Crown of Ellova, Vol. 1 (Crown of Ellova Duology)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

C ool water pours down my throat, a strong hand holding my chin up. When my eyelids flutter open, I am greeted by Leon’s worried frown. I’m pressed to his chest but now I find us on the forest floor.

“Are you hurt?” he asks. “Did they touch you? Your neck is red but it will heal. I have some herbs in my bag.” His concern is palpable and it makes me smile. Damn it, this sweet man cares deeply for me.

I reach up, moving the hair that has fallen in his face. “You worry too much,” I say softly.

His shoulders drop in relief and he chuckles. “Perhaps if you stopped fainting on me. I’ve aged a hundred years in the past day.” He tilts his head down with a lopsided grin. “Can you see more gray? I can feel it growing when I’m with you.”

I laugh even though my body feels like I’ve been trampled by Onyx. Leon helps me sit up, but we do not let go of each other. “Gray looks good on you. Exceedingly dignified.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He turns serious and my stomach drops.

I know what the next words out of his mouth will be.

“Izadella, again I ask, are you fae?”

How can I hide what I truly am now? The crown has changed colors, and he already told me he can feel magic radiating off me. I glance at the two unconscious men who lie in a heap on the forest floor, wrapped in vines and roots, the thorns still pressing into skin.

I stammer, “Leon, what?—”

“Izadella, you screamed and they were attacked by murderous plants that rose from out of nowhere, and when you fainted, the guards slammed right back to the ground. The logical conclusion is that you or at least the crown controlled whatever happened here. You have great and powerful magic within your reach. Which is why I suspect you to be fae. Are you?” He waits for my answer with wide eyes.

I want so badly to tell him the truth.

So I do.

“Not fully, no, but my mother was. My father was mortal. The crown is reacting to me but it’s not my magic.” I pull up my hair to reveal my hidden pointed ears still pinned back.

Leon’s grip tightens and he stares at me in wondrous shock, a slow smile spreading on his handsome face. He clears his throat. “Thank you for being honest.” He drops his head, his forehead resting on mine. Breathing heavily, he quietly says, “I’m just glad you’re alive.”

Something brushes my arm and we both look down at Farren, who reaches his nose towards me, his paws on my thigh. Leon releases me enough that I can pull the fox onto my lap. Farren licks my face, and my heart squeezes with affection and lingering fear.

“You could have been hurt, little one. Next time you run back to the cottage and hide,” I say softly as he continues his trek across my face with his rough tongue. It’s impossible to be upset with my brave boy. I pet him ’til a grasshopper enters his line of sight and he hops after it. Leon helps me stand but doesn’t let me go.

“I have more questions for you but for now—” Leon reaches up and brushes a stray lock of hair behind my ear, trailing his thumb over its point and down my flushed cheek. My little gasp has him grazing the top of my lip. “The image of that bastard’s sword on your neck, his bloody hands on your body, it will haunt me ’til I die.” His words are as intense as the way he is staring at me. “We need to leave now. Together. It’s not safe for us to be apart. Please don’t fight me on this, Izadella. Let me protect you. I need to protect you.”

The grass at my feet holds my attention while I let his words sink in, unable to look at him. Silence falls between us as minutes pass by. Could I bring him with me to Ellova? How long could he even stay before the magic of Ellova rips his sanity from his mortal mind? I’m going to lose him in the end no matter what. At least in Ellova he will be safe, even for a short time. Mortals are forbidden in Ellova but…

Nyvenah will understand.

Nueena will understand.

The crown deserves to be back in the fae realm and I cannot get there without taking him.

I nod. “If you wish to stay by my side, then we go east, to the Venneem Mountains. No place is safer than where I’m going, where I am from. You cannot stay there long, though. There is a reason King Drystan could not be with Inara in the fae realm. The whole reason she needed the crown to store magic so she could be with her treacherous husband in Adreania. Mortals like yourself will be driven mad by the magic in Ellova. Do you understand? It’s a place mortals are not meant to be because it’s too dangerous to stay there. If you come with me, you must understand it’s only temporary, that I will stay there and you will need to leave, for your own good. If you do not agree, we must part ways here.”

I look back up to find his gaze assessing me, eyebrows drawn together to match his deep frown. After a moment he nods. “I agree.”

He steps away from me and walks towards my father’s sword; the emeralds look more like rubies now. Leon kneels, picks up the blade, and heads to the guard nearest to him. He raises the sword to end the man’s life.

“Leon! Wait!”

He turns back to me, frustrated. “They forfeited their lives the moment they tried to take you from me. We can’t let them live. If anyone else finds them, they will tell Grayden who we are. They know us.”

“I know, but I don’t want their blood on your hands! You’re a healer, not a murderer.”

