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

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

T he palace is a flurry of activity as we make our way to the dining chamber, greeted by the mouthwatering scents of meat roasted in open flames, and fresh bread smothered with butter and dusted with cinnamon.

Round tables with silk cloths of every shade of green in honor of the court that provided our food are set with golden forks and knives and huge goblets. Nueena and Tavien fill their plates and walk off to sit with Viella and Hiliyah.

Lillian comes and takes the Forger’s Journal again to secure it for the time being. The rest of the tables are filled with students eating after lessons, families dining together, and friends greeting each other before sitting down. Some scattered fae sit alone to read a book or knit.

“Everyone eats together?” Leon asks, watching honeyguards sit with scholars.

We all nod and make our way to the vast rows of food on display.

“We do occasionally eat in our private dining rooms, but most evenings we share meals here, together,” I answer him.

A few fae males stand in line before us, gathering their choices. I hand Leon a golden plate before turning to him in a whisper. Though I am near enough hearing would be no issue, he moves closer so my lips brush his cheek when I speak.

“I have dried meat and cheese from Adreania back in our rooms too if everything is too sweet, but give whatever you want to try a taste,” I say it slowly, allowing myself to savor my cheek on his.

Giant shells from the Elbasan Sea are heated with enchantments to hold a vast spread of this evening’s steaming fare. Sizzling lamb stew with roasted purple carrots, flower petals over peas, and cheese-covered rolls with cooked dough made of corn.

Taking a slice of a spiral, flaky pastry filled with cheese and spinach, I add it to my plate of duck crisped with spiced butter, carrots drizzled with spicy honey, fried rice molded into a sphere, and a hearty scoop of seared zucchini. I add more spices I’ve brought back from Adreania to try to fight the sweetness.

The long table shifts from meats like maple pork and rainbow trout with the head still on, to brown bread and wild rice dishes, to the end filled with desserts. Most desserts are not my preference, considering how sweet the other foods are, but I’m partial to the shortbread cookies with jam and add a couple of those to my plate.

A tray of Nueena’s favorites, little jiggling lemon cakes, are placed out and I grab a few for her.

Leon’s plate is piled high and he looks at everything with a greedy expression. Most of his plate has vegetables on it. Grilled asparagus with fatty pork meat wrapped around it, its juices dripping on his smashed rosemary potatoes and dark greens in a dill sauce. Carved pieces of duck are laid out next to long fire-roasted squash and chicken stuffed with sweet spinach.

Once his plate is full, we make our way back to the table where Nueena and Tavien sit with Viella and Hiliyah. They are all discussing fabric trade routes from the seaside capital city of Meridia Cove over the sounds of laughter and the scrape of plates.

“Hello!” Hiliyah and Viella greet us in unison and quickly return to their discussion.

I place the lemon jelly cakes on the side of Nueena’s plate and she makes a little noise of delight, swiping some of the sweetened whipped lemon zest cream off the top with her spoon, savoring the taste.

Leon eats his meal with enthusiasm and compliments everything he tastes, savoring each bite. “This is truly delicious. Such richness to the flavors, complex with the layered spices with the untouched sweetness.”

His enjoyment is endearing, but I am quick to ask, hoping he is not simply being polite, “You do not find it too sweet?”

“Sweetness is present, especially when I expect a savory taste, but the flavors work so well together.” He takes another large bite, and I fork a potato from his plate and pop it in my mouth. It tastes sweet to me.

Hiliyah jumps into our discussion. “No one else agrees it tastes sweet, but Della is sensitive about her food here.” She says this as I pour a pot of sweet, milky almond tea into a few cups for us and hand her one.

I bite into a table roll. It’s less sweet but still has a light honey aftertaste, even with the extra spices.

Lillian joins us again with a head nod. She has changed out of her armor and wears casual black clothing, taking her place next to cheerful Viella. The commander pulls Viella close, kisses the top of her short blonde hair, and starts to eat off Viella’s plate in silence. Viella leans into Lillian’s chest and gives her a detailed and enthusiastic account of her day while Lillian listens intently.

After we finish, Leon ascends again to the dining table, coming back with bloody sausages, hard-boiled dove eggs, fried crab cakes, creamy purple cheese spread on thick brown oat bread, and green apple slices drizzled with a thick caramel glaze.

He sits next to me, smiling. Breaking apart the apple, he passes me the bigger piece and watches, grin sliding off, when I lick the caramel off my fingers. He makes a choking noise, and all of my friends try to hide their smiles.

Towards the end of the evening, Leon asks how we all met.

