There was a very real chance that I would die trying to bring Summer and Spring soldiers back here. They’d already tried to assassinate me once. This would rob Lucien and I of the future we so desperately wanted with each other. So as I stood in the courtyard, looking up at the man I loved, I didn’t know what to say.
Leaning into my neck, Lucien planted a kiss there and then moved his lips to my ear. “You brought me back to life, Madelynn,” he whispered against me, and my entire body ached.
You brought me back to life.
His words reverberated around my head and I took comfort in knowing that at the very least, if I died, I had mended his heart for another. Let the woman who came after me love him greater than I did, because he deserved it.
I took two steps towards the black dragon waiting for me and then thought better of it.
If this was possibly my last time seeing Lucien Thorne, I was going to make it count.
Spinning, I ran for him. The heat in his eyes matched the heat buzzing around my body. I leapt into his arms as they came around me, tightly crushing me to his body as our lips found each other with a hungry need. We weren’t married. We didn’t have a chaperone. Our tongues were dancing together in full view of the public and I didn’t care about any of it. I needed to taste him before I left.
When his hand came around the back of my hair and tugged gently, I whimpered into his open mouth and he swallowed the sound.
We finally parted, both panting, and I ached for more. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his ear. “My heart is yours, Lucien Thorne. Now and always.” With that, I pulled away and spun around before I could see his face. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to go into this as an emotional wreck. I needed to be strong.
I hopped into the basket with Piper, who sat beside me, and the dragon king took off into the skies. I tried to focus on the task ahead and not about the war or what Lucien was doing right now. I knew he was more than capable of protecting himself and his people. He was the most powerful fae among us. But the Nightfall queen had been stealing our magic for months! Not only did she have a thousand warriors at our border, she had them… enhanced, with our power.
Now I had to do my part. We couldn’t ask Archmere and Embergate to fight beside us when we ourselves were broken. I had to unite Thorngate once more. It was going to be a large group effort to get everything assembled in time to fight Nightfall back and push them off Winter’s border.
I reached out to grasp Piper’s hand. She was being quiet, and I knew she was probably in shock. I told her she didn’t have to come but she’d insisted. I’d barely been able to check on my mother and Libby as I’d run out of the Winter Court palace. Both had been asleep, an elvin healer with them. But Piper, my loyal friend to the end, was waiting for me with Drae.
“I never got to say thank you for the letter. It gave me hope and kept me going!” I yelled over the wind.
Piper peered over at me then, tears brewing in her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop the carriage. I should have thrown a rock or—”
I cut her off. “What? What are you talking about?”
Her voice broke. “When Marcelle took you, I saw the whole thing and I didn’t know what to do. I’m not powerful like you are. I knew I couldn’t fight, so I ran to get help, but now I wonder if I had tried to fight—”
I pulled her into my arms and she fell into sobs, shaking against my chest as she exhaled her pent-up grief. Was this why she’d been so quiet? She felt guilty for not being able to save me?
“Piper, they would have killed you. You did the right thing. The best thing. You told Lucien so that he could save me.” I stroked her back as she cried. I felt bad for not realizing she’d been carrying this guilt.
“Did he…?” she muffled into my jacket. “…did he hurt you?” She pulled back and looked into my eyes. I knew what she was asking: did he bed me? Piper took guarding my purity very seriously, and I knew this would kill her. She had to know.
“The marriage was legal,” I told her, trying to avoid saying anything that would be too graphic for her. “But Lucien still wants me, so it doesn’t matter.”
It did matter. A small part of me died that day and would never come back. That innocent, carefree childhood part of me that thought the world was a safe place and I would always be protected was dead. But Piper didn’t need to know that.
She looked beside herself. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”
I grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at me. “It’s not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have changed my fate.”
She frowned. “I hate being so weak in my magic. I want to learn swordsmanship!” she suddenly declared.
I grinned. “I was thinking the same thing when my magic was bound. Let’s learn together.”
She nodded, and then snuggled into my side.
The rest of the ride was smooth and took no time at all before the peaks of the Spring palace came into view.
“Land there!” I yelled over the wind to the dragon king. I’d been managing the wind for optimal flying speed for him, but I was still coming to terms with my ability to call snow and ice into being. I wondered if it would be permanent or last just a few days. Kailani had said it was experimental in nature so she wasn’t sure. Either my blood would absorb and flush his out, or bind to it, keeping his magic with mine forever.
