Chapter 10 #2
Laurent nodded. “It was the first time in history that a King and a Queen were mates. They joined the lands and their people together. And for almost two hundred years we have, more or less, had peace throughout Irridessen.”
“What broke the peace? The last Oracle?” Lenna asked.
Merrick shook his head, taking over the story telling from Laurent. “Tht is not what broke the peace, no. The King and Queen had twin daughters. Half fae, half gargoyle. Adara, the eldest by only a few minutes, and Esmeray.”
Lenna started at the name of the latter, but kept her mouth shut.
Merrick noted her knee jerk reaction but continued, “For the first time, the King and Queen changed the rules for the line of succession when the twins were born to give thanks to Carra for their soul tie. They changed it from the typical rule that the elder takes the throne to whomever meets their mate first wins the Opal Kingdom, and the latter would rule in the Obsidian Kingdom. Whoever won would be the Queen on High, ruling out of the Opal Palace. The other twin would oversee the Obsidian Palace with the title Lesser Queen–still a Queen, but not as influential and powerful for Irridessen as Queen on High.”
“What’s the difference between the Obsidian and Opal Kingdoms?
” Lenna asked. Merrick was proud of how well she was holding up with all of this.
She definitely showed signs of shock at the soul ties, but seemed to want to find out about her role as the Oracle.
It was a good sign, Merrick reassured himself.
She wasn’t running for the hills, demanding to go back to the Slate Kingdom.
Laurent stepped forward. “Once you see both Palaces, you’ll understand.
But the main difference is that the Opal Palace holds most of Irridessen’s army, almost the entire court, and has riches that exceed even the wildest of imaginations.
The Obsidian Palace is now more of a…stronghold…
for times of war. It’s used primarily to train soldiers, and only a small court is assembled there.
” He cocked his head, choosing each word carefully.
“The Opal Palace offered a potential shot at the throne. Families fought over the honor of being invited to even one of the Opal Palace’s full moon celebrations.
Every month, a fortune was spent on the parties, and eligible males and females would queue for hours to see if they were the mate of either twin.
The Obsidian Palace hasn’t held a gathering since Queen Absolute Elera received her soul tie to King Absolute Scottrell.
The Obsidian Palace also has…a pretty severe punishment system and an underground dungeon that breeds fear into even the most hardened prisoners.
Not the best place to raise a family, rule from, or even just live in. ”
“Both of the twins wanted to rule as Queen on High,” Lenna said quietly.
Merrick finished his stew, rising from the couch with a groan. His voice rose as he continued the story from the kitchen, above the clinking of the ladle against the chipped ceramic bowl, helping himself to seconds.
“At first, yes. But a rift formed between them. Adara obsessively made it her life’s purpose to find her mate, lock in a soul tie, and grab the succession from her sister.
Esmeray never cared about royal duties in the slightest. At least that’s how it seemed from an…
outside perspective,” Merrick finished lamely.
He didn’t know how else to describe the circumstances.
“Esmeray never really showed interest in wanting to rule–but she didn’t want her sister to be Queen on High if it meant she had to answer to Adara.
In a way, I guess Esmeray wanted to be Queen on High, just without the responsibility of ruling.
The twins were close when they were young, but things escalated drastically over the last couple years.
They’ve gotten competitive–ruthless, really–neither wanting the other to win. ”
Laurent cleared his throat. “Esmeray is a very powerful being with magic these lands have never seen before. And she is as deadly as she is reckless. Adara hated the fact she was half gargoyle, with less powerful fae magic. Adara could never beat Esmeray in a duel for power if it came down to it. To secure her reign, we believe Adara has been learning forbidden spells, how to cast just enough magic from them to be more in league with her sister’s power.
The spells do amplify her magic–but at a steep cost. It takes a lot of energy to perform even one spell.
The price is bits of a being’s life force for each spell cast, and it’s because of that the Fae outlawed spell work centuries ago.
Adara found an ancient book that taught her spells these lands haven’t seen in thousands of years. ”
“To secure herself as Queen on High once she found her mate, to protect herself from her sister,” Lenna breathed. Merrick grunted his confirmation, scooping more stew into his mouth. “Did Adara or Esmeray find their soul tie?”
The grief Merrick knew colored his features must have been more vivid than he thought, since Lenna put her fork down and leaned in closer, her forehead crinkling as she wrung her hands together, her anxious focus making it harder for him to get the words out around the lump forming in his throat.
“Last year, at the Opal Palace’s first full moon gathering of summer, we, the King’s Guard, were present.
Typically, the King kept us from the full moon gatherings, allowing us the night off to celebrate amongst ourselves in town.
But there was a threat of rogue fae making trouble on the outskirts of the border, and he wanted his top soldiers at court to guard the party.
” He swallowed, taking a steadying breath.
