They’d been magically enhanced, and the only weakness present was the one rapidly taking me over.
My strength and will were sapped from me with each step I took, until my feet were dragging and the Elf in front of me, yanking on the chain, was doing most of the work to get me moving forward. I inspected the manacles sluggishly, and sure enough…
Fucking onyx.
Onyx was used to manipulate the body in different ways. Some bad, some good. The Onyx Court itself specialized in all things related to the body, from anatomy to massage. While onyx could be used in healing, they weren’t actually healers; that was Opal Court’s specialty, since opals were used for healing and preventing disease.
Of course, opal could also be used tocausediseases, because there was never a reaction without an equal and opposite.
Even Pearl Court, which specialized in all things love and sex, whose residents preferred matchmaking and brothels, which used the pink pearls the court was named after for love and affection, could also use them to cause hate and disgust.
Nothing good in Gemaria came without a bad side. That was true about everything and everyone.
But the onyx in use here meant there was no point in trying to pick the locks on the damn cuffs. I was stuck, and being half-dragged toward the fuckingLordof Ruby Court himself.
Well, I couldn’t say it had been a good life, but it was certainly a longer one than I’d been meant to have.
Even walking toward certain death, however, the thief in me couldn’t help looking through drowsy eyes at all that was on offer as I was led through the halls. The interior walls were a dark stone and ornamented with gold and ruby at every possible juncture. A golden orb sitting out on display seemed all too easy to grab, and I would have if my hands weren’t fucking stuck together.
There was so much lining the halls, I wondered why I even bothered going for the vault. Well, I knew that answer. The treasure I would find in that vault would put all this wealth to shame. It could have saved Ula. It could have changed my entire life.
I suppose itwasstill changing my life, just not in the way I expected.
Chapter Two
Azurill
It took everything I had in me not to slump down on my diamond throne.
Only years of lessons ingrained in me from my father and all my other teachers about how a kingdoesn’t slouchkept me upright.
But I was more exhausted than I could ever remember being. After a long day of funeral rites and a long night of mourning, followed by what seemed to be the entire population of Gemaria coming out to give their condolences today, I wanted nothing more than to sleep. Anything to avoid facing the reality of what had happened.
My little brother was dead.
I looked at my youngest brother, Ruri. The red-rimmed frosty blue-green color of his eyes showed just how difficult being here was for him. I knew both of us would rather be mourning Gardevoir alone, but instead, we were forced to put on a show of our grief for the entire court.
Gardevoir had been my advisor, my friend, and my brother. He’d always been the dutiful middle son, trying to show he could be just as good as the heir or as lovable as the baby of the family to our parents. Even after Father passed to the Otherworld and I took the throne, he struggled to let go of that mindset. Never mind that none of useversaw him as anything less; he felt a need to prove himself that couldn’t be shaken.
And now he was gone.
It was just Ruri and me now. The royal family had never been so vulnerable, not in hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years. I’d already seen thelooks.The vultures preparing to descend. A few had even mentioned how lovely their daughter or their niece was, and how I justhadto meet them.
I was surprised I hadn’t broken a tooth, clenching my teeth so hard.
Thankfully, Balthazar was there to steer me away on “urgent business”. While he was the head of my royal guard, having taken over the position from his father a few years ago, he was also my best friend and could easily tell when I was about to lose it.
I caught myself just before reaching up to run a hand through my dark blue-green hair. Well, dark in comparison to my brother’s frosty blue. Mine was a richer hue, more teal, while Gardevoir’s had been a shade in between the two of ours. I took more after our father, Ruri took after our mother, and Gardevoir had been a perfect mix between them.
Veritx, just thinking his name hurt.
Balthazar, of course, seemed to realize that I was at the end of my rope, while Ruri’s eyes were looking deader by the moment. He gestured to my Gemholder, Ikelos, who was responsible for overseeing the protection of the Sacred Gems on my behalf, along with my scepter with the Royal Diamond sitting atop it. But his role also included acting as something of an elevated herald, which meant clearing rooms, thankfully.
Ikelos stepped up and banged my scepter once on the ground, bringing all conversations to a halt.
“King Azurill Kyanite Alankar, the High King of Gemaria, Lord of Diamond Court, Sovereign of Theiapolis, and Protector of the Sacred Gems,” Ikelos began, voice loud and resonating around the room, “Calls court to a close for tonight. He thanks you all for being with the royal family during its time of mourning and welcomes you all to avail yourselves of the accommodations made available.”
With a last deep nod to the room at large, I stood from the throne, and everyone bowed as Balthazar and Ruri fell in behind me. We walked down the halls strewn with diamonds and kyanite, the silver and blue representing our court and family history. The palace had been updated many times over the years. While it had initially been made with just the two gems so precious to us, renovations had added in all of the gems of the other courts in some way or another. All in an effort to reflect the fact that the palace was the seat of the high king ofallGemaria.
