” Driscoll retorted, grabbing a book and flipping through it. “Obviously.”

“Can we stop talking about dying?” the prince asked, and Leoni and Driscoll shot each other knowing glances that I couldn’t interpret.

Leoni grabbed a book from the stack as well. “Can you tell us anything else about your gran? Anything she revealed to you, maybe by accident? Or times when you mentioned something that set her off? Made her angry? We need more to work with here.”

I shrugged helplessly, my wings bunching with the movement. “I’ve told you everything I know. She was secretive about this enemy, said the less I knew about him the better.”

“It has to be the shadow king,” the prince said. He stroked his jaw. “I wish I’d thought to learn more about him when I was trapped on that island. Mal and I should’ve worked harder to infiltrate his home.”

“Well, we know he rose up after the Shadow War,” Leoni said. “Goji revealed that much.”

“Goji?” I asked, my nose wrinkling.

“Someone we met on our journey to the shadow court,” Driscoll said. “A pixie who worked for the shadow king.”

I folded my arms on the table. “But why would this shadow king dislike Gran? Shouldn’t they have been on the same side?”

A thoughtful expression crossed Prince Lochlan’s face. “Unless your gran didn’t agree with the shadow king, with him rising up and taking over. The king and queen of Sorrengard died during the Shadow War, their sole heir killed. Maybe your gran had been loyal to them, to the point where she’d contest some random person rising up and taking over.”

Driscoll gasped. “What if their heir didn’t die and your gran was the baby? She grew up and had to go into hiding so the shadow king wouldn’t kill her. I mean, if she’s the true heir, that would be motivation for the shadow king to want her dead.”

I chewed at my lip. “No, that doesn’t make sense. Gran was twenty years old when the Shadow War happened. The king and queen’s heir was just a baby.”

Driscoll sighed. “Well, that was my only theory.”

“Huh,” Leoni stared down at a page she was reading.

We all straightened.

“Well?” Driscoll snapped his fingers. “What did you find?”

Leoni traced a few lines with her finger. “Oh, never mind. I thought I found something about survivors of the war, but it’s not talking about shadow elementals who survived—it’s about survivors from the other courts.”

My shoulders slumped. At this rate, we weren’t going to find anything about Gran. “Maybe we need to depart for the shadow court sooner,” I said. “If someone is after me because of Gran, all the more reason to get out of Valoris.”

Prince Lochlan stiffened. “No, we need to gather information before leaving.” He leaned forward. “I don’t think you understand how dangerous Sorrengard is. How dangerous this shadow king is. If he wants your gran, what if he wants you too? You don’t know what it’s like to get your shadow ripped from you, to be missing a piece of yourself.” He swallowed.

“Well, what else are we supposed to do?” I threw up my arms. “I left my tower to save my gran, to finally get some answers about everything she’s kept from me.”

“And now you’ll be at risk of being trapped again,” the prince argued.

“So what are you saying? That you don’t want to go to Sorrengard at all? That’s not your decision to make.”

He shifted in his seat. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I just hate the idea of traveling all the way to the shadow court when we don’t even know for certain your gran is there.”

Leoni closed her book and grabbed another one, opening it.

“But that’s what makes the most sense,” Driscoll said to Prince Lochlan. “If it was your shadow who took her gran, then it was definitely the shadow king who commanded it. The shadow king lives in the shadow court, so where else would her gran be?”

“Where else would your shadow be?” Leoni said, an edge to her voice as she and Driscoll shared another curious look between them.

I was missing something, but I wasn’t sure what.

“We need to get to the shadow court.” Leoni’s eyes dipped to the book, her finger once again tracing lines. “No more delaying, no more excuses. I know you spent eight horrible months there. But all the signs are pointing to it. And we’re not finding any useful information here.”

The prince’s jaw locked at her words. My brows furrowed at the tension simmering between them. It was so uncharacteristic of the prince to act like this.

Driscoll’s mouth dropped open as he stared at a page in the book he was reading. “I think this book is referencing your tower,” he said.

“What?” I leaned forward, staring at the page, but the words were upside down and impossible to read.

“Listen to this,” Driscoll said as he read from the book. “Spirit Sky might not have been as sadistic as Spirit Fire, who was known for burning his victims from the inside out, but he was equally as fearsome, building what was known in the Old World as a tower of terror.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“The tower spanned the height of a redwood tree, with a single room and window at the top. He used this tower to trap those who displeased him, often cutting off sky elementals’ wings so they couldn’t fly away, putting up iron bars to dull elemental powers so they couldn’t use them to escape. He’d leave prisoners in the tower for days, weeks, at a time, many perishing, their bones left for those who came next. How long one stayed in the tower depended on their crime. To this day, the tower is believed to be cursed, a bad omen, and while most don’t even know of its whereabouts, those who do, stay far, far away.”

Spirits below. “That’s my tower. I can’t believe I lived in a place shrouded in such misery and death.”

Prince Lochlan tipped his head. “Well, if there was any location for your gran to choose to hide you two, that would be a good one. I didn’t even know of its existence before I started dreaming of you standing in the window.”

“That’s not all.” Driscoll’s gaze shifted down the page. “It also says that the tower was where Spirit Sky was rumored to have grabbed his bolt from the sky. One of his prisoners had managed to escape his tower, and in a fury, he flew up to the very top, where he came to a perch and summoned lightning. It crackled down, forming into a weapon that he used to kill the prisoner.”

