Chapter 24
Lana
Istood in front of the palace gates, taking in the crowds of Fae growing with each minute.
My people needed to be addressed, they deserved answers.
I may have rallied the rebels in Dukes Pub, but this would serve as the first time I addressed Ellevail on my own. No guidance from my mother or father. Just me.
My lip trembled as my body tensed. The thoughts of unworthiness, of not being ready—they weren’t gone, they just lingered at the back of my mind.
I was stronger than those dark thoughts, but I could feel them there. If I succumbed, if I allowed them a voice, they could easily draw me under.
But there wasn’t time for that, and I couldn’t afford to go backward.
“Breathe,” Kade whispered beside me. “Just breathe, Illiana.”
His shadows caressed the back of my neck. My chest loosened, warming at his voice, his touch.
I am Illiana Dresden, and I am stronger than the darkness within me.
Ian jogged up the pathway, nodding. “The nobles are coming.” His face betrayed his slight disgust. “Most were in their homes, drinking and eating as if there hadn’t been evil taking over the city.”
“They’ll listen or they’ll lose their standing,” I said harshly. While I’d be diplomatic, the time for acting as if they were untouchable simply because magic burned stronger in their veins ended now.
This marked the start of our new kingdom.
From the upper area of Ellevail, the nobles strode forward, observing the other Fae gathered in front of me, making their way to the front of the group like they belonged there. Entitled assholes.
They better get used to mingling more, or this will be a very uncomfortable life for them.
I spotted Storm, moving forward through the crowds. He bowed his head as he approached.
“I swear if you bow one more time, I’ll throw my magic at your head,” I whispered under my breath.
He smirked. “I have to show you respect, whether you like it or not. Everyone is watching.” He glanced over his shoulder. “This is all the Fae we could find in the streets. Tommy and some of the others helped on their end of town as well.”
“You’re up, Lan.” Ian nudged my shoulder with his.
I sucked in a sharp breath and took a step forward. The murmurs of the crowd faded, silencing as they waited for me to speak.
“I know many of you believe I fled after the trials,” I started.
“That I ran away when Brookmere needed me most.” Swallowing down my anxiety, I stood straighter.
“This is not the case. I was taken against my will, though I know now it was for my own protection. Since I left, I’ve been gathering information on the darkness spreading across our land.
Andras lied to you. He manipulated his role as advisor and used his mind magic against our king and queen. He murdered them.”
Kade flinched next to me, but what I spoke was the truth. If it hadn’t been for Andras, my father wouldn’t have been ill and been faced with the decision to die rather than allow his magic to be stolen by Andras in his quest for power. Andras killed my father—not Kade.
“He is not the mastermind though. A thousand years ago, our ancestors trapped a Fae named Thames in a void between our worlds. Brookmere stood beside a kingdom called Mysthaven, both kingdoms making up our true world, Atheria.”
Gasps spread through the crowd as voices picked up.
I raised my hands and they all fell silent.
“Thames is the one behind Andras’s rise to power.
We have captured Andras, and he will be held accountable for his crimes.
However, Thames is still out there with one goal: to take over and destroy our world.
He will spread the darkness you’ve seen taking over our neighbors and lands and use it for his own gain. ”
I inhaled. “A brave group of Fae has been working inside the city walls to try to overthrow Andras. It is because of them we were able to succeed in capturing him.” Kade’s shadows curled along my palm as if holding my hand.
“Now a greater battle is upon us. A war not just for our kingdom but for our world.
“We’ve been gathering those willing to fight for our home. Those who will stand against Thames to defeat him once and for all, but we need more of you. We need to be one people, standing together in the face of evil.”
“Why should we believe you?” A noble toward the front of the group sneered.
Kade’s shadows tensed by my side, but Ian was the first to question the man.
“Why should any of us allow you to stand here alongside those loyal?” Ian growled. “Tell me, when Andras forced people to become infected with darkness, where were you? Drinking? Gorging yourself in the comfort of your homes?”
The noble brought a hand to his chest. “We believed the advisor as we should have.”
“Wrong,” I snarled. I shifted, laying a hand on Ian’s shoulder to tell him I could do this. “There’s a reason the lesser Fae were targeted and you were left alone. You go along with whoever gives you the most power. I’m telling you now, that ends today.”
The noble’s lip curled.
“We’ve lived for too long ranking people based on the strength of their magic, but I have seen an entire army of lesser Fae build forges, homes, and take back a castle from a man sated with stolen power.
I have worked alongside Fae who showed more loyalty and heroism than an entire arena of nobles. ”
I stared the man up and down, letting my anger shine.
“From now on, Atheria will be different. Fae will be judged by their contributions, by their character, not by the amount of magic coursing through their veins.”
Rage-filled shouts came from the nobles.
“Those of you who are too good to lift a sword and fight, despite having powerful magic, will find that Atheria will not be welcoming of you once we win.”
“You can’t threaten us.” Another noble standing beside the first leered.
“I am your queen,” I said.
“You haven’t been crowned,” someone else shouted.
Tommy shoved forward. “Mathias,” he yelled.
“You’ve been a coward since childhood, and that’s the crown you’re speaking to.
You can show some respect, or I’ll let your wife know about the women you meet in my pub every Friday night when you tell her you’re working at the palace.
