Chapter 31
LEON
It’s been over a hundred years, but I am finally home.
Yet again, I am surrounded by guards, and I am escorted inside my castle. The anticipation of once again rejoining my brother has my heart beating rapidly, nerves twisting in my gut.
Kalvorn’s throne room is still as magnificent as I remember from childhood, and it stops my heart for a moment.
While Ellova’s palace is bright with rich colors and vibrant flora, Kalvorn’s castle is filled with sun-soaked greens, gilded touches, and cream walls.
The golden throne gleams under lavish chandeliers where it sits empty under a marble archway, emerald fabric draped over sandstone pillars above lush greenery that lines the walls.
The Elbasan Sea glitters below the castle, the soft calls of gulls filtering through the circular windows. The air is tinged with salt and the sweet citrus of the nearby orange grove, which thrives in Kalvorn’s temperate climate thanks to irrigation from the Airvell River.
Those doors swing open and my brother, Callen, appears, commanding his guards to leave us.
I’ve pictured this moment countless times since we parted, when I was sent away at seventeen to retrieve the crown.
Callen, only fourteen, stands on the rain-soaked dock, eyes cast downward. I hold one ticket to board a ship to Versairen in my hand. I’ve clung to it with so much fear it’s crumpled in my fist.
My mother’s last words to me echo in my memory. “Do not come back without that crown, Zilas.”
My younger brother embraces me one last time, his small frame shaking. The movement against my chest clogs my throat. “Come back, no matter what. With or without the crown, just come back.” His words are hidden under rolling thunder.
Now, he breaks out into a run at the same moment I do, racing over the shining malachite floor.
We collide roughly and hold each other tight.
A missing piece of me slides back into place at our reunion.
Tears spring to my eyes. The crashing wave of love and familiarity, no matter how much time has passed, could ascend me into the clouds.
A weight is lifted off my shoulders at the sensation that I’ve made it back, that if I must die, it will not be in the rotten kingdom of Adreania but with my brother.
To be born and to greet death here.
He slaps me on the back. “Zilas! You’ve returned! We will plan your coronation at once,” he shouts joyfully and we pull apart. It echoes around the elegant throne room that as a young prince I dreamed would be mine.
I need to be honest with him, but his joy at my arrival is such a gift after all that has happened.
We look so similar; it’s part of the reason we were able to fool everyone when I left. How he could easily pretend to be me after I disappeared. He has no gray in his hair, though. I may be slightly taller, my hair longer, but our features are nearly identical, the same bright green eyes.
Those eyes stay locked on mine, never glancing up at my head, devoid of the crown I was meant to return with.
“Are you well? We got word that Jedrick had died and we feared the worst.” His smile is stretched wide, his hands on my shoulders as if to remind himself I am truly here.
“Callen…I—” Words suddenly fail me. I despise ruining the joy between us at this treasured reunion.
To tell him he will lose me just as quickly as I’ve returned.
I slowly undo the first few buttons of my shirt, revealing the proof of my enervation death’s swift arrival.
Bright white scars crawl up my chest. “My coronation will be unnecessary. I thought I would return with the crown and a queen for Kalvorn, but I have failed on both counts.”
His face falls in devastation with a broken whisper. “No!” He knows, as I do, a cure does not exist but hope still returns to his words. “But your magic? Can you not heal yourself?”
“I’m afraid not.” I close my eyes and try once more to save my own life. My healing magic gathers within me, but when it reaches my chest, the magic slips out of me like sand through an hourglass. I shake my head. “Any magic I use attempting to heal it just fades out of me.”
“How did this happen? Where is the crown now? If we can get it back, surely it has enough magic. We will take it by force this time, send out the entire Kalvorn army.” His resolve to save me is commendable.
With a deep sigh I say, “I have much to tell you.”
“And I you,” he says with an ache in his voice. “You are an uncle now.”
Callen has lived a full life here, and I want to know everything.
