40. Forty
Like last night, Eris helps me into tonight”s custom-made gown. The white silk hugs each and every curve of my body and it feels as if I”m not wearing anything at all. My make-up is fresh and gives me a natural glow, and I opt for my hair to cascade down my bare back. The halter neckline leaves little room for a necklace, but that”s alright. I have a gorgeous crown to make up for it.
The moment Eris opens the blue velvet box sitting on my nightstand, her mouth drops. ”Shaye!” she squeals in girlish delight. ”This is stunning! Are these emeralds from Tronovia?”
”They are,” I nod with a grin. ”Eight hundred years ago, King Ludvag of Tronovia gave this crown to my great-grandmother, Queen Yavanna, in a show of friendship. According to my mother, it is rumored they were secret lovers, and the crown was his way of confessing his feelings for her.”
”How depressingly romantic,” she sighs. ”Well, I suppose we better put this on, so you”re ready.”
I curtsey, so she can place the silver tiara filled with emeralds on top of my head. The silver and green matches the colors of Tronovia perfectly and even compliments the heels I picked out last minute to complete my look. Once the final touches are perfected, I take in a deep breath and check my reflection one last time before the rest of our entourage arrives and escorts us to the ballroom.
Just as he did last night, Atlas tucks my arm in his and guides me inside. With my mother and friends by my side, I feel my confidence growing with each step I take toward the dais to greet the Frost King. I know who I am. Now it”s time to ensure my grandfather knows it too.
Armas” eyes flick up to find mine and though he”s smiling, the disgust for my choice in emerald accessories isn”t missed. The nerves within me spike when we stand before the Frost King, and I curtsey deeply. When I rise, I tilt my head up. I won”t cower before him and even if he banishes me, I will make my own decisions. This is my life and I”m done living it to please others.
The Frost King claps his hands twice, signaling the music and chatter to die down. Suddenly, the dance floor clears of couples, leaving me and my entourage at the center of attention.
”Welcome to the second night of Levanora!” His voice carries across the immaculately decorated hall. ”As I promised you last night, my granddaughter, Princess Aurelia, is here to not only swear fealty to House Basilius, but she will announce her engagement.” His silver eyes slice down to me, promising retribution should I cross him. ”Aurelia Basilius.” He conveniently leaves out Sol in my surname, which irritates me, but I keep my expression neutral. ”Do you swear before me and all my guests that you will honor, serve, and protect your king and your kin in House Basilius, until the day you breathe your last?”
”I swear I will honor, serve, and protect my kin in House Basilius until the day I breathe my last.” Leaving Armas Basilius out of my oath has whispers circulating. I spot Thrane near the dais and command my face to remain stoic when a smirk slides across his face at the blatant disrespect. If I didn”t know any better, I”d suspect Thrane was proud of my public act of defiance.
The Frost King glares at me, but knowing everyone is waiting for the second part – my engagement – he clears his throat and says, ”And the matter of your betrothal?”
”If it pleases Your Majesty,” I smile sweetly at him before I turn to address the crowd. ”Before I make my announcement, I would like to say how happy I am to be here amongst all of you wonderful Dalerinians. I owe my safe return home to the Tronovians, who rescued me from Midori and brought me to Elowen, so I might be restored to House Basilius.” Applause erupts and I wait for their cheers to die down. ”To show my everlasting gratitude and with the blessing of my grandfather, King Armas Basilius, I have chosen to betroth myself to Atlas Harland of House Delaney, in a show of unity and allyship.”
If they weren”t gossiping before, they certainly are now. I swivel until I find Atlas and extend my hand. I can sense Armas” eyes on us and can feel his rage boiling, but the Frost King doesn”t say a word as I slip my hand into Atlas” and smile up at him.
”May House Basilius and House Delaney continue to work together in peace and harmony as our bloodlines merge.”
