A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms Book 1) Page 7

  All at once, my table of three advisers stood and bowed to me. I gave them all a broad smile and clasped my hands together under my chin, curtsying back.

  “I will not let any of you down. Now, let’s try and figure out who this mysterious stranger could be before they spin things out of control.”

  ☽༓☾

  We spent the next two hours discussing what could be done. More guards would be sent into the village undercover to try and uncover any information they could. I didn’t share with them that I snuck out sometimes at night to wander into the Black Forest, but I decided on my own that I would tonight to see if there was anything to be found. Cade suggested sending a group to the three neighboring kingdoms to see if any information could be found there.

  When we decided that it was a good place to start, we agreed to break and reconvene in a few days or sooner if anyone heard of anything else. When John and Luisa left, Cade and I remained in the dining hall alone.

  I exhaled a jittery breath and sank into my chair, perching an elbow on the arm of my chair and rested my head in my hand. This was unexpected. So, King Leonidas was aware of my magic and that was why he had chosen me to take his place. It made me wonder how he knew, and why he never tried to meet me. But, John had always known, or suspected, and he never said a word.

  “I didn’t know this was going to happen,” Cade said.

  I nodded. My body felt tired, like I had just run circles around my village.

  “We have one more meeting and then you can take a break.” His voice was tired, too.

  I raised my head to look at him, shooting him a confused glance. “What other meeting? Why are you being so secretive lately?” I was irritated by the events of the day and night before and I was taking it out on him, but it still didn’t make sense why he was suddenly not telling me things until right before they happened.

  He ignored my questions and stood. I did the same, but I didn’t move, waiting to hear who I had to meet after an exhaustive morning.

  “He’s from Reales. He has news that he insists he can only share with you.”

  From Reales. Wonderful. The one kingdom I had yet to visit during my reign. I rolled my eyes, gesturing to the door. “Lead the way then.”

  His eyes narrowed on me.

  I returned his glare. “What? More secrets to share?”

  “Why don’t we start by losing the attitude?” He spat back.

  I was really not in the mood to argue with him. He’d been holding back on me for a week and expected me to be okay with it. “Why don’t we start by keeping your Queen informed on what the fuck is happening in her own kingdom?” I shoved past him.

  Withholding information from me was not a choice he had the freedom to make. I was his queen and deserved the respect that came with the position, even from him.

  I felt his hard stare on my back as we walked to the throne room in silence. Just last night we were laughing on the balcony and now we were pissed at each other. This back and forth shit was grating on my last nerve.

  The guards standing at the doors of the throne room peeled them back once they saw me coming and bowed their heads. I gave them a subtle dip of my chin as I breezed past, stomping up the stairs to my throne and sitting.

  “You’re a fucking piece of work,” he grumbled to me as he passed by to stand by my side, farther back than he normally would.

  I sighed heavily. He was going to pout. I crossed my legs, the hem of my dress rising at the movement and exposing my thigh and my boots. If he insisted on staring all day and being a dick, I was going to torture him the best way I knew how. He may have been my best friend, but even he couldn’t resist lusting after bare skin. His stare remained on me as I leaned back in the throne, grinning smugly as the dress glided an inch higher.

  While playing my cruel game, my focus had been solely on annoying him and not on who had been waiting on a bench to the side of the room. When he came into view as he sauntered to the center, I choked on absolutely nothing and broke into a coughing fit.

  Zeke was standing there, looking even more devastating than he was the night before. He was in all black again and I was almost positive that the shade had been invented just for him. He had a hood on and pieces of his black hair were poking out, resting against his forehead. He pulled the hood back and ran a hand through his hair, the pieces following. I watched with parted lips. Never in my life had I been jealous of a hand, but I wanted to be the one doing that.

  “You,” I said aloud, before realizing that he had no idea who I was. I was Terra at the festival and now I was myself, but I swear I saw the corners of his mouth tug up at my nervous greeting. “You. You’re here. Hello.” What a fucking lame recovery, but it was all I could manage.

