Chapter 12
RYLIAN
“Are you sure you’re up for this, sire?” I don’t need to see Jahan’s aura to know he’s concerned.
“It’s what I must do.” I move to pull my finest cloak over my shoulders, hoping it’ll help hide the weight I’ve lost. It’s only been two weeks. I won’t last until autumn like this. When I falter, the cloak slips, and Jahan catches it.
The dukes have outmaneuvered me on the spring equinox celebration. I don’t know why they’re so intent, but they insist I must preside over the court. That as a new king, I must appear strong.
It’s not fair, of course. But clearly, life never is.
Except when I arrive at the Oaken Throne, wardens at my side, I see it is not just about the spring equinox.
The room is bright and decorated with the buds of fall flowers, which is our way of nodding to the spring.
The air smells of honey and strawberries, a fruit our seasons share at times, and most of the usual court are in attendance.
But there is one who should not be here.
Duke Alred stands in the center of the aisle that leads to my throne, Duke Pantaris and Duke Lorimar at his side.
“What is the meaning of this?” I thunder. Or, I mean to thunder. A month ago, this room would have descended into darkness, the fae torches blazing. Now, it dims, but the effect is clearly diminished. “Who brings this prisoner before me?”
“Sire, please, I beg you to hear me out,” Alred says smoothly.
“There is nothing to hear. Wardens, return him to the prison.”
They start forward, but the dukes have their own men who edge in, hands on their sword hilts.
“Please!” Alred says. “Just a few words, and I will go willingly.”
“Fine. Speak.”
“Sire, your health is failing. We cannot continue on like this.”
“The burden of the wards was not meant for one fae to carry. But I will carry it, by the gods.”
“You will, and you will die trying. Please, sire. Let another, older duke take your place. There are those of us who, if crowned, could carry the burden more readily.”
I laugh, surprising him. It’s a bitter, hard laugh, an angry one. “Who, you?”
“Either I or Duke Lorimar can bear the burden.”
“Is that what this is all about, then? This is why you destroyed the crystals?”
Gasps go up through the crowd.
“I told you, sire. Perhaps your rational thought is leaving you. My student Castelis was responsible.”
“An interesting choice of words. You never say, ‘She destroyed the crystals,’ only that she was responsible. But I believe it was you who was responsible for their destruction.”
“Preposterous. You don’t have a shred of proof for that accusation.” Alred is fuming. The dukes on either side of him are exchanging glances, and I am certain this is changing the equation in their minds as to whether they want to support Alred and this coup of his.
“I saw the book of potions on his desk,” a quiet feminine voice says from the crowd. “It had a page marked. The page for the Snowdrop potion. I didn’t understand how that mattered until later.”
And even before I see her face, the golden aura catches my eye. It’s cutting a path through the crowd toward me. “Castelis!”
The cloaked form that emerges from the crowd and hurries up the steps toward me is too plain and dully dressed for court, the cloak a shabby, dull brownish-yellow, ripped and patched in places, and the form it covers is far too large to be Castelis.
But as she throws back the hood, I see why.
There’s a pack—no, two packs—hidden under the cloak, and she’s desperately trying to open one of them.
“Seize her,” Alred hisses at his guard. “She’ll kill the king!”
“No— Wardens!” I bark.
I don’t even need to be specific. Warden Jahan is one step ahead of me, and the other wardens are right in step with him. They form a wall past Castelis, between her and the dukes.
She yanks a burlap bag from the pack. “Here! Take this.”
Even without opening the bag, I can feel the energy flowing into me.
I close my eyes, lost in the power and the healing.
For a moment, the room fills with golden light, like the brightest autumn sunrise, the leaves on the vines that encircle the columns turning glorious shades of orange and amber and aubergine.
Then the fae torches flare, the room darkening as I reopen my eyes.
I open the bag and withdraw my father’s crystal heart. The walls are black now, and I can feel my eyes blaze with amber fire.
Alred is frozen still. Nearly everyone stares, eyes wide.
“Sire?” Castelis says softly.
“Yes, Castelis.”
“I… uh… you once told me to tell you the truth.”
“Yes. I gave you an oath. Do you remember it?”
Castelis blinks. She’s close now. Her heavy glasses are cracked slightly and crooked on her face, but she is as lovely as ever, perhaps even more so.