The crowd applauds, and despite it being improper, Atlas leans forward and kisses me. Suddenly, everyone fades from existence and it”s just me and him. I thought I knew what love was before I met Atlas. Now I realize I knew nothing. Claiming him before a crowd of friends and strangers strengthens me and has me questioning if one can die from happiness? When he pulls away from me, he rests his forehead against mine and whispers, ”You chose me.”
”I will always choose you.”
”Dance with me?” Atlas asks when the music strikes up.
He slides his arm around my waist when I nod in agreement and sweeps me into the dancing crowd. For a solid minute, neither of us speaks, as we gaze into each other”s eyes, but then I realize, I never told him of my plans to announce my engagement to him. I was caught up in the moment, needing to stand up to my grandfather with the intent to publicly declare my love for Atlas, that I completely bypassed what he might be thinking or feeling about us. Suddenly, my face heats up, shame and embarrassment slowly creeping in, evicting all sense of joy.
His eyebrows pinch together above the bridge of his nose. ”What”s wrong?”
”I”m sorry for blindsiding you with an engagement,” I blurt softly, so potential eavesdroppers won”t hear. ”I should have told you of my plans to defy my grandfather. I didn”t even consider what you might be thinking or feeling about us. You don”t have to marry me – ”
Slamming his mouth against mine, he swallows the rest of what I was about to say. He smiles against my lips and says, ”If it were up to me, we”d be married tonight, Strenlys. You”re mine.”
I flick my eyes up to meet his and whisper, ”Who would have known the night you kidnapped me, I”d one day be your fiancé.”
He clicks his teeth. ”I suppose marrying me is the least you could do for sinking my ship.”
I laugh loudly, not caring who hears me. We sway with the music until it fades and if it wasn”t so early in the evening, I would suggest we slip out and make our way to my bedroom. But that thought dies immediately when a hand clamps down on Atlas” shoulder.
”Might I have the honor of this next dance?” Thrane asks.
Atlas glances at me for confirmation and when I nod, he bows and takes his leave.
Thrane sweeps me into his arms the same way he did last night, but this time, he isn”t trying to bargain with me. Instead, he smiles and whispers, ”You clever little fox.”
”Are you angry with me?”
”For what?” He tilts his head in piqued curiosity.
”Choosing Atlas over your proposal?”
Thrane scoffs and shakes his head. ”If you”re worried you”ve wounded my ego, don”t be. I”m only upset I didn”t think of publicly backing Armas into a corner first. He is far too prideful to deny your engagement to the Tronovian, especially since House Delaney is one of our most trusted allies. To do so would incite diplomatic suicide and he”s far too shrewd for that.” The amusement in his face suddenly vanishes and a seriousness washes over him that makes my heart lurch. ”Unfortunately, defying Armas means you have made an enemy of our grandfather. Watch your back at all times.”
Keep your wits about you. The Delaney and Harland family motto echoes in my mind, commanding the hair on my arms to stand at attention.
”He wouldn”t harm me, would he?” I dare a glance at the dais, but the Frost King is no longer sitting there.
”He would never risk repercussions from the Frost Elves should he harm the lost princess that has finally returned, but that doesn”t mean he won”t harm those close to you.”
My heartbeat quickens as my eyes dart around the room to find my friends. ”What are you saying?” I ask softly, once I”ve spotted all of them alive and well.
”Are you not listening, Aurelia?” His voice comes out harsher than I”ve ever heard him speak. ”Armas is not your friend. You might have won tonight, but he won”t accept defeat. He will come for you.”
”You”re scaring me.”
His eyes soften and he drops his hands from my waist, leaving us to stand stoically in the middle of the dance floor as everyone continues on around us. ”Forgive me, that is not my intent, but I wouldn”t be able to live with myself, if I didn”t warn you of what is to come.”
”Some might accuse you aiding me as an act of treason.” I point out and he bobs his head in agreement.
”If that is the penalty to keep you safe, then so be it. I, for one, do not fear Armas Basilius.”
