Dagan was stalling the execution.
Everyone had gathered in the throne room, and the doors were shut. The queen sat on her throne with both hands on her lap and her purple dress pooled to the floor in silky elegance. Her purple eyes scanned the room as Dagan spoke.
Caynin and Bolt sat on their thrones with their crowns on their heads. Neither interrupted Dagan’s speech but Bolt couldn’t resist yawning. His legs were sore from sitting still, and he stretched them.
Tarragon sat on his throne, with the Everblossom crown next to it. He looked frustrated and sat with his arm on the armrest and his chin in his hand. In his other hand was his sword with the tip pointing to the ground. Dagan had been speaking for ages now.
Dagan spoke about Slaerie and how horrible they were. He spoke about the pain and suffering they caused and how they deserved to be punished. Then he changed topics and spoke about the four Eternity Kingdoms. He spoke about how wonderful they and the three princes were. He spoke about life on Erken, and how much better things were on Earth. He spoke about anything and everything.
Just below the stage, Rane stood with Flint on the other side. Both appeared bored and no doubt wished they had chairs.
Eric and Fleur stood by the edge of the stage where the crowd had a good view of them. Vines bound Fleur, to prevent her from running away. They tied her down as if she were a mare who had not been tamed yet. She didn’t fight the bonds. Even if she managed to break free, there was no way she could push past the crowd to escape. Fleur had lived in regret for so long it was hard to remember why she ever wanted to be a part of his brutal world. She looked at her son.
Eric’s iron necklace had been ripped from his neck. He had been compelled to stand still and wait to die. They hadn’t compelled him to not be scared. His eyes were wide, and if he hadn’t been compelled, he would be shaking. He was only eighteen! He was supposed to have his whole life ahead of him.
Caynin sat on his throne and didn’t show any emotions. If he felt guilty for not objecting to the execution, he did not show it. He had searched the castle grounds for Zoey. When he couldn’t find her, he had assumed that she had returned to the human world.
“You’ve spoken long enough,” Tarragon growled and got to his feet.
He clearly did not care that he’d so rudely interrupted Dagan, who was wasting time and taking all the fun out of the execution. Even the audience was bored. The royals were yawning and dozing off. He pushed past Dagan and spoke to the crowd. Their energy immediately lifted.
“I, Tarragon Leed, ruler of the Everblossom Kingdom, sentence you, Eric Phillips, to die for murdering multiple Fata. And I sentence you, Fleur Phillips, to die for aiding in an attempt to rescue Eric.”
The Fata listened eagerly and waited for their blood to be spilled. Tarragon lifted his sword, intending to decapitate them. That was when the throne room doors swung open, causing all heads to turn.
“I object!” Zoey cried.
***
“On what grounds?” the queen asked placidly. She had remained seated on the throne and regarded Zoey lazily. She didn’t appear to be delighted at the prospect of an execution. She looked as if she didn’t want to be there.
The Fata moved aside as Zoey strode into the throne room. Bella lingered by the door. She had not been exaggerating when she said she was scared. She was not brave enough to speak up for what she believed in. She seemed to melt into the wall and disappear. Zoey didn’t look back at her; she accepted that from here on she was alone.
Zoey focused her eyes on the queen, the most powerful Fata in the kingdom. Valeska was the only one who could strip Tarragon of his title, and Zoey was going to convince her to do it.
“My queen, you have been lied to,” Zoey said purposefully. “You gave Tarragon the title of ruler when you believed that he fought valiantly against the Prenumbras and locked the door to Erken when trying to protect Prince Calico and Princess Harmonia.”
“Is that not what happened?” Although the queen’s eyes were fixed on Zoey, she appeared disinterested.
“No.” Zoey pointed at Tarragon. “He murdered them!”
The crowd gasped.
Murderer. That was what Zoey had called him when she had seen him the first time. She had not been wrong.
Zoey held up the sword for everyone to see. “This is the No-Name sword. It was forged by the Elves and gifted to Tarragon. As most of you know, it keeps the names of the Fata it killed embedded in the blade.” She shook her head and rephrased that. “It keeps the names of Fata whom Tarragon killed.”
Zoey looked toward Rane, who was standing by the edge of the stage. She approached him, and he straightened. “Rane, can you read these two names out loud?”
She pointed to two of the many names embedded in the blade.
“Harmonia LeVane. Calico LeVane,” Rane read.
