[Kingdom 01.0 - 03.0] Kingdom Series Collection Read online

  Mentioning the girl almost seemed to make Miriam forget her momentary anger. “Yes,” she said, “we must.”

  There was a resolute tone to her voice, no longer fear, but knowledge of something deep and powerful.

  “Follow me,” Miriam cried, and streaked in a blur through the air.

  Danika followed, large blades of grass slapped their faces. Her pulse pounded a furious tempo in her ears. They had to make it. They must make it in time. The Heartsong must not be killed. Though Danika had only ever thought of her as myth, all knew to kill the Heartsong was to release the dark magic that beat within her soul. It must never happen.

  Up ahead a thatched roof cottage came into view. A silver plume of smoke curled like a beacon through the air, then a scream that rang with pure and primal fear, blasted all around them.

  “Inside. Hurry!” Miriam cried, her wings beat faster as she streaked, a golden bolt of lightning cutting a straight path through the navy blue sky.

  Sweat dripped down Danika’s back with the effort to keep up, yet still she urged her wings to pump harder. Faster.

  They sailed through the half opened door and the scene within was chaos. On the ground Jana the Green lay dead, her wand dangled limp from lifeless hands. The Green had assumed the form of an elderly woman; her silver white hair was long and tangled, partially covering one eye. Her pudgy face forever frozen in a soundless scream--a big black wolf lay on the floor, savaging her, ripping off her hand, spitting it out, and then ripping off the other and doing the same. Fleshy parts of the Green were everywhere.

  The Green--one of the Powerful Ten.

  Shock rooted Danika to the spot, scrambling her brain, her ability to reason or think. The slaughter of the Green--so shocking, so unbelievable, Danika could hardly breathe. Of all the fae in all the world of Kingdom, none were more powerful than the Ten. That the wolves could destroy her with such ease… Danika’s gut clenched--insides revolting at the earthy, metallic stench of so much blood.

  Backed into a corner of the wall, the Heartsong screamed and screamed, quivering within the folds of her red cape. A basket lay by her feet, yellow apples rolling like heads on the packed dirt floor. The red wolf Danika had spotted earlier, stood in front of the Heartsong, growling with its hackles raised. Ready, it seemed, to pounce and tear the girl limb from limb.

  The big black wolf lifted its shaggy head, glowing yellow eyes swiveled toward the girl and he gave a long, low whimper.

  The red wolf growled and snapped its fanged jaws.

  The black wolf’s nostrils flared, as if scenting. His head bobbed up and down, his tail thumped excitedly on the ground. He whimpered again.

  The other wolf growled louder, taking a menacing step towards the girl. His gums pulled back, revealing wickedly long incisors.

  The black wolf shot to his feet. A rumble tore from his chest, spilled up his throat, and dropped from his tongue. But Danika was dazed to note the black did not eye the girl, rather he eyed the red wolf.

  The girl whimpered, refusing to look at anything.

  “Oh no,” Miriam said.

  “What?” Danika asked.

  The red wolf vibrated, and then pounced so quickly Danika couldn’t follow his blur. He sailed through the air, mouth open and teeth inches from the huddled girl’s neck. Danika and Miriam finally found their senses, and pulled their wands out of their sleeves, hot pink power crackled upon its tip, ready to blast the red wolf into oblivion, when the black jumped on red’s back and sunk his teeth into the other wolf’s neck. The sound of a spine cracking blasted through the eerie hush and then the red wolf dropped like sack cloth to the packed dirt floor.

  The black wolf breathed heavy, mad glowing eyes stared intently at the girl who still refused to look at him. Danika raised her wand.

  “No!” Miriam cried, slapping the wand from Danika’s hands. The pink bolt of power arced into the air, shooting off the roof, and burning a black hole through the thatch. The scent of burnt grass was everywhere.

  “What the bloody hell?” Danika yelled in bewilderment, turning wide frantic eyes toward the beast. Miriam had slapped her only source of power from her hands.

  Black’s head jerked in their direction, his long pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as his ribcage flexed in and out. The red wolf wasn’t dead; a small whimper escaped his fanged jaws.

  “WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE?” The voice could belong to no other. It cracked through the room with power, all the fine hairs on the nape of Danika’s neck stood on edge, then a blue blast of light poured through the room in a wave.