Either way, it was kind of cool to have. It felt so much more volatile than my fall magic. Winter was volatile in nature and so it made sense. I had a little more compassion for Lucien now and how he’d handled all these years with this power.
People began to come out of their homes, looking up and pointing at the dragon streaking across the sky.
“There’s Sheera!” Piper announced, and then glanced over at me. “Do you have a plan?”
I sighed, watching my friend step out into the garden of her home and look up at me. I didn’t want to do this the hard way. I wanted to be soft and loving, but Sheera and her parents had plotted an uprising against my future husband behind my back. Did they also know Marcelle planned to take me for himself?
No. I couldn’t think that they would and not warn me.
Still, niceness had only gotten me so far in life. It was time to fully embrace this queen of Hazeville title I now carried.
Sheera’s mother, father, and household staff were in the garden, as well as half a dozen courtiers and a handful of guards. The dragon king landed expertly before them and I jumped out of the basket attached to his back, landing on my worn leather boots.
“Madelynn?” Sheera grasped her chest in shock at what she was seeing. No doubt she’d never seen a dragon, as I had not before yesterday.
“You may now address me as Your Highness. Or did you not hear? I was married to Marcelle and I am now your queen.” I tilted my chin high and carried every ounce of royal superiority I could.
The air instantly changed. Sheera’s eyes went wide and she gave me a light curtsy. “Of course, Your Highness. I heard.”
I felt bad for causing my old friend to speak to me in such formal terms, but I could make no mistakes here. Any friendly banter might get me taken advantage of, and time was of the essence.
I glared at her parents, the real perpetrators in all of this. “You made me your queen and now you will live with my rule,” I growled. “Zaphira tried to kidnap my sister—” they all gasped, even some of the courtiers “—and the winter king is currently holding her off at the border while I bring reinforcements. So gather your army and head to Winter Court or I will kill you for treason and failure to follow orders.”
Duke Barrett’s mouth hung open like a gasping fish. Then he laughed. “My darling, you may be my queen in theory, but I take orders from King Marcelle.”
He didn’t know. Word hadn’t reached him. I grabbed the wind around him and raised his body up into the air.
Sheera and her mother shrieked, backing up and looking at me wide-eyed.
“Marcelle is dead! And you will be too if you do not make it very clear where your loyalties lie,” I bellowed. “The Nightfall queen is coming for all of us! The treaty Marcelle made with her was never taken seriously. She still encroached on Fall Court lands and tried to kidnap Libby. She only wanted to divide our people! You will either unite and help us or you will be ripped apart by this wind!” The leaves and dirt spun in a small whirlwind at his feet as I held him above the air. I knew he had great power over the dirt in the earth and the rain in the sky and could probably swallow me whole, but not before I took the breath from his lungs.
He seemed to be considering it too.
Sheera’s mom jumped in front of her husband. “We are with you! Madelynn, look at me!” she commanded. I’d known this family since I was a little girl. The way she said my name reminded me of when I was small.
I looked at her and found there was compassion in her gaze. “It was a mistake to split the realm. To think that the Nightfall queen would leave us untouched. We were just trying to protect our loved ones. But it was a mistake, and we are with you. Right, Barrett?” She looked up at her husband.
He sighed, the wind swirling around him and causing his hair to fly across his face. “We’re with you,” he said, resigned.
I dropped the wind holding him and he fell to his feet.
“The dragon-folk, the elvin people, they are with us too. This is the right thing to do. Unite against Zaphira as one,” I told them.
Everyone on the lawns’ gazes then went to the very large dragon behind me, and to Piper who stood next to him. As if in agreement, he huffed out a smoke-filled breath and stomped one large scaly foot.
“And for the record, the winter king is a good man that I love and will marry,” I added. They looked less on board with that but I didn’t care. “Take your army and ride to Winter. I will bring up the rear with Summer Court.”
Sheera looked at me wide-eyed. “You killed Marcelle and yet you think Summer Court will follow you?”
Technically, I didn’t kill Marcelle, but I wasn’t going to go into that right now. “They had better,” was all I said before walking over to Drae and mounting the saddle basket on his back with Piper.
Barrett began to bark orders at his men to ready for war, then the dragon king kicked off the ground.
One court down, one to go. There was no time to waste.
“I wanna be you when I grow up,” Piper said, and snuggled into my side. I laughed then, so grateful to have her to lean on in these uncertain times.
