Broken Kingdom (The Winter Court Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  These warriors didn’t follow Father… they followed Kyr.

  I mounted my horse and turned to see Gallia next to me. Her eyes went to the glowing cuffs on my wrists—now fully visible, thanks to my warrior suit—and she frowned. “Why would the king do this to his own sons?”

  I gazed beyond her as my mind returned to Kyr’s room. Father had tossed him against the cathedral ceiling, as though he weighed nothing… as though he was no one. “We were trying to defend our brother.”

  “Do you think the sorcerer will take them off for you?”

  I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think he will defy his king to help us. It doesn’t matter. I’ll find a way. In the meantime, let’s take care of the queen.”

  “The army is ready, my prince.” Gallia answered with a nod.

  My eyes went to her lips. Before she could blink, I reached for her neck and pulled her close. My lips crashed against hers, moving in unison as she responded to me. I tilted my head deepening the kiss and felt the delicious tingle of desire rush through my body as our tongues touched. I smirked, pulling away from her. Gallia blinked, seeming a bit shocked by my gesture, and a bit dazed by my kiss.

  A full grin stretched my lips. “There is nothing like having a sensual buzz running through you right before a battle.” She laughed, incredulous, and blushed as chuckles came from behind us. I turned to see the twinkle of mischief in some of the warriors’ eyes. “Don’t worry ladies, my schedule has recently opened for new appointments. I’ll be taking names after we bring down the queen.”

  A couple of rose haired ladies moved forward with their horses. “Don’t mind if we do.”

  My interest peaked. Twins. I could definitely get behind that. Or in the middle. I winked at them and my gaze returned to Gallia. “Shall we?” without waiting for a response, my heels connected to the sides of my stallion. “Sayosarae, Barley!”

  Gallia and I flew through the gates, the Dark Army at our heels, leaving the castle behind.

  “What have you found, little brother?” My voice boomed through the cathedral like space.

  The glass-vaulted ceilings spanned almost thirty feet high, its stained glass causing subtle rays of multicolored light to filter through, and illuminate the inside in shades of blues, purples and grays. The sight was almost mystical. Rows of rectangular, white oak carved tables with chairs and small lamps on top filled the open room, surrounded by the largest library of knowledge imaginable to any being in this universe. The bookcases almost reached the ceiling in all directions, and thanks to its see through quality they seemed to graze the skies.

  Rows upon rows of books in all shapes and sizes were stored here. If something had occurred after the creation of the world, the Fae had documented it—no matter in which realm it had transpired—and stored it here, in the Royal Archives. I didn’t come often, in fact, it was hard to remember the last time I stood within its walls, yet I had to admit being here was humbling. The sight was both impressive, and intimidating.

  The sound of my leather soles, slapping the veined marble floors disappeared as I stopped before Nyx. His table was filled with over fifty books, opened in different pages and scattered before him, yet his gaze was not on anyone of them. His hands were clutched before his mouth as his eyes looked at something in the distance. Something I doubted was here with us.

  “Are you okay, brother?” I sat before him, forcing his gaze to mine.

  The motion of his head as he nodded was the only response I received. I took a deep breath and began to close the books around him, while I waited for him to return to me. Nyx’s mind was obviously enthralled with whatever he had discovered, it wasn’t the first time I had seen him like this, and I knew better than to interrupt his process. I began to stand the books by size over the desk, like dominoes until I saw him drop his hands to the wooden surface. He exhaled, and fixed his glasses. I could see something weighed heavily on him.

  “How did the battle go?” He asked, in a whisper.

  “The queen is out of our lands and back to her court. Our Wyvern Dragons had given her quite a scare by the time we got there, and it didn’t take much for our army to force her to retreat. I guess she didn’t want to lose any more warriors.” Nyx nodded silently. “What is it, you are worrying me, bother. Did you find something?”

