Keerian had looked into Esmeray’s eyes, and the entire court witnessed the shimmering magic that began veiling the pair. The soul tie had bloomed, and Esmeray, seeing her shot at the throne, lunged for Keerian as Keerian stood there, stupefied. The magic hit its crescendo and the entire throne room had been bathed in white light. The brightest soul tie he’d ever seen activate. And then–they disappeared into the unknown, Esmeray’s flash of golden magic smothering the pure light of the soul tie.
“We will figure this out.”Merrick heard Laurent through their rings. He looked over at his oldest friend and smiled grimly.
“Woah.” Lenna slumped back in her seat. “She just…took him and disappeared?”
Laurent nodded slowly. Merrick knew Laurent was watching him, analyzing his mental state. It irritated Merrick more than he cared to admit.
The next hour was spent filling Lenna in on more of that fateful night, Laurent taking over most of the talking, patiently going through the details–as detailed as if he was explaining the happenings of a battle to the King.
Merrick was grateful for it. His mind was still storming over the look on the King and Queen’s faces as they realized what happened. Adara’sfrozen rage, her beautiful face twisted with loathing,hatred, for the sister that ultimately won everything she’d wanted for the last ninety-eight years.
Queen on High.
But Keerian was his friend.
He’d practically grown up with Keerian and Laurent. They’d met in their twenties when they began training, each growing into soldiers in their own right over the years–their strengths and weaknesses balanced between them. Keerian was also a full-fledged, pureblooded gargoyle with the strength and brutality to go along with it, and they had Laurent, defending their backs with magic while they fought their way through any foe that dared cross them.
Laurent had just finished detailing the scenes of the evening after Esmeray waned away with Keerian, and how no one knew where they disappeared to. He described the guests, the royals in attendance, their reactions. Lenna held on to every word.
Knowing what Laurent would say next, Merrick stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles, and closed his eyes.
“The next morning, the King Absolute and Queen Absolute, albeit begrudgingly, acknowledged the soul tie to the assembled court, and declared Esmeray as the rightful Queen on High. A celebration was supposed to be held a week later, but Princess Esmeray and Keerian were still nowhere to be found.” Laurent rubbed his face and smoothed his hand across his bald head. “Two days before the celebration was to be held, Esmeray and Keerian showed back up at the Palace and went straight into a secret meeting with the King and Queen. They did not speak to anyone else, not even us, which was odd. Keerian has been our closest friend for almost one hundred years, but he passed us, unseeing, not even stopping to tell us where he had been.” Laurent looked at Lenna solemnly. Merrick sent his own steadying words through hisring to Laurent.
“Esmeray didn’t ask to speak with her twin–and no one could confirm Adara knew Esmeray was back. We were all concerned the sisters would fight it out, so every housed warrior at court was told to guard Adara in case Esmeray wanted to take out the competition and be crowned Queen Absolute of Irridessen–ruling both Obsidian and Opal–or in case Adara tried to rebuke Esmeray’s succession.”
Laurent sighed, shaking his head, his silver earrings gleaming in the light cast from the fire. “We both personally warned the King to take precautions against Esmeray’s return. The King’s Guard worried Esmeray would want to be crowned immediately and take out her parents and sister to make sure her reign wasn’t challenged after the celebration. On our continent, Irridessen, Kings and Queens only rule for three hundred years, and then they must name a successor or heir. Esmeray and Keerian were set to be crowned as the successors once the King and Queen’s reign was up. We are as close to immortal as we can get so putting a limit on how long royals can rule is the only way to keep them from killing each other for a throne.
Esmeray only hadone hundredyearsto wait to be crowned Queen on High. But the next morning, the King and Queen were found dead. Murdered.”
Chapter eleven
Merrick
“EsmerayandKeeriankilledthe King and Queen? Her own parents?” Lenna’s brows shot up in surprise. With a grimace, Merrick plopped heavily onto the wooden chair across from her, kneading his sternum with a fist, wings drooping to settle against the floor. He’d been hunting Lenna for a month and now she was here and he was just…tired. Tired down to the very marrow in his bones. Recanting the night when his life went to shit wasn’t helping the tightness ease in his chest, either.
Wasn’t talking about your problems supposed to help?
