Page 1 of Calling of the Crown

PART ONE: Princess

PRINCESS

Chapter One

THE WIND CARRIED THE SALTY mist of the ocean, and it kissed my cheeks like a silent welcome home. The melodic lap of the waves sang to me as a greeting, and among the push and pull of the tide came a whisper from the water.

You’re home, Princess.

I’d had my eyes squeezed shut, sure I was dreaming, but at the faint voice, I opened them once more. The vast ocean remained before me, as well as the distant land mass in the middle of it. Everything looked relatively normal, but there were a few things that let me know this world wasn’t the human one.

The sky, dusted in hues of pink and orange from the setting sun, gave the moon—the abnormally large moon—occupancy in the sky. The water was the clearest I’d ever seen, and even from several feet back on the shore, I could see clear through to the bottom at every angle. All was as I saw it when I had first stepped through the veil between the human world and this one.

Ambrolia, the realm of Fae.

The water nearest me beat against the sandy shore in an unnatural fashion, and as it rose high only to fall back down, I realized it was trying to get my attention.

Smiling softly, I approached with my hand held out to it. “I’m home.”

The water lifted up out of the waves to swarm my outstretched hand. The warmth of the water spread through my limbs, and it calmed me to my very core, which I appreciated considering I was freaking the fuck out.

I’d just walked through a glittering hole in the air and stepped out into a whole new realm. Even though I’d experienced enough in the last few months that proved magic and Fae were real, it still hit me with the weight of a freight train when I saw new evidence of this world of which I was a part.

Rune came up beside me, slipping his strong arm around my waist. He pulled me close to his side and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “You should see how beautiful you look right now.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I beamed up at him. With the Ambrolia sky behind him, he looked every bit as handsome as some fantasy prince in a novel. His black-and-white fox ears stood proudly amid his white hair, and his fluffy fox tail dragged in the sand behind him. He slipped his arm from my waist to take hold of my hand with his clawed one. As soon as he smiled down at me, I felt grounded. He was here with me, the man I loved with every fiber of my being. I wasn’t alone. We’d tackle this new world together.

“The water is clearly happy to see you,” Dallas laughed.

Her fiery red hair entered my peripheral as she took her place on the other side of me. Her green eyes scanned the waters and distant land. The rest of the Water Fae present—members of my personal guard—stood with Dallas, and they all looked out at the water with distant, almost somber expressions.

Dallas swallowed hard and mumbled, “I can’t believe we’re actually back. It’s … It’s surreal to be here.”

“I know what you mean,” Akira said.

He and the rest of Rune’s and my friends gathered by the edge of the shore. Akira looked at the ocean, while Ardley, Bassel, Avana, Marlow, and the others spun to take in the trees and trails leading away from the sea a good distance behind us.

“Why is the moon so big here?” Greshim, one of Rune’s little brothers, questioned. His fox ears twitched excitedly.

“Because,” Alvaro answered with a warm smile. He gazed down at Greshim and his twin, Newt, holding their clawed hands tightly. “It has to be large enough to make room for all the Lunar Fae who live there.”

“That m-m-makes sense,” Newt said with a nod.

Looking over at Alvaro, I asked, “Have they not been to Ambrolia before?”

The fierce looking man shook his head, his black fox ears twitching slightly. “They have not.”

“No one comes here anymore,” Rune added.

My eyes went wide. “Why not? This is everyone’s home, isn’t it?”

“It hasn’t been safe to return to Ambrolia for decades,” Avana, the dark beauty with an iridescent shine to her Chameleon Fae skin, explained.

“That’s why Land and Water Fae have lived in the human world for so long,” Rune started. “Here, war became normal and expected. In the human realm, it’s harder to get away with killing each other because humans talk. They ask questions. If a Fae is killed or winds up missing, human involvement becomes inevitable, which risks Fae exposure. Living amongst humans helps keep Fae safe from most attacks.”

“Key word being most,” Bassel mumbled, his liger tail flicking angrily.

Carlos, Bassel’s partner with whom he’d just reunited, leaned in and squeezed him reassuringly.

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