Twenty Six #2
My father looked dejected as he reached for his crown and placed it on his head. Did he feel like a fraud now since the foundation of our world was a lie?
A myriad of questions swarmed in my mind, but I didn’t get to voice any of them because Celestina demanded, “What assurance do I have that she will do it? That she will keep saving the realm?” She still stood on top of the dais, looking down on us.
If what Lady May had said was true, then it was in my best interest to keep taking Silberium from Adrian because it would restore my kingdom. I wasn’t going to tell the Fae queen that. I wouldn’t admit that as much as the Fae needed us, we needed them.
“I propose a marriage union.” My voice rang out, surprisingly steady.
Adrian’s head swung to me, but I didn’t meet his gaze.
“Once Adrian is crowned the new Fae King, he will take my hand in marriage, making me the Queen of Aubrielle. I will rule by his side and act as the conduit for the ancient magic.”
“Emelin,” my father said as he hobbled over to me. Leaving Adrian’s side, I stepped toward him. “Is this what you want?” He grabbed my hands and peered at my face.
My drawn features reflected in his crown. “It doesn’t matter what I want. This is what my kingdom needs.”
“It is decided then,” Celestina said, finally descending the dais. “You will wed and get coronated together.” She stopped by Sorin’s body and retrieved his dagger before striding over to me. “After I bury my dead mate.”
When she came closer, my father turned around to face her as if trying to shield me from her.
“I will not harm her,” the Fae queen said. “I simply require a blood oath to forge an arrangement.” She held up the dagger.
An arrangement. I swallowed thickly. Something I have never wanted my marriage to be.
“Augusta, since she is not Fae, can she be bound by a blood oath?” Celestina asked the Sorceress.
“Though mortal, she is still a creature of magic, so yes, she can, but it will require a spell.”
“Very well. You can drop the barrier. I will order the guards to stand down.”
Lady May nodded and clapped. A ripple of magic swept through the room, and the guards began moving at full speed again, rushing toward me.
“Stand down!” Celestina ordered, her rich, resonant voice following in the wake of Lady May’s spell.
When the guards halted, the queen sliced her palm before handing the dagger to me. Her blood didn’t shimmer like Sorin’s and Adrian’s.
“Emelin, you don’t have to do this,” Adrian said from behind me.
“Yes, I do.” I glanced at him before refocusing on the queen.
He and my father both sucked in a sharp breath as I dragged the blade across my palm, barely feeling the pain. It was nothing compared to the turmoil I felt in my heart.
I shouldn’t feel turmoil, only relief, I tried to tell myself. I’m helping to save my kingdom…at the expense of my heart.
“Within a fortnight, you will wed my son, Adrian Grayland Argent,” Celestina said as soon as we had clasped our hands.
Her touch was as cold as I had expected.
“To have and to hold for as long as you both shall live. You solemnly swear to siphon Silberium flowing through his veins to ensure that the ancient magic can no longer harm Aubrielle. As its queen, you will do anything in your power to see the Fae kingdom flourish and prosper.”
“And you swear that the Fae will never attack Emeraldia again,” I said, holding the queen’s glacial gaze.
“I swear,” we both uttered at the same time.
My heart thrashed in my chest as Lady May chanted the spell to seal the blood oath.
While she was weaving the intricate incantation, my gaze dropped to where the queen’s hand was wrapped around mine.
The urge to pull my hand away surfaced and grew, but I forced myself to remain still.
The longer the Sorceress chanted, the faster my heart beat until it stopped.
It felt as though someone wrapped fingers around the organ to hold it in place.
A split second later, my heart restarted, beating at a calmer, steadier pace.
The feeling of tightness alleviated but didn’t disappear completely.
There was a tug on my heart now, a pull leading to Adrian.
When I glanced at him, he frowned and rubbed his chest. Did he feel the inexplicable connection?
Were our lives now linked because of the blood oath?
After the oath had been sealed, Celestina wrested her hand out of mine as if my touch burned her and wiped it on her gown.
“We will be in touch to finalize the wedding date,” she drawled before walking away from me.
She stopped by Sorin’s body and lowered to her knees.
Gathering him in her arms, she glimmered out, taking the body with her.
I did that. I took a life. I swayed on my feet at the thought. Adrian was at my side in an instant. He held me up and didn’t stop there. Ripping a thin strip from his shirt, he gently wrapped it around the cut on my hand.
“You need to go to the border and tell Tarn what happened. Tell him that the Fae troops will not be attacking Emeraldia,” I told him as I pulled my hand away.
His gaze darted to the spot where Sorin had lain before he refocused on me. “Are you all right?”
“I am.” I have to be. “There is no time to waste. Go!” I urged him, hoping it wasn’t too late.
He looked at Lady May. “Will you take Emelin and the king back to their side of the border?”
“I will,” she replied, stepping closer to me at the same time I offered my shoulder to my father for support.
Adrian and I locked eyes as Lady May placed her hands on my father and me, and a moment later, his features vanished because I vanished from the throne room.
When the colors returned, I was standing on the border, with the Enwyld Forest an impenetrable wall before me.
“Father! Emelin!” Sebastian’s panicked voice rang out in the clearing.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Highness!”
“The king and the princess are back!”
My brother, the border guards, and the royal guards all rushed to our side.
“Thank the Stars you’re alive!” Sebastian exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me and our father.
“It’s not the Stars you should thank,” the king rasped. “It’s Emelin. She saved me. She saved us all.”
“Not yet I haven’t.” I pulled myself from my brother’s embrace and stepping away. I looked at Lady May standing nearby. “I want to release Silberium into the land. How does it work?”
“Estelle once told me that it’s similar to how you would transfer your magic into the land to heal it, but instead of focusing on one small area, you cast the net of your powers far and wide, over the entire realm.”
I swallowed, anxious about the task. Could I truly make such an impact? Could the magic I had siphoned from Adrian heal Emeraldia?
“Estelle told you that?” I thought about the Golden Queen, who looked so much like me.
When Lady May nodded, my dreams resurfaced in my mind.
Not dreams—memories. They weren’t about Adrian and me.
I had been seeing Oberon and Estelle in them.
“They were lovers,” I said, more of a statement than a question.
Though my dreams had never been explicit, the romantic undertone was undeniable.
“Yes, they were. Their story has a tragic ending.”
Before I could ask what that ending was, another thought occurred to me. Our history claimed that Estelle hadn’t borne any children, but our history could not be trusted. “If Oberon and Estelle were lovers, did they have any children? Could it be possible that Adrian and I are related?”
She shook her head adamantly, and a breath of relief escaped me. “Their entanglement did not produce any offsprings.”
Entanglement? I had so many questions, but the most pressing of them was whether I had found the solution to the climate change in Emeraldia.
Because if I hadn’t, then I had pledged my allegiance to Aubrielle for nothing.
I would have to stand by and watch my kingdom wither and die from the other side of the border.
On weak legs, I stumbled away from Lady May and put some distance between me and the group behind me.