Keepers of the Crown Read online

  Cam turned to survey the figure who, even though he had been locked up for weeks, remained tanned in complexion and bemused in expression. She was reminded of his dark eyes, steadily moving hands, and how his clothing always seemed to fit him quite well. Too well around his upper arms maybe. Cam tore her gaze away.

  “Riah is with us,” her mind muttered in the same tone Caleb had just used aloud. Her father had told her that Riah’s release was decided by the Royals. He would join the Seekers in order to redeem himself and would advocate for the Spirit Followers to Gnosi upon their return. Assuming all went well…

  Cam wasn’t sure.

  “How wonderful of the ex-prince to join us,” was Fiera’s dry remark, noticing Cam’s examination.

  Caleb flashedtoo many teeth whenhesmilednext. “More people, though! That’s always such a delight.” Fiera and Cam both frowned. Caleb tossed Fiera a bow and quiver of arrows. “And since I’ll be joining you on this little journey, you won’t have much use for weapons.” He winked. “For hunting and for protection, I am here!”

  Cam winced at his very loud voice but didn’t turn to see if the others were alarmed as well. Fiera only cocked her left brow, a challenge sparkling in her eyes. Although Cam shook her head, she had to fight the upward tug of her lips. Together, the young people fastened knives to their belts, quivers to their backs, and cloaks about their shoulders. Bags of supplies lay next to the door in a heap. They had everything they needed: clothing, food, and weapons. They had everything…except for magic.

  Cam had never had the opportunity to participate in the magic use for longer than what was required in her training. Neither had Fiera and now, no one could, not until they solved the mystery and relocated their stolen magic. It was possible it had been destroyed, but if the thieves were clever enough to steal it, then they were clever enough to make use of its power.

  Cold metal pressed into Cam’s palm, and her eyes darted up quickly, meeting Riah’s. A lock of dark hair fell over his tan forehead. She fought the urge to push it aside. Better not to touch him. Riah did not bear similar features to his late father. Perhaps he looked like his mother, whom Cam knew nothing about. Riah’s expression as of now was not cold and calculating as she had last seen it. He appeared the way she had seen him when they were becoming friends. It had been half a year since then.

  Cam turned away, clenching the knife, before finally pushing it into the scabbard at her waist. Riah looked after her, his countenance contorted. She had bitterly rejected him, just as he had done the night the Spirit Followers had stormed Apollyon’s castle. The decay she had felt in her chest at that time was in believing he had won, but now he was under punishment. He dwelled in the Royalty Realm but did not live a luxurious lifestyle. He served the rulers, a group consisting of Spirit Followers. He was permitted to join the Seekers under the condition that their leader would keep him under close scrutiny.

  Tyron, the Seeker’s leader, wore his beliefs in his stride, in his stony yet kind face. The belief that their nation would become helpless in war and erupt into chaos without resolving Apollyon’sthreat duringtheprevious winter. Tyron,who was the essence of human steel, with a face of bronze framed in onyx hair braided down his back, awaited the six young people outside. “He decided to become our leader almost immediately after hearing of the objective itself. He handed over his position as soon as he could and promised to resume leadership in Cinis Lumen upon our return,” Caleb murmured to Cam and Fiera.

  “If we do return,” Cam thought. “That’s what Peter would say.” That was the reality stirring within Cam that she refused to admit to anyone but herself and to her father. To distract herself from the thoughts of Peter, she returned her focus to the task at hand.

  While stuffing extra clothing into a bag, Cam observed the other two Seekers, two young people she had never met. Ahab was a friend of Riah’s. Supposedly. He was short in stature but stocky in frame with small, close-set eyes. It was said that he had proficient skill in hand to hand combat. Jezz, his more dominate companion, was tall and angular, with snow-white skin and charcoal eyes. Her hair dyed a dark crimson, hung straight and thin down her back. She wore both a countenance of alertness and a determined air. These two, Cam knew, came from Imber Fel. But both were clad in black and green instead of the normal blue shades their people routinely wore.

  “Green like poison,” Cam thought.