“We met as dewlings,” Nueena explains. “The night my mother gave birth to my middle sister, she was screaming in agony. It was the loudest noise I had ever heard and I thought she was dead. Her healer had fallen ill and they’d had to call for another, but a storm delayed their arrival, so she had hours with no magic to dull the pain. The sound of birth is exceedingly violent for a dewling to hear. Later, I snuck into the room. There was so much blood that I couldn’t imagine a world where she would survive. The healers said if she only had the crown, it might heal her. I had seen the maps, so I knew where Adreania was, and if getting the crown would save her, I had to try. It was devastatingly foolish of me to even try to get near the mortals.”

She pauses her story to look over at the table not far from us where Nyvenah and Alachite sit with Vaylin, the sister from Nueena’s story, and their other daughter, Nueena’s youngest sister, Kaylena. Vaylin, having returned home for the coronation, lives at the Court of Swords capital, where she is a healer. Kaylena, still a dewling, only born a decade ago, jumps up and down with excitement over a large slice of chocolate cake that an attendant has placed on the table in front of her.

Nueena smiles, turning back to us. “I’d discovered the mountain door you arrived in weeks prior, having no idea where it went. I had been afraid to look before, but that night, I went through it. Practically rolled down the hill in the rain without knowing about the glamour to hide the palace or how to return home again. I just ran and ran. I was lost for hours. Thankfully, the trees blocked my way when I tried to stray from the Merawood Forest and they led me to the forge by Della’s cottage.” She turns to me.

It’s my turn to bring the memory to life. “My mother found her asleep in the forge curled up next to the flames, and tucked her into my bed ’til she could figure out what to do. Our family was still in exile and my mother had never been to Ellova, so Nu lived with us for three days. I thought she was going to stay forever, and so did my mother. My father came to visit as he did a few days each month and did not even question it. Declared he had two daughters now and took us hunting. She became a member of the family that day. ”

Nueena laughs. “I knew someone would find me eventually, but I was too scared to tell them where I was from. I asked them once about Ellova and they said it was hidden and they couldn’t find it, even if they wanted to.”

Tavien puts his arm around her shoulder and kisses her head before Viella cuts in.

“The whole damn kingdom searched everywhere for her, but eventually, Lillian and I found the door. We were honeyguards at the time, no longer dewlings, eager to prove ourselves. Lillian thought Nueena might have slipped through it. She was right, of course.” Viella beams at her mate.

Tavien continues, “I could feel where Nueena was, even though we had never met. My father was one of the few who believed me that I could sense her, and I was determined to find her. My father knew the commander in charge of searching the Merawood Forest, and I begged them to let me join the search with Lil and Vi. Led them straight to that little cottage. There was my future Zemra, playing with a little mortal girl with hair the color of pumpkin soup. She looked up as if she were expecting me, just waiting for me to bring her home.”

Tavien brings Nueena’s hand up to his mouth and places a tender kiss on the inside of her wrist. She smiles up at him, their gazes the same, like each of them hung the stars for the other. Sensing they may be preoccupied with the memory, Leon and I lean towards each other, giving the royal pair space for their moment of reminiscence.

“So what happened after that?” Leon asks.

“I was devastated she had to leave. I had found a friend and a sister all at once and didn’t wish to part. I had never met anyone my age before, but they took her back to a rejoicing and relieved city as well as a new baby sister. Later, Alachite would come find us. He learned we were related to Alvina Vanabalt, who got exiled for making the crown and made a home for herself in the Merawood Forest outside Ellova’s borders.”

My eyes drop to my plate as I move the last of my food around, recounting the past of my family, the fae line of the Vanabalt women. The dinner plate in front of me blurs. So many years have passed, but the weight of Alvina’s exile and her bloodline’s fate still holds grief, not enough time to rid me of the sorrow. “My great-grandmother did make her way back to Ellova for a time, long enough to conceive, but the past was still new and she found no reprieve from being Alvina’s daughter, so she returned to the cottage and had my grandmother, alone. They bore the banishment well and survived on their own. Anyway, Alachite said his daughter demanded we be reunited.”

Nueena leans over me, returning to the dinner conversation, her chin on my shoulder, and chuckles at her dewling antics. “I was not ready to be parted. I refused to eat until my new friend was allowed to visit. I was just a dewling with no interest in history or politics.”

