Page 20 of Crown of Ellova: Vol 1

Nueena attempts to hand the leather straps back to me. “Where are you going? It’s a long walk back to your cottage. We’ll ride there with you.”

I need some time to think, to mourn alone. I smile up at her even though it doesn’t reach my eyes. “No. I will be fine. I need to walk off this wretched evening anyway.”

Nueena nods, but appears unconvinced. “See you back at the palace in a few days.”

She drops to the ground and we embrace one last time for the night. I am overwhelmed by how much I love her, that her precious friendship is offered to me, a stronger love than anything else I have ever known. “You’re going to make a great Realm Keeper,” I whisper from my place below her chin as she towers over me in our embrace.

She laughs as we pull apart and says, “Yes, I will.”

A rustle of soft paws crinkling dry leaves in the bushes nearby distracts me. Farren’s blue eyes peer up at us.

“Hello, little one,” I say to him. “Let’s go home.”

Moonlight pours over the Merawood Forest, and memories of tonight’s conversation consume my thoughts.

I walk along the dry riverbed that once flowed down from Ellova. Farren’s bushy black tail bobs in and out of bushes as he chases fireflies.

Long ago the Airvell River and its healing water flowed to the Elbasan Sea. The swift-moving waters emerged from a rift in the Venneem Mountains of Ellova.

I remove each wide cuff from my wrists and my magic swirls inside me, rushing into my hands, ready to create. The two bracelets mold into a large, smooth golden ball. The shining mass vibrates as I imagine Leon’s face, the metal shifting into a small bust of his likeness in my outstretched palm. It just needs two small emeralds for the eyes. I wanted to see his face one more time, but now that it lies before me, my chest constricts painfully and I swallow my emotion.

Farren pauses, looking around, ears up in alarm.

I stand behind him, listening. A stillness spreads around the forest as all the creatures that thrive under moonlight go silent. After a moment, I can make out the rough sounds of fast-moving travelers headed straight towards me.

Leon’s perfect golden face melts in my hand and shifts into a dagger.

Taking off behind the dense trees, Farren runs up the rocks leading to the higher ground, and I follow, crouching behind one of the boulders. The urgency at which the small caravan is traveling in the middle of the night, through a forest forbidden to most, fills mewith dread. The only possible way they can be coming in is from Adreania, but how?

Ellovian magic is fused within the forest soil, used as a protector and defender of its kingdom. The forest’s magic will not allow anyone who wishes to harm Ellova in, but panic still shoots its way up my spine.

Hidden from view, I go unnoticed by three figures. Dark brown cloaks are pulled over armor, the men crushing the flowers in their path. A lone workhorse pulls a worn metal cart with a covered flatbed while two of the men walk swiftly beside it.

The full moon’s glow is so bright I can see the lone rider repeatedly turn his head behind his horse to peer into the forest at their backs.

Whoever these men are, they are not welcome here, and coming from Adreania, they may be dangerous. Fear burns in me as they pass by my hiding spot, rushing in the direction of Kalvorn.

Jostled by the rough terrain of the forest floor, the mound of fabric atop the cart shifts, and a hand falls limply to the side over the wheel. My heart stops, and my hand flies over my mouth to stop the gasp rising in my throat, my fae eyesight revealing what darkness tries to hide.

Illuminated by the moonbeams between branches, an arm hangs motionless, showing its many years. On the middle finger is a massive gold ring: a large round ruby with two emerald stones cut in the shape of triangles on the decrepit, hooked finger.

A ring I would recognize anywhere.

A ring I forged with my own magic.

A ring that is only ever worn by one person.

Moaning from under the blanket is King Jedrick of Adreania.

CHAPTER 9

The men who have taken Jedrick are heading in the direction of Kalvorn, but if they are traveling there for medical aid, it would be faster by ship. It is at least a day’s journey to King Zilias’s kingdom, and Jedrick might not make it through the mountains alive.

Could these be men from Kalvorn? When Grayden met with the king and queen of Kalvorn, all they wanted in exchange for endless aid was the crown. Is someone delivering Jedrick to Kalvorn so Adreania can receive aid? Or is something far more sinister about to take place?

Wherever the reason is, Jedrick here in the middle of the night is no matter to me. The crown is out of Adreania. The shock that it is so close to the Ellovian palace, so close to the fae realm, overwhelms me for a moment.

I could bring back the crown my great-great-grandmother created.

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