Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I rose to my feet and took the sword she presented. It was heavier than mine, heavy with wisdom and power.
Ivory presented the crown on a crimson pillow, and my mother took it gently then presented it to me. “Long live the king.” I had to tilt my neck so she could place it upon my head, and on her tiptoes, she did.
The crowd burst into applause. The trumpets sounded. The sun shone brighter than it ever had. The dragons roared from their place at the edge of the field. All of us were bound by that moment, bound by that energy, bound by the hope we all felt.
THIRTY-NINE
Ryker
I stood outside the castle, my childhood home, the temporary king. The city looked the same, but now everything felt different. My father was gone. My sister was married to the man who had slain him. And the Kingdoms were under a different ruler. Once Huntley and Ivory returned, I wasn’t sure what that meant for Effie and me.
Where would we start our lives?
Now I had no inheritance to support her. It had been taken from me. But then again, it never truly belonged to me in the first place. A sharp breeze swept up over the hills and hit me in the face, pushing my hair out of my face and stinging my eyes. It was a clear day, a cloudless sky, but it was bitterly cold.
“Your Highness.” One of the soldiers appeared behind me. “A family has come forward and wishes to speak with you.”
I kept my eyes on the horizon, the world quiet in the afternoon. “I’m not hearing grievances right now.” That was Huntley’s problem. I was just there to oversee the Kingdom until he returned.
If he returned.
“It’s not a grievance. They say Effie is their daughter.”
I stilled when I heard his words and slowly turned to face him. “Bring them to me immediately.”
I wanted to see them first, to make sure this wasn’t a hoax before I got Effie’s hopes up. I sat in the study as I waited for them to be brought to me, seeing Huntley’s things on the desk because he’d dropped everything to conquer the Kingdoms.
They were chauffeured inside—and my heart skipped a beat.
It was her father.
Her mother.
And her sister.
We stared at each other for a long time, and without thinking about what I was doing, I got up and moved straight to her mother—and hugged her. We didn’t share a conversation. Had no connection whatsoever other than her daughter. But Effie was enough to turn me emotional. I’d lost both of my parents, and I was so grateful she still had hers. “I’ll go get her.”
I didn’t tell Effie anything as I escorted her into the room. Just told her I needed to show her something. We rounded the corner and entered the study, and she gasped so loudly it made the walls shake. Her hands cupped her mouth as she stifled a sob, overwhelmed by the sight of people she’d thought she would never see again.
She ran straight toward them and became cocooned in their love. Both parents hugged her, as did her little sister. Tears and sniffles filled the room, mourning their separation, rejoicing at their reunion.
I knew I wasn’t a part of this, so I walked out.
I didn’t see Effie for hours. She was still with her family in the study, probably updating them on everything that had happened, including her impromptu marriage. Her parents must have realized we were the interim king and queen of the Kingdoms, and that was when they knew it was safe to come forward.
I’d just returned to the castle from the barracks when a soldier from the aviary approached me. “Your Highness, news from Commander Brutus.”
I didn’t have a study to occupy right now, so I broke the seal and read it under the light of the torch. My eyes scanned over the letters, my heart sinking further as the message became clear.
We were under attack. “Fuck…” I read it again, my hand digging into my hair. Regar had been killed, and now there were repercussions for it. King Dunbar was sailing for the continent as we spoke—and the King of Kingdoms and his dragons were gone. “I’ve got to send a letter right this instance.”
“Birds don’t usually travel at night—”
“That’s too fucking bad because they’re going to do it anyway. And we prepare all the men for battle.”
The terror on his face was indescribable. “Sir?”
“You heard me.”
I sent off the letter to Huntley first. Hopefully, the battle against Necrosis had finished, and hopefully they won, because I didn’t stand a chance without the dragons. I donned my battle armor despite the late hour, grabbed my best weapons, and prepared to leave.
But I had to say goodbye first.
Effie and her family had vacated my office at some point, so the next place I visited was the dining hall. The table was covered with a feast for her family, probably because they’d been beggars for the last few months. Her entire family had dropped weight they couldn’t afford to lose in the first place.