Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1) Page 3

  This crown that didn’t only rule one kingdom, but nine. Nine kingdoms ruled by a legacy of one hundred kings.

  The Crown of Nine.

  My father had been the hundredth monarch in the bloodline of one hundred kings. My eldest brother was to be the one hundred and first.

  But my father’s rule had been cut short and my brother’s ended before it ever began.

  And now I sat in the quiet solitude of the Monks of Silence, kingdoms away from my own, hidden away in secret, protected out of sheer necessity, the only remaining member of the royal family of Elysia.

  And in my fragile grip, I held the key to uniting the scattered kingdoms. To bringing peace to the realm once more.

  To the vengeance that I craved above all else.

  3

  I blinked for what felt like an hour. My eyelids felt as heavy as the crown in my hand.

  “I had forgotten you had this,” I told Father Garius.

  He nodded. He probably credited it to my trauma.

  I again thought back to that awful day, to a day that had started out joyous and bright. All nine royal families had come to the celebration my father was hosting in honor of the birth of my baby brother. The royals had come in majestic caravans to show their respects to the newest Elysian prince.

  But intruders had invaded the palace, death hot in their blades. They had not harmed any other royal family. Only my family had been slaughtered.

  While my family lay still and lifeless, taken before their time, I had been whisked away with the crown.

  My uncle now ruled over Elysia and the nine kingdoms, but he ruled without a crown. He could never be the true king without it.

  Men would die for this crown.

  Wars would be fought over this crown.

  And I held it in my hands, knowing that it was time to step out of hiding.

  “You must go home.” The rasp startled me and I nearly dropped it. Father Garius opened his mouth again. “You must rule, Tessana. This crown belongs to you. It has always belonged to you.”

  It was obvious he hadn’t used his voice in many, many years. I doubted there had ever been a time in his life that had necessitated breaking his vows to the Temple of Eternal Light. And he thought I was important enough to speak.

  New tears pricked at my eyes and I felt like throwing my arms around his neck and crying against his robes. I refrained. He had just broken binding vows. Any unwanted affection on my part might give the poor man palpitations.

  “How can I rule?” I asked instead. “There has never been a female ruler of Elysia.”

  “But you are a princess, from the house of Extentia.” He swallowed thickly and moved his tongue around his mouth. “Your family has ruled Elysia from the beginning, from the moment the kingdoms united. You are the rightful heir.”

  Resentment burned low in my belly. “My brother was the rightful heir. His future was stolen from him. Just like my future was taken from me.”

  Father Garius slid forward in his chair and took hold of my hand, crushing it in his grasp. “No, Tessana. Your future was saved. You were saved. And now you must go home and save this realm from the evil that wishes to destroy it.”

  “What do you mean?” My heart hammered, my blood buzzed with anxious energy.

  “Your dreams, Child. They mean something. They mean something terrible. Your father has asked you to go home and you must.”

  “But you don’t believe in dreams!” I protested.

  His grasp tightened, forcing the edge of the crown to cut into my palm. “Yet dreams are not nothing. Even I cannot ignore what has happened. Your father has asked you to go home. You must listen to him.”

  Even though Father Garius’s voice was harsh with underuse and I had to strain to hear him clearly, his meaning rang through the room like the meal bell that resonated through the silent halls of the temple. “I want to go home,” I confessed. “I don’t just need to, but I want to.”

  His grip loosened on my hand. “Good.”

  “But what is this evil? What can I do? My uncle won’t recognize me as ruler of the Seat of Power any sooner than the other kingdoms would call me queen. A hundred kings have worn this crown, Father. Not queens. Not even princesses. Especially not seventeen year old orphans.”

  He clucked his tongue at me in that familiar frustrated way. “You are not just a girl, Tessana. You are Tessana Allisand of the House of Extentia, daughter of Fredrix, King of Elysia and Ruler of the Realm. You are a princess. You are a survivor. And now you will take the crown back to your people and show them that you are still alive.”

  “What if they don’t believe me?” My voice shook and my fingers trembled. I hated the fear. I hated that I couldn’t feel a stronger sense of courage and devotion.

  “Make them believe you,” Father Garius demanded. “Make them see you for who you are.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?”

  “Then you have the crown. The kingdoms need to be united once again. Only the Crown of Nine has the power to do that and squash the evil lurking throughout the realm. It will give you the power to rule, Tessana. It will give you the authority to unite the armies and lead the nine royal families. If all else fails, you have the crown.”

  That was true. I did have the crown. I had a crown that could not be replicated and that had been missing for more than eight years.

  They would have to believe me.

  And if they didn’t… Then I would… Then I would probably run away again.

  At least this time when I fled the kingdom, I would know where to go.

  I looked around at the worn books and the tall, rounded windows. It was hard to imagine I would soon be giving up this quiet, simple, safe life.

  Emotions that I had not known existed awakened, opening drowsy eyes, turning into a beast that lived in my chest, in my soul. They spread leathered wings and lifted a long, armored neck, desperate to see the horizon.

  My heart pounded with purpose. I belonged to something greater than myself now.

  When I answered Father Garius, my voice was as raspy as his. “Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, I’ll go.”

