Page 74 of Three Scorched Kingdoms

His words are firm but gentle, a reminder that our fight isn’t finished. I nod, pushing the grief down as I focus on what needs to be done.

“Let’s get your crown back,” I say, my voice steady despite the sorrow still lingering in my heart.

It takesus a few hours of flying to make the trip home. Aries carries me and Blossom while Leo carries Mag and Bingo. Several others accompany us—all winged shifters and some of our best warriors. I tell myself that last part doesn’t matter. That we aren’t flying to yet another battle. But I can’t shake the feeling that’s exactly what this will be.

When we land, we drop Blossom, Mag, and the others at the barracks and then make our way to the castle. The corridors inside are oppressively quiet as Aries, Leo, and I make our way toward the suite where Queen Dorthea is being held. We agreed to try diplomacy first, but now that I’m here, I’m not sure that’s a strategy I’m capable of carrying out.

The council here in Astronia is beginning to remind me of the one I dealt with back at the Athenaeum. Their betrayal of their king and queen has painted a bull’s eye on their heads as far as I’m concerned.

And my magic won’t miss once I fire the shot.

Now, Aries walks beside me, his jaw set, eyes forward, while Leo leads the way through the winding halls to the room where our scouts confirmed Dorthea is being held. Mag and Blossom are at the barracks with the soldiers, waiting to hear what orders the council will give the army now that it’s home.

The three of us are silent, but the tension is palpable, a storm brewing beneath the surface. I’m barely keeping my emotions in check—the grief over the library’s destruction simmering dangerously close to the surface. I need to focus, but it’s hard. So hard.

As we turn a corner, we come face to face with Esma and Porthew. Esma’s eyes light up with a predatory gleam as she spots Aries while Porthew’s expression is cold, calculating. A few guards I don’t recognize trail behind them, their stances rigid and unfriendly.

“Well, well,” Esma says, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “If it isn’t our wayward prince and his entourage. I was wondering when you’d show yourselves.”

“You mean you wondered when we would return from the war we fought to save this kingdom while you sat on your asses?” I snap.

Porthew stutters like he can’t believe I just said that.

Out of the corner of my eye, I’m pretty sure I see Leo smirking.

Esma’s eyes narrow. “Watch how you speak to your country’s leadership.”

She’s not my leader, and those words are on the tip of my tongue before I realize that, whether I want it or not, Astronia is my country now. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go.

The realization renders me silent. Esma smirks like she thinks she’s won.

“Let us pass,” Aries says, exhaustion lining every word. “We need to clean up. Sleep in a bed. Then we can discuss this.”

“I’m afraid we cannot allow that,” Porthew says, his tone flat and dismissive. “The council has decided that your residency in the castle is no longer appropriate. You will all need to find accommodations elsewhere, effective immediately.”

Aries blinks.

I watch as the words hit him and Leo like a blow. Before either of them can respond, I step forward, anger surging through me, fueled by the grief I’ve been struggling to contain.

“You don’t get to decide that,” I snap. “Your bullshit manipulations might have gotten you this far, but this isn’t your kingdom to rule.”

Esma’s gaze shifts to me, her eyes narrowing as if I’m nothing more than a mere nuisance. “Ah, the little mage,” she sneers, taking a step closer to Aries.

I zero in on how close she’s standing to him and struggle to breathe through the rage. She’s baiting me. I know it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working. “I’m surprised you haven’t already run back to wherever it is you came from. You must realize there’s no place for you here. Not in Astronia, and certainly not beside Aries. He has nothing to offer you, especially now. I, on the other hand, might have something to offer him?—”

I close the distance between us, shoving so close that our bodies touch as I say, “If you touch him, I will kill you right here.”

Something about my expression must convey that I mean it because she squeaks in response and motions to the guards, who step forward.

Aries. His glare blazes with a heat I feel in my own belly. But instead of lashing out, he holds himself in check.

“We will speak tomorrow,” Aries says in a clipped tone. “Once we’ve all rested.”

“Yes,” Esma says, getting ahold of herself smoothly. She looks at Aries then Leo and says, “I would enjoy speaking with you both in the morning. There may yet be a compromise for one of you.”

The insinuation is clear, and it takes everything in me not to strike out with my magic. All along, Esma has angled for power, and now she thinks she’s finally in a position to take what she wants. The thought makes my blood boil.

“You think you can just replace his mother on the throne?” I shoot back, my voice rising. “You think you can steal what’s rightfully theirs and the people here will just let you do it? Well, I won’t let you. And if you try?—”

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