7. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Alyssa
I could hear the screams. Not the loud piercing noises I thought would make my ears bleed like before. No, these were the screams of the memories that haunted this place. They floated on a hidden breeze, wrapping around me and making me wish I could be taken with them, too.
Sometimes, the cruellest thing was having lived. Being made to bear the memories of the lives that had been lost. No one else would remember these people. I was all that was left. The history of this place would be continued. It was written in the pages of nearly every book in the library. But the people? The ordinary people who had lived and loved inside these walls? They were nothing but a collection of memories in my head now, and some days, I didn’t feel worthy of carrying them.
And then I’d touched that tree.
I’d opened myself up to what had lingered in this place when I’d fled like a coward. It was what had always lived in this place, the one thing that existed in all our people. It was Nymeria.
I knew what Rhidian wanted me to do. He wanted me to stride up those steps and throw open the palace doors. He wanted me, the last of the royal line, to step foot on the stones at the centre of Spring Court and claim it as my own. Rhidian thought that by returning to this place, I’d bring to life the magic of the Spring Court once more and it would push away whatever force of Nymeria was trying to reclaim this place.
He couldn’t be more wrong.
I had no markings of royalty. I hadn’t been old enough to be crowned as the next in line for the Spring throne. The same blood might run through my veins, but there was nothing else that said I belonged in this place. My magic had never been offered to the court, and Nymeria had never carved the royal mark upon my skin. We didn’t have the time to do it before it had all been stolen from me. I’d never had my chance to claim my place in the royal line.
Rhidian was right though that the Spring magic that had once filled this place was gone now. It was why the land had seemed so dead to me before. The magic of my people was gone, even if this place still lived. In the plants and the animals, in whatever else dared to stalk the shadows of the forest. But it was wild and free. Untapped by any court. Untamed by any royal.
It was my magic.
It was the magic of Nymeria that no one else shared.
Spring was dead, and Nymeria was taking its place.
My head cocked to the side at the implication. All this time, we’d heard stories of the Court of Light and Shadows, and everyone had assumed it was a fifth court, an unseen court. It either existed in only fairytales or it was in some unseen place in the centre of Nymeria, where no one had ever dared to tread.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
What if the Court of Light and Shadows was nothing but a dead court? One without a purpose, one that had lost the magic of its people and instead was overcome by the wild retribution of Nymeria.
My heart tripped a beat as the thought filled my mind. The implications of going inside the palace took on so many connotations that I hadn’t considered.
Was I about to claim the fifth throne?
Fizzle had always been convinced this was my destiny. Even my parents had believed it. It was why I’d been forced to hide the true nature of my magic.
Was this why Arik had slaughtered everyone here? To create the court that could give him control over Nymeria?
No.
It couldn’t be.
Because Arik would never have left this place if that were the case. We wouldn’t have been able to walk right up to the door if he knew the power that this place could hold.
Which meant only one thing.
This truly was a building filled with nothing but ghosts and memories, and there was no reason for me to stand on the steps frozen in fear.
My foot landed on the first step as the thought formed. I didn’t even doubt the logic in my mind until I’d already made it to the top. Fizzle stayed silent on my shoulder. He had a lot of explaining to do when this was over. Once I’d shown them that whatever hope they’d found in this place was as dead as the people who once lived here.
I watched my hand reach for the surface of the wood like it wasn’t my own. Even the warmth of the wood didn’t register until I was pushing against the surface. The slight hum beneath my fingertips was nothing compared to the screaming in my mind. The tremor of magic filled every cell in my body, awakening a part of me I’d refused to look at since I last ran through these doors, with nothing but death in my wake.
The hinges groaned as the wood moved. Even though these doors had been used in the years since I’d been here, they were inexplicably heavier now.
I felt the magic wrap around me like a familiar embrace. I could almost smell the scent that my father had worn as a feeling of home rushed over me. The past consumed me so thoroughly that I barely felt Fizzle leave my shoulder. Abandoning me to my fate.
This wasn’t what I’d expected. It wasn’t the strange magic that filled me, but was absent in those around me. It wasn’t the feeling of Nymeria that whispered through the trees as proof of the realms’ displeasure at the events that had happened here.
This was my family. It was my people. It was the Court rushing back to life as the magic that had long laid dormant reached out for me in desperate hope.
As my foot crossed the threshold, a tear slipped free from my eye. Because for the first time in years, I felt like I actually belonged. Like the world around me was finally a part of me again, and the rush of magic blazed past me to reclaim what had been stolen from it. It danced on the wind and rustled through the trees; the whispering leaves singing a song of rejoice.
The queen had arrived, and spring had returned.
I heard a gasp behind me, but didn’t really care who it had come from. A singular sound that echoed the amazement of what was about to happen. I could feel it as my foot descended to the smooth tile inside. The anticipation was palpable, and I closed my eyes as a breath of relief rushed out of me.
The burning sensation of pure magic climbed up my body as soon as my foot touched the ground. It wrapped around a part of me I hadn’t wanted to face in a long time. The part of me that had cried out for this land for years. And even as it etched its mark into my skin, I smiled.
Because I was finally home.
The tears were flowing faster now and as I turned to look at the people behind me, the only thing I could see were the four men standing at the doorway, ready to leap into action if I’d needed them.
A glimmer of something passed through their eyes and I could recognise it as their other halves joining us in a moment that was greater than any of us.
But then the unexpected happened. As it always seemed to be when wild magic was in the air. Tank stepped forward, reaching out for me. One corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile when he saw the relief on my face despite my tears. As he stepped into the palace, the magic rose once more, reaching out for my mate, and surging into his body, flowing along that blossoming bond between us.