”Sylvane told me when I was born you used to visit me often.” The sudden change in subject causes Thrane to stiffen as the music fades. ”You even crafted a wooden dragon for my crib. I can”t help but think you”re doing this to make up for a guilt that is not your burden to bear.”
Neither one of us dares to move, even though other couples are leaving the floor. ”When you were born, your father was no longer here to protect you, so I swore an oath to myself that I would be your guardian. I failed. Part of me died the day you vanished. I aim to right that wrong.”
Atlas approaches on high alert, noticing the tears welling in my eyes. Before he can say anything, Thrane bows to me and says, ”Congratulations on your engagement, Cousin,” before retreating with his mask firmly back in place.
Atlas reaches my side and together we watch Thrane walk away. ”What did he say to you? Are you alright?”
”He wanted to warn me,” I say, though my eyes are still fixed on Thrane”s back until he slips out of my line of sight.
Atlas grabs my shoulders and forces me to face him. ”Did he threaten you?”
”No,” I shake my head and swallow to keep my fears in check. ”He told me I”ve made an enemy of Armas Basilius, and I should watch my back.” When Atlas doesn”t say anything in response, I say, ”We need to leave the city before it”s too late.”
Atlas escorts me back to my chambers and refuses to leave until I promise to stay here until he returns with the others. I want to argue that I can help track down our friends but think better of it. If the Frost King notices we”ve all gone missing from the party, or that Atlas and I are gathering them in the hallway, he might prevent us from leaving. Time is of the essence, so I agree to Atlas” terms and the second he closes my door, I cast off the beautiful custom-made gown and lay it neatly on my mattress. Shimmying as fast as I can into my traveling clothes, I start writing a letter to my mother. I don”t want her waking up tomorrow morning to discover I left without saying a word, but suddenly my pen stops scrawling, and I stare out the window at the mountain in the short distance where Seraxes sleeps. I won”t just be leaving my mother, I”ll be abandoning Seraxes, and if I disappear a second time, I know she will never forgive me.
There has to be another way. Running is cowardly, even if it is the best chance for us to survive the Frost King”s wrath.
”Armas is not your friend. You might have won tonight, but he won”t accept defeat. He will come for you.”
Thrane”s voice echoes in my head and an unease seeps into my soul. What if he lied about Armas” wrath because he wants me to leave? He was supposed to be announced as the next heir to the Frost Throne during Levanora, but with my unexpected return home, he has been overshadowed by me. Perhaps, he”s jealous that all the attention that used to be solely his, is now fixated on me. With me out of the picture, his life will go back to the way it was.
I shake those thoughts free. Based on appearance alone, Thrane might be cunning and self-serving, but I”ve come to know him better than that over the last couple weeks.
I crumple the half-written letter and toss it into my fireplace and watch it sizzle into ash, before I tighten my bootstraps and make my way to my bedroom door. I need to find Atlas and put a halt to our escape. Quite frankly, I”m tired of running.
As I swing the door open, I am startled to find two Frost Elf soldiers standing outside my room. The moment they see me, they bow, and the taller of the two steps toward me. ”Your Majesty, we”ve come to escort you.”
I furrow my brow, just now noticing the patch on the arm of their white uniforms signifies they”re the Frost King”s personal guards. ”Escort me where exactly?”
”His Royal Highness, King Armas has requested your immediate presence in his throne room.” He extends his hand and motions for me to follow. When I don”t immediately make a move to obey, his hard-set silver eyes narrow, warning if I don”t comply, I will be dragged where I need to go.
I contemplate the repercussions of using my light magic against royal guards but think better of it. To attack the Frost King”s elite would certainly be seen as an act of treason and I”m not here to start a war. Reluctantly, I walk with the soldiers who flank me. We make the trek to the throne room in complete silence. I know they won”t answer my questions or give me information their king didn”t sanction, so I take a deep breath and brace myself for whatever punishment Armas Basilius is brewing in his head. As long as Atlas got to the others, I”ll be happy. This is my battle to face and my kin to fight. I need my friends to stay away so they don”t become collateral damage.
