Page 31 of Once Upon a Crown
“You want to take the fight to Aries?” I made a jab to Alastor’s torso, and he stepped to the side, knocking my sword out of the way.
I’d known for a while that taking back Mistwood would be the first step in fighting Aries, but just the thought of stepping into that place, knowing that Thatcher was probably sittingon my throne with my family’s blood on his hands, made my stomach drop and my blood run cold.
“It’s risky.” Then again, war always was. But I wasn’t about to discredit Alastor’s idea just yet. I was already a bit out of breath. The fact that we weren’t in the sweltering heat of summer helped at least. Alastor feigned making a low swing before suddenly aiming his sword towards my chest, but I’d seen him make this move a thousand times before and I knew where to put my sword.
“It would be very risky, yes,” Alastor agreed, letting out a huff as I nearly caught the material of his sleeve. “But Aries wouldn’t expect it and it might be enough to take him off guard. At least until reinforcements arrive.”
I let out a breath, lowering my sword for a moment. “I don’t even know what is actually going on in my kingdom. Which aristocrats have cowardly taken Thatcher’s side and who has remained loyal.” There was no doubt that Norrandale would require Everness’s army, but despite the fact that Elara was queen, it was not that simple. Evernean law required all of the royal council to be in agreement and sign off on the army. Especially since, technically, Everness was not yet at war with Argon. Not to mention our alliance was only truly solidified once Elara and I got married. But anyone who believed Everness not to be Aries’ next target was an absolute fool.
“Maybe we need to think beyond Everness’s army,” Alastor suggested. “Though I’m sure many in the kingdom are still loyal to you, Your Majesty, we all know that we need bigger numbers if we are to take on Aries.”
I held up my sword, indicating I was ready to have another go. “What are you proposing?”
“With Your Majesties’ permission, I could see about finding those reinforcements.” I had no idea what Alastor had in mind or where he would even begin to look. This sort of thing couldtake months, months we did not have. But I also knew that, like Jack, Alastor was willing to give his life for the kingdom and that he would do anything to protect it. I trusted that if anyone could do this job, it was him.
This time, Alastor kept his swings quick and controlled, and I needed to focus in order to avoid the tip of his sword.
“You should take a few men with you at least. And you would need a letter with my seal on it,” I added. Just in case anyone questioned the legitimacy of his intentions.
“It could be very dangerous, you know.” His sword came from above and I had to lift mine above my head to defend myself. Metal clashed against metal and the muscles in my arms strained, but I continued to push against him.
Alastor had something close to a grin on his face. “I was sort of counting on it.”
With all the strength I could muster, I forced his sword away from my head, and managed to knock it out of his hands. I watched in satisfaction as the weapon fell to the ground.
Chapter 14
Elara
The sunlight slowly started to fade out of the library as dusk approached. It wouldn’t be long before I had to light a candle or two in order to find my way around.
The Palace of Levernia hosted a large library, something that didn’t mean much to me considering my distaste for reading. Dark shelves not only lined the walls but stood prominently in one row after the other. On the left side of the library, from the entrance, there was a desk and a fireplace, which created a nice working area. There were also a few reading chairs within comfortable distance of the fireplace, making it the perfect reading spot. But other than that, and a few paintings, it was books as far as the eye could see.
It was hard to believe I’d been here all afternoon. But ever since Cai and I came across the king’s letters that mentioned the diary, I couldn’t help the feeling that this would be the best place to keep something like that safe. That was to say, if the diary still existed and hadn’t been lost to time.
The royal library had thousands of books on hundreds of shelves and going through all of it alone would take months. I couldn’t spend too much of my time on this task. Not when we had to ready all our forces to defend Everness in the event that Aries decided to attack. There were meetings to attend and documents to go through and sign. Which was why I had both Cai and Rhen help me by going through some parts of the library.
I had the entire afternoon to myself, so I opted to tackle the sections that Cai and Rhen had yet to look through. Cai had originally come across the writing about the diary in here, but there was nothing like a journal in any of those shelves. Iflipped through the books, looking behind them at the wood of the shelves, until I started to squint because of the lack of light in the room. But I wasn’t ready to give up on my search. I was surprisingly far from tired and had more than half of the library left to go.
A small light emerged from the door behind me, and I turned to see Rhen step into the room with a candle in his hand.
“I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.”
I quickly stood up from where I’d been kneeling next to a shelf and dusted off my skirts.
“Is something wrong? Does someone require my presence?”
“No, thankfully. Anesta mentioned something about you being in here and I thought I’d come and check on your progress. I certainly haven’t had much luck today in that area.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any good news either.”
Rhen stared at me for a moment with a curious expression.
“What?” I asked, looking down at my blue dress and back up at him.
“Just reminiscing, I suppose.” He shrugged.
“About anything in particular?” I turned back to the shelf I had been looking through.