I lean my head to rest on hers. “When Alachite and Nyvenah came down to thank my mother for her help and ended the exile of my family, my mother was given instructions on how to find the door.” Nueena knows what I am about to say next, so she links her arm with mine in comfort. “She died a year after we got the news that my father had died. I was fifteen, too young by both fae and mortal standards to live alone in the woods, and Nyvenah moved me here. She and Alachite made sure I was taken care of. No one dared say my family line didn’t belong anymore, so I lived in the palace ’til I was ready to be on my own at the cottage.”

Leon takes all of my history in and simply says, “Drystan destroyed much the day Inara died, but I’m glad you have each other.”

T avien lights the fireplace in the west tower with a wave of his hand after the four of us return from the evening meal. The Forger’s Journal sits unwrapped on the table inside the shared lounge area. Leon sits close to me on the couch .

“Are you ready?” Nueena asks. She had been the one most eager to try to open the journal tonight, but now she glances back at me with reluctance clouding her beautiful face.

“I’ll be all right,” I reassure her. “Even if I faint again, it will be worth it. It could have the key to removing the crown.”

Leon shifts nearer to me, and when I glance over at him, his lips are in a tight line. He reaches deep into his medical satchel and pulls out some sort of medical listening device.

Faster than I have ever seen him move, Tavien launches himself to his feet, blocking Nueena from Leon. Tavien’s hands erupt in blue flame-like swirls and he sends out a glowing burst of magic. I am surrounded by sapphire and white flames that move like smoke around me, forming a barrier between me and Leon. More magic shoots out from Tavien and encircles Leon’s hand that is holding the contraption in a sphere of cerulean light.

Tavien’s face is sharper than I have ever seen. “Don’t touch her with that! Why do you have iron here, Leon?”

Leon freezes, absorbing the sight of Tavien’s magic before cautiously moving his glowing hand away from me. “Tavien, all my medical equipment is made of iron. It’s the only metal we have in Adreania. My deepest apologies. It is only to listen to Izadella’s heartbeat so I can monitor her to ensure she doesn’t lose consciousness again.”

I wave my hand through the protective shield and Tavien dissolves it; the whirling, sheer flames rise before they disappear. Leon’s hand is still encased, so I slip my hand in and hold up the device to show Tavien. “I’m all right, Tavien, truly. See, I’m unharmed by iron. Leon can do what he needs to.”

Tavien relaxes slightly and sits back down next to Nueena, nodding. “It will be destroyed after tonight. I will not allow it near Nueena.”

Understanding his mistake, Leon apologizes again. “Of course.”

It’s quiet for a moment and I ask, “Why don’t we get started?” to loosen the tension in the room. Everyone agrees. Nueena rubs her Zemra’s back with an affectionate smile at his protectiveness. His hand is tight on her thigh as Tavien takes a steading breath .

The journal lies before me and I cover the lock with my hand.

Leon gently places one end of the device in his ears and the cool iron chest piece below my collarbone. His other hand slides low on my back to steady me. “Ready?” he asks, so close I feel his breath on my cheek.

Ignoring his nearness for the moment, no matter how much I wish he were nearer, I focus on the lock. The crown’s power surges up, eager to be loose outside of me.

The lock remains sealed, ignoring the torrent of ancient force willing it to open.

The more the magic is unable to break free, the more agitated it becomes, the pressure of its building. My heart starts to race and Leon’s firm hand moves to my hip, shifting me closer to him.

“Are you all right?” he asks me in a soft, concerned tone.

“Yes. The best way I can explain it is that the magic is a corked bottle of sparkling wine someone has shaken.”

This book might hold the knowledge we need to remove this cursed crown from me. It’s a piece of my family’s history; it might be able to tell me why Alvina created the crown in the first place, knowing Zarella forbade Inara from being with her mortal lover. I cannot, will not allow for this lock to go unopened. I would rather destroy the whole book than let its secrets remain locked for centuries, sitting in that library when I desperately need an answer.

The agonizing thought that I may need to die to rid myself of the crown pushes me onward, and I shove the magic deeper into the lock with all the frustration and heartache the crown has brought me.

If we do not find a way to remove this cursed crown, it will kill me, and I refuse that tragic ending. I will fight to any breaking point to rid myself of it.

For a long moment, nothing happens, but slowly beneath my clenched fingers, the gold begins to shake and vibrate. It shifts under my hand, determined to stay locked, but I will not yield. My heartbeat is a wild animal in my chest.

“IZADELLA, STOP!” Leon screams, trying to pull me back, but I ignore him. Tavien throws another shield up around Nueena and himself.

With one last burst, a blast of magic ripples out of me and the lock explodes in my hands. Leon throws himself over my body, shoving both of us into the couch cushions as darkness floods my vision.