Chapter 3
Three
Unless I rip the Eporri from my leg, I have no choice. I’m going to Stigian. And as tempting as self-inflicting excruciating pain sounds in lieu of seeing Kyron again, I can’t part with the thing that makes me a formidable opponent against my enemy.
Kyron already holds the upper hand on me.
He discarded my heart like a piece of garbage and left me broken in a way I didn’t know was possible.
I question whether I’ll crumble under the weight of being in his presence again or lash out on holy ground, drawing blood and facing the wrath of the Statera?
My emotions may be a mess, but I know how I want him to perceive me.
Powerful, confident, and completely over him.
I descend the imperial staircase, Zek following behind me, and we join the rest of the party that will escort us to Stigian.
My father stands with Micah. He has traded his general’s jacket for the formal attire of the royal guard.
A black iron breastplate adorned with the Lucent crest in gold protects his powerful frame and a crimson cape flows behind him.
His shiny knee-high boots are shoulder-length apart and his hand rests over the pummel of his sword.
He leans into the circle he’s created with the king and Borin as they engage in a whispered conversation.
I’m sure they’re discussing the preparations that have gone into this overnight trip to our rival kingdom.
Palace staff bustles around the foyer, loading trunks of clothes and provisions in the carriage.
Guards stand throughout the room, keeping a watchful eye on the comings and goings.
The air is thick with tension and low exchanges as people go about their business.
No one is eager for their ruler and his heir to travel into a land where we have no control.
I move in next to Leif, and he runs his gaze over my black form-fitting dress. He pauses his examination over the peek-a-boo sheer cutouts that reveal parts of my legs, stomach, and back. He drops his voice and asks, “Planning on making a statement, are we?”
“If you can’t beat them, remind them of what they’ll never have again.”
He throws an arm around my shoulders. “I’ve taught you well.”
“I like to think I’ve improved on your methods,” I say, puckering my lips to hide my smile.
“You wish.”
Micah claps his hands, and everyone freezes, giving their attention to the king in his formal black suit. “Before we leave, there are a couple of matters to discuss. The king regent will act on my behalf while I am gone. Any urgent matters which cannot wait for my return will be presented to him.”
“I wish you fun with that. Borin is a grouch when Micah is away.” I whisper to Leif.
“Don’t remind me. I remember how miserable those days used to be for you.”
Micah gestures for a staffer holding a wooden box to come forward and unlatches the lid. “I think it is important that the Stigian people see that the next ruler of Lucent is as revered as their prince. Raelle, please step forward.”
I work my way through the small crowd to the front of the room.
Micah opens the box to reveal an iron crown with tall spirals encrusted with rubies.
He removes the symbol of my status and rests it upon my head.
A woman holds up a gilded mirror, and I lift my chin, balancing the metal and jewels that sit like a halo.
“Remember, you bow to no Stigian, Raelle,” Micah says, meeting my gaze in the mirror.
“I won’t be the one falling to my knees, Your Majesty.”
He kisses my cheek. “As it should be, my precious girl.”
A tinge of confidence sparks inside me. This time I will enter Esmeray’s kingdom with a true ally by my side. There will be no surprises, no backstabbing. We walk in, anoint Kyron, and walk right back out. A simple task that won’t leave my heart splintered.
“Pardon me, Your Majesty. If we are to make it on time, we must leave now,” says a tall woman with short, blonde hair, and a broach of a wagon wheel on her jacket lapel, signifying she’s the head coach woman.
During our journey to the Stigian border, Zek and I sit across from Micah and my father.
The two are best friends, and if anyone ever doubted it, they just need to look at them sitting shoulder to shoulder and cracking a lifetime’s worth of inside jokes.
They would be obnoxious if I didn’t have my own demanding thoughts to drown them out.
One night at home wasn’t enough time to catch up on over half a year’s events.
Rowan discussed his plans to join the army in the coming month, Salone went on about the boy she likes, and Ansley…
My littlest sister has become a different girl since I left.
She has flourished under the love and attention of Papa.