The crowd gasped again. Someone cried out in horror. Some bared their teeth to show that they felt betrayed and angry, while others covered their mouths to prevent themselves from screaming.
Zoey looked toward Dagan, who was standing on the stage. It was clearly the happiest, most satisfying day of his life. He was smiling at her in astonishment and admiration. She couldn’t help but quickly return his smile. Then she focused her attention on Tarragon.
“You murdered the royal family!” Zoey cried. “You murdered them so that you could take their lands and rule their people! You were never loyal! You were never worthy of being a Waerie! You only ever betrayed and took what you wanted!”
“You’re not innocent either,” Tarragon snapped. She was surprised that he had decided to speak up after being quiet for so long. Maybe he had enough of her.
In confusion, she considered his words. The only thing she was guilty of was revealing the truth.
“Don’t tell me you’ve not figured it out yet,” Tarragon spoke down to her.
“Figured what out?” she asked.
“You are the one who opened the door for the Prenumbras to return to earth. You’re the only one who can do it.”
“Don’t be absurd,” she said.
“I am sorry,” he said. Was she mistaking his guilt for sincerity? He did sound sorry, but it disappeared within seconds, replaced by determination. “You’re too dangerous to be kept alive.”
Instantly, he leapt from the stage with his sword pointing at Zoey’s heart. He was going to kill her. With her human reflexes there was no way she would be able to dodge him.
That was when Rane cast himself between the blade and Zoey. It sank through his shoulder, and he cried out in pain. All the royals, except the queen, were on their feet.
Before Tarragon could attack her again, Dagan and Caynin were at his sides. They ripped his sword away and forced him to the ground. It required much strength to hold him in place. Caynin’s teeth were bared, and saliva dripped from his mouth. Zoey thought he was going to kill Tarragon right then and there.
“Shit!” Bolt cried with fear in his voice. “The queen has a shadow.”
Zoey looked to the stage where the queen had finally risen to her feet. She smiled maliciously. Her sharp canines dug into her lips, and her eyes glinted with malice.
Bolt was not lying. She had a shadow, a Prenumbra inside her.
“How did this happen?” Zoey gaped.
“After I came through the crack in the wall,” the Prenumbra spoke through the queen’s mouth. “I decided to possess the most powerful Fata in the kingdom. Unfortunately, I drained her magic rather quickly – I’d kill her if it continued. Thus, I fed off other Fata.”
This Prenumbra, hiding inside the queen’s body, was responsible for killing Nyla, Delia, and two others.
“I had to recharge the queen’s magic by stealing theirs, and in the process killed them. Lucky for me, their deaths were blamed on the Slaerie. Once I had absorbed enough energy from other Fata, I could hide the shadow.” The queen looked at her shadow and shrugged. “I haven’t killed in a while. I’m low on energy, and that’s why the shadow is back.”
The queen had not been showing up for dinner or breakfast, and Zoey had believed it was because she didn’t want to dine with her or because she was hunting the Prenumbras. She had also not been seen around the castle often, and Zoey now knew it was because the Prenumbra inside didn’t want to risk anyone discovering it.
“You stole the Egress Key!” Tarragon realized.
“I was hoping to use it to open a door big enough for all the Prenumbras to come through. But it does not work, and now I know why.” She fixed her eyes on Zoey.
Immediately, she was by Zoey’s side, grabbed one of Zoey’s hands, and aimed it at the ground. She muttered something in a foreign language, and Zoey could feel magic sizzling through her veins. She looked to the ground where a black hole was forming. It started out small and spiraled bigger and bigger. Somehow, the queen was using her to open a portal.
Zoey slammed her elbow into the queen’s nose, and the black hole disappeared once she released her. Before the queen could attack again, Zoey swung the sword upward and cut off her head.
It can kill anything.
Zoey had learnt this from Caynin when he had told her about the No-Name sword. He had been right. All those years the Fata had been fighting the Prenumbras, they had feared they did not have a way to kill them. Ironically, the weapon that could kill the Prenumbra belonged to their warlord.
Zoey looked from the sword to Valeska. Her purple eyes were open. Blood pooled on the floor. Had Zoey grown accustomed to death? Her stomach was not turning. She had killed someone. She was a murderer, yet she did not feel bad.
Everyone was staring.
Zoey started putting pieces together of everything she knew. The crowd was quiet, as if no one knew how to take the lead. The silence gave Zoey the opportunity to think clearly.