Tank gasped, the echo of a growl joining the sound as his bear felt a change within itself that it didn’t understand.
And then I watched.
I watched as a tattoo of vines crept up from Tank’s collar, curling up behind his ear and disappearing into his hairline, knowing that it was a mirror of the marks that now graced my skin.
Of course, this was how it would be.
Because he was my mate.
And now he was my king.
Tank’s wide-eyed gaze locked with mine, and I knew he was confused about what was happening. He would never have seen anything like this happen before. Nothing like this existed in the human realm.
A moment of doubt rushed through me. Did he want this? We weren’t fully mated yet, but while he knew we’d be bonded, he’d never known about the possibility of a throne coming with that as well. Was it more than he’d be willing to take on?
Just as I was about to apologise, to explain, to say anything that could make this situation feel less awkward than I was suddenly feeling, Rhidian’s shout rang through the palace.
“Long live the queen!”
Tank’s eyes widened even further, and I thought we’d have to pick him up off the floor as the next words left Rhidian’s lips.
“And long live her king!”
Maddox spluttered in surprise as Ryder barked out a laugh of glee. Only Dean looked ready to tear into the man he’d been considering a friend. My gaze moved to the three of them, worried about what this could mean for us. I already had feelings for them, even if I wasn’t quite at the point of being ready to declare them my mates like Tank and the three of them were determined I would. It wasn’t that I didn’t want them. I was confused about how it would work.
We were frozen in a moment that none of us had expected. Well, Rhidian and Fizzle seemed pretty unsurprised by the current events. This was what they’d hoped would happen all along.
“It’s still here,” one guard barked. “It didn’t work.”
My head cocked to the side at his words, confused at first about what he could mean. But it was obvious from how he glared at the forest that had overtaken the Spring Court. They thought by claiming the Spring Court, it would push back Nymeria, which seemed content in claiming this place once more.
“It’s the shifter,” another guard growled. “She can’t take a shifter for a king. Nymeria won’t accept it.”
I saw the hate in their eyes in that moment and it sparked to life a viciousness inside me that I didn’t recognise.
“Think carefully about the next words out of your mouth.” My voice didn’t sound like my own. The growl that lingered was a noise I’d never made before and it had the guards backing up a step.
This was my court and Tank was my mate—chosen and fated. I wouldn’t stand these interlopers even looking at him in a way that displeased me.
The magic inside me quivered in anticipation. It knew what was coming and part of me rejoiced in it. A need for not just violence, but justice flowed through me and as I watched one guard stupidly reach for his sword, I nearly laughed.
One of the vines that had been trying to consume the palace whipped out and wrapped around his wrist. He stared at it in shock but had no time to do anything about it.
One moment he was standing there, and the next he was gone.
The others didn’t have time to move, but smartly, none of them reached for a weapon either.
I strode forward, the men I had yet to claim as my own parted in the doorway to allow me to pass. The magic was riding me hard. It was like nothing I’d experienced before. I could feel its will for more and it would be so easy to relinquish control and let it do as it pleased.
The muffled scream from above was easy to ignore. He was dead anyway, he just hadn’t realised it yet. Later, the loss of life would no doubt upset me, but I didn’t have the luxury of thinking like the old me anymore. I was back in Nymeria. Back in the warped reality of court politics and power struggles. Weakness would only be exploited, and I intended to make a lasting impression that would keep me and mine safe in the days to come—or at least as safe as they could be in these circumstances.
“Does anyone else wish to question my choices?” I asked, standing tall at the top of the palace steps.
The guards had backed up as far as they dared. Their eyes wildly glanced around them, at not just me, but the forest and vines that surrounded them. Perhaps now they were seeing the mistake they’d made. Spring magic filled everything in this place. It was wild with life and untapped potential, and everything here was mine. The trees, the plants, the very ground they stood upon. All of it would bend to my will. And the power of it all was intoxicating.
Rhidian dropped to one knee, his head dipping in respect as the guards slowly followed his example. “It is a joyous day for Nymeria to see the Spring Court alive once more,” he said, annoying me more than he realised. This wasn’t my choice, this was his choice, and I wouldn’t soon forget it.
“We should take this inside. There is much to discuss,” Fizzle said carefully.
My gaze landed on the owl gryphon I’d once considered a friend. His betrayal was too new for me to trust him right now, but he was right about needing to move inside. Spring magic may be returning to this place, but that didn’t mean the wildness of Nymeria had left. I could feel it brushing up against what the court had once been like an itch in the back of my mind.
The two forces were essentially the same thing, and rather than spring pushing Nymeria out, it was blurring around the edges. And it wasn’t just happening outside amongst the trees. It was happening inside me, too.
Everything was changing.
Dean’s hand gently touched my shoulder, his grip tightening as I subtly leaned into his touch. I pushed my mind away from the magic. Pulling on the sense of belonging they all instilled in me, I centred my mind on the here and now. Grounding myself in the familiar.
It wasn’t easy.
Nymeria wanted something from this place. Something from me. And I was afraid to open myself up enough to listen to it. The power in this place was more than any one person should have control of. It was enough to pollute even the most pure of minds, and I was no way near as good as that.
But whatever we’d started here, I couldn’t back away from it now. It was already in motion, and unfortunately for me; it seemed like Fizzle and Rhidian were the only source of information available to me. Which meant no matter how badly my feelings might be hurt from the secrets they’d been keeping from me, I had no choice but to trust them right now.