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

Chapter 39

The floor tilted under me. Queen of the shadow court. Gran. A queen.

“But the queen of the shadow court died,” Leoni said. “In the Shadow War.”

“So we thought,” Driscoll added. “If I’ve learned anything over the last few months, it’s that nothing is ever what it seems.”

It was hard to wrap my mind around this. Impossible, even.

Emory stuffed the book back into the bookshelf. “Did you ever see your gran wear it? Did she ever talk about it?”

I shook my head. “She kept it hidden.” I hesitated. “I did see her holding it one night, in the middle of the night. I’d woken up, rolled over, and she was sitting on the edge of her bed staring at it.” She’d been crying, something that had struck me at the time because Gran never cried.

I hadn’t asked her about it, knowing that even if I did she wouldn’t tell me the truth. She rarely told me the truth when it came to her past. As evidenced by this. Queen. Spirits below.

“If she stole it,” Emory said, stroking her chin, “she’d have sold it, made a profit from it. No one steals something that valuable just to keep it hidden away.” She shook her head. “No, that necklace had to mean something to her. Belong to her.”

Loch blew out a breath. “But why would the queen of the shadow court kidnap the princess of the sky court? How is it all connected?”

Emory spread out her hands. “Maybe revenge? Maybe something happened between them during the Shadow War. The queen and king of the shadow court were thought to have been killed, along with their infant daughter. If the queen survived, but her husband and daughter died, well, maybe she was crazed with grief.”

My mind turned over all the possibilities, nothing quite making sense.

“That would explain why this shadow king you told me about took your gran.” Emory tapped her chin. “It would explain a lot, actually.”

“Why she went into hiding,” Leoni offered.

“Why she wanted to stay hidden,” Loch added.

Emory nodded, her eyes alight with excitement. “Exactly. If the shadow king found out about her existence, she’d be a threat to his power. She had to go into hiding to stay safe.”

I pinched the necklace between my finger and thumb, rubbing over the raised snake, rough against my skin. “Why wouldn’t she have wanted to challenge him?” I asked. “Take back her throne?”

“That’s something we probably won’t be able to answer,” Emory said.

Right. The only one who could answer that question was Gran. I couldn’t believe this necklace had been the key the entire time.

“My carriage can take you to the bottom of the isle where you can find passage on a ship,” Emory said. “I have a friend who will help you. You’ll be safe. Away from prying eyes.” Emory turned her gaze to Loch. “You know that this means you’ll be missing the conclave. All the royals are expected to be there.”

Loch and Leoni shared a look. “So my brother announced the conclave?” he asked.

Emory nodded. “Oh, yes. It’s been the talk of the sky court for the last few days. Everyone is wondering why Apolis has called a conclave for the first time in sixty years, what could be so pressing that all the courts are required to be present.”

“Well, you know why.” Loch spread out his hands. “You know everything. The conclave is important, yes, but right now it’s not our priority.”

Emory nodded in acquiescence.

“Your husband will allow us to use his carriage?” Driscoll cocked an eyebrow. “You haven’t exactly been very complimentary of him.”

Emory’s blue eyes sparkled. “It’s my carriage, technically, since he doesn’t use it, not with his wings. But yes. Once I tell him the carriage is for the prince of the water court, he’ll hand it right over, probably insist on stocking it with wine and food for you as well. It’s quite large and comfy, as you all know. Much better than going on horseback. Or walking.”

Driscoll stretched his arms behind his head. “Now that I can get on board with.”

“Then he’ll brag to everyone that the prince of Apolis rode in his carriage. It’ll be too easy.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s very predictable like that.”

My stomach twisted at the journey we had ahead of us.

“We should probably go.” Loch stood, stretching his arms up, revealing a shock of golden skin. “Find somewhere to sleep tonight, maybe out in the highlands, then leave early in the morning.”

Driscoll sighed heavily. “Can you just sleep far, far away from us?” he asked Loch.

Loch crossed his muscled arms over his chest, a brow raised. “And why is that?”

Driscoll waved his hand. “All your moaning and mumbling. Master. Please no. It’s not my fault. Master, master! It’s always some form of Master, this or Master, that.”

Loch’s eyes widened.

“What were you dreaming about?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t me, wasn’t that same dream that led him to me, terrorizing him night after night. “When I woke you up in the cage? You were having a nightmare of some sort.”

His brows furrowed. “I’m not sure. There was a mist or something. It was dark. Cold. I was flying, I think. Someone was angry.” He tilted his head. “Master...” He jolted.

“What?” Leoni’s hand shot to the sword sheathed at her side, ever the warrior. “What’s wrong?”

Loch rubbed his jaw. “I think I dreamt of him. The shadow king.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “What happened? Did you see my gran?”

Everyone straightened at that, wide eyes turning on Loch as he raked a hand through his hair. Those auburn curls spilled over his forehead. I had the urge to reach out and brush them aside.

Driscoll eyed me curiously, and I curled my hand into a fist. He was completely oblivious about most things, but a brewing romance or good gossip and the man developed an eagle eye.

“The shadow king?” Emory cocked her head. “Why would you dream of him?”

