Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Nova
The next day and a half passed in a whirlwind of planning and preparing, with frequent, harried meetings about security measures and ceremonial protocols.
Excitement was the dominant emotion throughout most of my palace, among the servants and visitors alike.
Because they only saw the celebration in the making—the glittering decorations going up, the boisterous conversations, the food and drinks flowing more and more freely.
They weren’t thinking beyond this historical moment. And they weren’t haunted by the things I’d witnessed. The faces of dead Order members; Lorien’s ghostly apparition; Aleksander’s wrong-looking and odd-feeling magic—just to name a few.
Which was what I wanted, of course.
I had agreed to wear a crown and bring them hope, and keeping that fragile hope alive meant shielding them from all the questions and fears that kept me awake at night.
It was exhausting, constantly being on guard. But I kept moving, walking through the halls of my palace with power and purpose, my head held high and Phantom stalking alongside me with all his senses honed and alert.
There were more sightings and encounters with possible Order members.
More suspicious activity. But, although my soldiers made several attempts to apprehend possible suspects, none were successful.
One more died—taking her own life with a quick blade to the throat rather than submitting to capture and questioning—and the others all slipped out of our grasp at the last instant.
With every encounter, Captain Voss and a few of my advisors continued to urge me to reconsider going through with the public coronation.
I refused. The palace, the royal city, and all the reviving settlements throughout Rivenholt were abuzz with expectation.
I wasn’t going to let them down. I wouldn’t show fear.
There was a darker reason I refused, too. Though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, part of me wanted the Order to attempt to crash this coronation party.
Because I wanted revenge.
I’d frozen in place after witnessing Orin’s murder, but that wouldn’t happen this time. I was stronger now. More prepared. And we were in my territory, too, where my shadows were easier to summon and wield.
So let them come.
Finally, the evening of the main event arrived. I insisted on getting ready on my own, savoring the last few moments of solitude before I would be thrust into the glaring spotlight of the public eye.
My dress hung beside the window, dark and beautifully ominous in the setting sunlight.
Aveline had left a plate of cinnamon and honey cakes alongside it—my favorite of the many delicious things she baked.
I nibbled at the corner of one as I gathered my accessories and contemplated what to do with my hair.
My gaze kept lifting to the balcony doors, to the spot where Lorien’s ghost had appeared. He hadn’t returned since our brief encounter the other day—perhaps because the second shard we’d obtained was now locked away with the first, several floors below me and Grimnor.
While I styled my hair in loose curls that I pinned up and away from my face, I kept one eye on that legendary sword, thinking.
What had triggered Lorien’s appearance?
Would he continue to find more ways to manifest, now that we had two pieces of his soul?
And where was the third, final piece?
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. Two quick taps, one long—like he always did to let me know it was him. I quickly slid the last pin into my hair and went to answer.
Aleks stood on the other side, as expected. He was already dressed, looking the part of an effortlessly gorgeous noble in a black coat embroidered with silver thread, perfectly tailored pants, and polished black boots that gleamed in the light.
My tense muscles relaxed a bit at the sight of him.
He was the only person I would have let into my sanctuary just then, and I was relieved that he’d actually shown up; though we’d spent last night together, and our conversations had been easy and unguarded, part of me remained convinced that I was losing him.
The last words he’d carved into the Chamber of Echoes still haunted me.
I have to leave her.
I grabbed his hand before my memory of that ordeal could sink its claws into me. I needed to feel it—the way he locked his fingers into mine and squeezed. Solid. Real. Still here.
He pulled me closer and kissed me, slow and deep and savoring. When he drew his lips away, he didn’t go far, leaning his forehead against mine for a long moment. “Ready for tonight?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
He finally stepped back, his gaze shifting between me and my waiting gown. He nodded encouragingly toward it.
With slow but determined motions, I made my way over and slipped it on. Lifting the heavy skirts, I went to the gold-rimmed mirror standing in the corner of the room and stood perfectly still before it, staring at my reflection without really seeing it.
A thousand thoughts rushed through my head.
I couldn’t focus on any of them.
Aleks was at my back a moment later, fingers working carefully over the buttons between my shoulder blades, helping to secure the dress.
When he was finished, he pushed the waves of my hair to one side, pressing his lips to the curve of my neck and watching my reaction in the mirror—the way my body curved toward his, eager to turn that light brush of his lips into something deeper, more consuming.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. “You look stunning,” he said.
“Good to know. I can barely breathe in this thing, so at least the end result is worth the suffering.”
He chuckled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I look forward to helping you take it off later,” he said, his fingers trailing over the buttons he’d fastened. “Because I hate the thought of you being uncomfortable in any way, of course.”
“Such a gentleman.”
He straightened a bit, bringing his mouth toward my ear. His lips grazed the shell of it as he murmured, “None of my thoughts are particularly gentlemanly at the moment.”
