Page 100 of Crownless King

“Well, there you go. Glad I made it easier for you to figure it all out, girl. But just so you know, that’s the only decision you can make, anyway. You don’t have a choice in this matter. You’re mated now,” she replied to my questioning stare. “You and the king share a magical bond. From now on, you will live as long as he does, be it centuries or just a few days. If one of you dies, the other will quickly follow. Bonded mates can’t survive each other’s death for long. And if both of you die, where would that leave Aithen?”

I looked back at the open door to the room where my son was sleeping. He was the most important person in my life now, and he needed me.

“I don’t have a choice,” I echoed Sauria’s words. “I’ve no one to blame but myself for that. It’s human love that creates the bond. I doomed myself the very moment I fell in love with a man who doesn’t care about me.”

Sauria looked at me somberly.

“A bond is not a river, Sparrow. It doesn’t flow in one direction. It’s more like a bridge between two souls. You started building it on your side by falling in love with the man. But he has to love you back for the bridge to be complete.”

“Voron doesn’t love me.” I exhaled a painful laugh. “He gave me up, remember?”

“That doesn’t mean he hasn't regretted it every day since.”

“What do you need for happiness?”I’d asked him the last time we spoke, out here on the porch.

“Nothing from this world.”He’d said.

I was the one who made him happy, and he knew it. But he didn’t know I was still here, inthis world.

“That doesn’t change anything,” I muttered defiantly. “He broke my trust. He broke my heart. He—”

Sauria rose from her seat with a pat on my shoulder.

“All I’m saying, girl, is don’t be surprised by what you may find in Elaros. Make sure you’re ready.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

SPARROW

The old wagon bounced and creaked, rolling over the cobblestones of the main road in the City of Elaros. I hadn’t made it far past the gate, however, before the royal guards requested I leave the wagon and head to the palace on foot—or on hoof as was my case, since I was wearing the glamor of thetaureanwoman once again.

This time, however, Sauria layered the spells, making me look like a hag oftaureanorigin. The illusion was uncanny. I was wearing one of her gray cloaks over my simple dress of a farmer’s wife. Transparent lines of aging crawled up my hands between the wrinkles. The ones on my hooves were so wide, I could see the paving stones through them as I walked.

Traveling as a hag had immense advantages. The guards spoke to me with respect. People stepped out of my way and nodded politely. No one questioned my being here. I just hoped no one would ask me for a spell or a potion.

I left the wagon behind a tavern and paid two bags of potatoes to the owner of the establishment to look after the horses.

Neither I nor Sauria had any actual money for this journey. But everything went as a payment in Sky Kingdom. Farm produce seemed to be especially in demand this year, as judging by the king’s current moods, there wouldn’t be much sun next spring, either, which meant another poor harvest for most crops.

Just like Bavius, some people on the streets of Elaros complained about that, blaming the king. Others, however, were quick to point out all the current projects happening both in the city and out in the country. Roads were paved. New bridges had been built. And many other improvements had been done to benefit all people of the kingdom at the crown’s expense.

Twoarienmen argued passionately in front of a jewelry store on the main street. One of them told the other about a fence erected around the pasture lands in his hometown. The new fence apparently protected the livestock from wolf attacks in that area, and the king fully paid for it.

“Say what you want about King Voron,” the man spoke loudly enough for everyone on the street to hear. “But we saw no sun with the old king, either. The crops have been shit for decades. The folks back home live on white cranberries and wild mushrooms—the only things that still grow well in this fucking weather. But King Tiane built no fences for anyone. All he did was fight and party.”

I shouldn’t care whatsoever, but it warmed my heart to hear this man defending Voron so fervently. Many appeared to agree with him, too, nodding their heads and murmuring approvingly.

“King Voron has no wings,” asnakanawoman said. “He knows what we need down here because he walks on the same streets we use and travels the same roads we do.”

“Sure, it’d be nice to have some variety of the crop with better weather,” ataureanman added. “But my tomatoes did well enough for the past few years. It sure was handy to use the new bridge built by the king to get them to the market faster this fall.”

After leaving behind the small crowd gathered by the jewelry store, I stopped by a food cart and traded a jar of snowberry jam for a couple of fried pies stuffed with rabbit meat and onions for lunch, then headed to the palace.

Not much had changed in Elaros in the past year and a half. Fae generally disliked big changes. But the city had freshened up for the festival. Multi-colored lengths of semi-transparent silk hung over the streets and decorated the buildings. They billowed in the wind like sails and floated like wisps of rainbows, creating a festive mood despite the gloomy weather.

My disguise as a hag was wearing off. Sauria planned for it to last only until I made it to the palace.

Shortly after I entered through the doors of the palace, I looked like an ordinarytaureanwoman again, with hooves, horns, and a tail, but no wrinkles or transparent flesh. I needed Alcon to recognize me as Bavius’s wife, whom he’d seen at the farm. He’d be more inclined to hear me out that way, I believed, than if I showed up disguised as a complete stranger.

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