“Yes. I must hold up my end now. I saw the Winter Court at the Autumn Court boundary. They were trying to destroy the ward there. I came as quickly as I could, but I think if they’ve already gotten through at a different point, they will reach the city soon. ”
Murmurs of alarm sweep the court.
Alred seems to remember himself, groping for scraps of a plan. “How did you even get in here?”
Castelis turns to look at him. “Just as you said. Who would bother to spare a glance at an inconsequential little nothing like me?”
“Sire, please believe me. Don’t trust her. All she tells are lies, as all humans lie.”
“About what—that the Winter Court isn’t coming? Are they the ones who paid you to do all this? Do you work for them?”
“Fool. You’re a fool to put a human before your own kind. And a liar, to boot.”
“You are the one who lies, Alred. I have known all along. Castelis was with me when the crystals were destroyed. She couldn’t have done it. You, on the other hand… You lied to this entire court. You told us all the Spring Queen had executed Castelis.”
“And you forced me to leave with King Cresian’s crystal,” Castelis adds. “You told me the king needed me to keep it safe! But you were going to have me killed. Tell your hired killer your cover story, next time.”
Alred seems to be losing control, unsure of how to proceed.
The dukes accompanying him back away, melting into the crowd.
Those around him stand, arms folded, glares directed his way.
It is one thing to have lied to each of us, but the lie he’s declared before the entire court—that Castelis is dead—stands, plain as day and undeniable.
“How dare you talk to me that way, you human filth—”
“She will talk to you however she pleases.” My eyes are on Alred, but I put a hand on Castelis’s shoulder, drawing her closer to show she is under my protection. I can see brief glances exchanged amid the crowd. What are they making of the gesture? Is my affection for her that obvious?
“Why? Why did you do it, Alred? Just to usurp my power? Why did you betray my father?”
His face went pale.
“Castelis figured it out, you know. The size of the crystal was too large for the nature of his loss in battle. There had to be more to it. And I think that more was your doing.”
“But Rylian, Rylian—I did it for you.”
“Ridiculous.” The fae torches flare.
“Please listen to me. The cycle of king sacrifice must stop. You know, the Winter Court stopped it ages ago.”
“And now we see where your true loyalties lie.” At least he is no longer lying. “The Winter Court is jealous of our power.”
“They’re not jealous of you. They’re disgusted by this barbaric practice, trading power for humanity!”
“Is that why they’re on their way here? To kill us? Because they’re disgusted?” Castelis snaps. “Because of their greater humanity?”
Alred ignores her. “The crystals, all of it—it’s horrific. Those men could have lived for hundreds of years. Why should they die to become toys for their children? Why should death be celebrated, anticipated?”
“Why should it be feared?” I say. “To live with honor and die serving others is to die well.”
“They could have lived to the autumn of their days, not died in their springs, their summers. We lose their wisdom, and our people remain young and na?ve. The sacrifices must stop!”
The court is quiet, moved by his speech.
“And you, Rylian,” he says softly. “When will the time come when they say you must give yourself up to be a crystal?”
I grit my teeth. “As if I am not already suffering and sacrificing for my people to keep up the wards? It would be an honor to serve my people for centuries.”
“You could do that without dying. Wouldn’t it be better if your father were here to guide you? Or your grandfather?”
Castelis grips my arm. Gods, Alred is even moving her with his words, as her aura whirls with sadness and concern. And… and love.
I take a deep breath. “We hear your argument about crystal hearts, and I see many are moved, though I do not agree. We can consider it. I miss my father, but an honorable death in battle is what he wanted. He made his own choices, and I will make mine. We did not drag him to an altar. We honor him, and we do not mourn.” At least, that is what we tell ourselves, I think to myself, but I would never say it aloud.
I clear my throat. “Setting that aside, you could have said all this to me without destroying the crystals, without plotting to kill Castelis, without opening our people up to danger and death. You could have argued for the end of the cycle on any day of court you wished. Clearly, we would have listened. Instead, you took things into your own hands. And to use your unique ability to lie, the one we thought you couldn’t possibly have.
You were not just trying to end the cycle.
You want the Oaken Throne for yourself.”
Alred fell to his knees, head down, defeated. The wardens circled him, closing in. “I…”
“And you betrayed my father.”
“I…” He shook his head, not looking up. “I told the Winter Court about a border scouting mission. Thought it might make you see how horrid the system was. To lose him. If you missed him.”