This only frustrates him more. “You heard them. They would have been all too happy to hand you over to Grayden to live a life worse than death. You don’t know him like I do. When they wake, they will hunt you again.”

It’s too horrible to even imagine, but taking a life stains a soul and I want Leon whole. “There has to be another way.”

His shoulders sink in defeat but he walks over to his medical bag that lies covered in dirt.

“What is it? What will it do?” I ask as he pulls out dark vials and jars and mixes them with a plum-colored liquid, adding a few spoonfuls into an empty vial.

He goes to Grayden’s guards and pours the concoction down each of their throats. “It's a substance made from Vedesdron. In small doses, it can be used as a sleeping aid. With this amount, mixed with other herbs, it will result in a coma-like sleep for a while, but when they awaken, it causes powerful hallucinations and memory loss. If they survive their injuries, they will have nothing to report back, useless to Grayden, but alive, thanks to you.” Leon rises from the men. Their bloody, bruised, and blistered bodies convulse before lying still once more.

He holds out his hand to me. “Lead the way.”

For a moment I do not take it. This is a terrible idea, but that pull inside me demands I keep him near, so I slip my hand into his and gently tug towards Ellova. It’s unfair how many secrets I must keep from him, but if he fails what is to come next, we will be forced to part before the sun has fully risen.

“Are we going somewhere other fae will be?” He asks carefully.

“Yes. Like I said, it’s safe. For now, that is all you need to know.”

“That’s fine. I just wish to know about you. The fae have magic. What do you possess?”

The trees around us get wider, growing closer together. Every few feet a tree has delicate green gems embedded in the thick bark. “ I have metal-wielding abilities, or at least I did before the crown. We are called jewelsmiths. My powers are weak as I am part mortal, so I tend to focus on jewelry, but I do enjoy creating daggers and swords.”

“What do you mean, before the crown?” he asked carefully.

“I can’t use my own magic anymore. The crown is blocking it and I cannot seem to control its well of magic. I can feel it trapped in me, waiting to be released. It’s like a door I do not have the key to. Whatever it is, it’s painful.”

“It appeared to me that strong emotions played a part.”

I nod.

“There must be a way to control it.” Leon looks thoughtful. “We can experiment.”

He seems to examine every section of the forest’s many plants and trees when he is not searching for expected danger. He is quiet in his observation of our surroundings, stopping a few times to collect samples of plants with medicinal properties in tiny glass vials.

I had thought most of these plants were only found in this forest. “I’m impressed with your forest knowledge. Most of these do not grow in Adreania.”

“My education was thorough. Some of these grow in many different places, but I have come across the ones that do not in medical or geography books.”

Most of the walk is done in companionable silence; the pounding in my head makes it hard to hold a long conversation. Leon swings from being enthralled with the nature around us to checking on me, offering every medicine he has.

The forest is darker here, the thick leaves blocking out most of the light, but sunbeams break through in the gaps. The trees have large jewels twisted in the trunks.

I turn to Leon, who is assessing the wood, and release his hand. “We have reached the Verge. It’s the outer ring of protection to where we are heading. You are able to stand here because you have proven to the Merawood Forest you mean no harm. The forest is alive in many ways, protecting against anyone with evil in their heart towards Ellova and those who call her home. These trees that forever stand guard still have the bones of Ellova’s enemies wrapped around their roots.”

I’m not sure how much to tell him. He will see the palace when we arrive. I wish to tell him everything, but how much would Nyvenah want him to know?

I settle on, “Mortals are forbidden. You will likely not be welcomed and I cannot promise what will happen from here. Our ruler will listen to why I’ve made the choice to bring you here, but I cannot guarantee her decision. Whatever she decides, I will stand by. I am loyal to the royal family above all else. Whether she says you are to be a guest or prisoner in her dungeon, that is her right as Realm Keeper. For many fae, the only mortals they know are from a history steeped in conflict and misery.”

His mouth opens slightly and he takes a step forward. “Of course, I understand. Does Ellova still exist? Truly? Is it part of the Merawood Forest?”

“Yes, it exists, but no, Ellova is part of the fae realm. The Merawood Forest is not part of it. The forest protects Ellova. The Verge is Ellova’s greatest protection. You have to make a vow, swear you mean no harm to Ellova and all who call it home. It is the only way it will allow you to pass through. If you are unwilling or the Verge rejects your oath, we part here forever. It will be out of my hands.” That he is here unharmed by the forest around us proves he has no ill intent towards Ellova or myself, but that may not be enough.

Leon does not hesitate. “I will make any vow, any oath, to stay by your side, Izadella.” He stands straighter, pulling down his vest.

“Will you swear it in blood?”