We sat back deeper into the saddle and shared some dried meats and fruit. I could barely eat at a time like this but I needed to keep my strength up for the battle ahead. King Valdren was an extremely fast and capable flyer. I could be back in Winter Court and ready to help with the war within a few hours.
I just prayed to the Maker that Summer Court would be easy to convince, because whether they liked it or not, we were at war.
WHEN WE REACHED SUMMER, I was relieved to see a large gathering in front of Summer palace. People were filing into the meeting hall off to the side of the main structure. King Valdren landed in the same garden where I had first kissed Lucien, but this time when I dismounted he began to shift into his human form. I turned away, giving him privacy as I knew that his shifting did not involve keeping his clothing. I took the fact that he was changing into his human form as a sign that he wanted to accompany me on this one, so I waited patiently as he slipped into the guest house and came back out wearing clothes that were four inches too short at the wrists and ankles.
“I have a bad feeling about this one, and I promised Lucien I’d keep you safe,” he told me. Walking over to the saddle that he had crawled out of, he reached into a bag and hefted his sword.
It was very chivalrous that he thought he could protect me, so I did not take this time to educate him that I could steal the very breath from his lungs.
“Thank you,” I said and we walked together, with Piper, towards the meeting hall where murmurs and shouts could be heard all the way from here.
I looked at King Valdren and he nodded. It seemed his assessment of this place was right. Their leader was dead. Last they’d seen of me, I’d been shot with an arrow, and now I was going to storm in and force them all to go to war.
Maker, give me strength.
The crowd was so large that we slipped into the back of the meeting hall unnoticed.
“We should march on Winter Court and burn the king alive!” someone screamed.
Chills raced up my arms at the mention of such treason. I peered onto the raised stage to see a lone man, a boy, really, no more than sixteen winters old. He stood erect, listening to his people as they shouted what they thought he ought to do.
Prince Mateo.
Marcelle was always jealous of his little brother. It was rumored that he was so powerful he could light a man on fire with his mind, so Marcelle apparently had him locked away, for re-education.
I was glad to see that Birdie was able to get him from wherever he’d been.
“Quiet down!” Mateo shouted at his people. But they just got louder. I could see the panic in his gaze. He might have had royal blood, he might be powerful, but he was not a born leader, nor had anyone given him training.
“Permission to toss you on stage?” King Valdren whispered into my ear.
Perfect.
“Granted,” I told him.
Next thing I knew, the dragon king’s giant hands grasped my hips and he picked me up, carrying me over three rows of people, and deposited me on stage.
I stood, smoothing my skirt, and the people quieted.
King Valdren was next, leaping onto to the stage as if it were a small boulder, and then stood beside me. Piper watched us quietly from the front row.
“Bow before your queen!” he bellowed, smoke rising from his nostrils.
Every single head dipped and I swallowed hard, looking out over all of those heads bowed in fear. It was never the way I wanted to lead, and yet they didn’t respond to reasonable actions, which was evident after Lucien had apologized. I peered over my shoulder at Mateo, who appeared relieved and also afraid at the sight of me.
“Are you the one who gave orders to free me?” he asked.
I nodded.
His brows pinched together. “And also the one that killed my brother?”
There was some genuine anger there, which told me that whatever had transpired with his brother he still had loved him. I could respect that.
Family was family.
“I am.” I thought it best I took the blame for killing Marcelle since Lucien had enough of a stain on his reputation with the people of Summer.
“Kill her!” someone from the crowd screamed.
“Fake queen,” another said.
Fear seized my chest at the thought that I might have to fight my way out of here. I wasn’t scared of getting hurt but I didn’t want to hurt anyone else in my flight to freedom. These were innocent, misled people.
“Touch me and I will suck the air from your lungs!” I bellowed to the crowd. I could not look weak now. There was no turning back.
“I could boil your blood without a touch,” Mateo said behind me, to which the crowd roared their agreement.
Oh fae. This was not going well.
The schling of a blade leaving its scabbard had the crowd going silent and all of us looked at the dragon king. “Not before I take your head,” King Valdren said to Prince Mateo, holding his sword out and pointing the tip at him.
Mateo chuckled, as if he found this all amusing, and I wondered if his years away in captivity had hampered his ability to have diplomatic conversations. Mateo reached out his hand to me. “I am in your debt, Queen Madelynn. I do not like that my brother had to die for my freedom to come to pass, but I am rather grateful to be free.”
So he was a little mad, maybe playing a game just now. A sigh of relief whooshed out of me and I reached out and shook his hand. King Valdren stayed close, sword at the ready.