  Everything paused. The wolves stopped breathing, the girl stopped whimpering, even the wind stopped breezing through the dank confines. Time itself held its breath.

  Galeta the Blue--Head Mistress of Fairy, Inc. and Ruler of all Fae--appeared ghost-like within the blue radiance. “I felt the disturbance of my song, where is she? Where is the Girl!” she demanded, sharp fangs standing out in shockingly bold relief compared to the doll like innocence of her young face.

  Her ghostly head turned, and a sharp gasp escaped, then glacial blue eyes locked first on Danika, then on Miriam. A sneer curled her tipped nose. “You!”

  Miriam winced.

  “I should have known you’d be here, you coward. You swine. What have you done?”

  Danika flew before her friend. Galeta had never much cared for Miriam. Not since the day of the Summoning; the day all fairies were received by the oracle and told what their ultimate destiny would be. All knew Miriam’s kith descended from greatness. Every one of Cherry Blossom stock went on to rule the Kingdom as head Mistress. Every last one, that was, until the Oracle told Miriam she was destined to rule and Galeta was to be muse of the arts. Though Miriam had rejected her course, and chosen instead to be untethered and a free fairy, Galeta had never forgotten, or forgiven.

  “She’s done no wrong,” Danika quickly asserted. “We were feeding the flowers when we came upon the scene. What is this, Galeta? What horrors have transpired this night?” Danika wrung her hands, still not sure what she’d witnessed. What had happened.

  Galeta held her chin high, but the light of fury slowly dimmed. “The Heartsong’s been discovered.” She stared at the unmoving bundle draped in red on the floor. “What did you see?”

  Danika barely had a moment to digest the news that the Heartsong did in fact exist. Not like she hadn’t already put the pieces together, but to hear Galeta admit it as truth was… shocking. “Like I said, we were too late, Mistress. We entered to find Jana already dead and the black,” she pointed to the large wolf, frozen, and staring at them with hollow gold eyes, “attacking the red.”

  A green glow began to emanate from within the savaged remains of Jana’s broken body. Galeta pursed her lips, eyebrows raised. “We haven’t much time,” she said cryptically. “I need to access the black wolf’s mind.”

  The moment she said it, the wolf’s limbs unlocked, he wuffed, shook his shaggy head and then growled.

  “To me, wolf,” Galeta snapped her fingers. Though Galeta was not with them in form, her power was such that the wolf had no choice but to spring to her ghostly apparition, head bowed and breathing heavily under the influence of forced magic.

  “Esmeralda,” Galeta cried over her shoulder, a moment later a second figure emerged from within the blue fog of light.

  Esmeralda--fairy of justice and truth--was a lovely counterpoint to Galeta’s sharp cruelty. Fair of skin, with forest green eyes, she was the ideal representation of what most mortals believed the fae to be. “Yes, sister dear,” she said in a flute like voice.

  “Enter the hut, discover the truth,” Galeta ordered.

  “As you wish.” Esmeralda bowed her head.

  The sound of chimes rang loudly in the air as Esmeralda emerged with a loud pop (like an object escaping a bubble) from within the swirling mercurial radiance. Her full pink lips tipped up into a grim smile. The air turned crisp, smelling of morning dew and clinging ivy.

  “Well
met, Godmother,” Esmeralda nodded her chestnut colored head respectfully toward Danika. Then her eyes widened as she finally took notice of the scene before her. “What has happened here?” Her tiny voice trembled, her gaze unflinching and focused as she stared at Jana--or, at least what was left of her. Bits of the Green were scattered throughout, but her trunk and legs were now glowing a deep hued moss. The magic, a fairy’s very soul, would soon erupt from the body, seeking a new and suitable host.

  Danika trembled at the thought of so much power. To be one of the Ten, could she do it? Would she want to? She gripped her wand tighter, palms sweaty as her heart beat hard. Who would the magic take?

  Galeta rolled her eyes, her mouth set into a tight line. “That is why I’ve called you here, Ese. The wolf knows, his memories must be revealed.”

  A change overcame the lovely fairy then. Esmeralda’s head tilted as a helix of black bled through the color and whites of her eyes. No less beautiful, but alien and frightening as she turned that penetrating gaze on the black wolf who was now eerily silent.