Laurent growled, his tone at odds with the impeccable demeanor he normally displayed. “Keerian wouldnevermurder his own King and Queen. He served them faithfully and loyally his entire life. Thefactsare that Esmeray was the only other being the King and Queen saw the day before their deaths. And she’s more than powerful enough to kill them. It wasmost likelyher, wanting to secure her Queenship as fast as possible. She tried to murder her sister in front of the entire court in response to Adara’s summons.”
“Princess Esmeray tried to kill Princess Adara?” Lenna looked over at Merrick, and to Merrick’s surprise, she pulled her hand out of her lap, reaching over to grip his own. Merrick squeezed her fingers gently, surprised she looked athimin a way to comforthim–though his facial expressions were enough of a giveaway to his feelings.
“Adara called the Opal Court to the throne room before requesting Esmeray andKeerian meet us. We were all there–numb. In shock. Grieving.” Laurent’s agitation grew palpable. Behind him, the fire hissed and flared brighter, the edges of the flames burning blue and licking up the mantle with the magic Laurent struggled to contain.
“Calm down with the crazy fire shit,” Merrick snapped through their rings, before he continued aloud, “Keerian swore his innocence–as did Esmeray–but Adara didn’t believe them. She demanded to know about their last meeting with the late King and Queen, yet Esmeray and Keerian refused to divulge anything. Esmeray just kept loudly repeating that she did not kill her parents. Some of the Lords in court believed Adara should sentence Esmeray to death without a trial. Adara refused, stating she didn’t want to see her twin die when there was not a clear verdict. Instead, Adara exiled Esmeray to the Obsidian Palace while the investigations were ongoing. Esmeray accepted the temporary exile...until Adara forbade Keerian from going with her.”
Laurent looked over at Merrick, hand in hand with Lenna. “Adara then crowned herself Queen Absolute, stating Irridessen needed a strong ruler that wasn’t on trial for murder. Someone the court and the council could trust without fear. She stripped Esmeray of her titles, calling her the Queen of Nothingand Esmeray…went crazy. She challenged Adara to duel to the death right there for the title of Queen Absolute, the title their mother held over both the Opal and Obsidian Kingdoms. The whole court watched in terror. We were the strongest warriors of Irridessen, sworn to protect the crown, but no one could take on Esmeray and live. She’s too powerful. Her fae magic is…strange. It’s magic we don’t know how to contend with. But before it came to a battle, Adara used a spell to forcibly wane Esmeray out of the Opal Kingdom, and warded theOpal Palace against Esmeray’s return. Queen Adara also arrested Keerian, warding himinthe Opal Palace until his innocence is confirmed.”
“Adara’s spells protected her from Esmeray after all,” Lenna mused.
Merrick’s horns glimmered in the firelight as he nodded, tracking the glint of light that shadowed the wall with his movement. He spoke in a half-daze as he moved his head side to side slowly, the small fracture off his horns reflecting the motion. “We attempted to gain an audience with Queen Adara to speak on Keerian’s behalf–to swear to his character and loyalty–but Queen Adara dismissed the entire King’s Guard under Keerian without honor. Without our honors, we were disgraced from court, our word and influence reduced to ash.” With a sigh, Merrick shrugged, pretending the sting of dishonor wasn’t as brutal as a dagger to the heart. “No one at court would listen, neither would the Royal Council. They all turned their backs on us instead. Laurent and I fled the Palace and banded together here, trying to figure out how to help Keerian on our own.”
Laurent seemed to be half listening himself as he wrangled his magic under control. Merrick spared a glance in his direction before shuffling his wings and turning back to Lenna.
“Princess Esmeray disappeared without a trace until a month ago, when she resurfaced and captured the previous Oracle. She tortured him,killedhim, as a message to her sister to release Keerian. Which activated…you. Adara refused to grant Keerian freedom, and since Esmeray ruthlessly murdered the Oracle in cold blood, Adara gave the order to capture and kill Esmeray by any means necessary to protect Irridessen from Esmeray’s growing madness.”
“Did you speak to the previous Oracle before Esmeray murdered him?” Lenna questioned, her voice pitching around the last two words.
Merrick shook his head, Laurent cleared his throat. “We tried toseek out the Oracle after we were dismissed from the Palace to see if he could peer into the past and confirm who killed King Scottrell and Queen Elera. I–we–could not find him.”
