Page 57 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“It’s okay,” she whispered as tears slid down her cheeks. “What’s wrong, my baby?”

After another moment, Nadir’s cries calmed, his little body jerking with hiccups. Rion studied the boy with cool detachment. Then he slid his magic away from the Torch. He felt its relief as he withdrew, and it continued bathing Nadir and his mother in a benevolent light.

The incident was soon forgotten as the ceremony came to a close—congratulations and refreshments were passed around the room. He noted the look on Meora’s face, a mixture of relief and confusion, as she showered Nadir with kisses.

But Meora hadn’t forgotten.

She stared across the room at Rion, fear darkening her expression as she pulled Nadir against her, some instinct telling her she’d need to protect him against his own father.

Rion wouldn’t forget either.

He’d controlled the Torch. Forced it to do his bidding. The former king of The Aurora had helped him, and Rion was too eager about his discovery to wonder why.

His gaze wandered to his father, sitting on his throne with the dark crown of the Aurora King perched on his head.

Finally, Rion had found a way.

Finally, Rion would get his crown.

CHAPTER 22

GABRIEL

APHELION—PRESENT DAY

This place has gone to hell. Everything has spun out of control between riots in the streets and the palace falling to pieces. Smoke hangs in the air and the sounds of mild explosions have become a part of Aphelion’s daily backdrop.

Through it all, my brothers continue to search for Atlas, sending reports to me regularly. Atlas is a royal who has never had to fear for his life. While he learned how to wield a sword with proficiency, my brothers were trained nearly to the point of death in every art of war imaginable, including tracking down an escaped prisoner. Since his magic is mostly ineffective against them, especially as a group, it’s only a matter of time before they close in on our former king. I pray daily for news, but I haven’t yet decided if his capture will come as a relief or simply another burden.

Without my brothers here, almost everyone around me is an incompetent fool.

“Gabe,” Tyr says softly from where he sits in a chair under the window. We’re in the king’s study. I’m so used to referring to it as Atlas’s, but is it really Tyr’s? I’ve envisioned this day so many times, but nestled in that murky fantasy was the idea Tyr would rise up and take his place as king.

But so far, he remains an empty shell, intent on staring at the wall, and I’m not sure what to do. I don’t blame him for this state. Atlas caused this, and I shouldn’t expect anything from Tyr. He doesn’t owe us anything.

The heads of all of the twenty-four districts sit around the table I had brought in because Tyr refuses to enter the council chamber. Though he hasn’t explicitly said so, I think it’s a place of too many painful memories and the last thing he remembers from when he was still a king. No one hears his soft plea because these peacocks are all too busy arguing with one another.

“Are you okay?” he asks me so softly that I barely hear the words, only see the shape he forms with his mouth. My heart feels like lead in my chest. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to help put him back together. He needs a better man than I could ever be. He needs a different purpose.

“I’m fine,” I say, gruffer than I intend. None of this is his fault, and I know that. I’ve always known that, and despite playing witness to my every shortcoming, he’s never judged me for who I am.

I watch the High Fae surrounding the table. They include Commander Cornelius Heulfryn of the most affluent Twenty-Fourth District, whose daughter is currently making my life hell, down to the head of the First District, where the more modest citizens of Aphelion live, though their stations are far above those of the low fae. Currently, everyone is arguing about the leadership of the kingdom.

According to Tyr, the Mirror sat silent when he stood before it for two hours yesterday while they all watched. Something tells me he wasn’t entirely forthright about that but isn’t ready to discuss his future. I can’t blame him for that either.

By rights, Tyr has always been the king, and there should be no question of who should lead. The district heads claim Tyr isn’t fit to rule in this state, and it’s hard to argue with them. They can’t force him to descend, but they can question his leadership. The Artefacts’ role is to decide who is the most fit to rule, but their choices are sometimes imperfect. I assume it’s because their vision is limited and even they can’t know the future.

My gaze wanders to the streets, where I hear the distant crash of the ongoing riots. Glass shattering and panicked screams. The sounds and the fighting swell and ebb with each passing day. Just when I think things might have finally calmed down, something happens to revive them anew. Ash hangs perpetually in the air, clouding the blue sky, and the ocean is a dark blot, littered with charred wood, clothing . . . and invariably, more bodies than I care to think about.

What none of these Fae in this room understand is that if Tyr isn’t meant to rule, then that dubious honor belongs to someone else. And I’d stake my life on the fact that someone is right for the role.

Someone who the Mirror already chose years ago, dooming us all to this fate.

Someone who not a single person in this room would approve of.

The door to the study pops open, and Hylene slides through the gap. Every eye in the room draws her way, a few sentences cutting off mid-complaint. It’s easy to understand why. There’s something about her that garners attention wherever she goes. She might be the only person within spitting distance with more than two brain cells to rub together.

After the events of Tyr’s reveal and Lor and Nadir’s capture, Hylene remained in the palace. She explained that she’d been helping them by getting herself invited to the bonding and keeping an eye out while they snuck into the throne room. Thankfully, the Aurora King’s soldiers only knocked her out and didn’t inflict any permanent damage when they overpowered her.