  He bowed to me and my entire body warmed at the sight of him lowering himself to me. I bet he looked delicious on his knees.

  “Your Majesty, I’m here from the kingdom of Reales. I came with the unfortunate task of telling you that our king has passed.” He straightened after he shared the news and met my eyes, his ghost of a smile disappearing as we stared at one another a beat too long.

  I untwined my fingers and rose from my throne, walking down the small steps of my station and stood in front of him, placing my hand on his elbow. My heart skipped a beat. “I am so sorry to hear that. I never had the chance to meet him, but I’ve heard such wonderful things about how peaceful he was. What happened to him?”

  Zeke licked his lips and I mentally cursed myself for where my thoughts went. His tongue had just been in my mouth. “In his sleep. He was ill for a very long time, but we are grateful that in the end, he felt no pain. Of course, his daughter is devastated and now has the responsibility of taking his throne.”

  I gave him a sympathetic smile, dropping my hand from his arm. “What does she need from me? We’re here to help in any way we can.”

  “I’m here to formally invite you to Reales in three months’ time. It’s an accurate amount of time for her to grieve and try to get a handle on becoming Queen of Reales.”

  I nodded in response, patting his arm again. Why couldn’t I stop touching him? He didn’t seem to mind. Never flinching. “Of course. I’d be happy to visit her and become acquainted with your new queen. Mira is her name, correct?”

  He nodded. I should have dismissed him. “And what do they call you?” My mouth clearly didn’t listen to my brain.

  At my question, his quick smile returned before it was gone. His eyes burned into mine, like we shared a secret, but he couldn’t possibly know who I was. “Ezekiel, but I answer to Zeke.”

  Of course, I already knew his name, being that he was pressed against me hours prior. I just wanted an opportunity to say his name aloud again. “Zeke,” I repeated. Why did it feel so familiar to me? “Please feel free to stay as long as you need. We have rooms available to you and you can explore the palace and village as you wish.”

  He bowed to me and my body flushed. I could be so annoying. I really needed to fuck someone soon to release the pressure building up every second.

  “I would love a tour of your palace, Raven.” My name on his tongue sounded delicious. “Would you be willing to honor me with your presence?” His voice was lowered, like he wanted only me to hear him.

  My hands were shaking. Something about him made me so nervous. Being alone with him was exactly what I wanted, but also seemed like such a bad idea. Luckily for the illogical part of my brain, I enjoyed throwing caution to the wind. “I would love to. Tomorrow morning?”

  He grabbed my shaky hand and pulled me a step closer to him, drawing it to his mouth and pressing his lips to my knuckles before murmuring against my skin, “I look forward to it.”

  Quite the balls on this one. And I liked it.

  I licked my lips at the feeling of his mouth on my hand and he tracked the movement of my tongue. I dropped my eyes from his piercing gaze and watched him walk away in awe.

  “You’re drooling.”

  I jumped at the sound of C
ade’s voice beside me.

  “Don’t you have a blonde to bed?” I retorted, leaving him to stand there as I waltzed out of the throne room. We would make up. We’d had spats before, although this one felt a little more tense. We were just tired. We hadn’t had a chance to talk about what happened this morning.

  Usually, we would meet in his office and go over what the ramifications of what revealing myself would be, since it was a huge fucking deal. But for right now, I wanted nothing more than to visit my aunt for a little bit. I could discuss it with her instead. I wasn’t sure how much longer I had with Isla. She wasn’t moving around as quickly as she used to. If she were to pass, then Cade would truly be all I had left. I promised myself to make up with him tomorrow.

  ☽༓☾

  There was still enough light in the day where I didn’t feel the need to disguise myself for the walk between my palace and Isla’s cottage. I wasn’t fearful for my safety, just more alert. It would take a lot more than one person to keep me locked away in my ivory tower.

