Everlast (The Chronicles of Nerissette) (Entangled Teen) Page 15

  The map hummed in response.

  I started along the path it had shown me, and before I reached the stacks, a faint golden light glowed from one of the shelves. When I reached Royal Biographies I saw that the light was coming from a small white leather book crammed between two larger books.

  I read the title on the first book. Dedasava, Fourth Great Rose—A Critical Evaluation of Her Rule. The book on the other side of the glowing one was Fesir and the Rose. The one that was glowing didn’t have a title on its spine.

  “What are you about, then? Glinda the Great Goblin Slayer?” I picked the book up and started back to the table I’d been sitting at.

  When I got there I set the book down and began to read the familiar, messy scrawl across its pages. I’d seen it before, but I wasn’t sure where. But I knew I’d seen it.

  We came home today from the Palace of Night. I always hate it there. Bathune is such a dreary place. The Land of Hopeless Dreams. I can never sleep when we go to stay there. I can hear them in the night. The monsters in the trees. The lizards they call dragons, slinking along the stones of the palace outside.

  “Well, duh,” I said under my breath. “Bathune is the Land of Nightmares. It’s not supposed to be nice.”

  Bav likes it there, though. She told Mother that when she becomes Rose that’s where she’ll make her capital because the Crystal Palace is too boring. And if we moved the royal family to the Palace of Night then we could have fun watching the Court of the Silver Thorn try to adjust with all the monsters around. I don’t know what I’ll do if she forces us to live there once Mother dies.

  “This Bav sounds like a real winner. Wonder if she’s the new queen of Bathune’s mother? Like mother like daughter.” I turned to the next page.

  There wasn’t much there. The writer, whoever she was, mainly rambled about balls and dresses and the gossip of the palace. Whoever she was she’d constantly complained about some boy named Piotr who was constantly following her around and asking her out while she was busy making eyes at someone named John.

  “Okay,” I said as I flipped past more dense writing about the loveliness that was John. “Let’s get to the important stuff. What can you tell me about how to defeat an army of trolls?”

  I turned a few more pages and felt something thick and smooth against my fingertips. It slid along the page, and I found myself holding a small, glossy piece of paper with a group of women staring out at me.

  My breath caught. The youngest-looking of the women was my mom. I’d suspected it but to actually see her was something else. She looked so young. So alive. So different than the last time I’d seen her in her hospital bed. I flipped the card over and stared at the same scrawl from the diary.

  Me, Mom, and Bav. Sixteenth birthday.

  I dropped the card onto the desk and turned to the front of the book. Mom had always written her name in her books. I’d picked on her for it when I was a kid because she used to tell me not to write in my books or I’d ruin them.

  Preethana.

  The same script I’d seen in all of her old books, except they’d read “Ana Munroe.” My mother had been the Golden Rose, and that meant Bav was Queen Bavasama, my aunt. The Empress of Bathune, the Land of Nightmares.

  I picked up the book again and flipped to the last page with writing on it, halfway through the book. It was dated six months before I was born. Six months. That meant that whoever my father was…he’d been from here. From Nerissette.

  I don’t know what to do. The war is coming, and there is no stopping it. Piotr rules in my place. The court ignores me, and when I try to speak against him…

  There were several lines scratched out.

  I cannot risk staying. I must hope that the prophecies are true, and the relics will work so I can pass through the mirror and that the World of Dreams can survive until I’m strong enough to return. If the trolls find me before I can escape, I’ll be no better than those people that Bavasama has sent them to steal. If she could arrange for my capture she’d light the fires for her pet giants to cook me on herself. So much for sisterly love.

  “Oh, Mom.” I closed the book and stared at it.

  “Your Majesty?” Esmeralda said.

  I turned toward her, rage boiling up in the pit of my stomach. “You knew. You’ve always known. I suspected, but you knew and you didn’t tell me.”

  “Yes.” The cat didn’t take her eyes from mine. “I knew. I’m the one who convinced her to go through the mirror.”

  “Why?”

  “To save you. Now come with me. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

  “No. Whatever it is doesn’t change anything. You exiled my mother from her home, just like you stole me from mine.”

  “I want you to see her portrait. The one I tried to distract you from that first day. The one I’ve protected all these years.”

  “I don’t want to see it.”

  “Your Majesty—”

  “My mother was the Golden Rose when the harvesting began, wasn’t she? She was in charge when you started selling our people to be eaten. She left them to die.”

  “What do you know about the harvesting?”

  “Never mind what I know about it,” I said through gritted teeth. “Tell me the truth.”

  “Your mother had just been crowned when the trolls came. Her mother, your grandmother, had died the month before. When she died, she split the kingdom.”

  “Why?”

  “She had two daughters. So she gave your mother, her heir, the Rose Crown and the throne of Nerissette. She gave her other daughter, your aunt Bavasama, the tiny province of Bathune.”

  “Well, good for her. Now how did the trolls and the giants get involved?”

  “The trolls came when the old queen died. They brought the giants with them and demanded men and children. If we didn’t give in they’d have killed us and taken what they wanted anyway.”

  “So you just handed over your children? No, not your children. Other people’s children. Poor children.”