“Yes, I heard through whispers at the castle you are a husband and a father to a little prince now.” No matter the heaviness between us, we have much to celebrate.
“I wish to meet them!” I glance around to see if anyone has joined us, but we are still alone.
Callen wrings his hands for a moment. A guilty expression crosses his face before he straightens with determination.
“Before you meet them, I have a confession. I know she was betrothed to you when you left Kalvorn, but Estelle is my wife. I married her two years ago, but I loved her long before that. I did try to delay the marriage, for you to return, but we—no.” He takes a deep breath.
“I couldn’t hold back from her. I swear, I kept our true identities a secret for as long as I could.
She arrived to be your queen, but she was meant for me.
I could sense it in my bones, my being. I had no way of contacting you in Adreania.
She may have been the fiancée Mother chose for you, but she was always meant to be mine.
” His throat bobs. “I understand if you hate me. It is a betrayal I do not expect forgiveness for.”
I am stunned by his words. I understand if you hate me.
I’m more wounded that he thinks I possess the ability to hate him, than I am at anything to do with Estelle, a woman I hardly knew.
I take in all of his words, his desperate need for me to comprehend how much has changed since I left.
Perhaps if I had never met Izadella, I would feel differently.
If I returned with the crown, ready to marry, only to discover they had fallen in love.
That loss of loyalty might eat at me, but I now know the crushing weight of loving someone you think is another’s.
When I thought Izadella was married to a mortal man, I was convinced he was unworthy of her. She’d been so close to me in those midnight hours but eternally out of reach. I’d cared so little of her husband when I knew she was fated to me.
I imagine Callen must have felt the same relief and joy when I freed Estelle from our engagement, as I did, learning Izadella was never truly married.
Callen’s apprehension keeps his face guarded and transforms into surprise when I yank him into another bone-crushing hug. “I understand, truly.”
He quickly pulls back, shocked at my response. “What?”
“The news of your marriage did seem rather soon after I broke off our arranged engagement, but how could I harbor ill will towards either of you? If you found love in my absence, I am exceedingly glad for it, and having a child? What a blessing! You’ve had much placed upon you, and my quest for the crown took decades longer than I had hoped.
You are my brother, and you deserve every bit of happiness.
You stood in my place for a century. For that I am grateful.
How could I harbor anything other than gratitude for your sacrifice and joy for your marriage? ”
He deserves all the happiness one can find in this long lifetime.
Callen’s eyes shine with relief and it is his turn to draw me in. “Thank you.” It is a broken sound dipped in bliss. “I’ve missed you, Brother. You should have come back sooner. We don’t need the crown; we need you. Mother was wrong to demand so much.”
My heart swells with gratefulness.
When we finally break apart, I ask, “I have missed and thought of you daily. Have the two of you been happy?”
He sags in relief, and his answering smile is that of a man desperately in love.
“Immensely so. I never knew true happiness until her. Estelle is everything to me. It would have broken me completely if you returned and demanded your union proceed.” He pauses for a moment before asking, “Why did you end it, though? Did something happen?”
I nod, grateful to talk about Izadella with someone who cares for me as only family can, someone who may take a moment to hear my side and understand I never meant to hurt her.
We may have been separated by mountains and irreplaceable time, but I know my brother will not judge me for the mistakes I have made this month, or how the weight of my withholding the truth from my soulbonded mate might have cost me everything.
“At one of Jedrick’s midnight bazaars, I met a mortal woman named Arra.
I knew I could never wed anyone who was not her.
I sent you that letter the moment I returned to my rooms that evening.
I’ve been with her for the past month. She is my soulbonded mate; of that, I am sure.
She is meant for me as I am meant for her. ”
His words are ripe with pity, “A mortal? Zi, that will not end well.”
Delight flares deep in my chest at the childhood nickname.
“Well, I suppose it worked out rather well in the beginning. She is fae like us, only pretending to be mortal, as I was. She was just quicker with her honesty. Her name is Izadella. It is a long story best shared over strong ale, but she has the crown.”
