The Shattered Crown (A Midlife Fairy Tale #5)

Chapter 1

Feeling very much like she’d been punched in the gut, Queen Sparrow Meadowcroft studied the woman standing across from her in the entrance hall of Castle Clarion. The woman who’d just announced she was Ro’s mother.

Could she be? She looked like Sheridan Meadowcroft, but it had been over ten years since Ro had seen her birth mother. That had been at Aunt Violet’s funeral.

Ro took a breath, trying to calm herself. Her pulse had picked up. She didn’t want this woman to be Sheridan, but her gut said that’s exactly who she was looking at. “What happened to you? How did you end up here?”

Sheridan, who’d renamed herself Starlynn years ago, laughed. “From what I understand, I died.” She shrugged. “Last thing I remember, I was working on my flying pigeon, felt my arm go numb, and then I woke up in a field full of flowers, blue sky above me. Thought I’d made it to Nirvana.”

She looked around. “Still kind of feels that way.”

Lord Gabriel Nightborne stood beside Ro. He leaned closer and asked quietly, “What is a flying pigeon, my lady?”

“It’s a yoga pose.” She examined the woman, taking in every aspect of her. The unruly gray hair caught back in a few braids. The lines that mapped the years on her face. The easy smile. The mismatched gown and overvest that looked as if they had been thrown together without a care.

Ro’s emotions were too jumbled to sort through. An attempt had been made on her life a few hours ago. Having her mother suddenly show up had not been on her bingo card. “What name do you go by these days?”

“Still Starlynn. But you can call me Star.” She grinned. “Or Mom.”

That wasn’t going to happen. “How did you find out that I was here?”

“I made my way into the closest village, trying to figure out what had happened to me, and as I talked to people, they told me about Summerton. Including its queen. It had to be you. What were the odds that my daughter and the queen of Summerton had the same name?”

Before Ro could answer, Star wiggled her brows.

“Slim, that’s what. Took me a while to really grasp what had happened, but after a few days, I got it.

Apparently when people with fae blood die, they end up here.

Not such a rare occurrence in these parts, according to the people I talked to.

But who knew we had fae blood! And your Aunt Vi is here, too, I was told?

And you have a son?” She pressed her hands together.

“Can you imagine me as a grandmother? I can’t wait to meet him. ”

If Ro frowned any harder her muscles might seize up. “He’s thirty. You met him at Violet’s funeral.”

Star blinked. “Did I? I’ll be honest, I was a little self-medicated that day, so my memories of it are hazy. Can’t blame me. It was a sad day.” She brightened right away. “But I guess not that sad if Vi’s here now, huh?”

Ro opened her mouth, but nothing she wanted to say felt appropriate for a queen. JT had enough going on in his life with the recent introduction of his biological father, Nazyr. How would he handle the appearance of yet another blood relative?

Ro glanced at Gabriel, but his expression was unreadable.

Star spread her arms wide and lurched toward Ro. “What do you say? How about a hug for your mom, Sparrow?”

Gabriel immediately stepped between Ro and Star, blocking the older woman’s path.

Star stayed where she was, but dropped her hands to her hips. “Whoa, there, Mr. Bodyguard. I was just going to hug my daughter.”

Ro didn’t want to hug Star. This woman was a stranger to her.

This woman had abandoned Ro as a baby, foisting her off on Aunt Violet to raise.

The fact that Star thought everything was going to be hunky-dory between her and Ro now, without any apology or explanation or anything, only added to Ro’s resentment.

“No one touches the queen unless she touches them first,” Gabriel answered with a gruffness that almost made Ro smile. He was a head taller than Star, meaning Ro couldn’t see much of her.

Just enough to know she still had her hands on her hips. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. She might be your queen but she’s my daughter.”

“As a citizen of the realm, she’s your queen as well,” Gabriel corrected her.

“I’ve only just arrived. Isn’t there some kind of grace period?” Star attempted to see past Gabriel. “Sparrow, tell him it’s all right.”

Ro backed up. She’d faced down an assassination attempt today. Seeing her estranged mother should be a piece of cake. But it didn’t feel that way. At all.

Gabriel gestured to a pair of royal guards, who approached. “Please take this guest to the kitchen and get her something to eat and drink. Stay with her.”

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards replied.

The guards moved Star out of the room. She tried to see Ro, but they blocked her way and kept moving, taking her with them even as she protested, “I’m not thirsty.”

Gabriel turned to Ro. “Are you all right? Was that really your mother?”

Ro exhaled. “Yes. I haven’t seen her in nearly eleven years, but I believe that was her.

” She wrapped her arms around herself, realized what an unroyal gesture that must be, and dropped them to her sides.

“She didn’t raise me. Aunt Violet did. My mother was too busy living her own life.

Too young to be a mother, according to her.

” Ro stared after Star. “She couldn’t even be bothered to try. ”

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said softly. He glanced in the direction of the guards, but they’d already left the main hall. “What do you want done with her?”

Ro took a moment to think. “I don’t know. I can’t just dismiss her. She’s a bit of a loose cannon. No telling what she’d do. Or say. But I need time to think before I act. Right now, I’m liable to do something I’ll regret.”

“Time to think is always wise. It’s been a long day. Why don’t we go back up to lunch?”

Ro nodded. “Yes. Then I can tell Violet and JT.” She sighed. She hadn’t even changed yet. Her jacket still bore the hole from where the dagger had penetrated, only to be stopped by her protective vest.

“You must be frustrated,” Gabriel said. “You didn’t need this today.” He escorted her back to the stairs. “Is there any chance that woman is not your mother? That she’s actually one of Anyka’s people in disguise?”