When I first met the Frost King, it was in this very throne room. Somehow, the bright and mystical hall from day one is dark and cold tonight. Armas sits on his throne made from a solid block of ice in his Levanora finery. His crown is in perfect position and not one hair on his head is out of place. His grey eyes are both triumphant and defeated and I have a feeling I”m walking straight into a trap.
Something in my peripheral catches my eye and I see Thrane stand from his seat and walk up the steps of the dais to stand at his grandfather”s right-hand side. He looks at me and just as the first day we met, I find he is positively unreadable. Why is he here?
Armas glares at me from head-to-toe when I stop a few feet from the dais and says, ”You”re dressed for traveling.” It”s a statement. He knows exactly what I was planning, and now I know for certain, I”m in danger.
I clear my throat and straighten to my full height. He won”t see me cower or shrink before him. I know who I am and neither one of my parents were known to grovel.
”Does my choice of clothing offend you?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. ”Is that why you had your guards bring me here at this time of night? You want to discuss my outfit?”
The corner of Thrane”s mouth ticks upward, but our grandfather”s pale face reddens, and he sputters, ”You were brought before me at this time of night because of the stunt you pulled in the ballroom.”
”Stunt? I believe I did as you bade me. I swore fealty to House Basilius and gave my hand to one of our strongest allies. You”re welcome for strengthening relations with Tronovia. ” I enjoy watching his frown settle into his features.
”I beg your pardon?” he spits.
”Ah, ah, ah,” I wag my index finger. ”A Basilius never begs.”
A huff slips from Thrane”s lips, and I force myself not to laugh.
”Your disrespect has no bounds,” Armas hisses. ”I know how to stay that wicked tongue of yours.” He snaps and the side doors to the throne room open.
My heart drops the second I see Atlas and my mother, with their hands bound behind their backs, dragged inside by the Frost King”s elite soldiers. Though my mother is physically unharmed, blood oozes down the side of Atlas” face from where I can only assume he”s been struck.
Professor Riggs was right. I let my guard down and publicly proclaimed my love for Atlas, putting him in harm”s way. I thought I was safe here, but I”m learning that I might not be truly safe anywhere. I should have kept my relationship with Atlas a secret and found another way to defy Armas” orders, but I was foolish. I was selfish. I wanted everyone to know Atlas was mine and mine alone. Now, I”m paying the price for my brashness. Armas has been playing political games for centuries. His trickery pales in comparison to my own. And with my mother thrown in as collateral, I”m realizing the lengths the Frost King will go to in order to punish me.
Even though they”re gagged, denying them the opportunity to speak, the second my eyes meet Atlas”, I know something is horribly wrong. He and my mother have the power to break through those bonds easily with their magic, why aren”t they fighting back?
”If you are wondering why your shadow wielder and mother are so compliant, it”s because I”ve tamed them.” A wicked smile stretches across his face, sending an icy shiver down my spine.
”What have you done to them?”
”The same thing I did to you, of course,” he says, and Thrane stiffens beside him. ”Have you not figured it out yet, Aurelia? Pity. I thought you were more intuitive than that.”
I wrack my brain, trying to understand what he”s saying and then in dawns on me. If Atlas and Sylvane don”t have their powers, it”s because their magic has been suppressed, meaning…
”You gave them the tea.” I glare up at the Frost King and all the pieces of the puzzle snap into place. Sylvane pales, as if she”s also figuring out what her father has done.
”The plant is called, sugovan. You aren”t able to taste the leaves once they dissolve, but just a few drops and any magic wielder is rendered powerless. My guards made sure they drank an entire vial.”
I take a heavy step forward and the two soldiers flanking the foot of Armas” dais aim their spears at me. ”It was you! You sent me away!”
