Page 51 of Crown of Ellova: Vol 1

“Are you all right?” I ask. “How do you feel?” It comes out as a whisper.

“Energized, full, unlike anything I’ve felt before.” She speaks as if she is in a daze before panic dawns on her face. “Wemustfind a way to release it. Your mortal body will be destroyed with that much magic. I was only able to absorb a fraction of it. You won’t be able to survive this, Del. It’s going to kill you.”

CHAPTER 22

Your mortal body will be destroyed with that much magic.Nueena stares at me with panicked eyes and squeezes my hand. It takes a moment for her words to fully sink in.

The crown is going to kill me.

Dread seeps into every bone in my body, tears making their way down my cheeks because I know Nueena speaks the truth. Even though she’s taken the crushing pressure out of my body, I know it’s still too much for me to handle, too much to control. I’m just a half-mortal jewelsmith.

“We will not allow that to happen,” Nyvenah insists. “There must be a way to remove it.” She keeps speaking but a rushing noise in my ears blocks out sound.

If we can’t find a way to remove it, how long do I have? Weeks? Months? The crown holds thousands of years of siphoned magic within it. How am I even alive now?

A matching tear slides down Nueena’s face and I pull her tightly to me, hating the tears on her face more than mine. My fingers dig into the soft fabric of her gown, clinging to her as desperately as she clings to me. That is how Leon finds us when Lillian brings him into the throne room. The somber mood hangs like a shadow.

Lillian taps the tapestry map, rolling it up so it hides everything from view, but Leon doesn’t even glance at it or at anything else in the room, his eyes frozen on me and Nueena.

“What’s happened?” he demands, watching me wipe away Nueena’s tears, his posture accusatory.

Nyvenah stands at her full height and steps in front of us. “Hello, Healer Leon. I would ask you to calm yourself.”

Leon nods and bows deeply to her. His expression is neutral, but his body betrays him. The tension radiates from him.

“I’m all right. Nothing has happened. Just tired.” I move beside Nyvenah and force a smile to reassure him.

He is not convinced, but stays quiet.

Nyvenah gracefully takes her seat at the head of the table. She gives me a sympathetic look that promises my impending demise by the crown will be discussed later. “Have a seat, mortal. I’ve heard you have had quite the journey to us, so this will not take long. I do, however, have a few questions.”

When he doesn’t immediately move, I walk over to him and together we all sit. Goblets appear for the vessels of water and juice in front of us.

Leon sits nearer than necessary.

Tavien and I make brief eye contact and he brings his crystal goblet to his lips to hide his smile.

“What would you like to know, Your Majesty?” Leon asks, making no move to drink anything in front of him.

She shakes her head and waves her hand. “None of that. Nyvenah is fine. Della has explained your circumstances, but I would like to hear your side of the story, the events from your perspective, and perhaps a part of your own personal history, so I have a clear understanding of your role in all of this.”

“I was the personal healer to King Jedrick up until last night, when he died.”

Nyvenah nods. “And how did you become his healer?”

“I was an apprentice first and was with him for the past two years, keeping him healthy.”

“What made you decide to stay with Izadella? She tells me thatyou did not wish to part with her and were quite insistent on accompanying her here. Why was that? The king was dead. You were free.”

He pulls out the same coin he showed me in the forest.

Everyone in the room seems uncomfortable with even that small amount of iron, and he puts it away.

“I am loyal to whoever wears the crown. That loyalty ends upon my death, not the death of the wearer. Izadella is now queen of Adreania. Wherever she is, there you will find me.”

She stands and walks gracefully over to the portrait of Realm Keeper Zarella, her great-grandmother, whom she looks astonishingly similar to.

“Are you aware of the true story of this crown? Not the lies I’m sure have been passed down for generations.” When he shakes his head, she goes on. “The fae wanted nothing to do with the mortals. They lived their existence outside the mortal realm, and that was the way it was always meant to be. Thousands of years ago, a young king named Drystan appeared in the Merawood Forest. Apparently he had seen Inara in the woods while he sought a cure for a sickness that had spread through Adreania, and he claimed he loved her. Inara was naïve, and had never met a mortal. Deception was not something she had ever known. She believed him when he told her he wanted her for his queen. She wanted to be with him, but the fae are incompatible with mortals. We need magic to survive, which is the very same thing that will drive you to madness if you remain here.”

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