  I walked out onto the palace grounds and through one of the gates on the far side of my castle. It was the gate closest to the Black Forest, which was where my former cottage was situated.

  I kicked through the snow and listened to it crunch under my boots as my mind wandered back to Zeke. I couldn’t stop picturing him bowing before me, the feeling of his lips on my hand. It tingled just thinking about it. Something about his presence kept me on edge, like he was a cliff that I desperately wanted to jump off of. Nothing had ever made my heart beat faster than being so close to him and I didn’t even know him.

  It couldn’t be more than superficial attraction. He was magnificent to look at, how he towered over me. How he looked like he was cut from the same cloth as me. Only much taller and built like a god. I hadn’t even seen him with clothes off, but his muscles bulged and dipped in all the right places each time I’d touched him. When did my mouth start to water?

  I smacked my lips. It couldn’t go any further. We’d need to keep it cordial. We could be friends. I couldn’t think of any negative ramifications about having allies in neighboring kingdoms, especially one like Reales. They did spur a war once, after all.

  It sounded like a long time — a century. But, in the scheme of running kingdoms, the thirst for power didn’t just evaporate. It was bred. I felt guilty that I had never made the trip to meet King Rudolf. He was always too ill to travel here, plagued with something that spanned years. I had heard rumors that it was from a broken heart, losing his queen at such a young age.

  Queen Celestina was her name and she was the true heir of Reales. She married Rudolf under her father’s orders because of his peaceful attitude toward the rest of the kingdoms. The king wasn’t too old, which meant Mira had to be in her late thirties and now she’d lost both of her parents.

  It must be difficult, not that I could understand. I never knew my parents, or if I even had any. Sometimes I wondered if I was bred from demons. I snorted at the thought, knowing Cade would agree to that notion, especially after how I acted today.

  ☽༓☾

  I heard an excited greeting as I approached Isla’s cottage and it pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up from the ground and smiled, waving at Isla who was sitting in a rocking chair on her porch. My walk turned into a sprint as I bounded up the steps that led to her porch and straight into her arms.

  “My sweet girl is home!” she cried happily.

  My eyes filled with tears at her voice. It had been too long since I’d seen her and her familiar scent made me ache for simpler times when it was just the two of us.

  Isla kept her arm around me and led me into our quaint cottage. She hadn’t changed a thing since I lived here with her. I plopped down in front of the lit fireplace, though I wasn’t cold since I had my own heat, and watched her move around the kitchen as she began to brew tea for us. We looked absolutely nothing alike, not that we should’ve. Her whitened hair still showed hints of blonde, but she always kept it braided and out of her way. Just like I did with mine most of the time.

  When she returned with my tea, I inhaled and smiled at the smell wafting into my nose. Jasmine. My favorite. I took a small sip, my forehead creasing as the weight of the day hit me all at once.

  Isla leaned forward and grabbed my face in her hands, kissing my forehead. “Tell me all about it.”

  The words poured out of me in a hurry. I started with meeting Zeke at the festival as Terra and walking away from him, even though I felt such a strong pull to him whenever we shared space and how unnerving it was.

  I told her about the note Cade showed me and how he promised to always protect me, but how betrayed I still felt that he had kept secrets from me for a week.

  And all the while, my arms flailed wildly, my tea splashing around as I went into detail about how John outed me at breakfast to everyone and revealed my abilities to them.

  I finished with the mysterious person telling everyone in my village about my dark magic and wondered aloud how they even knew about it since we had kept it a secret for so long.

  Isla did nothing but listen, reaching out to grab my hand or my cup of tea, and rubbed my cheek when I would start to cry.

  “It just seems so unfair sometimes. I wasn’t raised to rule a kingdom. I wasn’t bred for it. I don’t even know who I am. I’m going on fifteen years of ruling Seolia and I feel like such an ass for being ungrateful. But it’s so overwhelming. And I’ve always been able to express that to Cade, but lately… he’s looking at me differently. He’s being cautious around me. He’s always been protective, but this is different. I don’t know how to act around him anymore. I’m turning twenty-five soon, and I feel like such a child.” I let out a big breath, like I'd been holding it all day. It felt so sweet to release.