”Everyone knew Garren and Keres Kitarni had trouble conceiving. For years, they tried and failed. Right before the Great War, she fell pregnant. Everyone knew of it, since the kingdoms were united to fight Drogon, but a couple of weeks after the war ended, she became ill and lost her unborn child. Other than the Kitarnis, the only person privy to that information was me.”
”And why would they trust you with that information?” I snarl.
”I make it my business to have eyes and ears in every kingdom,” he spits viciously, clearly irritated by my interruption. ”In an act of kindness, I offered them a Frost Elf orphan who needed a loving home, since her mother died in childbirth and her father died in the Great War. No one needed to know the baby wasn”t theirs by blood. Keres jumped at the chance. All she wanted was a baby to love, and Garren would finally have his heir. My terms were simple. Give the girl a serum nightly to hide her true features and not breathe a word of the truth to anyone. They were all too happy to agree and once I had your mother cleared for dragon duty, I took you. It was easy. No one suspects the baby”s grandfather of ill-intent.”
”You killed your own people – ”
”To get rid of you? Yes, I did, and I would do it again without an ounce of remorse.” He rises from his throne, thunder rumbling in his voice. Sylvane attempts to break free but is immediately struck against her back and subdued. ”You are not only a stain on my legacy,” Armas continues, ”but a threat to our House. Your father”s blood put a target on us and if a word of your existence reached Drogon”s minions who survived, they would stop at nothing to find you and use you.”
”Garren and Keres really don”t know who I am, do they?” I say softly, regretting all the terrible thoughts I had about them stealing me in the middle of the night.
”Those two idiots couldn”t strap up their own boots without a servant”s help, much less plot a successful kidnapping from Stelara.” He shakes his head, furrowing his brow. ”Had your mother remembered her place, she never would have defiled herself by breeding with those beneath us.”
”My father is a Celestial!” I shout, denying him the opportunity to defame my bloodline again. ”Had he not come to lead you against the armies of Drogon, your head would be on a spit!”
”Your very existence is a threat to my people! Your father closed the portals and trapped himself inside Orabelle because he knew the value of his blood. Only his or his descendants would be the key in restoring those gateways again. But he left you here as a liability, a scapegoat – ”
”You and I both know my father left me here because my mother asked him to.” I point at him, ”Our people will learn of your treachery and – ”
”You think they will believe you over their king, conqueror and hero?” He laughs, and the sound echoes through the great hall. ”No one is going to save you or those you love from me.”
I glance up at Thrane, who has not only remained quiet, but stoic, the entire meeting. He wasn”t visibly surprised to see Atlas or Sylvane, but then again, he warned me earlier that I”d made an enemy of my grandfather and told to watch my back. I failed to do that, thinking I had more time. He must feel my blatant stare, because when our eyes meet, I”m immediately filled with a calm I can”t explain. I”m not sure he will be willing or able to help me now, but I doubt he will stop me from what I”m about to do.
My hands light up and I take a defensive stance. My blatant defiance of him is an act Armas Basilius has not likely seen before.
”Oh,” he coos, ”the mongrel wants to play, does she?”
”Let them go and I”ll let you live,” I challenge.
”You are in no position to demand anything of me, procruer!” Angrily, he breathes ice at me like a dragon, but I easily shield myself against the attack.
Atlas tries to wiggle free from the guards pinning him to the floor but fails. Even without his magic, he”s strong and skilled, but being bound and gagged has rendered him powerless against them.
When the ice blast subsides and the Frost King is panting from the exertion, I tsk, rising to my feet and taunting him. ”Seems you are out of practice, Grandfather. Pity. I thought you were stronger than that.”
”Your insolence knows no bounds. Something you have regrettably inherited from your mother.”
Before I have the opportunity to respond, the doors behind the dais fly open and my mouth drops. ”Ah,” Armas flashes a wickedly triumphant smile, ”right on time.”