  Their demeanors caused Cam to hold her stare for far too long, attracting their attention. Ahab flicked his eyes to her at times but would look away just as quickly. Cam caught Jezz’s glance, and the latter’s midnight eyes locked with hers. A smirk spreadacross Jezz’s face, andshestraightenedto cross her arms. Her eyes darted over Cam’s form, drinking in every detail, sizing her up. She smirked again, weaving some thought through her mind.

  “Can’t wait to travel with her,” Fiera muttered to Cam. Jezz seemed to notice and scowled in their direction. Cam grinned a little, imagining all the arguments Fiera and Jezz were sure to have. Cam thrust an extra tunic into Fiera’s arms just as a quiver of arrows was hurled her way. Though she caught it, she did not handle the weaponry with ease. She stumbled back under its sudden weight.

  “You’ll need that. Hope you know how to hunt.” The young woman’s tone was ice. Cam was sure she felt it seeping beneath her skin. It was a voice as lethal as a blade. Jezz took her own arrows and dropped them into her quiver before swinging it over her back. Cam offered the girl a forced smile, but Jezz merely maintained a scowl as she moved to assist Ahab in packing. After several more moments of preparation, the seven departed from the palace.

  They stepped out onto the road in the dim light of morning and met Tyron who was already perched on the back of his horse. “We will ride to the riverfront and board a small ship which will takeus out of Mirabelle’s borders. Oncewe sail across the Silver Sea, which will take only a few days, we will proceed on land,” Cam reviewed in her mind from what Colehad toldher that morning.

  “What kind of land?” Cam had asked.

  “Swamps, marshes, forests, not anything extraordinary really,” Caleb listed. Apparently, he had actually looked at the maps.

  “Something I should have done,” Cam thought as she swung up onto the back of a dappled grey horse and tied her bags to the saddle. They set out down the side of the Royalty Realm and onto the main road. Presently, they reached a small fishing village at the base of the real. Their small ship was docked at the end of the row of small buildings.

  Cam saw the hunched figure already aboard the ship who was supposed to direct them down the river to the Silver Sea. The man, as Cam knew, was a citizen of Imber Fel, the realm in Mirabelle most proficient in sailing. “They don't venture much into the sea. Only to fish, really,” Cam remembered, “They believe the sea to belong to the merfolk. They say that it is the domain of those creatures and not the humans.”

  The Seekers had left their horses in the village, being promised new ones before leaving Mirabelle. Cam was the last to be hauled on board. She looked up, seeing a tan hand extended towards her. Flicking her eyes up, she met Riah’s gaze. Reluctantly, she took his hand, and with his strong pull, he hauled her over the edge. She landed on both feet upon the wooden floors of the ship. She released her hold on his arm immediately and turned her gaze to sweep the ship. “I’ve never sailedbefore.” She rubbed her hands on her arms. “There is afar superior sense of security when traveling by foot on land than over water.”

  Cam watched as their white-bearded navigator pulled anchor and grasped the ship's helm to direct them from the harbor down the river. The rest of their group was nowhere to be seen. They were probably exploring the quarters below deck.

  Taking her own path, Cam finally wandered down a ladder into a dim corridor where she could see Fiera tossing baggage around a stateroom, just beyond a half-closed door.

  Riah was down the passage, opening the door to his own cabin. Cam could not tear her gaze from him as the same question she had been asking all morning re
turned to her mind. “What are you doing here?”

  Four

  Camwas awakened from a fitful sleep by Fiera. “Food?” was all

  her sister asked. She nodded her head towards the door. “The sun is down.” Cam groaned, realizing that she would be up most of the night due to her elongated sleep that afternoon. She pulled a long tunic over her head and followed Fiera down the dimly lit corridor. She braced a hand against the wall. Everything was swaying. More than it should have been.

  Clustered about a small table in a low-ceilinged cabin sat everyone except for Tyron, who Cam supposed had already eaten. She slipped into the hard chair next to Caleb and found she was also seated beside Riah. Jezz and Riah spoke heartily to one another as they passed the food around the table. Ahab remained silent, as Cam assumed was normal for him since she hadn’t heard him speak once yet. Throughout Riah’s and Jezz’s discussion on whatever it was they were speaking about, Caleb and Fiera seemed to be having a silent conversation themselves. Their gazes were too lively to not be holding some sort of communication.