“Well, we received notice that the situation was dealt with. Our commander, Keerian, went up to King Scottrell on the dais to confirm that the issue had been handled. And…the moment Keerian looked at Esmeray, a soul tie bloomed.”
Lenna’s eyes widened again at the mention of Esmeray, and Merrick made another mental note of it. Laurent finally moved away from the fire, taking a seat on the couch next to Merrick.
“It was…pandemonium. The King was upset because he wanted his daughters with a mate that came from a line of royalty. Adara was also…angry. Understandably,” Laurent said, unable to sit still. With a sigh, he got up from the couch again, going over to the small window and peering outside.
“What did Esmeray do?” Lenna whispered, fork hovering in the air, frozen on the way to her mouth.
Merrick pressed his head against the thin pillows lining the back of the couch.
A year later, it was all still raw, fresh, in his mind.
The night that royally fucked up his entire life.
“Princess Esmeray grabbed Keerian’s hand, immediately solidifying their soul tie, and waned them out of the throne room.
” He closed his eyes, the memory of the chaos driving him to instinctively touch his ring.
Keerian had looked into Esmeray’s eyes, and the entire court witnessed the shimmering magic that began veiling the pair.
The soul tie had bloomed, and Esmeray, seeing her shot at the throne, lunged for Keerian as Keerian stood there, stupefied.
The magic hit its crescendo and the entire throne room had been bathed in white light.
The brightest soul tie he’d ever seen activate.
And then–they disappeared into the unknown, Esmeray’s flash of golden magic smothering the pure light of the soul tie.
“We will figure this out.” Merrick heard Laurent through their rings. He looked over at his oldest friend and smiled grimly.
“Woah.” Lenna slumped back in her seat. “She just…took him and disappeared?”
Laurent nodded slowly. Merrick knew Laurent was watching him, analyzing his mental state. It irritated Merrick more than he cared to admit.
The next hour was spent filling Lenna in on more of that fateful night, Laurent taking over most of the talking, patiently going through the details–as detailed as if he was explaining the happenings of a battle to the King.
Merrick was grateful for it. His mind was still storming over the look on the King and Queen’s faces as they realized what happened. Adara’s frozen rage, her beautiful face twisted with loathing, hatred, for the sister that ultimately won everything she’d wanted for the last ninety-eight years.
Queen on High.
But Keerian was his friend.
He’d practically grown up with Keerian and Laurent.
They’d met in their twenties when they began training, each growing into soldiers in their own right over the years–their strengths and weaknesses balanced between them.
Keerian was also a full-fledged, pureblooded gargoyle with the strength and brutality to go along with it, and they had Laurent, defending their backs with magic while they fought their way through any foe that dared cross them.
Laurent had just finished detailing the scenes of the evening after Esmeray waned away with Keerian, and how no one knew where they disappeared to. He described the guests, the royals in attendance, their reactions. Lenna held on to every word.
Knowing what Laurent would say next, Merrick stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles, and closed his eyes.
“The next morning, the King Absolute and Queen Absolute, albeit begrudgingly, acknowledged the soul tie to the assembled court, and declared Esmeray as the rightful Queen on High. A celebration was supposed to be held a week later, but Princess Esmeray and Keerian were still nowhere to be found.” Laurent rubbed his face and smoothed his hand across his bald head.
“Two days before the celebration was to be held, Esmeray and Keerian showed back up at the Palace and went straight into a secret meeting with the King and Queen. They did not speak to anyone else, not even us, which was odd. Keerian has been our closest friend for almost one hundred years, but he passed us, unseeing, not even stopping to tell us where he had been.” Laurent looked at Lenna solemnly.
Merrick sent his own steadying words through his ring to Laurent.
“Esmeray didn’t ask to speak with her twin–and no one could confirm Adara knew Esmeray was back.
We were all concerned the sisters would fight it out, so every housed warrior at court was told to guard Adara in case Esmeray wanted to take out the competition and be crowned Queen Absolute of Irridessen–ruling both Obsidian and Opal–or in case Adara tried to rebuke Esmeray’s succession. ”
Laurent sighed, shaking his head, his silver earrings gleaming in the light cast from the fire.
“We both personally warned the King to take precautions against Esmeray’s return.
The King’s Guard worried Esmeray would want to be crowned immediately and take out her parents and sister to make sure her reign wasn’t challenged after the celebration.
On our continent, Irridessen, Kings and Queens only rule for three hundred years, and then they must name a successor or heir.
Esmeray and Keerian were set to be crowned as the successors once the King and Queen’s reign was up.
We are as close to immortal as we can get so putting a limit on how long royals can rule is the only way to keep them from killing each other for a throne.
Esmeray only had one hundred years to wait to be crowned Queen on High. But the next morning, the King and Queen were found dead. Murdered.”