  His eyes finally looked straight at me, there was a grim gleam in them. “Just the obvious.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Nyx sighed, and took a few of the books in his arms. Standing, he walked in silence towards one of the bookcases and began to set them back in place. It took the remaining ones and followed him.

  “There was nothing in this books that I didn’t already know. Every step of the blooming process was accounted for, every detail I had already learned early on. There was nothing new for me within their pages.”

  “I don’t understand.” I slid a book on the shelf and he removed it, placing it on the one above it. When he was done fixing the books I had misplaced, he turned to face me fully.

  “There was nothing I didn’t already know, yet being here, the answer to our question became so obvious, I can’t understand why I didn’t see it before.”

  “So you know how Kyr and Avrielle where able to mate?”

  He nodded. “Like you, I saw the truth in our king’s eyes as he said she is his daughter. But there is only one way it was possible for Avrielle to open up to Kyr.”

  “Well, spit it out, will you?” I grunted.

  Nyx’s gaze became stern as he stared at me. “The king is Avrielle’s father, but not Kyr’s.”

  “What?!” shock didn’t begin to describe how I felt. “Kyr is not our bro—” Nyx’s hand flew to my mouth, stopping my words.

  He looked behind me and around us making sure we were alone. “Lower your voice. I sent the librarian away but someone might hear you.”

  Nyx’s hand fell from my lips, and my gaze slowly roamed the place. “You mean Kyr is not our brother?” I whisper-hissed.

  He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Of course he’s our brother, you doofus. We look just like him. Same eyes and all.” I frowned. “I mean, the king is not our father.”

  I stepped back as though his words had slapped me. My heart began to slam against my chest as I shook my head slowly. “That is impossible. We are princes, we have royal markings and command over people.”

  He shrugged. “That just means we get them from Mother, she is of pure royal blood, or perhaps our real father is also a king. But the Dark king is not him.”

  “What?”

  “It’s the only explanation, brother. Kyr and Avrielle were able to be together because he is not the king’s son. It’s only logical. The only question now is, does the Dark King know we are not his sons? To be honest, I doubt it. But however you want to look at it, one thing is for certain. He is not our father.”

  A mixture of emotions rushed through me at his words. Anger the most predominant one. “How can you even say that? How can you stand there, and tell me that the man that raised us, the one we’ve sought approval from all of our lives is not our father? How, after we’ve spent centuries under his shadow, do the words slip from your mouth so casually, as if he’s been nothing to you? Do you not care?!” My fists trembled at my side while pain traveled through my veins.

  Nyx’s stance changed, a different sentiment coursing through him as he looked at me. “You are wrong, brother. I don’t say it casually, but there is something you somehow fail to remember. The king is not the man who raised us. Kyr is. Our brother was the one to be there for us, to teach you how to do your homework when you didn’t want to listen to the tutor. The one who taught me how to read and write and brought me here, to this marvelous place for the very first time.”

  He stepped closer, placing his hand on my shoulder.

  “He was there for you when you were but a child and your powers finally manifested. He spent hours with you during those first torturous nights, when you felt haunted by the voices in your
head that you couldn’t control. He taught you how to hone it in, listen only to what you wanted, and see only what you wished.” The gleam in his eyes suddenly changed, his emotion shone through. “Kyr was there for me when I first sprouted wings. He taught me to fly even when he had no idea how.”

  My eyes bore into his as the memories danced in my mind. He was right. Kyr had been there for us in every step. During every moment of our lives, important or insignificant, he had always been there. “I remember that,” I whispered, offering him a small smile. “You were terrified.”

  Nyx nodded. “I am calm, because the notion of the king being our father, was nothing more than that to me. A notion. It was a title I understood and respected, but he was never one to me. Although, he was a father to Kyr, the first born.”

  My jaw harshly clenched with the truth in my brother’s words. His gaze became understanding as he regarded me, and his palm suddenly moved, resting on my chest; right where the pain throbbed.