  Cam observed Riah and Jezz silently. Both were flashing smiles. And Riah...his face was glowing. As if he hadn’t been imprisoned just a day ago. As if his father wasn’t dead. “You’ve changed,” she thought as she glanced at him. “He moves with a regalness no one gains in prison. He...has a purpose. I can see it in those eyes.”

  As Cam picked at the fresh fish on a small, wooden plate, she listened to the conversation which was taking a new turn. Each was explaining their decision to join the Seekers. “Caleb and I needed another adventure,” Fiera said, answering for the both of them.

  “Actually,” Caleb corrected, “Fiera was sick of getting her butt kicked by my skills back home. She needed new terrain to try and prove herself.” Fiera glared sideways at him.

  “Try? Calebwas tooafraidI’dcomebackwithalltheglory and that alone would beat his ass,” she returned dryly. She whipped her head to Jezz. “What about you?”

  “Wecouldn’t standour work anymore,” Jezzexplainedas she nodded towards Ahab, She tossed a bone onto the plate with a clunk. She leaned back, resting her hands behind her head. “They had no right to take us prisoner like that. We only joined one riot.”

  Cam’s eyes widened in realization at who, exactly, these people were. And... “Wait, a riot? No riots have been reported from Imber Fel,” she thought with alarm.

  “You mean you joined a riot and forced me along,” Ahab mumbled. It was the first time he had spoken. His voice was quiet. Almost...too quiet. Jezz shot him a glare but soon forgot him when her attention turned to Riah.

  “What was the riot like?” Riah inquired. His voice was gentle, quiet.

  Jezz shrugged. “Wild. Exhilarating. We burned a few cottages and a couple of the ships. Far more exciting than whatever the rebels in your realm attempted.” She laughed sharply as she cast a pointed look at Cam. The latter only shook her head, remembering Medulla’s own fires. A whole village had gone down in flames within the night. So many innocent people...dead. “What about you, why’d you join?” Jezz smirked. No doubt, she didn’t agree that leaving a life of luxury to roam the wilderness outside of Mirabelle was an ideal situation.

  Cam felt her stomach twist and muscles stiffen. Hesitancy danced in her chest. “I was banished from two realms,” Cam returned, grasping then at the table as the ship suddenly tilted. The room fell silent for a moment until Jezz started to laugh.

  “Guess people don’t like you as much as you thought they would,” she remarked. She had no doubt assumed that the Medulla and Gnosi Realm rebels had caused enough chaos, preventing Cam from entering the realms.

  “That is why I am here,” Cam reminded herself. In order to maintain a life where she would have free access to those she loved, and to aid in the search for answers.

  Nothing more was said of Cam or the riots. Only droning voices Cam drowned out with her own thoughts. Eventually, she left the room, feeling it swaying too much in her own head and stomach.

  Cam was folding her day clothes when Fiera entered their torch

  lit cabin.

  “It’s been tooslowin CinisLumen,”Fieraremarked. Cam

  turned to her sister who was now leaning against the paneled

  wall of their swaying cabin with her hands folded in her lap. Cam

  saw that it wasn’t just her hands in her lap, but a wooden ball

  being rolled between her sister’s palms. The wooden ball they

  had found all those months ago before everything went to hell.

  Back when they were looking for Terra in the woods. “Life in

  general,” Fiera snorted. “Even with Caleb around.”

  “I know what you mean, in a way.”

  Fiera tilted her head. “Do you, though? I mean, you’ve been

  busy since the winter withallyourroyalrampagingandall.”Cam

  tossed her balled up shirt at Fiera. The latter chuckled. “I mean

  it, though. I’ve had hardly anything to do. Everyone back home

  wants to lounge around and drink dark liquids around fires. It’s

  like they’re still celebrating.”

  “Well, they deserve it. After they came and saved all of us.” “Still,” Fiera said lightly. Her gaze fell absently to the wood

  in her hand. Her fingertips tapped on it. The string binding the

  two pieces were frayed as if Fiera had fidgeted with it for a while

  now. “It’s like…there’s this…monster raging beneath my skin to

  tear out and hunt her down.”