  “Wolf,” she said in that same flute like voice, “show me the truth.”

  Whining, but unable to resist the command, the wolf looked at Esmeralda.

  Wind ripped and roared through the tiny thatched cottage, stirring dirt and brambles, making Danika’s hair whip into her eyes painfully. Wincing, she narrowed her eyes, trying desperately to keep them open so she could see the vision unfold.

  A scene stirred like a ripple in a pond. Slowly at first, largely blurred at the edges, but tightening at its center, forming a picture.

  Galeta narrowed her eyes when a healthy Jana came into focus. Her long white hair flowed well past her waist, nearly to her knees. And though she appeared a fragile woman with liver spots and wrinkles covering her from head to toe, her eyes gleamed like the glint of steel in flame. A nasty smile curved her lips as she spoke, not in terror, but calmly to the black wolf.

  Jana pointed a gnarled finger--the sharp nail long and curling downward--at the door.

  Danika’s eyes widened. Why was Jana not fighting the wolf? Why did she not attempt to defend herself?

  The scene shifted again when the Heartsong entered the doorway. Her eyes moved between the wolf and Jana. At first with fright, but then her facial features dropped and something akin to horror flickered in the depths of her eyes.

  The red wolf leapt into the picture, creeping in behind her. The wolves had set a trap and Jana was smiling.

  “Bloody, bloody hell!” Galeta spat as Danika’s heart sank to her knees.

  How could this have happened?

  Then Galeta spun that arctic stare on both her and Miriam. “None must know of this night. Should Kingdom ever discover what has transpired here, our world would cease to exist as we know it. Swear it!” The power of her words rolled like shifting lands, stealing the very breath from Danika’s lungs.

  She gulped, but nodded. Miriam nodded too, but closed her eyes. She had her arms wrapped around herself, and Danika knew her friend was not well.

  Galeta’s nostrils flared. Esmeralda blinked and the black of her eyes were no more, they’d returned to the vibrant green of a tree’s canopy.

  “Sister,” Esmeralda said, pointing to Jana, “she glows.”

  The green light encased Jana’s remains like a tomb, lifting what was left of her high into the air. The room grew heavy with the sharp nip of ozone. Bolts of lightning streaked from within the corpse itself.

  Galeta pursed her lips. “The magic will find who it will.” Then she turned her hawk like gaze back on the wolf. “Destroy them all. Malvena must never know how close she came this night.”

  Miriam’s head shot up then. “What? All? Even the Heartsong?”

  The Headmistress snarled. “How dare you speak to me? I’ve given the order. Kill them all!”

  Danika’s head seemed completely independent of her body at that moment, turning this way, that way, following each harshly spoken word with a lump in her throat.

  “NO!” Esmeralda cried, one eyebrow rose as she studied Galeta with the look of a fairy who would do bodily harm if ignored. “You may not kill any.”

  “You cannot stop me--”

  Esmeralda crackled as she flitted towards Galeta’s projection. She planted small hands on her hips and spread her legs, a shower of dust dropped from her wings as she spoke. “I am truth, Galeta. Do not forget it.”

  Miriam flew to Ese’s side and nodded forcefully. “I’ve had a vision, Galeta. ‘Tis true. Tonight’s actions will determine the fate of our brethren for an eternity. The Heartsong must not be killed. Nor can the black wolf.”

  Danika felt suddenly useless. She’d never seen such a forceful side to her friend and did not know what to do. Though she was infinitely grateful there’d be no killing tonight. She turned toward the blond girl, still suspended in time--huddled under her red hood--poor thing, such a tragedy to befall one so young. Her life would never be the same.

  A muscle in Galeta’s jaw ticked. “Malvena will surely know otherwise. The Heartsong is no longer hidden. If we do not kill the wolves and the girl, word will spread. The girl’s identity has now been exposed. We must kill her in order to cast a new body for the Heartsong.”

  The sparks shooting off Jana’s body were now pinging off the walls of the room.

  The black wolf lifted his nose, sniffed the air, and then with a low growl fell to his belly. A blinding white light encased his body, flaring so bright that Danika had to shield her eyes as tears stung the corners.

  When the light faded, a man, long and lean and thickly muscled with shaggy black hair, jumped to his feet. Galeta’s gaze roamed the length of him, slowly, methodically, taking in all the twisted cords and muscles of his body.