What an awful tale. I’d never understood why everyone would worship spirits who seemed so terrifying. Gran had told me that everyone believed the spirits to be reformed, that religious scholars claimed the spirits blamed themselves for influencing those of the Old World. That it was ultimately their fault the Old World misused their magic, so the spirits decided it would be best to kill everyone and sink into obscurity. Until a thousand years later when our ancestors stumbled upon the continent, and the Seven Spirits decided they’d try again. But unlike before, they’d stay away so as not to influence elementals in any way.

“It’s all lies,” Gran had said. “A way for elementals to justify worshipping spirits who have brought nothing but harm and chaos to the land.”

“It’s a nice story,” Leoni said, breaking me from my thoughts. “But that’s not helpful, Driscoll. None of this is helpful. Poppy is right. We need to leave for Sorrengard immediately.”

Driscoll snapped the book shut. “You know, maybe we should just take this as a sign that it’s time for a vacation. Go somewhere warm, lie on the beach for a few days, soak up the sun.”

Leoni glared at him.

“Well, I thought it was a good idea,” Driscoll mumbled.

The prince’s mouth quirked up, the first time I’d seen him smile since yesterday morning. My heart did a flip. “If we’re going to make a trip to the shadow court, if you all are going to risk getting your shadows taken, then I want to be damn sure about it.”

“No.” Leoni stood, her chair scraping against the tiled floors. “No. I have to put my foot down. It is my job, my duty, to protect you, to do what’s in your best interest. I’ve entertained many of your wild ideas on this journey, but this has got to stop. You don’t have the time?—”

“Ah, we’ve got plenty of time, Leoni,” Prince Lochlan said in his easy manner, Leoni’s anger slowly ebbing away from her features as his stone gaze bored into her. “And you’re a fantastic guard.” He put a hand to his chest. “You’re doing your duty by following orders. My orders, specifically.”

Driscoll cleared his throat. “Is anyone else hungry? I could really go for some spiced goat stew, maybe some ale?—”

The flattery worked temporarily, but while the prince’s blue eyes had hardened to stone, Leoni’s blue eyes turned to ice. “This is costing us too much time. Time that we don’t have.”

“Why?” I asked, and everyone jumped at that, like they’d forgotten I was here.

“It’s nothing,” the prince said quickly. “They’re just eager to get my shadow back so I can return to Apolis, return to my playboy prince ways. They miss all the gossip, the rumors about who I might date next. Will I or won’t I settle down?”

Leoni huffed and crossed her arms, and I very much doubted she cared about gossip.

I swallowed, the distinct feeling rising up that they were keeping something from me, but I didn’t have time to ask because a few females stood in a group nearby, gazes darting to us as they whispered and pointed.

I rolled my eyes and tipped my head toward them. “Oh, look, your admirers have found us.”

Prince Lochlan turned to them, frowning, and his hand rested over the hilt of the sword sheathed at his side.

“What?” I asked. “Go do what you do best. Flirt. Make them giggle and blush. Whisper sweet nothings into their ears. That should improve your mood.”

Once the words were out of my mouth, something dark and ugly twisted my gut at the thought of him flirting with them, touching them—touching anyone.

“Except they’re not looking at me,” the prince murmured. “Poppy, pull your hood up.” His tone grew urgent. “We need to leave.”

“But we haven’t even had a chance to read through these books.” I gestured to the huge pile.

He strode over and grabbed my arm, lifting me to my feet and draping my cloak over my shoulders.

“What has gotten into you?” I asked. “They’re clearly mooning over you.”

“I don’t think they are,” Leoni said, voice full of concern.

“You all are becoming paranoid.” I dug my feet into the floor as the prince pulled me toward the doors.

Driscoll rubbed his belly. “Does this mean we can go get lunch?”

“We’re going back to the inn,” the prince growled in a rough voice I’d never heard. “You’re to stay in your room while we investigate.”

He continued to drag me along until we were outside again, the sun shining down, the chilly breeze whistling around us. Stone stairs led down to a small courtyard filled with benches and grassy spots for elementals to sit and read, talk, eat. It was a beautiful day to explore the city.

I pulled at the prince, and he stopped, turning.

“Let’s just get lunch and calm down,” I said.

“Oh, thank the spirits.” Driscoll pressed his hands together in reverence.

The prince’s gaze shifted around the courtyard, bouncing from elemental to elemental. I tugged my hood farther over my head, feeling self-conscious.

“Maybe Poppy is right,” Leoni said. “Let’s get lunch and talk and?—”

“She’s going back to the inn,” Prince Lochlan interrupted. “To her room. I’ll stay with her, guard her, while you and Driscoll gather any information you can on who might be after her.”

The words sent a chill down my spine. No, no, I wouldn’t be trapped in my room while Gran was out there. “I’m right here,” I said. “I should have a say in this.”

The prince shook his head, jaw locked, fists curled. “No. We cannot take any risks right now. I’m sorry, but this is for the best.”

Leoni and Driscoll stared at him with wide eyes, like they couldn’t believe he was taking a stand. I couldn’t either. But the prince was determined, and no matter how much I protested, he refused to listen. I’d be trapped again. This time with the prince of the water court.