The Twelve Kingdoms (43 page)

“Who are you to pass judgment on me?” He strode toward me and raised a fist to backhand me. Before I thought, before I knew it—I blocked the blow with the streaming strength of the combined blood within me, sidestepping so that he faltered under his own momentum. The astonishment in his face spoke volumes, as if he barely recognized me. With a sense of clean relief, I knew that it came from not knowing me at all.

I'd never been anyone to him. No one real. Just the son I wasn't.

“Who am I to judge you? I'm the person you raised to treasure what Ordnung and the High Throne stood for above all else. I'm the daughter you taught to value peace and strength used to protect the weak. I'm the heir you created with Salena, Queen of the Tala. By her hand and by your own standards, I judge you and find you wanting. You are not worthy of the High Throne.

“You once said to me you thought you'd done your best by me. This is my best.”

“I'll kill you,” he growled. “As I should have killed you in your cradle. As I killed your witch-whore of a mother.”

The admission sliced my heart. A clean blow opening an old wound. I'd known. All along. So many things I'd tried not to know. No more. Only Danu's bright truth.

“She tried to kill me and failed,” Uorsin raged. “You'll fail also and die like she did.” He lunged at me, breaking the shock, and I barely parried. His reach, his strength—even crazed—far exceeded mine. I needed distance and worked to create some for myself.

For several minutes, we exchanged strikes and I chanted the mantra to myself. The jagged metal of my pommel dug into my wrist, my blood slickening my grip. But his rage worked against him, and my conviction worked for me. It seemed Danu slowed time and guided my blade, allowing me time to strategize, to maneuver him, to become aware that the other five had formed a loose circle around us. Andi's magic thickened the air, readying itself. Ami caught my eye and pointed to the doors, walking in that direction and looking back over her shoulder at me.

I wasn't alone in this.

The blood sang in my veins, the Star burning in my belly. To guide me by.

I pressed Uorsin that direction, leading, then pushing, as we circled each other. He landed strikes on me here and there, but I didn't feel them. Only the sense of purpose. “Abdicate your throne, Uorsin. For the good of the realm.”

“Never!” he bellowed. Fear in his eyes, Uorsin backed, struggling to fend me off. I fenced him in, driving him to the grassy courtyard outside the arcade.

Uorsin's breathing flowed ragged and yet he hurled garbled threats still, cursing us, promising retribution. He stumbled, falling to his knees on the grass, the point of my sword at his heart. Andi and Ami stood across from me, opposite points on our triad, Rayfe and Ash behind them, just as I knew Harlan guarded my own back.

“Abdicate,” I repeated. “For the peace of the Twelve.”

The shadows drew long and purple, Glorianna's sun setting on the peaks behind us and Moranu's moon rising over the walls.

Above him and beside me, my sisters waited for the world to be righted.

“Never,” he shouted at me. “I am the King! You'll have to kill me first.”

“Abdicate,” I told him, for the third and final time. “Or I will kill you, for the good of the world.”

“You won't be able to. I'm your King.”

“I have to kill you, because you are the King. And you are the one who failed. Failed your sacred duty. This is your redemption. By Danu's sword.”

“Under Moranu's moon,” Andi intoned.

“Glorianna receives you,” Amelia finished.

With a clean thrust of my blade, I killed my father.

Then stood over him while the earth drank in his blood. In a wave, magic crashed over and through me, taking my consciousness with it.

I
awoke in my own bed, ringed by candles.

Disconcertingly, it wasn't Harlan's grave gaze that greeted me, but Ash's uncanny green one, bright in his scarred face.

“The King is dead,” he told me. Then inclined his head. “Long live the High Queen.” He gave me his twisted half smile. “She's awake!” he called over his shoulder.

Harlan arrived first, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to my palm, where it burned clear through me. Andi and Ami, both looking tired but at peace, followed. Rayfe leaned against the doorway, blue eyes feral as they rested on Andi.

“He's really dead.” I saw my father's face in my mind, the terror and resignation as I'd spoken his sentence.
I have to kill you, because you are the King.
“We have to bring the babies over. Amelia, you can act as regent. Unless you prefer to take the crown. I assume, Andi, that you can't, since you have to stay in Annfwn.”

“Actually, I don't have to stay in Annfwn necessarily—the barrier no longer divides it from the Twelve.”

“Which,” Ash inserted, wiping his hands clean, “lets you off of one hook. But I expect you to repay your debt by releasing the Tala prisoners from all the prisons.”

“There would be chaos, pillaging,” I protested, struggling up, Harlan assisting.

“We'll work it out,” Rayfe replied. “We'll set up escorts for the worst and deal with them in Annfwn.” He grimaced. “We can make a treaty over it, if you prefer, High Queen Ursula.”

“I can't be queen. I have to be executed. No one is above the law.”

“Perhaps not, but who will pass that judgment?” Amelia asked. “The land accepted the sacrifice and you're the highest mortal power we have over the Thirteen Kingdoms. Glorianna save us all.”

“Thirteen?”

“Like it or not”—Rayfe's hard gaze flicked to Andi, who returned it calmly—“the ritual you three performed connected Annfwn to the Twelve. The Heart now extends over the entire empire.
Your
empire, it appears, though I think it could be argued that Annfwn annexed the Twelve, rather than the other way around.”

“They were never meant to be divided.” Ami gave him a radiant smile. “The goddesses—and Salena—brought this about. You can't fight the will of the Three.”

“Besides”—Andi went to him and slid her arms around his waist, leaning in—“the Heart is anchored in the Star, which seems to be inside our High Queen. You would hate being High King, anyway. Ursula lives for this stuff. Moranu knows she'll be sorting out logistics for years to come while we run on the beach.” She tossed me a smug smile.

“Apparently I'm Queen of Avonlidgh.” Ami frowned. “Word is Erich died on the battlefield. Duranor's forces attacked and defeated them within hours. Stefan pledges fealty to the high crown and already sent a list of possible rewards for his support. Ash and I will have to travel to Windroven to settle things after Dafne brings the babies over. Then we can come back here and help as need be.”

“We'll help, too.” Andi leaned her head against Rayfe's shoulder, smiling as he wound his fingers in her hair. “It will take me some time to learn how the magic will disperse and how I should direct it. I'll need to know where to send it first.”

“Aerron,” I answered. “Can you shift the weather and restore the rainfall? If we could bring it gradually into the southern regions first, maybe over the course of a few months, to give the ground time to soften and saturate, then—”

Andi laughed and held up a hand. “How about we wait until morning.”

“After all, we have a coronation to plan.” Ami clapped her hands. “Which means new dresses for you!”

“Danu take me.” I let my head drop back and it nestled neatly into the fold of Harlan's shoulder.

He stroked my hair back from my forehead. “You did well, my hawk. Tomorrow is soon enough to solve the world's problems.”

I looked up into his solemn face. “I killed my father. The King.”

“You did what you had to do. Tomorrow you will do the same. And every day after that. It's who you are.”

“With you at my back.”

He smiled “Always.
Elskastholrr
.”

Heedless of the others, grateful not to be alone in this, I drew him down for a kiss. “
Elskastholrr
.”

To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

 

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

 

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

 

Copyright © 2015 by Jeffe Kennedy

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

ISBN: 978-0-7582-9447-0

 

eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9448-7
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9448-4
First Kensington Electronic Edition: June 2015