Ro pondered that. “You mean the way I sent Uldamar into Anyka’s court, she might have sent someone here as my mother?”

“The timing is very coincidental. Could it be possible?”

“As what, a backup plan in case Anyka didn’t kill me?

Which she didn’t, obviously.” She stopped when they reached the landing.

“I suppose that could be. But with Nazyr here, does Anyka have another magician capable of pulling off mimicry like that? That woman looked and sounded exactly like my mother.”

“Any chance Anyka had a neph working for her? Or someone with neph blood?”

Ro was silent a moment. The shape-changing neph were their newest ally.

They’d been instrumental in keeping her safe today when she’d faced down Anyka and her court on the prison island of Tenebrae.

Could one of them have ties to Malveaux?

“It would take too long to message Khamsin’s court.

They might not even know if it’s someone who only has a touch of neph blood. They didn’t know about Uldamar.”

“True.”

She tapped a finger against her lip. “But Uldamar would know. Just by looking at her. The neph recognize each other when they’re in another form. I don’t know how, but they do.”

“That would help. Do you want to invite her up to lunch?”

Ro grimaced. “No. But I hate to make Uldamar go down to the kitchen just to look at her. Let’s go tell them all what’s happened, finish lunch, then bring her up to the sitting room.

Inviting her to lunch would just give her the wrong idea.

Make her think I’m ready for that hug.” She shuddered.

“I’ve gone my entire life without a relationship with her. I see no reason to start now.”

His mouth twitched but he said nothing.

“What?” she asked. “Do you think I’m wrong? She’s had nothing to do with me either, I’d like to remind you.”

“It’s not that. Your feelings are justified. I’ve just never seen you like this before. Except maybe when you discovered the truth about Nazyr being Prince James’s father.”

She exhaled. “You might be right. And if I sound angry or bitter, it’s because I am.

You don’t get to waltz back into my life after abandoning me and suddenly think you’re going to get all the benefits of me as a daughter and me as queen.

Because I promise you, that’s exactly what she’s thinking about. ”

He nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. Let’s get you back to your quarters.”

By the time she sat down at the table to finish her lunch, her appetite had largely disappeared.

She took a bite of one of the cold shrimp on her plate.

Maybe she’d be hungrier for dinner. Or maybe she’d just go to bed early with a book.

After a long soak in her bathing pool. Didn’t that sound wonderful? But would it actually happen tonight?

JT spoke up first. “You okay, Mom? You look mad.”

“I’m not. Not exactly. I’m…” She was a lot of things. Resentful. Upset. Tired. Ready to call it a day. But that wasn’t going to happen just yet. “There’s no easy way to say this. The woman who showed up downstairs was my birth mother.”

Violet’s eyes went wide. “Sheridan is here?”

Ro nodded. “It seems she died in the mortal world and now she’s in Summerton. Just like what happened to you.”

“No wonder you’re mad,” JT said. “I would be, too. What are you going to do about her?”

“I don’t know. For one thing, I need to know if it’s really her. I was thinking about bringing her up to the sitting room.” She stretched her hand toward Uldamar. “Mostly so you could get a look at her and see if she’s really who she says she is or one of Anyka’s people in disguise.”

The old wizard frowned slightly. “You think she might be a neph working for Anyka?”

“Gabriel and I were discussing that. Anything’s possible.”

“Ro,” Aunt Violet said, getting her attention. “How did she seem when you spoke to her?”

“Like…she expected me to be happy to see her. Like she thought we were just going to pick up and be instant family.”

Violet made a face. “That sounds exactly like Sheridan. Or Starlynn. Does she still call herself that?”

“Yes,” Ro answered. “Or just Star.”

JT forked up some cold crab. “Listen, I have you and Aunt Vi. I don’t need some grandmother I’ve never met, so if you’re thinking about letting her back into your life because of me, you don’t have to do that.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” Ro said. “But as much as I’d like to send her away and never see her again, she’s here. In Summerton. And she doesn’t strike me as the type to go quietly.”

Violet laughed derisively. “You’ve got that right.

If I’d had any money, she wouldn’t have dropped you off.

She would have moved in with me and taken advantage of an easier life.

That woman has always been looking for greener grass.

” She put her hand to her heart. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.

You don’t need this. Not today of all days.

And we’ll support you in whatever decision you make. ” She looked at JT. “Won’t we?”

He nodded. “Absolutely.”

Ro leaned her elbows on the table, laced her fingers together, and rested her chin on them. “Well, something’s got to be done about her. If she is my mother, I can’t turn my back on her. It’s not a good look and the citizens wouldn’t understand. But I also can’t imagine having her in our lives.”

Silence fell over the table, a clear indication to Ro that no one else had an immediate answer either.

Then JT looked at her. “Could you find a job for her? Something harmless, but enough to keep her busy?”

Ro sat back. “That’s not a bad idea, but I have no clue what skills she has outside of yoga.

I don’t know how popular that would be in the fae realm.

I need to think about it some more. And I guess I’ll have to talk to her, too.

Like, really talk to her. She might not be interested in doing anything. ”

“Everyone has to do something,” Gabriel said.

Uldamar wiped his mouth before setting his napkin aside. “Is she still here? There’s no need for you to bring her into your quarters if that’s not what you truly desire. She might be your mother, but you are still queen.”

“She’s in the kitchen,” Ro answered. “Gabriel has a pair of guards babysitting her.”

Uldamar pushed his chair back and stood. “Then I shall go see her for myself.”

“You don’t have to do that. You’re probably more tired than I am after all that time in Malveaux.”

“Your highness, if there is something I can do to make your life easier, I am happy to do it.” A little twinkle came into his eyes. “I was just thinking I could use a new project. Why shouldn’t that be your mother?”