  “That is why it hurts, isn’t it? You have spent all your life trying to win the king’s attention, because he was a father to Kyr but never to you. To us. That is why you’ve spent centuries under his shadow, and why to some extent, your resent our brother, Kyr.” His statement must have started as a question, but it ended as an unforgiving fact.

  I stepped back, breaking the connection between us, as Nyx’s words hit too close for comfort. Under my stupid behavior—because even I knew it was stupid—I had just wanted the king to pay attention, want to be a father to me like he had been to Kyr. Instead, he was satisfied with raising one child, his first-born. The perfect son. Leaving me to the ladies, and tutors and anyone else he sent my way to take care of me. My older brother, however, never had to be told or ordered to teach me anything, and spend time with me. Kyr had me by his side since the moment I learned how to walk, maybe even before. When Nyx was born, two centuries later, the three of us became a team. A highly dysfunctional one—we couldn’t possibly be more different—but we were brothers.

  Kyr was our brother, and that was reason enough for him to be with us, and protect us.

  My throat constricted as I looked at Nyx. “Do you think we’ll ever see him again?” I didn’t have to mention his name; Nyx knew what I was feeling.

  “Yes we will. But you are still missing something very important, brother.”

  I cleared my throat, pushing the emotion out of me, and frowned. “What is it?”

  Nyx fixed his glasses, stepping closer. “When Avrielle and Kyr were together and she opened up to him, royal markings appeared on her forehead. She is his queen; there is no denying that. If Kyr wasn’t destined to be king, she would have never received her crown.” He paused, as though waiting for me to grasp what he wasn’t saying, then sighed when I didn’t. “If Kyr is meant to rule, but he isn’t our king’s son—”

  “Oh, Fuck!” I tensed, realization finally dawned on me. “Then he’s meant to go against the Dark King.”

  Nyx nodded. “Given how powerful our brother is, he would never rule in any of our small lands. If he is destined to be king with Avrielle by his side—who is also powerful—then he’s meant to rule the whole kingdom.”

  “Damn it. We have to find Avrielle and get her out of here.”

  I grabbed his arm, pulling him down the corridor and out of the library. When we reached the next hallway and I was sure we were alone, I let out a heavy breath and rested my arm around Nyx’s shoulders, observing him for a moment.

  I arched an eyebrow. “So, did Kyr teach you how to have sex too?”

  He gagged. “You are such a pig.”

  I quietly laughed, as we took the back stairwell that led to the west wing.

  Chapter 2. Found

  AVRIELLE

  *

  “Can the Dark King be any more predictable?” Estharis asked, her voice filled with sarcasm and ire while I sat by the window, looking down on my lost freedom. “I mean, locking us in the tower is certainly not original.”

  Her words got lost in the background, as I clutched the silk of Kyr’s robe, which still covered my body. It had been almost a week since Kyr was taken from me, and the king had destroyed my world, tearing my heart in the process. After the guard knocked me out, I woke up here. The round room with walls made of black slate, and one small window—which oversaw the White Haunted Mountain—had immediately told me where we were. The eastern tower. Estharis had been beside me. I felt bad she was captured right along with me, but I was grateful to have her here. We had not been allowed to bathe or given anything to dress, only a tray of food was given to us to sustain ourselves, and it had seemed like an afterthought, more than an act of kindness.

  She huffed and continued pacing the room, while my lost gaze settled somewhere beyond the snowflakes that fell from the darkened sky. There was something different about today. It was as though the elements responded to my pain… to our pain. I closed my eyes, and prayed to the Dragon Lord that Kyr was all right. I prayed that wherever Kahina had taken him, he was safe and kept away from here.

  “Everything is going to be all right, my child.”

  Estharis’ gentle words reached me and her hand soothingly rubbed my back, the same way she used to do when I was a child, sick in bed. Yet unlike those days, her warm touch and caring nature wouldn’t be enough to dissipate the ache settling in my heart. I had cried for Kyr, for our love, and for how lost I felt barely a moment after I had finally been found by his side.

