“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,safelife.
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 corner 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!”