Sadness softens his face. “Is she who you thought would become queen?”
“Yes.” I tell him most of everything that has happened in the past month. I leave out the existence of Ellova. One secret I will keep for now.
By the end it is a knife to my chest at the reminder that Izadella and I will never sit side by side on that dais, a crown of Kalvornian emeralds upon her sunset strands. I take a deep breath, pushing down the heartache of hurting Izadella so badly it will kill me.
“My heart breaks with yours, Brother. We will try and find a way to save you.”
“Nothing can be done but there is much to discuss. Grayden plans on marching troops here soon.”
Callen rolls his eyes. “Yes, he made that very clear when the two of us met in neutral territory on the Elbasan Sea. He raged and raged at us. I told him I could lift all of Adreania’s sorrows in exchange for the crown.
His refusal was swift. Our spies tell us that kingdom is even worse than we knew.
I do wonder what army he plans on using, since food is about to run out and riots are starting every day. ”
“I know Grayden all too well. Please take his threats seriously. He will burn Adreania to the ground if he thinks it will get him what he wants. He does not understand that the root of all of Adreania’s problems is the crown. He truly believes Kalvorn holds the magical key to a thriving kingdom.”
Callen laughs humorlessly. “The crown will soon be the root of our problems, too. It has been siphoning our magic for years, just far more slowly than it has in Adreania. It has only been within the past few years we have truly felt it. Now that you have returned and the crown is no longer there, Kalvorn will have a brighter future. If it comes to all-out war, we shall navigate it together.”
“That we will, Cal.” I have no doubt my brother can handle whatever is coming.
He appears to search for the right words to say and settles on, “We have no idea how long the enervation will take. As the rightful king of Kalvorn by birth and by blood, you should rule for whatever time you have left.”
I cannot read his expression. Does he wish for me to rule?
The need to prove to Izadella that she is most important to me clashes with my desire to be a good brother and a great king to Kalvorn. He has spent a century waiting for me to return, and before I met Izadella, being king was all I wanted but everything has changed.
I am loath to speak my next words, but I have made up my mind.
“I must rescind the throne and any claim to the kingdom of Kalvorn. I will not give Izadella a single reason to think I desire the crown more than her. She is the last descendant of the Forger, and what she chooses to do with the crown is up to her. Our family has no claim over it anymore.”
His expression hardens but he finally says, “I can understand that. There is nothing I would not sacrifice for Estelle.”
“I know you have been a beloved king to a thriving kingdom. I am truly sorry I cannot take this burden from you. Everything has gone so wrong.”
The space between us is thick; much has been left unsaid. I wish to know how his life has been without me. Ruling Kalvorn and pretending to be me must have been difficult.
He looks me up and down. “You need rest.”
My answering laugh is dry; I’m sure I do. “Yes, I have not slept much the past two days. It has been…” I search for the right word. “…rough.”
Callen takes a deep breath. “Your room has been kept ready for you. I ensured it was tended to weekly. I figured even when you returned, you would wish for the room closest to the library. I will have food and drink sent to you. We can discuss Grayden and his senseless war later.”
“Thank you. That is very kind.”
“You did not arrive alone. Who are those with you?”
“A group of travelers from Adreania, fleeing Grayden. Please see they are all treated well. I would do it, but I’m not sure who would listen to me. Grayden’s wife, Queen Erenia, is leading them. Please let her know where I am if she needs me.”
He nods, lost in thought. “I will.”
“Thank you. And for what it is worth, I am truly sorry.” I leave him on the dais, standing next to the throne that is truly his now.
My bedroom is warm and inviting. I was terrified the last night I slept here, over a hundred years ago, when I was being sent off to learn medicine far too young to somehow, against all odds, find a way to get close enough to a king to steal the crown upon his death.
I climb into the silken sheets, terrified once more, but this time for fear that I’ve lost Izadella forever.