  He didn’t smile. He didn’t look relieved. Instead, his gray eyes turned hard and he nodded slowly, as if he had to take his time accepting my answer. “Take Oliver.”

  “No,” I argued. “I couldn’t ask him to leave his life here. He wouldn’t anyway. He loves the Brotherhood too much. He’s—”

  Father Garius held up his hand. “He is not cut out for Temple life as his mother would like to believe. May the Light bless her. And you need him. The road home will be dangerous even if you manage to keep the crown hidden during the journey. Anyone in the realm would be willing to murder for that crown. Do you understand that, Tessana? Nobody knows you’re alive. Which means nobody will know if you die. You cannot, under any circumstances, reveal that you have the crown.”

  “Father, how do you expect us to—”

  “You’ll find a way. You have to.”

  He was right.

  We either made it all the way to Elysia.

  Or we didn’t.

  “Oliver won’t want to go,” I assured Father Garius. “He’s much too smart. When we played dragons as children, he was always the villager that told the brave knight about the dragon. I had to play the part of the dragon and the knight myself!”

  Father Garius turned his head away and I could have sworn it was to hide a smile. But when he looked back at me, his eyes were serious. “We shall miss you around here, Tessana. You have been an exotic flower to our wheat-colored existence.”

  I smiled at my mentor, at the man that had raised me. “But wheat looks like gold under the Light, Father. An exotic flower is pale compared to the glory of gold.”

  His eyes filled with emotion and I mirrored his expression, unable to control the deep regret of leaving him behind. “This is why the realm needs you, Tessana. This is why you must go home.”

  “Will I ever see you again?” A tear slid from the co
rner of each eye, but I didn’t bother to brush them away.

  He shook his head and offered a small smile. “My dear, this is where our paths split. But in order for me to take mine, you must first take yours.”

  I didn’t understand. I wanted to ask him more questions, invite him to the castle once I had established my reign. But he lifted a finger to his lips and I knew that this unprecedented moment of conversation had come to a close.

  Instead, I told him, “We’ll leave first thing in the morning. We’ll go through Kasha. Through the Golden Plains. It’s summer now, the heat might be a problem, but—”

  Father Garius clucked his tongue and I gave him my full attention. He jerked his chin hard, once.

  “You don’t want me to go through Kasha? But it’s the most direct route, I thought—” He clucked his tongue again. I swallowed back frustration. This had been much easier when he was speaking to me. “You can’t mean for me to go through Tenovia?”

  He nodded.

  I groaned. “But the section of Tenovia bordering Heprin is the Tellekane Forest.” He smiled at me. I wanted to scream. “And not just any section of the Tellekane Forest, but the Blood Woods! You cannot expect us to travel through the Blood Woods alone and survive!”

  He nodded again.

  He did expect us to.

  “We’ll be dead before nightfall. Those woods are as haunted as Denamon.”

  Magic had been banished from the realm thousands of years ago. Yet whispers of insidious black magic swarming the Blood Woods raced through all nine kingdoms. Even in our peaceful, practical land, we lived in fear of the dark presence just over the border.

  The very trees were rumored to be saturated with evil magic, hiding dark secrets and shadowed monsters. The only people that braved those woods were thieves, waiting like spiders in webs for their next victim and pagans practicing outlawed religion.

  Father Garius’s stern eyes dared me to show irreverence. I swallowed my retort.

  “Fine. The Tellekane Forest it is.” At least I wouldn’t have to worry about my uncle’s reaction to my sudden appearance on his doorstep. The bandits and ghosts would murder me first.

  By this time next week, I’d be mounted on a fiery altar as the virgin sacrifice to the pagan god of chipmunks.

  He handed me the satchel he’d kept the crown in and I reluctantly slipped the heavy piece of gold finery back to the secret compartment at the bottom of the bag. I stood up, suddenly eager to pack up my belongings for the long journey ahead.

  Father Garius stilled me with a gentle hand on my forearm. He slowly stood, revealing his age with the creaking of his joints and shaky breath. He stepped forward and pulled me into a warm hug.

  A lump appeared in my throat once more. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged me. The gesture felt unfamiliar and foreign.

  My hands belatedly fluttered to rest on his back. He smelled of hay and the oil used for lighting the temple lanterns. I closed my eyes and committed this moment to memory.

  I would never forget him.

  He stepped back and I slung the satchel over my shoulder. I fled the room without looking back. Behind my closed door I pulled out the crown once more, knowing I wouldn’t be able to do this again until I reached my homeland.

  I fingered the etched vines that decorated the base. They twined around each other, weaving around brilliant diamonds that grew in size the closer they were placed to the middle. The center ruby was half the size of my fist and sparkled when it caught the candlelight. I could see my blurry outline in its surface.

  I closed my eyes once again and placed the crown upon my head. My head swayed to the left beneath the weight. Hot tears filled my eyes.

  When I opened my eyes again, whatever remained of the sun had disappeared beneath a shimmering blanket of stars and milky moonlight. I took the crown from my head, rubbing at the lingering tingle on the back of my neck. I opened the satchel to replace the crown, but something caught my eye, something hidden along the bottom of the bag.