The crowd booed and I turned on them. “Do we have a betrothed couple here? Speak up if you are betrothed!” I screamed at them.
Everyone looked around confused, wondering what I was playing at, and a girl stepped forward with a young man. “We are betrothed. So what?”
I nodded, pointing to the man. “He’s mine now. You’re dowry is canceled and I will marry him today,” I told them.
The crowd gasped and the girl scowled at me.
“That is what Marcelle did to me! He canceled the agreement my father made with King Thorne. He threatened to kill my mother and sister if I didn’t marry him and become your queen.”
Gasps rang out, and I knew I was getting somewhere with them.
“So are you really surprised when Lucien caused another freeze on your land in an effort to get me back? Are you really shocked I killed the man who stole my innocence and forced me into marriage after I had already been promised?”
A dead silence fell over the crowd but I pressed on.
“Listen, I know you have a past with King Thorne and that you hate him for the Great Freeze all those years ago. But he’s apologized for it, he confessed publicly that he couldn’t control his powers, so it’s time to move on. People make mistakes,” I pleaded to them. “Marcelle was a bad man and a horrible leader. The sooner you realize that, the sooner we can move forward with the current crisis in which we find ourselves.”
Murmurs ripped throughout the space and I felt Mateo and King Valdren step up beside me.
“What crisis!?” someone yelled.
This was it. This moment would decide whether or not these people would live or die, whether we might win the war or not.
“War with the Nightfall queen has already begun. She attempted to kidnap my little sister and now has a thousand men at the Winter Court border coming this way.” Gasps and shrieks ripped through the space, but I pressed on. “Winter Court is the only thing keeping her from taking all of Thorngate. We need you to join Fall and Spring Court, and fight with us!”
The room erupted into shouts of dissent and fear.
King Valdren stepped up front and his voice filled the entire space. “Three days!” he boomed, and everyone fell quiet. “By my estimation and experience, three days is all you have before Queen Zaphira and her enhanced army make it here and kill you with your own powers.”
Gasps, shock, and crying. It broke my heart to see such a naïve people come to terms with reality. But come to terms they must, or they would die.
I peered at Mateo. He was seen as an extension of Marcelle. They needed to hear from him.
He looked scared, his boyish face highlighting what little experience he had on these matters, but he nodded to me. “I will not force you to fight!” Mateo said to them and I winced.
I would have.
“I will go to the battlefield and represent Summer Court, and if you choose to stay back like a coward, and your children die at the hand of the Nightfall queen’s men when they raid our beautiful home within three days’ time, then I will not offer condolences,” he bellowed.
Chills raced up my arms and the crowd erupted into shouts of agreement.
Mateo then looked to me. “I would like to formally reunite with Thorngate and cancel the separation my brother started.”
Relief spread throughout my limbs.
“The elders agree! The fae will fight as one!” an older male fae in the crowd shouted.
I tipped my chin in agreement. “We will get that paperwork started just as soon as I can, but until then, meet me in Winter Court with your strongest warriors.”
Mateo saluted me. “Prepare for war!” he shouted the command, and the people were thrown into action.
King Valdren pulled Mateo aside to the back of the stage where it was more private, and I followed them. Seeing the giant dragon king next to the small boy was almost comical.
“Have you ever led a battle?” the dragon king asked him.
The boy looked like he might be sick. “No, sir.”
Valdren nodded. “Let your senior-most guard give suggestions and take the lead. The best thing you can do is be decisive. Indecision usually costs lives.”
Mateo nodded but looked terrified.
“Once you get to Winter Court, King Thorne will command your men. You shouldn’t encounter any issues before that,” I told him.
Again he looked nervous, but inclined his head in understanding.
There. I’d done it. I’d gotten all of the fae back together under one cause. I turned to the dragon king then. “It’s time to get revenge for my sister,” I growled. I wanted to slap the Nightfall queen’s men with a windstorm so powerful that they flew across the realm.
Drae dipped his chin in understanding, then we wished Mateo luck before grabbing Piper and heading out.
Thoughts of how closely my little sister came to being hurt, or her power being stripped away from her by one of the Nightfall queen’s machines, made me seethe with anger. I felt a darkness inside of my power then, one I’d never experienced before. It was like if I didn’t keep it in check, it would consume the entire realm. This must be what Lucien battled with every time his father struck him or he got angry.
Maker have mercy on any soul who tried to take my little sister and get away with it. The Nightfall queen would pay.
