Page 53 of Calling of the Crown

Heart full, I whispered, “Me, too.”

This room was full of Land and Water Fae, not only coexisting but truly enjoying the other’s company. This was the future we hoped to build, one in which these kinds of friendships and relationships were not only possible but worth having. I wanted a world that looked like this room.

Akira leaned in to plant a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll let you get back to painting. I just wanted to say thank you.”

Akira rejoined Jesiah, who wrapped his arm around Akira’s shoulder—careful to avoid his wings—and placed a kiss on top of his head. I refocused on my painting, and a few seconds later, Rune joined my side. He pulled a chair near mine, and he fed me bites of my cinnamon roll as I worked. Everyone stood around the room, regaling us with stories from when we’d all lived in the human world. The air felt light, warm, and safe, and as Rune and I shared a smile, I truly believed this world was possible.

Chapter Twenty-Three

THE MORNING SUN HADN’T EVEN risen yet as I rushed behind Imani. Rune was right beside me, and his eyes were wild with emotions flashing too fast for me to read. Thankfully, the people of Morardia were still fast asleep, because something was off.

Imani had been alerted and sent to wake me up when some patrols noticed two figures lurking on the shores of the mainland. The strangers didn’t make an attempt to announce themselves as Water Fae, and one patrol believed he saw Canine-like ears and tail on one of them. Believing them to be a possible Land Fae threat, they’d sent Imani to get me. I’d quickly thrown on sweatpants and a t-shirt to follow her back to Morardia’s edge where the patrols still stood.

“Are they still there?” I asked the guards as soon as I made it to them.

One of the men there looked at me and answered, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Rune, Imani, and I slowed as we got to the edge of the tide, and sure enough, far across the waters, I could see two figures cloaked in shadows looking our way. I took the telescope from one of the patrols and peered through it. The taller, bigger figure remained too far back in the darkness for me to make out any defining details, but everyone had a suspicion as to who was observing us during nightfall.

“You really think that’s King Elias?” I asked everyone here.

“It’s hard to say for sure, but I believe so,” Imani answered.

I swallowed hard and studied the other figure. Also cloaked in shadows, it was hard to say who it was, but ice prickled my insides when I observed that slender figure with long hair that nearly brushed the ground, a fluffy tail draped behind them, and pointy ears atop their head.

“Is it her?” Rune mumbled beside me.

I inhaled a shaky breath and passed him the telescope. “I can’t tell.”

He quickly looked for himself, and his jaw tightened. When he’d heard Imani tell me about the lurking visitors, something almost instinctive told him his mom was there. He’d been determined to find out, but the still mostly dark morning prevented him from doing so.

I looked back across the ocean, and I raised my hand to at least offer a friendly wave so we didn’t seem threatening. But just as I moved my hand up, the two figures slipped between the trees and vanished back through the Lylora Woods.

“What do you think they wanted?” one of the guards asked.

My mouth was suddenly dry, and it took me multiple attempts to finally speak. “To see for themselves if we were really back or not.”

“What do you suppose they’ll do now that they have their answer?” a girl questioned with a trace of worry.

I shook my head, but my eyes never left the shadows of the trees. “I don’t know. Let’s just make sure we keep guards posted along the shore, in case they come back.”

Because if that really was Myra and Elias, that couldn’t mean anything good.

ANOTHER PLUME OF SMOKE SENT Rune and me hurtling backward. I landed hard on my butt, which had to have been bruised by this point. It was only 10 a.m., yet I’d already been sent flying five times so far today. Rune’s and my powers just kept blowing up in our faces.

“Why the fuck can’t we get this right?” Rune roared as his fists erupted into angry flames. He stood across the room in a pair of gray sweatpants with his hair pulled back, and the muscles in his bare torso flexed as he tried to calm down.

I wiped the soot off my cheek and let out a defeated sigh. “We will. One day.”

“But we don’t have all the time in the world,” Rune groaned. He wiped a tired hand over his face. “We have to do the Joining Ceremony in a month, and we’re still no closer to having this last step figured out than when we started.”

The reminder of the encroaching deadline sent my already frenzied nerves teetering on the edge of an all-out panic. I’d been wired since the appearance of the two figures this morning, and since then it had been crunch time. Jesiah quizzed us on policies before we resumed more of the Two Hearts Dance practice. Water Fae bustled about the palace since we’d hired so many for the different jobs required here, and it felt like everything had just been go, go, go all morning. The peace and bliss from last night felt like a long-forgotten dream with the sudden stress and pressure of today.

“Maybe we should take a break from the dance,” Jesiah offered from where he’d been leaning against the wall of the underground training room with Angus. “Rune, you take a break there on the bench. Bria, you and I will work on your powers.”

Steeling myself for another grueling session with Jesiah, I took my place in the center of the room while Jesiah walked over to the wall at my right, which housed a deep trough full of water. He stared down at his reflection and readjusted the tie holding his many braids back. He’d traded in his finer advisor clothes for his usual work-out attire—a black tank top and camo sweats.

“Firstly,” Jesiah started. “I have news, albeit very little news, on that book you had Akira send to his acquaintance.”

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