  Isla was quiet for a few moments, letting all of the information I just vomited onto her sink in. “It’s okay that your court knows of your magic. We’ve protected it for so long that maybe it’s time we let it out. It’s a gift, whether you realize it yet or not. Right now, it may be your kingdom’s salvation.”

  I raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “You could be the very thing to save them if John is correct and war is a possibility. I may have done you a disservice, asking you to hide this part of yourself.”

  I shook my head, a quiet sob escaping me.

  Isla joined me on the floor and grabbed both of my hands. “You are a treasure to me, Raven, and beloved by your people. We may not know why you were given to me, but King Leonidas saw something in you and he protected this kingdom fiercely. He wouldn’t have handed it to you unless he saw the same thing in you that he saw in himself. Perseverance. Justice. You’ve always protected those who couldn’t protect themselves, and you will continue to do so, no matter who knows about your true self.”

  She tapped on my diadem with her finger. “Straighten your crown, dear girl. Face those who don’t believe in you with pride in who you are.”

  Problem was, I wasn’t sure who I was.

  “And, well, as for being overwhelmed. Let yourself feel those feelings. You are under a tremendous amount of responsibility and you are still a young queen. Don’t bottle up and don’t feel guilty for feeling any of it,” Isla finished, running her hand through my hair.

  I asked, “And what about Cade? And Zeke?”

  Isla pat my heart beating full of sorrow in my chest. “Listen to this.”

  ☽༓☾

  As night fell, I bid Isla goodnight and promised to return soon. When I came here, a small part of me wanted to stay and not deal with any of it anymore. After her pep talk with me, I left a little more positive.

  Revealing my abilities wasn’t a path I was prepared to take yet, but maybe it was time to not be so guarded about them all the time. They were a part of me, a big part, and I couldn’t spend all of my energy trying to keep those pieces of me hidden. With this new threat of war, I needed to spend more time wielding my elements and contin
ue my attempts at controlling all three of them at once.

  I could practice with Cade. I had planned on going into the Black Forest tonight, but I was exhausted and didn’t want to drag him out. Irritation still swelled every time I remembered that he kept things from me. “He’s not your equal,” I repeated to myself over and over on the walk back to my palace. It was dark and I contemplated shifting, but it wasn’t much farther to the castle.

  Right before I reached the gate, I heard the sounds of twigs snapping and I froze, snapping my head toward the sound. It was too dark to see anyone. I squinted, seeing only the guards in front of my gate. “Hello?” I called out, taking more tentative steps toward the castle.

  The guards heard my voice and looked at me, taking a step forward. One of them shouted, “Are you all right, Queen Raven?”

  I nodded, stopping. Someone was there and I wasn’t going to show unease. I looked to my left and saw a tall silhouette approaching. My fire came to life under my skin, itching to be let out. “They say only crazy people talk to themselves.”

  That oozy voice calmed me and my body relaxed, the tension rolling off my shoulders. “I never claimed to be sane, Zeke.” I took a step to him as he came into clearer view, placing my hands on my hips. “Why are you out so late?”

  He stopped within a foot of me and looked around. “Your kingdom comes alive at night. I was in the village having a few drinks at a place called Duck’s.”

  I laughed and nodded, looking past him into the village. “Duck’s is definitely the place you’d go for a good time.”

  A slow smile spread on his mouth. “Would you know that personally? I’ve never known a queen to keep company at village pubs.”

  “Queens have a lot of secrets, Zeke,” I replied with a coy grin.

  “Like how they disguise themselves to attend village festivals?”

  I froze at his question. “Excuse me?”

  He grinned and tapped my boot with his. “I recognized the boots.”