Heat flooded me, skating from the top of my head down to my toes. “Is it too late to postpone the ceremony and just stay here with you?”
“I’d say so.” He let out another soft laugh, taking my hand and twirling me around to face him. “But I’ll make it worth the wait when we get back here, later tonight. So you have something to look forward to.”
“Deal,” I said. “I’ll be holding you to it.”
“I hope so,” he replied, offering his arm.
I took it, and we left my room, making our way down the torch-lit corridors toward the grand hall.
“Nervous?” he asked as we reached the first floor. It was surprisingly quiet; our shoes clicked loudly against the polished floors, each step making me think of a clock ticking down to our destiny.
I kept my eyes straight ahead. “Why would I be nervous? I’m merely being crowned queen of a half-dead kingdom filled with unstable and unpredictable energy, while surrounded by diplomats who are uneasy allies at best, and with a murderous, mysterious cult watching from the shadows, just waiting for their opportunity to move against me. ”
I heard the crooked smile in his voice as he said, “I suppose it was a dumb question.”
I let out an anxious little laugh, slowing to a stop and turning to look at him. “No—thank you for asking.”
He was still smiling that crooked little smile of his, but it wasn’t reaching his eyes, suddenly; their golden color seemed duller, tarnished by the dark uncertainties circling around us.
My stomach sank. I couldn’t help feeling as if we were coming to an ending of some kind. Like I was leaving for an entirely different kingdom, and he was showing me only as far as the border before we went our separate ways.
Maybe he could sense this fear—or even heard it, despite our fraying mental bond—because he blinked, forcing a brightness back into his gaze.
“I’ll be keeping watch for any threats,” he said.
“So don’t worry.” He brushed a hand across my cheek, warm and reassuring light circling around his fingertips and sinking into my skin. “I’ll keep you safe. Always.”
I nodded in spite of my fear. “I know.”
I wanted to mean it—to believe it, more than anything.
We walked a little farther in silence, until I heard someone calling my name. I turned to find my brother approaching, Phantom at his side.
Phantom wore a navy, diamond-studded collar, while Bastian was dressed in his full regalia of deep blue and silver. My eyes lingered on the silver tree pinned at his chest, the main emblem of our kingdom.
Bastian and Aleks exchanged a wordless nod in greeting, and then Bastian told him, “Captain Voss could use your input on some security matters. You’ll find him at the gate by the grand hall.”
Aleks kissed my hand, squeezing it tightly before walking away without another word. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed eager to leave, his eyes even more troubled than before.
I tried to shake off the growing sense of dread as my brother, Phantom, and I made our way outside, to the covered walkway that connected the palace to the grand hall and ballroom where the night’s festivities would take place.
Instead of heading into that hall as I’d anticipated, Bastian steered me toward one of the smaller, quieter courtyards a short distance away.
It was empty. Peaceful. I made my way to a stone bench shielded by trees with silver-green leaves, sweeping my skirts to the side as I sat down.
My brother sat beside me, while Phantom entertained himself by sniffing and pawing through the flower beds.
After a minute, it occurred to me that this was the very same place where my brother and I had first sat together months ago, when he’d told me of my true identity.
Of his. Of my true kingdom, and the crown that was mine by birthright.
So much had changed since then, but sitting with him, I was reminded of the constants—his steadfast, stoic presence throughout all of this.
The way he had protected me, even if he drove me slightly crazy while doing it.
We’d lost so many years to separation and lies, but in that moment I felt like he’d always been there, right by my side. Like he always would be.
I leaned my head on his shoulder, staring into the windows of the grand hall.
I could make out the vague shapes of figures moving through the decoratively frosted glass.
The number of them was multiplying at an alarming rate, and I could hear more carriages arriving at the gate Aleks had headed toward; the guests were truly piling in, now. It was almost time to face them.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see this day,” my brother said. “Though I never stopped hoping you would come home.”
Home.
The word didn’t make me recoil as it once had.
It was still a complicated thing to me. But I’d always thought home was less of a specific place and more of a feeling.
And the people who stirred that feeling in you were what truly mattered.
So home was here, at my brother’s side. At Thalia’s. At Eamon and Zayn’s, even.
Home was Aleks, and it always would be, no matter how our light and shadows shifted.
And sometimes, you had to fight to protect your home—a fact I was reminded of as a group of guards approached, halting at a respective distance until my brother waved them closer.
“The perimeter is secured,” the lead guard informed us. “We have a company ready to escort you inside, whenever you’re ready.”
“Thank you,” Bastian said.
They bowed and stepped back to their respective places.
My brother stood and offered me his hand.
A strange emotion overcame me as I looked between it and the guards waiting for us, and then finally to the bustling grand hall.
I couldn’t have named the emotion—maybe because it was a combination of so many different things. Fear. Anger. Determination. Hope.
“You know this remains your choice until the very end,” Bastian said.
“I do.” I took his hand, rising to my feet. “And I choose it.”