Maeve
It’s the middle of the night when I finally slide into my private apartment. Boxes of my things are stacked precariously around the foyer, all labeled to be delivered to specific rooms in the massive royal suite that takes up an entire floor two stories above me. My head pounds from wearing the crown and all the jewels that dangled from my forehead for hours even though I undressed immediately after coming off the balcony. That was hours ago.
Now, I’m wearing the white ceremonial gown from when I blessed the couple performing the Rite and a dark navy blue cloak. It smells like the smoke that drifted off the lake where dozens of bonfires were burning.
After the Rite, I was escorted back to the castle where a party for my grandparents was being held. It had a very select guest list, but party goers still filled the formal ballroom, and even now, in the dead of night, I can still hear the music drifting through the castle.
I assume everyone else is asleep by now. It’s been the longest day of my life, and the reality of what happened today hasn’t quite settled in yet, I suppose.
I am Queen of Eastonia.
Now what?
I’m pulling on pajama pants and buttoning the silken, matching shirt when Jane announces her presence. She floats into my bedroom, her figure cast in shadow as she peeks her head around the door, knocking softly.
“I thought you’d be asleep by now, Jane,” I say into the shadows, reaching up to rub my tired eyes.
“I have… I have something for you, I think.”
I arch a brow, turning from my vanity to face her as she glides into the room holding a large to-go cup. I recognize where it’s from immediately and frown, my brows pinched in confusion. “Did you go out and get that?”
“No, it was delivered at the back gate. Niall’s on guard tonight,” she begins, mentioning the tall, dark haired warrior. I’ve been impressed by his dedication to his job as a castle guard, taking notes and making plans to promote him when the time is right. “And he said this was for me, but… I don’t think it is.”
I search her eyes, running my tongue over my lower lip. She knows I was with Soren for a week but not the full extent of it. I told her what I had–that I hunted him down, but was… unsuccessful in bringing him to justice.
It couldn’t be further from the truth of what actually happened.
She sets the to-go cup on the edge of the vanity and steps away, giving me a gentle bow before whispering, “Goodnight, Your Majesty.”
I swallow hard, nodding, and she slips from the room. I don’t move until her footsteps fade, and I hear the echoing, tell-tale click of the main door snapping shut.
I smell chamomile and honey. I let the scent drift around me, settling in my bones, cutting through the waves of nausea that have been plaguing all day. I’ve barely eaten today. I haven’t had time, and the promise of honey makes my mouth water, but I find it impossible to move.
There’s a heat sleeve on the cup. I see the edge of a pen mark in thick black ink over the rolled, soft cardboard. I reach for it, sliding it down and gazing at what I realize is unfamiliar handwriting because I’ve never seen Soren’s handwriting before.
“You never needed that necklace.”
I sniffle, shaking my head, and bring the tea to my lips while squeezing my eyes shut against the knowledge that Soren was here, in Moonrise. That he could still be here, right now, somewhere in the city, and I… I can’t go to him.
But he was here. He watched my coronation. He watched me use my powers to paint the sky.
I take a deep breath, fighting the smile tugging at my lips, and take a sip.
The tea is perfect, exactly how I like it.
* * *
Three Days Later
“Nothing will change between Eastonia and Crescent Falls,” I say from my desk, my words directed at Sydney, who’s standing in the crowd of family members stationed around my official office, leaning on furniture or the walls. “As it stands, our trade negotiations need no adjustments. I’m happy with how they are.”
Sydney nods, stifling a smile. “I am, as well.”
“Then we can table any discussion about our future as allies until later this winter when I come to Crescent Falls for the summit with Lunaria and Celestoria.”
Sydney takes this as the dismissal he’s likely been waiting for since the family gathered here after breakfast, which I didn’t attend. He turns to Sarah, who’s beaming at me, trying to hide her excitement at seeing me behind this desk, in this office, that used to belong to my grandmother but now belongs to me.
The family starts to funnel out of the room, but I say, “Lexa and Aris, please stay.”
Lexa turns to Aviva and Ryan, tilting a brow as she smirks, and turns back to me as her parents leave.
“You too, Blake,” I grumble, but Blake hasn’t made any moves to leave the window where he’s leaning, watching the sleepy city below. People are literally asleep in the streets. The celebration didn’t cease until the sun rose, and even now, days later, music still drifts over the quiet hum of activity within the castle.
When everyone else has left the room, save for my grandpa and my dad, I motion toward Aris, looking down at my agenda while saying, “Aris, I’m going to be moving you to Moonrise for a few months. You’ll be in the barracks at the training center and will keep an office there. I’m making you a captain in my royal forces, and you’ll oversee the training facility there as an administrator,” I tell him, meeting his eyes. I turn to Lexa for my next order of business, “Lexa, I want you in Moonrise as well starting after the Harvest Festival. I need you training with the Ghosts, as well as my royal forces. I want someone like you in command, as well. It would mean spending most of your time in Moonrise this fall, winter, and spring, and returning to your duties in Silverhide next summer.”
She crosses her arms under her chest, standing tall and stoic, nearly as tall as Aris, who is currently slumping. Her dark, impressively curly brown hair trembles as her dark blue eyes narrow.
I continue. “I’m making you a captain in my forces, directly below your mother’s command. You’ll stay here this winter, train not only the Ghosts who run their training camps in the city but my warriors as well. You’ll be given a townhouse in the city just beyond the castle gates and will be free to visit the Deadlands any time you like. Is this something you’d be interested in?”
“Of course,” she smiles. “I’ll plan on it.”
“Good.” I click my pen, crossing another item off the list.