  The image that flashed in Cam’s mind was that of a tall

  woman with beautiful brown hair and flashing green eyes.

  “Green like poison, green like poison, green like poison,” her

  mind chanted. “Silva’s not really dead, Fiera,” came her

  whispered reply. The name sliced the air. Tension stretched.

  “She’s somewhere doing something. And that, in and of itself, is

  terrifying.” Her voice was cracked as if some of that poison had

  leaked into it.

  “I dare her to show her face around here again. I’ll slice it

  open with my own nails,” Fiera seethed.

  Cam was grim and aching to change the subject. The

  probability of Silva being alive wasn’t her only concern. “Fiera,

  no oneever said anything about riots in Imber Fel until tonight.” Fiera nodded. “I don’t doubt Heiron kept it hidden.” She

  rolled her eyes. “For the sake of peace or whatever.” Cam grinned despite the sobering effect of this

  statement. “You can promise me that Cinis Lumen has been at

  peace?”

  Fiera nodded. “At least, I hope it is. Many people are

  hiding secrets now. It’s likemoresecrets arebeingkeptnowthan

  there were before.”

  Cam nodded once more and a moment of silence stretched

  between them. It was not the cold silence of Jezz and Ahab. It

  was warm and edging toward sleepy. Cam plopped onto her

  sister’s bed and clasped her arms around her shoulders. She

  perched her chin on Fiera’s shoulders. “Let’s forget all that now.

  Tell me about Caleb. Are you two…?”

  Fiera only glared and made to pull out of Cam’s embrace.

  Cam only laughed and held her tighter. “Get some sleep, little

  sister. Tomorrow I have to show the little fiend that I am the

  superior hunter.” Cam was still laughing when her sister rolled

  over to fall asleep.

  Cam found Tyron leaning over the edge of the ship, gazing out

  over the water. She approached him and fell in beside him. Together, they silently watched the formation of night. The sun glowed as a sliver of fire on the horizon, blocked by smudges of black which showed themselves to be trees in the light.

  “I am glad you decided to join us, Camaria,�
� Tyron said, after noticing her presence. “Please, call me Cam,” she said with a small smile. She chose not to add any reply about deciding to join the Seekers. Already, hesitancy about following through was coursing through her. Perhaps Peter was right. The Shadow Bearers might be a threat far inferior to what else was on the continent. It wasn’t too late to turn back and go home, was it? Cam jerked the thought from her mind, reprimanding herself, and made conversation with Tyron instead.

  “Where exactly is this person we seek?” Cam inquired. “We don’t know exactly. We know she is beyond the

  marshlands and that anyone around there may know of her whereabouts. Legend tells us she has been locked away and cursed for the entirety of her life.”

  “How does anyone even know about her?”

  “Shehas liveda longtimeandhas goneunder many aliases. She has been in some stories, although hardly in any we tell in Mirabelle. I am sure she exists but not sure whether or not she has the answers we seek.” Cam nodded, showing her understanding. She almost asked Tyron to tell more of this person, but he didn’t seem to know much himself. All he said was, “The Queen of Nazeria knows much of her, for her parents were allies of hers. The rumors of her existence came from the queen herself.” Tyron’s accent was thick like that of whom Cam knew belonged to the people who roamed even more south than Cinis Lumen. Though Cam was clad in comfortable clothing for sleeping in, her leader still wore shiny black clothing, set with numerous blades.

  Silence fell between them until Cam summoned enough courage to ask, “My father has told me all he knows of my mother’s connection with the Spirit Followers, but I presume that you know more. Would you tell me how she came to join them?”

  Tyron gazed at her with glazed eyes. His usually steely, alert disposition had faded into the night air. “Your mother was very active when the Spirit Followers first formed. She was born in Mirabelle but had held a wealth of knowledge of the past. She knew much about magic and its use. She knew that it could be used for both good and evil. She was seen as a threat by the rulers we had then. She was murdered for it. Brutally. In front of the entire Gnosi population. The leader of Gnosi at that time trained Apollyon, who planned on doing the same to you. Shortly after the rebellion, Apollyon took his position as Gnosi’s new leader.”