Loch’s jaw ticked. “Ever since my shadow got taken, I’ve had dreams that I think are visions, maybe. Visions of things my shadow is seeing. I can’t remember a lot of them. Just flashes that usually mean nothing.” He eyes softened as he glanced at me, and it made my heart skip a beat. “Except when they’re of her. I remember those with stark clarity.”

Driscoll’s eyes narrowed in on us, and I cleared my throat. “Are you telling me you remember this one?

“I—” Loch paused. “I’ve been lying to you all. Lying to myself. I think I’ve been suppressing these dreams. Pushing any memories of them away because I was afraid of what I’d see, what it might make me feel.”

I stared at him in shock, and he met my gaze.

“But I don’t want to run from them anymore. I don’t want to be afraid.” He stared at the wall like he was in a different place, a different time. “It’s coming back to me. He was furious.” He rolled his shoulders back. “He said she was gone, and that I had to find her. I think he was talking about Poppy’s gran.” His gaze snapped back into focus and settled on me. “I think she’s escaped and he doesn’t know where to find her.”

Emory began pacing. “This is fascinating. So she’s likely escaped, but we don’t know where she went.”

“A weakness,” Loch murmured.

Emory’s head snapped to him. “What?”

Loch pressed his fingers to his temple. “The shadow king, he said I needed to find her weakness in order to find her.”

Four sets of eyes turned on me.

“I-I don’t know,” I sputtered. “I’m starting to think I didn’t know my gran at all. Certainly not any weaknesses she might have.” If Gran had escaped, I had no clue where she’d gone.

She could’ve fled to the human lands or gone into hiding in the Dragonstone Mountains or the Frost Mountains, somewhere not heavily populated.

I groaned. At least when we thought she was in the shadow court, we had a specific location. Now I had no idea where she might be, which meantI was never going to find her. Despair swallowed me up.

“Hey, don’t start spiraling,” Loch said. “We’ll figure this out.”

His gentle words broke through that building despair and threaded it with the smallest amount of hope. “How?” I asked.

“Was there anything your gran loved?” Emory asked. “Anything she mentioned that she truly cared about?”

My mind reeled with memory after memory of me and Gran, filtering through everything I knew about her, everything she’d revealed of herself over the years. “She loved flowers,” I said, grasping.

Emory grabbed a journal and pen from the shelf and scribbled into it.

“So the earth court, maybe?” Leoni asked.

“That’s a stretch,” Loch said. “There’s pretty flowers everywhere.”

“Well, the water court isn’t known for their greenery,” Emory commented, “and neither is my home, the frost court.” She frowned down at the journal that she’d just written in. “But he’s right. It’s definitely not enough to go on.”

That helpless feeling began rising again, and Loch shot me a gentle smile.

“Besides, you said the shadow king mentioned a weakness,” Leoni said. “Flowers wouldn’t be a weakness.”

I bit my lip. She was right.

Driscoll leaned forward. “Maybe it would help if we talked about our own weaknesses? Except me. I don’t have one. Obviously.”

Leoni wrinkled her nose. “Your weakness is your mouth.”

Driscoll raised his nose. “Well, your weakness is rules. Ms. Goody Two Shoes has to follow the rules at any cost.”

Loch pinched the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t helping.”

“What’s Prince Lochlan’s weakness?” Emory asked.

Driscoll’s gaze flicked to me. “Well, that’s easy.”

Loch cleared his throat. “Can we focus on Poppy’s gran?—”

“It’s obvious to anyone who has eyes,” Driscoll said, waggling his eyebrows in my direction.

I wasn’t Loch’s weakness. I was just his latest conquest. Surely Driscoll saw that.

“Wait a minute.” Leoni snapped her fingers. “That’s it. Poppy. Your gran’s weakness isn’t flowers.”

The journal dropped from Emory’s hand and thumped against the stone floor. She turned her wide ice-blue eyes on me. “It’s you.”

I stepped back at that. “I doubt it. She kidnapped me and kept me in a tower my entire life. Why would she ever do something like that? She always told me it was to protect me. But clearly that was a lie. She had to have hated my parents, had to have hated me.”

Emory shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so. If there’s anything I’ve learned from studying history, from learning about vengeance and anger, it’s those who are seeking both don’t let it end there. They cause pain. Torture. Death.” She tapped her chin. “Your gran might have hated the king and queen of the sky court, but if she’d hated you, she would’ve killed you or hurt you. Why did she never go back to the shadow court and claim her crown? Why not challenge this new king?”

“Like you said, she’s the only one who can answer that,” I replied, swallowing.

“Because she had you,” Emory replied like I hadn’t even spoken. “It would’ve been far too suspicious for her to emerge back home with a baby with wings. She couldn’t bring herself to kill you, to hurt you. Instead, she raised you as her own. Kept you both hidden. You. You’re her weakness because she loved you.”

“It’s true,” Loch said, and my head whipped to him. He swallowed. “All the times you’ve spoken of her, I’ve felt the love between you two, even if it was a little misguided on her end.”

My eyes welled with tears. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear this until it had been said.

Emory bent down to retrieve her journal. “So that begs the question: if you’re her weakness, where would she go?”

“Back to the tower,” I said, the realization hitting me. “She’d go back to where she thinks I still am. She doesn’t know I ever left. She’ll come for me.”

“Then that’s where we have to go,” Loch said. “We’ll leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”