Page 9 of Royal Lies

It totally wasn't because I was a bit scared of the man just now.

Just a little.

Because the guy looked like he might pounce on me with that look in his eyes. Plus that dagger was way too close to him for comfort. Eli rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember the stories your parents used to tell you?" Eli asked, but I just shrugged.

I mean what? Shaking my head I shrugged " I have no clue what you mean, dude."

Eli sighed, seemingly having composed himself, if only just a little. Because let's face it he's always mad, both crazy and angry-wise.

“The Five Courts used to be Faedom.”

"But, don't we only have four?" I might not remember much about my past but I sure as hell knew my present and currently there are only four courts.

It didn't make any sense if the five hidden kingdoms were our realm why do we have four now?

"Back then there were five, the Griffins, Wolves, Phoenix , Serpents, and Dragons. Until one day the Royal family of each kingdom just disappeared." Eli explained, unsure of that part himself.

"That's when our current rulers, the Winter King, Summer Queen, Spring Maiden, and Fall Duke came to rule. But no one quite knows how the current rulers came to power. It was believed that they were the royal family's right-hand persons, and well, actually no I'm not quite sure. There are rumors about them being close to the royals but that's all there was. No one's quite sure what position they actually had. Anyway, each kingdom had one of these special books called Gems. These Gems possessed great power that people believed if we used them we could bring back the fifth royal family, which had disappeared, the Serpent. And here we have a possible map to find the Gems." Eli continued, the madness creeping back into his eyes as his thirst for power gleaned through the rising morning.

I do recall hearing the stories about the five courts and how one came to fall. But not of these books or gems? Or exactly how the fifth kingdom fell.

"But Eli, what about the fifth? What happened to the fifth kingdom? How did it fall?" Eli halted in his maddening smile, I swear he looked like one of those creepy clowns right about now. Was this map really that important? Pausing Eli seemed just as stumped as I was, “I-I'm not quite sure, it was assumed that the current rulers just split the land." I shook my head, that just made no sense. I mean if the royal family's so-called right-hand person took over then shouldn't the fifth kingdom also have their right-hand man or woman take over? Eli must have been thinking the same thing as he voiced both our questions aloud,''But the fifth kingdom should also have had their own ruler now too, shouldn't they?"

Unless perhaps they were overrun by the current rulers?

I frowned, pressing my lips together into a thin line at that question. Something didn't feel right. No, not at all.

"No, some things are definitely not right," I spoke, a slimy feeling oozing in my gut as I looked over at Eli as a sudden memory stabbed into my brain causing me to cry out.

A woman's hair as bright as the sun and eyes so golden as if they could outshine even the brightest star peered at me. Horror and pain covered her face as she spat out blood covering the smirking women above her, the image blurred. "You won’t get away with this." Someone spat, venom gushing from their words before the memory went dark leaving me panting for breath. "What the bloody hell?! Everetta! Are you alright?!" Eli looped around my waist holding me up. Man, did he just curse? I haven't heard a single curse word leave his posh lips since I met him. More than that why the fuck does my head feel like a thousand knives just found their resting stop at the top of my skull.

I shrugged, “I-I don't know. Some-some images just popped in my mind, I-I don't-"

Something wasn’t right with that folktale Eli just told me.

"Eli, something tells me the throne is gonna be fucking hard to take back,"

Groaning I bit down on my lower lip trying to unsheath the knives from their resting place. Rubbing against my temples I felt the shadows underneath my skin creep in. Ya, something was definitely not right.

"What are you talking about?" Eli frowned a crease marring his perfect features as he used his ice magic to help calm my mind. He's been doing that a lot. Using his cold touch to soothe my mind whenever these images pop into my mind. I hadwondered if they were my memories but Eli's always just passed them off as my imagination.

"I don't know but I don't think their crowns were simply just handed over." Shadows, I think I even got confused by what I just said. But that made no sense. Didn't Eli just say they were given their thrones by the past rulers? Or he might as well have. He made it seem like the past monarchs just up and left.

"Perhaps you're right, I had heard rumors of some dreadful things occurring in the other courts, all except Winter," Eli muttered as we looked beyond the forest to the rising peaks of the creeping heat that was the Summer Queen's castle. If what I saw was supposed to be the Summer Queen dying, something told me the current Summer Queen wasn't all too friendly. Like she wasn't going to simply roll out the red carpet for us to get back our courts.

"Eli, do wehaveto save that girl?" We both stared out into the darkening dead trees and black grass looming beyond.

Chapter 3

Eli

Peering down at the girl in my lap, caked in dirt and grime, I offered a weary smile for what I had to do. No, not for what I had to do. This is something I must do. Someday, she'll forgive me. For now, I'm just happy to be back in her company.

After she saw that vision and passed out, I had to sit her down and make her rest a little so I couldhelpher relax more. So I could make sure that she remains in control. That’s right this was all for her, always for her.

Staring out into the orange haze I noted the small tinges of life slowly yawning awake. The light peaking through the sky as the sun rises. It still gave me goosebumps. It reminded me too much of those times. The days when Everetta had been slowly withering away. The months and years that I couldn't do anything but bear the brunt of her grief as I allowed my own to swallow me whole. It was nice finally seeing the clash of blue, greens, and oranges once more.

Still....

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