“After I killed the king and queen of the Everblossom Kingdom,” Tarragon said to her. “I walked to the crib, expecting to find Princess Celine dead. She was supposed to be dead after the Prenumbra had fed on her. The Prenumbra had drained her magic – in the process turning her into a human. She died.”
Caynin’s grip was as hard and painful as Dagan’s.
Tarragon didn’t try to break free. He just kept his eyes on Zoey as he spoke. “When I closed the door and the Egress Key broke, its magic needed somewhere to go. Energy does not just disappear, it only changes form. As a Fata, I had too much magic already so it could not latch onto me. So, the key’s magic latched onto the only mundane thing it could – Celine. Its magic brought Celine back to life. She was a human, with all the Egress Key’s power.”
Zoey thought about the waterfall and the voices coming from behind it. She had pushed the wall and opened a door to Erken. At the time, she hadn’t even realized what she had done She had let the Prenumbra in. Moments ago, the possessed queen had wanted to use her powers to open another door.
“I sent Celine away from this world to the mortals, where she could find a new home. I hoped she would never know about magic,” Tarragon continued.
He sent her away to a place where she would never know her real identity and told everyone that the Prenumbra had stolen her back to Erken.
Bella had told Zoey this. Zoey had been adopted – she had told Caynin so herself, that she didn’t know who her real parents were.
“Why did you tell me about the Fluver-luzile?”
“It was time for you to come home.”
Bella, who had worked for Prince Calico and Princess Harmonia, had known Zoey’s identity all along. She knew Zoey belonged in the Everblossom Kingdom – her ulterior motive, her reason for helping Zoey, was because she wanted the rightful princess back on the throne.
“Why haven’t you tried to overthrow Tarragon before?” Zoey asked.
“Because there was no one to take his place,” Fleur said.
Zoey had grown up in the mortal word and thus she could not take back her crown. She hadn’t even known it belonged to her. Fleur had waited for seventeen years before finding a way to bring Zoey back. If Zoey had returned here when she was younger, it would have been harder for her to survive.
When Zoey had completed the second trial, she had hallucinated her worst fears. During this time, Rane had tried to kill her. Eric had told her he did not love her, and Violet had died. The only hallucination she could not make sense of was Tarragon, who had killed two Fata and then walked to an empty crib. Now, Zoey realized that as a baby she had watched him murder her parents, and it was stuck in her subconscious. In the hallucination, she had once again watched him murder her mother, Harmonia, and her father, Calico. Then he had gone to the crib but there had been no baby. Because Zoey was the baby.
Fata could compel humans but not each other. Zoey could not be compelled. Zoey could also eat Fata food, like the cupcake at the feast, without suffering consequences like other humans would. If a human touched the Globetrot-tree, they were supposed to die, but Zoey had not. When Tarragon had bitten her, he had let her go instead of killing her. He had tasted the royalty in her blood.
You don’t know what she is.
Tarragon had figured out that she was the key. She could open doorways to other worlds, and she could let the Prenumbras in. He had left her in the mortal world and hoped she would never learn about her power. But now it was too late. He felt he had to kill her before she put everyone else in jeopardy.
Zoey bent down and picked up the queen’s severed head. She got onto the stage and tossed it toward Bolt. She was not just a weak human; she was a princess with power!
“I have killed a Prenumbra, a magical creature from Erken, without any help. I have completed the third trial.” She looked at the crowd. “I have earned your respect and my wish.”
“What is it you want?” Bolt kept his eyes on Valeska’s head. He did not touch it.
“I wish that four Eternity Kingdoms will set every single one of their humans free,” she said. “Their memories of this place will be wiped, and they will be sent home, alive.”
“Tarragon does not have to oblige,” Caynin reminded her.
“No, but Tarragon is no longer Ruler of the Everblossom Kingdom.” Although Valeska had not officially stripped him of the title, it was obvious that no one was going to support him as ruler. “I know a princess of the Everblossom Kingdom has the power to release its human slaves.”
“Who do you think you are to demand such things?” Prince Bolt finally drew his gaze from Valeska’s severed head.
Zoey dropped the No-Name sword and made her way over to the Everblossom throne. She lifted the Everblossom Crown, which only one with royal blood could touch without burning. Dagan’s eyes widened as he looked upon the woman who had been promised to be wed to him when she was just a baby.
Zoey put the crown on her head before she turned around to face the crowd. Then she sat down on her throne, leaned back, and crossed one leg over the other.
“My name is Celine Levane, princess of the Everblossom Kingdom.”