” A grin spread over Tommy’s face as the noble went ghastly white. “Oops.”
He stammered, his nose wrinkling as his face reddened in unmitigated rage.
“Illiana is our queen,” a voice from the lesser Fae section sounded. “The rightful queen. Speaking against her is treason, especially when she’s saved us from Andras and the likes of the dark ones.”
“Once we win, if you wish to put forth the name of a new queen, we can discuss it,” I gave a small nod to the Fae who’d spoken on my behalf. “But right now, this is my blood right. I am the heir, and I will not let this kingdom fall.”
A noblewoman shoved forward, moving to the front of the nobles.
“Do not think they speak for all of us,” she shouted, but blinked rapidly as if remembering herself when we made eye contact.
She curtseyed. “I apologize, Your Majesty.” She paused before looking up at me again, worrying her lip between her teeth as if hoping she hadn’t overstepped.
“Keena,” a deep, powerful voice shouted, and the woman fell backward, yanked from behind. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She tugged her arm free. “I am doing what is right. You hoard your powers like you matter, yet you do nothing when it counts. I watched friends disappear to the darkness for years and you turned a blind eye every time.”
“They weren’t friends, they were lessers,” the man seethed in her face.
She raised her hand as if she wanted to smack him, but was stopped by another, lunging to grab her wrist. “Enough, Keena! You’re embarrassing your family.”
“No, you’re the embarrassment,” she shouted. The two men hung onto her arms, but she turned to look at me anyway. “There are those of us who would fight alongside of you, Your Majesty. Do not let these cowards speak for all of us in the upper districts simply because they’re the loudest.”
Her eyes flittered between my friends and then Storm stalked forward, wrapping a hand around Keena’s waist,removing the others from her. He positioned her behind him. “What kind of men belittle a woman speaking to her queen? Or lay hands on someone answering a call to protect our world?”
He backed up, glancing once at Keena before giving her space to stand on her own again. He didn’t move farther than arm's reach from her.
She raised her chin. “Frankie.” She looked at a noble standing closer to the lesser Fae than the others.
“We’ve spoken about this. Marc, you too.
Gloria.” One by one she called out various names and they stepped toward her.
“We have wanted to make a difference for our friends, our people. If we don’t use the gifts given to us by nature, there may not be an Ellevail to save.
An Atheria—” She looked to me and I nodded.
I was sure saying a new name was strange.
“An Atheria to save,” she said confidently.
“Listen to Keena,” I pleaded. “We can win this together. We can rise up as one and stand for good against an army, a tyrant who believes only in evil. If we don’t, we’ll lose everything.”
A few nobles stepped forward and bowed alongside Keena. The lesser Fae shouted, “We will fight!”
I looked out over the crowd. It may not be all the nobles, but it was a start.
“We will work in the coming days to prepare for the battle ahead. If you need aid in this time, the palace doors are open. Any of my advisors”—I swept a hand behind me at my friends, standing tall and proud—“ will assist how they can. In the meantime, thank you for believing in Brookmere. For believing in me. I will not let you down.”
I smiled, lowering my head slightly toward the crowd, and took a step back.
Voices sprang up again, discussions breaking out among others. I looked over at Keena and approached, noticing Storm standing fairly close still. “It takes courage to speak against your family.” I smiled. “Especially publicly.”
“I’ve been speaking against my family for years.” She grinned. “This time, I just so happened to have a queen’s support.”
“I know you all may feel like you don’t have the fighting skills to—”
Keena lunged sideways, sliding Storm’s sword out of its sheath at his side, holding it up in a ready position before extending her hand and blasting him with a gust of air.
I gaped at her, and Storm flinched as his body shifted a few steps backward, his hair tugging from his loose bun.
He stared wide-eyed at the blade, then the woman holding it, before cocking an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. “We’ve practiced some for fun. I enjoy being underestimated.”
I laughed, unable to help myself. “I think we’ll get along well, Keena. If you need help with the nobles or obtaining weapons, let me know.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She flipped the sword around, holding it by the blade with the hilt toward Storm. “Might want to be cautious of who you let touch that blade in the future.”
With that, she turned, leaving down a walkway toward the group that had stepped forward during her speech.
I looked at Storm, whose dark eyes trailed her, and shook my head. “Maybe you can train with Ian if your skills are so poor that a noble bested you.”
He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “I’m, I’ll—” He cleared his throat. “Someone needs me.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.
Kade’s shadows wrapped around my arms and as I turned, he embraced me. “You never cease to amaze me, Little Rebel."
I looked into his eyes, feeling hopeful. My body ached with fatigue, and I knew we still had to deal with Andras. I had to face him one more time, but seeing at least some of the nobles stand up, knowing I’d laid down my expectations for what our world would be lifted some of the weight off me.
It was one step closer to the world I dreamed of ruling.
“You better keep up,” I said. “I’ll need a king by my side.”
He smiled, leaning down and kissing me gently, though his tongue swept into my mouth like he possessed me. Fates, I suppose he did.
“You don’t need a king, Illiana,” he whispered against my lips. “But I will stand by your side in whatever way you’ll have me. I’m yours.”
“Mine,” I echoed, and for a brief moment, I closed my eyes and let Kade hold me before facing the next steps for the final battle looming ahead.