Page 92 of Calling of the Crown

He smiled and leaned down to wrap his arms around me, but my energy was zapped. His form wobbled and collapsed, raining down to the balcony floor. I fell to my knees with the liquid, gasping for air as I barely managed to hold myself up on my hands.

My heart ached at the loss, but it also beat with furious love. This gift of who I was let me see my dad, despite his fate having taken him from this world. I finally got to see him, and hearing him say that he loved me and was proud made every bit of weakness coursing through my body worth it. I hated that the meeting had been so short-lived, but I also knew I could practice and get better at it. I could see him again.

I could get both my parents back—Mom, when we figured out how to pull her from the water, and my dad through this connection.

The realization that I could see both of my parents who had seemingly been taken from me also made me realize how much I hated Rune’s situation. His mother was alive and well, yet it was easier for me to see my “dead” parents than for him to see his. She’d made choices and now harbored feelings that prevented him from seeing her. It didn’t matter that Rune and the twins loved her and wanted their mom in their lives. She was too destroyed and empty after losing Balgair to care.

I stopped breathing and stared at the water beneath my hands and knees as my mind suddenly began to race. Myra’s life had ended, and she’d changed when she lost Balgair. So, what if … What if she saw him again? What if he convinced her to join us and get her back to the mother she used to be?

“Rune could have his mother back,” I mumbled into the quiet night air.

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew what I had to do.

I was going to bring Myra back to her children.

Chapter Forty-One

DAYS PASSED, AND EACH NIGHT, I secretly practiced my new skill until I felt sure I could do what I needed. With time running out before battle reached us, I knew now was the moment. I wanted to fall asleep, curled around Rune’s naked body, but I forced myself to stay awake, waiting until my Fox fell asleep. What I was doing was probably crazy, but if it worked, it would be worth any amount of danger.

Rune would probably disagree, as would everyone else, which was why I hadn’t told anyone my plan or what I’d learned to do. They would think the risk of meeting Myra, the woman who loathed me with every fiber of her being, was far too dangerous. I couldn’t accept that. I couldn’t sit back and do nothing as we headed into a battle where Rune might have to face her.

I’d learned early on in my interactions with Myra that she had one weakness, one thing that actually got to her—Balgair. If there were any chance of saving her and restoring the relationship she used to have with Rune and the twins, it would be letting her talk to Balgair again.

Risk and danger be damned.

Once I felt Rune’s breath even out and his body relax further into the mattress, I waited an extra ten minutes before carefully pulling myself away from him. I slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of leggings and t-shirt, then made my way for the door.

Just as I reached the door, I stopped. I looked back over my shoulder at Rune’s sleeping form. Nibbling on my lip, I considered going back to his side and leaving a note, just in case things went south. No one knew where I was going, so if I didn’t make it, they’d have no idea what happened. Not until Myra returned my headless body.

She liked keeping the heads.

I quickly pushed that morbid idea and any doubt away. I was going to come back. I wasn’t going to die tonight. I would come back to my husband and everyone else.

With my determination firmly in place, I finally slipped out into the hall. I hugged the walls and clung to dark corners as I traversed the corridors, and even though there were some close calls, I managed to sneak out the back of the palace unseen. There were patrols stationed along the walls surrounding the palace, and I realized there was no getting past them without being spotted.

At least, not by waltzing across the yard as I’d planned.

Thinking quickly, I reached out and focused on the water right outside the wall. The ocean called back to me, and I silently beckoned it to aid me. Picturing figures rising from the sea and approaching the east side of the wall, I waited and listened. The soldiers lining the outer wall suddenly erupted in shouts, and they raced to the east side as some commotion captured their attention.

Smiling to myself, I raced across the yard and out the back gate, diving into the ocean. The water, sensing my urgency, launched me deep into its depths like I was a torpedo barreling into the dark. Once I was sure no one could see me at this distance and depth from the shore, I took a moment to pull a ball of water to my hands.

Speaking into it, I said, “Myra, it’s Bria. I need to meet with you about something urgent. Meet me alone in the Lylora Woods. The water will show you where.”

Nodding at the orb, I released my hold on it and ordered, “Go find Myra and give her this message.”

The ball bounced before zipping up and out of the water, following the command I’d given it. With that part done, I reached out to the water around me and used it to propel me toward the Lylora Woods on the mainland. I reached it quickly thanks to the speed at which the water carried me.

I waded out of the water and onto the sandy bank. Now that I was here and that much closer to facing Myra again, my stomach tightened with nerves. I forced myself to ignore the unsettled feeling and quickly weaved through the towering trees.

When my entourage and I had traveled through here to meet with Elias, we’d passed by a grouping of trees that seemed to make a sort of ring off the path. Because it was so distinguishable and secluded, I’d decided to make that the meeting spot.

I arrived first, as expected, and I couldn’t stop bouncing from foot to foot as I waited for Myra to arrive. The longer I waited in the dark forest, the more anxious I got. Maybe she wasn’t going to come. She could’ve gotten my message and just flat-out ignored it, not deeming me worthy enough of her time. It was no secret how little she thought of me.

It will truly be a delight to watch you lead the downfall of your people.

Her words still haunted me, clawing at my mind every so often, especially in moments where my insecurities were at their highest. With us heading into battle soon, it was even harder not to question if she was right. I believed in what I was doing and the end result that would come with it, but that didn’t mean Myra’s words didn’t still get to me at times.

“If you asked to meet so that I can kill you, I won’t.”

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