Aris grumbles his way out of my office, Lexa hot on his heels as she chuckles under her breath about how she gets a townhouse, and Aris has to stay in the barracks, but I pay them no mind.
I glance up from my agenda at my father and grandfather. “Grandpa Ryatt,” I say, straightening my spine, “you’ll be in retirement, but I may call on you from time to time. For now, you’re dismissed.” There isn’t an ounce of emotion in my voice, and he arches a brow, giving my father a look before leaving the room.
To Dad, I say in dismissal, “I’ll be visiting your offices in Veiled Valley next week to discuss my plans for the Ghosts and where I need them stationed. For now, I’m fine as is.”
Dad moves toward the desk. I look back down at my agenda when he puts a hand on my shoulder, squeezing, then leaves, shutting the door behind him–shutting me in with Blake.
His soft, deep chuckle reverberates through the room as I flip through the pages of my agenda.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, shooting him a glare.
“Nothing,” he says, but I see the ghost of a smile touching his lips as he turns from the window. “You just dismissed the most feared man in the Allied Kingdom without so much as blinking.”
“He’s my grandfather,” I reply tightly. “Anyway, he’s done. He’s retired.”
“He’s still King of the Roguelands seeing as no one has been chosen for that title–”
“It is no longer a title. I am Queen of Eastonia, which includes the Roguelands.” I click my pen and scribble a few notes about my meetings this afternoon, ignoring the pang of discomfort in my stomach that woke me up this morning and hasn’t stopped since. “This is what they wanted, Blake. Otherwise I’d still be preparing to be queen, and they’d be ruling.”
He stares at me, but I ignore the way his eyes are boring into my skull. “You seem off.”
“Like you actually care.” I chuckle, rolling my eyes. “I’m busy, that’s all.”
“Did you need me for something? I’d like to return to my parents and prepare to go home. We’re traveling together.”
“You will not be returning to Crescent Falls with them today.” I meet his eyes in a silent challenge.
“This again.” He sighs, turning to the window while checking his watch. “You already know my answer.”
“I’m not asking.”
He glares but my spine turns to steel as I let my powers shimmer behind my eyes.
“What exactly do you need me for, Maeve? Paperwork? Doing your heavy lifting? Being the bad guy?”
“You already know what I’m going to say, Blake. You are not meant for Crescent Falls, and that's becoming more apparent the older you get and the more powerful you become.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I don’t have to. You know what your future holds. You’ve seen it. You’ve seen mine, as well–”
“I have not,” he cuts in. “Our powers aren’t compatible. I can’t see your timeline. I don’t know what your future holds, and even if I had the ability to look inside your head, I wouldn’t dare.”
“But you’ve seen yours.”
“No,” he replies in a hushed whisper. “I haven’t. Would you want to know the day you die? Or who you’ll love and lose?”
I look down my hands, curling them into fists in my lap. I’ve already done that last part, haven’t I? “I need you here in Moonrise to continue the hunt for the Spider. More importantly, I need you to find someone for me who goes by the name the Viper. I believe she’s a woman.”
He pauses, slowly looking at me like the name is familiar. “What’s your business with the Viper?”
“Then you’re aware of her existence–”
“She’s a powerful underlord with ties to the Spider, yes. I am aware and so is your father. His Ghosts have been hunting her for years.”
“Well, I may know where she keeps her den. It’ll be in Twin Rivers, if not in what used to be Rifthold. I want you to choose a few loyal warriors, whoever has skills to go undercover and sniff her out. Watch her, at least.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“Nothing for now,” I admit, leaning back in my chair and swallowing against the sudden urge to throw up. My words tremble as I bite out, “She’ll lead us to Hannibal, and that’s enough.”
“You look unwell,” he says, ignoring my statement.
“I’m tired, Blake.”
But he’s staring at me again with that strange, all seeing gaze. Maybe the gray hue in my cheeks and my bloodshot eyes are making him feel a shred of empathy for me because he sighs, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “I’ve been giving your… offer some thought.”
“Oh?”
“I will keep an office here, in the castle, one of my choosing. I prefer the east wing.”
“I don’t care.”
He ignores my interjection, pacing to the opposite side of the room and back. “I’ll split my time between here and my duties to my kingdom, but I’m not giving up my title as Royal Prince yet. Liam isn’t ready.”
“Liam is already the Alpha of Shadowcrest,” I interrupt.
“He’s not ready,” he reasserts. “He’s not ready to rule with you as an ally, I mean. You scare him to death.”
“And he’s not scared of you?” I chuckle.
“He’s used to me.”
“So what exactly are you saying, Blake?”
“I’m saying I will act as your second but not full time, not yet. I have business to attend to in Crescent Falls, responsibilities I have to see through. Until then, you can have me a week out of every month or so. And, again, I get to choose my office and keep a private suite in the castle.”
“Whatever you want.” I shrug. “But I want you here two weeks out of every month.”
He glares but I hold his gaze in challenge.
“It’s a paid position,” I sigh, wincing as another wave of nausea rolls through me. I cover my mouth with my hand, and I can feel Blake eyeing me with marked concern. “That’s all I need. You may go–”
“Are you ill?”
“I’ve never been ill a day in my life–”
“You look sick–”
“I used an incredible amount of power this week during a time when my powers were already at their lowest.” I rise, knowing I’m now biding time. My stomach curls as I move swiftly toward the door.
“Maeve,” Blake calls out, but I’m already hurrying out of my office and cutting into the servants corridor, racing toward the stairs, which I take to the fourth floor. I’m barely in my suite when the nausea overcomes me.