  “I don’t know how to live this life without him. Not after knowing what it feels like to be in his arms,” I whispered, barely able to separate my voice from the emotions rushing through me. “Being with Kyr was like waking up after centuries asleep in the dark, and being alive after thinking I would spend an eternity dead… without him.” My tearful gaze lifted, connecting with hers. “I don’t know how to go back to that… I don’t want to.”

  Estharis’ eyes reflected but a gleam of the pain I felt in my heart. She reached for my hand and gently lifted me out of the chair, pulling me away from the window. Her hand soothingly caressed my back, but I didn’t want to calm. I wanted to scream his name, I needed to get out of this place and find my way back to his arms.

  “The prince is all right. You need not worry. Kahina will take care of him, you did the right thing.” I nodded, and sat on the small bed with her. “As for the love you feel inside, the pain, I can only tell you one thing. The king must be wrong. I don’t believe a love like the one you and the prince share, would exist if it weren’t meant to be. I’ve never seen anything so powerful. A love that defies the very nature of our race, cannot exist only to be lost in the shadows. Hold on to what you feel for him, my child, if the Goddess allowed you to be his, then she will find a way for you two to be together.”

  Although her words meant to calm me, they only served to break the damn I had been struggling to hold. The tears fell from my eyes, and the sobs began to shake my body. I clung to her as her arms wrapped around me and allowed myself to cry. I cried, until what I believed to be the last tear I would ever shed slid down my cheek, and I was able to calm. I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to ever survive the kind of agony I was going through. It wasn’t possible for me to have any tears left after this.

  Suddenly, the door opened and two guards walked in with one of my ladies—sadness filled her eyes when she saw us. Lilith carried a basket with a change of clothes for us in her arms and towels, while one of the guards carried a large caldron with boiling water that sparkled with magic, and the other held one with cold water.

  “The king has ordered you to clean yourselves and change, then we will take you to the dining room, where you shall accompany him for supper.” One of the men announced, and they placed the pots on the floor.

  “Will we be allowed to return to our chambers afterwards?” I asked hopeful, but the guard didn’t answer.

  Estharis and I exchanged a glance and we took the gowns and towels from Lilith. The men mixed the hot and cold water in
the empty bathtub for us, setting the remaining boiling water aside. I moved towards the bathtub wetting the washcloths, to help clean myself, and then closed the partition. There wasn’t enough for a full bath, but it would have to do.

  “You should step outside the room to give the duchess privacy as she changes,” Lilith told the men, facing them.

  “We were instructed not to let her out of our sight.”

  “And what is she going to do exactly, jump out the window?” Estharis replied defiantly, and a small smile curved my lips. “She doesn’t have the gift of flight as you two very well know. And you already lost sight of her for your information, unless you can see through the panels. So, go on. Allow her to get ready.”

  The men huffed, and I heard them step out of the room. Lilith chuckled, as I peaked from behind the partition. “Thank you, Estharis.”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  I removed the robe and gracefully accepted Lilith’s help to get ready, maybe once I was with the king, I could talk some sense into him—just like I had done countless times.

  *

  I sat on the bed while Lilith brushed my wet hair, and Estharis washed herself. Lilith had brought us soap and a mixture she always prepared for me, with olive and lavender oils. It did wonders for my hair and for a brief moment, as she styled my strands, I felt like things were almost normal… unfortunately, I knew they would never be again. My gaze once again got lost in the mountain and I wondered where Kyr was, I missed him.

  A warm hand cradled my cheek and I blinked, noticing that Lilith stood by the corner—having already finished with my hair—and Estharis sat next to me.

  “Are you all right?” She asked, caressing my cheekbone and I nodded.

  “Thank you for being here, I don’t even want to imagine how hard this all would be if I were alone.”