  “Your mother didn’t want a war. Now please, come with me. Let me show you her portrait, and her mother’s, and all of the other Golden Roses’. I’ll tell you stories about them, wonderful stories.”

  “I don’t want to hear fairy tales. My entire life has been nothing but a fairy tale. All of it. Lies to keep me stupid, to keep me from paying attention and finding out the truth. I’m being crowned queen in a matter of days, and everything I know about the country I’m meant to rule is lies. Everything.” I stalked past her, and when I reached the hallway, I broke into a run for the back garden. I needed to be somewhere, anywhere, that wasn’t here.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I came down the stairs carefully the next night, trying my best not to trip over my heavy skirts as we made our way toward the ballroom where the first of the balls to start my coronation was about to begin.

  A small party, they’d called it. A welcome home party/ball thing, for everyone to wish me well before the coronation ceremonies began. You’d think it would have been fifty people at most for that kind of gathering. But no, according to Timbago, they’d only invited the five hundred most important people in Nerissette. Obviously someone had a different idea than I did about what a small party was.

  “Are you ready, Your Majesty?” the Fate Maker asked.

  “I’ll have to be, won’t I?” I stepped down into the foyer and stared up at him. “There’s no going back now.”

  “No. There’s not.”

  “Then let’s get this over with. Or is there something else I need to know before I go in?” I asked. “Something besides the absolute nothing you’ve taught me since I arrived?”

  “Esmeralda told me that you’ve spent the past several days in the library, reading all about Nerissette. She even said that you could now name all the regions.”

  “I could do that when I was a child,” I said. “What I need to know is how to be a queen, remember?”

  “Like I told you that firs
t morning,” the Fate Maker said. “All you need to know is that the only things that should come out of your mouth are things I tell you to say.”

  “And what about my powers?” I asked. “When will I learn to use them?”

  “What powers?”

  “My powers. Everyone has powers. Winston can turn into a dragon, and Mercedes is a dryad. What about my magic? You promised to teach me how to use it, and we haven’t even started.”

  “I only said that to make Esmeralda happy.” The Fate Maker narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t need powers.”

  “Why not?”

  “Does Rhys have powers? Is he magical? No. Fate blessed him with a strong arm to hold a sword. And Prince Jesse? Does he have a power? No. He’s nothing more than a pretty head to put a crown on.”

  “I’m not Rhys or Jesse.”

  “No, you’re a doll that Fate and I have sat upon the throne. There’s no reason to teach you magic. You’re just a child. Besides, why would you even need to use the relics?”

  “The relics?”

  “Never mind. All you need to know is that your fate is to sit on a throne and do what people smarter than you say. As long as you never forget that, there’s nothing else you ever need to learn. Now, come along.”

  He wrapped my arm around his biceps and marched me toward the ballroom. “And remember, Your Majesty, step one foot out of line and the maid becomes a practice dummy. I might change your crown prince along with her, so the army’s got a matching set.”

  “Where is Jesse?” I asked. “You’ve had him bring me to dinner every night since we got here. Why not tonight?”

  “He escorts you because he’s your crown prince. That’s his role.”

  “So why isn’t he doing it tonight?”

  “I thought I would take you myself for a change,” the Fate Maker said. “But if I’d known you and the crown prince had grown so close I would have asked him to meet us.”

  “We’re not.”

  “You’re not what?”

  “Close. He’s just a guy. I don’t want to date him.”

  “Don’t you?” The Fate Maker raised an eyebrow at me. “Would your maid agree with that?”

  I bit my lower lip and thought about the way Jesse had avoided Heidi all week long, not even trying to be subtle about running in the opposite direction of his ex-girlfriend as he chased me around the palace. “Probably not.”

  “Even if he’s not someone you wish to date, he does serve his purpose.”

  “What’s that?”

  “He’s an excellent hostage.”

  “You don’t need a hostage.” I raised my chin as I glared at him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Then let’s say he’s here to ensure your good behavior.”

  I gritted my teeth and didn’t say anything.

  The Fate Maker gave me a bright smile, and my stomach burned at the sight of his self-satisfied glee. He was like every one of those bullies who thought they had gotten one over on someone by knocking their books out of their hands or making fun of the fact that they’d done well in school.

  “Come along,” the Fate Maker said, unconcerned about the rage boiling through me, and turned back to the door. “Chin up, big smile on your face, and let’s both pretend that this is exactly what we want to be doing with our evening.”

  I plastered on a smile and knew it looked more like a grimace when he glanced over at me and his own smile dimmed a bit. “Well, I guess we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.”

  I stayed silent as he led me toward the ballroom and nodded toward Timbago, who was waiting to open the doors and announce my grand entrance. The goblin nodded in return and then caught my eye, giving me a shy smile. I smiled back, more naturally this time, as the goblin waved his fingers at the heavy, carved doors, and they began to slowly creak open.

  “There’s no backing out now,” the Fate Maker said as the doors parted, and I could see a crowd of hundreds all stopped, mid-movement, staring at us.

  “This is something,” I said quietly. “I’ll give you that.”