  My fingers latched around the delicate silver chain and I pulled the necklace free from the bag. A silver pendant in the shape of a teardrop hung from the end, set with a diamond and a sapphire.

  I rubbed my thumb over the gemstones and felt a rush of warmth move through my blood.

  Another forgotten memory floated through my mind.

  The autumn trees rustled, their rich red leaves floating to the ground with each gust of wind. The air smelled like winter fires and the last remnants of warm weather. The burnished sun hung low in the sky. It would be time to go inside soon. Our mothers were looking for us.

  “I have something for you,” he said to me.

  He was older than me and he never let me forget it. Not that I would have. I looked up to him with eyes filled with wonder. I could never understand why he wanted to spend time with me. He liked my brothers. They were always trying to coax him into games and mischief. But he stayed with me. Even when I wanted to do silly girl things, as he called them, like collect dried autumn leaves to decorate my festival headpiece.

  I stared at him, marveling at how strong he looked, especially for a boy of only eleven. His blue eyes were bright even in the fading light. “What is it?”

  “You must wear it,” he answered instead. “It will show the realm that you are to be mine.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not yours.”

  He took a step closer, holding out a necklace for me to take. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When he acted like this, abrupt and demanding, he reminded me that one day he would be king. He might not be king of the realm or hold as much power as my father, but he would have plenty. He would have his own kingdom to rule.

  “You will be,” he insisted. “Our fathers signed the papers this morning. That’s why we’re here. That’s why there’s a festival. When you’re of age, we are to be married.”

  Something hot burned through me. “I think I will choose who I want to marry. That is not something my father gets to decide for me.”

  “It is something your father gets to decide for you, Princess. We are betrothed. There is nothing you can do about it.”

  I lifted my chin. “I can run away.”

  “You think you can run away from me?”

  I took a step back, suddenly wary of this boy I had known all of my life. He didn’t seem like a boy anymore though. He seemed like some other creature entirely. “Yes. I do.”

  He followed my retreating steps. “I’ll chase you.”

  “Then I’ll hide.”

  He leaned forward, capturing my wrist with his bigger, stronger hand. “Then I’ll find you.”

  My heart pounded. I decided to switch tactics. “Boys hate getting married. Alesk won’t stop complaining about his betrothal. He says he’s going to put toads in her shoes and paste on her hairbrush.”

  He let out a rumble of laughter. “Alesk won’t feel that way when it’s time for him to get married. I’m sure he’ll leave the Princess of Kasha’s hairbrush very much alone.”

  “How would you know? He’s an entire year older than you.”

  “Yes, but he has annoying little sisters that make him afraid of all females. I have none. So I have nothing to fear.” I opened my mouth to argue with him but he cut me off with a flippant, “Besides, I’ve seen the Princess of Kasha. He will not complain once he’s seen her.”

  Now I felt hot with anger for an entirely different reason. “You don’t know anything.”

  He took another step toward me. “I know you’re even prettier than the Princess of Kasha. I know I’m to marry you. I know I have a present for you if you would stop arguing with me.”

  “You may give me your present,” I told him with all the air of a woman already queen. “I’ll decide if I want to marry you later.”

  He smiled warmly at me and held up the necklace. The two gems danced together on the gentle breeze, clinking against the silver teardrop background. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s beaut
iful,” I whispered.

  He slipped it over my head. It was too big. It hung down to the belt on my velvet gown. “I want you to always wear it. Even when we’re older.”

  I touched the pretty stones, one that represented my kingdom and one that represented his. “What if I decide not to marry you?”

  His finger brushed the underside of my jaw and I looked up at him once more. “Then you can keep the necklace as a symbol of my broken heart.”

  I smiled, despite the instinct to run away. “You could always marry the Princess of Kasha.”

  His laughter filled the cool air with warmth and the darkness with unexpected light. “Tessa, I cannot wait for you to be queen.”

  I slipped the necklace over my head and let the pendant and gems dangle against my breastplate. But I would not be queen of his kingdom.

  I would be queen of mine.

  4

  “It’s too early to start a quest!” Oliver whined next to me.

  As reluctant as I was to admit that he was right, the morning chill leached beneath my cloak, through my muslin traveling dress, and straight to my bones. I stumbled over rocks and wayward branches.

  The Brotherhood did not have a horse to spare for our journey, so Oliver and I had been forced to set off across the nine kingdoms on foot. We carried with us only a few loaves of bread, six apples, some salted meat, and just enough coin to see that we didn’t starve should we survive the Tenovian forests.

  To be fair, we didn’t have to cross the entirety of the nine kingdoms. Only three stood between the Temple of Eternal Light and the center of the realm, where Elysia sat as the crown jewel and Seat of Power.

  Oliver’s voice cut through my mental calculations. “Are you listening to me?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “It’s early. You’re cold. You’re tired. You’re all things cranky.”

  He elbowed me in the arm and I almost tripped over my own feet. “I’ve been talking about the merits of caravan travel for at least seven minutes. I brought up several good points! Now I’ll have to begin again. Did you not hear anything I said?”