  T’was common knowledge Galeta loved men. And this one was a sight beyond most.

  “What do you want, black wolf?” she sneered finally.

  His chiseled jaw set into a tight frown. “Ye speak of killing me. And yet ye saw my truth, ye know I meant the girl no harm. Can ye not guess why?”

  Miriam flitted to his shoulder, lightly tapping it. “Ye are Violet’s mate,” she said softly.

  Danika gasped. Could the night get any stranger? “But…but, he works for Malvena.”

  He looked at her, with eyes hollow and flat, more animal than human. “Yes, for the sake of my starving clan, I did. She offered to feed us, I had no choice. But I could never harm my mate.”

  Danika looked at the girl.

  But she was so young.

  Or perhaps not. A youthful face in Kingdom was no indication of age. Danika should know.

  Miriam nodded. “He does not mean he’s mated her yet, did ye not notice on the vision what happened when he saw her, Danika?”

  Danika scratched her jaw, remembering vaguely the flattening of fur around his neck when he’d first gazed at Violet. “She will not want you,” Dani told him, “surely you know that.”

  “It matters not,” he growled, “she is mine.”

  Galeta lifted her hands. “She belongs to me, black.”

  “The name is Ewan of the clan Black Foot,” his rich throaty burr made Danika’s heart quiver. Aside from the small crook to the bridge of the man’s nose, he was the most magnificent creature she’d ever beheld.

  “It matters not at all to me,” Galeta shook her head, blue ringlets bobbed attractively around her head. “What does matter is that you are now a problem. You cannot return to Malvena, and it seems we cannot kill you. So we are at an impasse. Though,” her lips curled, exposing glinting baby fangs, “I hear it’s quite hard to kill one of you. Perhaps the Jabberwocky would like a bit of sport later.”

  “Give him to Danika!” Miriam cried.

  Danika’s eyes widened. “Miriam,” she squeaked. What in the bloody hell was the matter with her friend?

  Miriam nodded, never glancing Danika’s way. “She’s always going on about the reformation of the bad boys. The big bad wolf is as bad as they come, no? Give him to h
er.”

  “I cannot be given to anyone,” Ewan thundered, nude body twitching with barely suppressed rage.

  “Mir,” Dani squeaked again. “Are you mad? Shut up, now. I couldn’t possibly hope to hide him from Malvena’s spies.”

  “Have you ever switched forms in front of the Black fairy, Ewan?” Miriam asked, still ignoring Danika’s protestations.

  Galeta and Esmeralda peered on in thoughtful silence. Danika jumped when a bolt of Jana’s power rushed past her bare legs, singing the hair off, and making her yelp from the immediate flare of pain.

  In all the commotion of secrets exposed she’d forgotten the power bubbling like brew behind her. The cottage was in grave danger of imploding, and yet--she looked around--no one else seemed to notice.

  “We should leave. Quickly,” Danika whispered.

  “Nay,” Ewan said with a swift shake of his head, drowning out Danika’s words, “I’m much more dangerous in wolf form.”

  Danika’s pulse fluttered.

  “Galeta,” Miriam turned back to the ghostly image of their Mistress, “it is perfect. Danika can keep him hidden, if he keeps his nose clean.”

  Galeta nodded. “And the red wolf, what of him?”

  “I’ll supply him with new memories.” Esmeralda stepped in, laying a silencing hand on Mir’s shoulder. “I’ll make it so that he believes he killed not only Jana, but the black as well.”

  Galeta narrowed her eyes. “And the Heartsong? She must not be discovered again.”

  “Give her to me.”

  An echoing laugh filled with both shock and disgust fell from Galeta’s pearl pink lips. “To you? Miriam. The Shunned.”

  Danika inhaled sharply at Miriam’s new name. No longer was she Miriam the Delighted. The air shivered with ribbons of static as Kingdom responded to Galeta’s authority. Miriam’s lavender eyes grew huge in her face, and shone with unshed tears. But she nodded bravely. “Aye. To me. I’ll take her someplace safe. Someplace Malvena will never find her. I’ll teach her all she needs to know, make her strong enough to return and set it right.”

  Flying to her friend’s side, Danika gripped Mir’s arm, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Miriam patted her hand and nodded.