  Timbago stepped through the doors in front of us and clapped his hands together. “Lords and ladies, graces, peoples of Nerissette.” The goblin’s voice echoed as people hurried to either side of the room, leaving me with a wide aisle between them, a long, empty corridor between me and the throne.

  The room fell silent as everyone turned their attention to me. I lifted my head and tried not to look like I was about to cry. I saw Winston near the throne with a group of large, muscle-bound men, and my heart beat harder as his dark eyes met mine, that fluttery feeling starting in my stomach like it always did when he was around.

  “Her Gloriousness, the Crown Princess Alicia Wilhelmina Munroe, first of her gracious name and future Golden Rose of Nerissette. Kneel, all of ye in attendance, and show honor at her presence.”

  The words hung in silence for a second, and then everyone began to kneel, slowly. Women spread their skirts out across the floor in giant puddles around their bodies and curtsied low. The men littered around the room tucked their swords behind their backs as they put their hands on the floor and knelt forward, their heads touching the white marble they’d been walking across just a moment before.

  Breathless, I spotted my best friend among a group of women. Their heads touched the floor, too, and their hands were held up in front of them, filled with flowers.

  I looked back to Winston and found him kneeling, his head bowed but his back straight, one knee up like a medieval warrior. His hands were crossed in front of him, and he lifted his head slightly to wink at me.

  “Men!” Rhys said, his voice a barking command. “To arms!”

  Several guardsmen in brilliant red coats and black pants came forward from the sides of the room and made a barrier between the people and me. Once they had lined the man-made aisle, each of them pulled out a sword and lifted it high in the air. The sword points touched above my head, making an archway for me to walk under.

  “Come along,” the Fate Maker whispered in my ear. He led me forward, his head held high as we walked along a path of swords toward the ornate silver chair in the center of the dais. Beside it was a smaller, less ornate wooden throne, with a plain black high-backed chair next to that one.

  “What’s with all the chairs?” I asked.

  “You can’t sit on the throne until you actually have the crown on your head,” the Fate Maker said quietly.

  “So where am I suppose to sit, then?”

  “On the Bower of the Dryads until you’ve been crowned, and then it will be passed along to your consort, until such a time as the next crown princess is chosen to take that place.”

  “So I’m taking your spot, is what you’re saying?” I couldn’t help the way my smile grew.

  “Just because the people demand a Rose on the throne,” he said as he led me up the stairs to where Rhys was standing, his sword drawn, “doesn’t mean you have any power or that you ever will. No matter what you and your toy general might think.”

  The Fate Maker stepped away from the group of thrones, his eyes locked on mine, and I swallowed. Whatever he had planned, he seemed sure that there was no way that I could use the army to stop him. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was right. Could we really take on the giants and trolls?

  Rhys stepped forward, his eyes fixed on mine, and I could see my fear reflected in his gaze. If we weren’t very careful—and very lucky—there was a good chance that soon most of the people in this room would die—fighting for either me or the Fate Maker.

  “Your Majesty.” Rhys dropped to one knee in front of me and held his sword up for me to take. “I pledge my loyalty and that of my men to defend you and your throne until the last breath leaves my body.”

  “Thank you.” I clenched my hands in my skirt and tried not to let the Fate Maker see how much they were shaking. I didn’t care how powerful he was, Winston was right. I couldn’t be a queen who let things like the harvesting continue.

&
nbsp; “You will be a truly amazing queen.” Rhys looked up at me again and smiled, all the fear I’d seen a moment before hidden again. “And the evil amongst us will tremble in the face of your judgment, for we will be swift and ruthless in your name.”

  The Fate Maker sucked in a breath beside me, and I felt him stiffen as Rhys stood, still smiling.

  Rhys sheathed his sword and bowed his head. “My future queen.”

  He stepped to the side then, so that I was facing the rest of the ballroom, and I glanced over to see Winston staring at me, his eyes dark. He inclined his head toward me, and I nodded back, stiffly, trying to keep my nerve.

  “Soldiers, nobles, peoples of all the realms and corners of this land,” Timbago began again. “I give you the crown princess. Long may she reign.”

  Everyone stood and the soldiers all dropped their swords back into their sheaths and turned to face us, their hands resting on the hilts, mirroring Rhys’s stance.

  The people roared back so loudly that the windows rattled.

  Once I took my seat and Rhys moved to the side of the dais, the Fate Maker sat beside me in an even more uncomfortable-looking chair. He shifted irritably, smoothing the folds of his coal-black robe around him.

  “Yes. Yes, let them all cheer and dance at the idea of a hundred years under a Golden Rose,” he mumbled. “Nothing will ever really change. No matter who sits on the throne. And everyone here knows it.”

  “Says who? The Time of Waiting will be over soon. Maybe once the new age has come, we’ll all have a brighter future. One where people can choose their own fate.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” he said with a sneer. “You can’t beat Fate.”

  “Really? I wonder how many of these men would choose to fight for me if we asked? How many would go to war against you if they thought it would give them the chance to decide their own future?”

  “Not nearly enough to make a difference.”

  “We may have to see about that.” I turned back to my people and made a show of ignoring him.