Page 116 of Shade of Ruin

Yet, on the outside, nothing is happening. No light or sounds. Just me writhing in pain as my body is reformed to fit the energy that I now hold inside me.

When I feel a hand press against my arm, I’m almost shocked. The pain is gone, and I’m different. I’m…more alive? When I look at Cole, he looks less Immortal than he had before. Almost like he had become less bright. My eyes aren’t forcibly drawn to him or Darian or Lee.

“Maeve,” he whispers. “You’re…”

He doesn’t say anything else, merely getting down on one knee and bowing his head. I don’t understand what’s happening, but when I turn to look at Darian and Lee, they’re both moving to do the same thing.

“What are you doing?” I whisper, my voice sounding unusual. Not like my own. I run my finger over my throat, and my hand moves faster than I’d expected. I slowly push myself to my feet and look around me. Everything is different and yet, it’s absolutely the same.

Then I see something I’ve only witnessed one time before. As Cole moves to help me up, the single tally mark on his wrist disappears, fading away and leaving bare skin behind. So similar to the way it’d looked when mine had done the same.

I can see everything so much more clearly. Like someone had opened a dirty window I was looking out of, and now I can see it the way it should be seen. The gold flecks in the marble are discernible, each one very distinct. I can hear the guards in the pile breathing. The two men I chased down are dead without a doubt; their blood runs to the nearest low-spot in the marble and pools, but their scents are gone.

Darian and Lee move nervously, their bodies shifting in tiny ways that my eyes wouldn’t have ever noticed before. Even Cole is shaking a little, but it’s not nervousness. It’s pain.

“You’re the Queen, Maeve,” Cole says. “You wear the Painted Crown.”

I shake my head. No. I hadn’t asked for this. I hadn’t wanted this. I look down at Cole and Darian and Lee. All still kneeling. That’s when it hits me. They did this on purpose. “That’s why you had to be here,” I whisper. “This isn’t just a Midsummer ceremony. It’s the passing of the Crown.”

I turn around and look at the dead guards. “I’m not of the House of Shadows, though,” I say softly. “Calyr wouldn’t make amistake with that. How can I wear the Painted Crown if I’m not from the House of Shadows?”

“Because you’re from the House of Earth.” The voice is not Cole’s. Or Darian’s. Or Lee’s. I whirl around to see Vesta materialize in front of me. “When the Shattering occurred, your mother did not go into hiding. She went in search of any hidden House of Earth bloodlines. Queen Brenna was a great warrior, but her ability to ferret out the secrets of the world was even more impressive, and she found the sole surviving House of Earth bloodline. Two men were living with the faintest trace of it. Sandor and Trevor Arden.”

I stare at Vesta in shock. My parent’s marriage was no different from any other Immortal’s marriage. Two bloodlines combining to work together.

“Queen Brenna meant to become pregnant with you to further the House of Earth and House of Shadows bloodlines and give some hope of righting the destruction of the Shattering, but she fell in love with your father. She stayed too long and refused to put either of you in danger, so she left. I was told to stay with you until you came of age to make sure that you were prepared to take the throne.”

Thoughts of my father fill my mind, and something snaps inside me. I remember a day when I was young. A day when my father had said things that made an eight-year-old girl disgusted with him. A day when my father had been covered with shadows and never seen again.

Why had I forgotten that day completely? I look at Vesta with eyes wide open. “I killed him, and you made me forget.”

“I had a single goal. Protect and teach you. I did not have the power to save your father.”

I stare at her, not wanting to believe her. Then at Cole. His oath was to make sure I was here when the passing of the Painted Crown occurred. Darian and Lee would follow himanywhere, but even they pushed me to come here. They all knew that I didn’t want to take a throne.

My mother had wanted me to do this. She’d set this whole thing up. She’d orchestrated the greatest lie I could have ever imagined.

All of this had started with her. To save the world.

I’d killed my father. I can’t get away from that thought. Even with everything else.

I’m interrupted as the clang of steel resonates through the hallways. In an instant, Cole, Darian, and Lee all stand up. Their hands go to their weapons, and they move in front of me. “We need to go, Maeve. This place isn’t safe anymore.”

Rhion and a troop of Steel soldiers step into the hallway. There’s a wide smile on Rhion’s face as he looks at us. “The Wyrdling has the Painted Crown?” he asks in amazement. There’s no bowing from him, though. “How does a Wyrdling hold the Painted Crown? This is why you bound yourself to her, old friend? And Earth? Who would have thought? We were thorough when we destroyed the Keep of Earth.”

“Not thorough enough,” Cole says as he holds his sword out. “Turn around, Rhion. You call me old friend, but you threaten my betrothed and my Queen. Take your soldiers and tell your father that we already left.”

Rhion shakes his head. “You know I can’t do that. My father will know. Somehow, he’ll know. At least this will be a good fight. It’s been centuries since we sparred together. And centuries since I had a fight that made me sweat.”

“Not today,” Cole says. “Maybe another day, but not now.” He intones in a voice that I’d know anywhere. The sound of water over river rocks. “Rhion, I am calling in your debt. You will take your soldiers back to your father, and you will kill any that attempt to attack me, my betrothed, or my friends.”

In an instant, Rhion grimaces and glances down at the tally mark on his wrist, which is glowing so brightly I can see it from here. “You son of a whore. You’re the Shade? All this time? You’ve built yourself an army over the last thirty years for this exact moment, haven’t you? An army of debtors.”

Cole doesn’t say a word, but Rhion’s grimace grows until he says, “Well, you heard him. We’re headed back to King Gethin.”

The tally mark stops burning, and Rhion grins at Cole. “You’re a clever son of a whore, Prince. But one day, you and I will stand across from each other on the battlefield and I’ll finally get a chance to beat you once and for all.”

Then he turns and walks down the hallway.

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