I thought she couldn’t become any more adorable, but I was wrong.
My favorite moment came late into the night, when everyone but my mother crawled into their beds.
I sat curled up next to her on the couch, watching the fire consume log after log.
She quietly brushed her fingers through my hair while I confessed how scared I was to see Kyron again.
She never told me that my feelings were unfounded or that it was time to get over it.
She simply whispered her understanding of my pain and promised to always be here for me.
All the research into the parah bond and sparring with the temple’s best were not as healing as her words.
I glance out the window and know we’re no longer in Lucent. I’ll never forget the desolate landscape that borders our land, the passage through the mountain where I last held Kyron’s hand, and my first breathtaking glimpse of the towering city.
I bounce my leg and bite my lip, feeling dread and anticipation.
“So, this makes you nervous.”
I tear my gaze from the barren terrain and look at Zek. “Lots of things make me nervous, but going into enemy territory tops the list.”
“What’s to be afraid of? You know you’re safe.”
I bat my eyelashes and plaster a fake smile on my face. “Because I have you to protect me?”
He laughs. “No, because she’s bound to the treaty. This might be the last day both kingdoms see peace.”
He’s right; on the day of my anointment as Lucent’s future queen, the Stigians entered our kingdom with the promise that Micah would give them safe passage, and they must extend the same courtesy to us.
Esmeray can’t lay a hand on us, or she could lose the Statera’s blessing as sovereign.
If there’s one thing I know about the woman, it’s that she will never hand her brother her half of the kingdom.
Micah shifts in his seat to look out the window at the impressive wall that surrounds the city of his childhood. Multi-story buildings loom high above, some draped in banners with the Stigian emblem, and others lit up like beacons against the setting sun.
“Is it how you remember?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “I do not know how she has done it. While I struggle to make sure every Lucent citizen is housed and fed, she has continued to build upon a city that was already magnificent.”
“You know how she has accomplished it, Your Majesty,” my father mutters, staring at his feet as if he has no desire to see the city he was once held prisoner in.
“She uses the Cyffreds that she tricked into an oath. She holds them prisoner,” I answer, my cheeks burn and worry crashes down on me.
My father meets my gaze and gives a curt nod.
Their captivity is a loophole in the treaty between Lucent and Stigian.
When Esmeray and Micah split the kingdom, they agreed that their people would always have the choice of whose rule they stayed under.
A Sibyl bound the line they drew down the center of the land, and only those who wanted to cross it could.
Stigian couldn’t kidnap the Lucent people, and we couldn’t hold anyone against their will.
The queen found a way around the treaty.
She granted the Cyffreds that came to her seeking a better life permission to stay once they completed an oath ceremony.
Unbeknownst to them, they not only pledged their loyalty to Stigian and offered their dormant powers to be siphoned, but they also bound themselves to the land.
If they ever voiced their desire to leave, they became captives.
Countless Cyffreds were now trapped here with no hope of returning to their families.
And as far as the Khiros go, why would they want to leave when they’re treated as gods, feasting on the power of those whose powers remain dormant?
Stigian is everything that Lucent stands against, but all should remain peaceful today—unless Esmeray has found another loophole in the treaty.
We roll through the front gates and yells join the constant crunching of gravel under the carriage’s wheels.
The Stigian people may not be at liberty to harm us during our stay in their city, but that doesn’t mean they don’t stand on the side of the road voicing their distaste.
Shouting their hatred for Micah, calling him a traitor, and denouncing his claim to the crown.
I clasp my hands in my lap and clench my jaw, praying that the Statera gives me the strength I need to get through this.
But all thoughts of myself and my anxiety fades when my father’s trembling hands catch my attention.
This may have been the land he was born in, but this was also where he experienced true hell.
It didn’t dawn on me how difficult returning here would be for him, yet he wouldn’t give up the chance to stand as a free man at his best friend’s side.
I reach across the carriage and place my hand upon his and quietly say, “Everything will be okay, Papa.”
He lifts one side of his lips and squeezes my fingers. “I’m counting on it.”