Page 89 of Calling of the Crown

He groaned, and one hand left my thigh to smack my ass hard. The burn mixed with the pleasure pumping into me had the sparks of my release bursting until all I could do was let out a guttural moan. With a few more pumps of his hips, Rune followed, spilling himself inside of me.

The two of us worked to catch our breaths under the spew of the water. He pressed his forehead to mine, and we just held each other—his dick still buried inside me and my back to the wall—until our heartbeats evened out.

Finally, we looked at each other, and no words were needed to know what the other was thinking.

The momentary distraction was over.

It was time to face our people and deliver the hard news.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

THE MEN AND WOMEN OF the Water Fae army filed into the throne room. My stomach was in knots as I studied each face that entered, and I forced myself to see the people I was about to ask to risk their lives.

I’d just finished my meeting with the Council of Doctrina and the different leaders of the Water Fae army. It was a long meeting where I had to explain the reality of King Elias’s demands, as well as the new threat posed by the Nightbloom. Disbelief had colored their faces, but the response from the generals had been unanimous. They knew the risks that came with war. They knew their lives were not guaranteed in their line of work. If I asked them to follow me into battle, they wouldn’t hesitate. They served Morardia and its leader—me. We’d dispersed from the room, and each leader went to call together the groups under their supervision to debrief them.

These men and women—these soldiers—had just been given the news that I’d been unable to stop war. I’d been unable to keep them safe from more bloodshed. As they looked to me, they looked upon their newly appointed Queen who’d failed them.

I’d failed to keep more from having to die in this war.

So, despite the reassurances from the generals, I knew I couldn’t fail these soldiers in taking away their choice.

The room was quiet as I stood from my throne and approached the edge of the dais. My purple dress fluttered around my ankles, and my silver crown, no doubt, glittered in the moonlight shining down from the glass ceiling as I held my head high in an effort to appear confident. Sure. Strong.

“Thank you all for coming,” I began in a loud voice that echoed across the room—a room that had seen so much light and laughter during our welcome home gathering and the coronation. Standing here now, with the shadow of the truth hanging over us, made the air in the room tight and dark.

“As your commanding officers have told you by now, our fight is not yet over. I’m afraid there is one more battle, one more fight, we will have to face in order to finally end this war and begin rebuilding Morardia and Ambrolia. And it won’t be an easy one now that Land Fae have learned to create and harness Nightbloom.”

I let my last statement hang for a moment so that each and every person here could truly let that sink in. We would be vulnerable. Truly vulnerable. Healing on the spot wouldn’t be possible for some of us, and that would mean death—lots of death. I didn’t want them second-guessing their decision to be here, leaving Water Fae with even fewer numbers than what we already had, but I had to make sure they all knew the devastating potential outcome. What kind of Queen would I be if I didn’t?

It was with the same intention of being a good leader who wanted to protect her people that I continued with, “I believe that together, we can win. We can overcome this obstacle and create a better tomorrow for all Fae. We are strong, which is why we’ve made it this far in the battle, pushing through every barrier and jumping each hurdle in an effort to survive. Not all of us will make it. Elias is eager to see me personally in combat, so even I may not survive. But I’m willing to try. I’m willing to give this my all, because I believe in you. I believe in us. We are more than a dying people. We are more than our lost abilities or our fallen numbers. We are a determined, uniquely gifted, and powerful group of Fae. Even so, I know what I’m asking of you is great. I’m asking you to potentially give up your life for a cause you only began to think about within recent months.”

I took a deep breath. Part of me wanted to glance at Jesiah, who stood off to the side, or at the generals, who stood in the first row of the soldiers. I wanted to see the looks on their faces, because what I was about to offer wasn’t something the Council had discussed. Only Rune knew of my next words. Only he knew that not giving my people this chance would riddle me with guilt and despair, even if it meant our world had to come to an end.

“So,” I finally said. “I want to give you a choice. If what I ask of you is too much, I will not force you to fight.”

The silence in the room became deafening. It was like everyone suddenly held their breath and froze in place so that the quiet became nearly tangible.

Jesiah stepped closer in my peripheral, and he whispered, “Bria, what—”

“If you feel this fight for peace is not worth the risk, I will not make you fight,” I repeated. “Instead, we can return to life before I became Queen. We can all return to the human world where we can live on in hiding as we once did.”

“Your Majesty,” a general started hesitantly. He glanced over his shoulder at his troops then back at me. “You’re asking us to go back?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m merely giving everyone the choice. I came here with my decision already made to restore the broken world we’re in. Now I’m giving you a choice. Stay and help me rebuild, or Water Fae return to the human realm to live as humans once more.”

“We just returned, Your Highness,” a woman called out from the masses. “We’re all so happy to be back here. This is our home.”

I smiled softly. “I know. This is where we belong, but we could make do in the human world, if necessary. We’ve done it for the past twenty years, and a lot of you called it home even longer than that. True, we couldn’t live as our authentic selves there, embracing our gifts and natures. We’d constantly have to be on alert with both the risk of exposure to humans and running into Land Fae who wish us harm. But we’d mostly be safe there. All of us.”

Whispers emerged from the crowd, and I practically felt the buzz in the air as they weighed this option. It was one I, myself, had been considering since Elias’s terms were made clear. The part of me that clung to fear and doubt wanted to dive head first into running away, but the majority of me stood firm on this new solid ground I’d built within myself.

I’d just barely begun to scratch the surface of what this world and my ancestry had to offer. This beautiful land that I now called home sang to me in ways I’d never felt, and the feeling of rightness that unfurled within me each time I used my powers was irreplaceable. I didn’t want to leave this all behind. I didn’t want to give up on this future I’d envisioned for all the Fae of Ambrolia.

But I couldn’t be selfish.

A decision like this would affect thousands.

I had to let them choose what they wanted, and I would.

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