Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy #1) - Rachel Higginson Page 0,63

glanced back at his impatient father. “I’ll find you tomorrow. For now, sleep. Enjoy your reinstatement to royalty.”

A moment of vulnerability seized me, and I clutched his hand. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

He hunched over to catch my gaze once more. “Tessana Hadlyn Allisand, lost princess of Elysia, if anyone is prepared for what’s ahead, it’s you.” He bent over and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “Go,” he ordered. “Sleep. Tomorrow there is much to do.”

Releasing my hand, he left me to face his father. Haemon waited in the doorway for me. We stepped into the hall where we found Oliver slumped over on the floor, snoring softly.

“I’ll take you to your rooms, Your Highness,” Haemon offered.

I looked at Oliver and then at the long hallway. The crown felt heavy in my hands. “What happens if I try to run?”

Haemon’s lips twitched. “Then I show you to your rooms and lock you inside.”

I sighed. “Very well. Lead the way.”

18

The entire kingdom of Soravale ran along the Great Cliffs of the Crystal Sea. The country extended from the palace in Desmondin in either direction. Ancient dragons were rumored to sleep in the deep crevices of the cliffs, guarding their vast treasures. Soravale was rich with fish and shipping but mining the gems closer to the surface of the cliffs was what made it wealthy.

Soravale had always been Elysia’s strongest ally. When the sovereigns of the Nine Kingdoms got together, the kings of Elysia and Soravale ruled the conversation.

That said, Soravale and Elysia had never been united through marriage. It had been my father’s and Hugo’s hope that, after all these ages, my marriage would permanently unite the kingdoms once and for all.

But tragedy had interrupted our fathers’ best laid plans.

I was now on a different path, fated to go back home to Elysia, a country that, under original circumstances, I would have left in the pursuit of allegiance and marriage.

I didn’t know how I felt about that. I had grown to feel something for a man I thought was called Arrick, but knowing Arrick’s position as a rebel commander, I hadn’t let myself consider a future with him. Now that I knew that same man was Taelon…

There was relief that I hadn’t fallen for a true rebel. But there was also something else. Something like grief. I couldn’t explain it. And honestly, I didn’t even want to try. I simply wanted to take a bath, go to sleep, and pretend that my problems didn’t exist.

The servants, a tall man and a short, squat woman, led us up silver-carpeted staircases and down corridors with more sapphire chandeliers and seastone candelabra. At last, we came to a set of doors that led to apartments.

Of course, Oliver and I would be separated. That only made sense. Especially since he was a common male and I was a royal female.

But it had been two months that we’d slept side by side. We’d kept watch over each other at night and pressed against each other in the cold. He had protected me. And I had protected him. And before we ever set out on this journey we had only been a wall away from each other.

When the woman opened the door to my chambers, my heart thumped in protest. I couldn’t be separated from Oliver. He was the only thing I knew for certain. He was my only friend. My only real ally.

I turned to him as he crossed the hallway. “This is strange, Oliver the Silent.”

He rubbed his eyes and fought through a yawn. “But, my dear Tessana, in this too, we shall prevail.” Then he stuck his tongue out at me.

Apparently, I was the only one that felt any sentimentality toward our quest.

Crossing the threshold into my own rooms, I felt a little of what Oliver must have felt. The guest chambers were as stylish as the rest of the palace. In the center of one room sat an enormous four-poster bed. The bedding was of the finest silk, embroidered in Soravale’s colors. The furniture was crafted from the gleaming black cedars just across the border.

A massive seastone fireplace took up one wall. A fire had already been started and made the room warm and inviting.

The main room opened up to a balcony that overlooked the Crystal Sea. The Soravalian palace was built directly into the cliffs so that the balcony reached out over the water itself. And the sparkling salted mist danced across the horizon, making it shimmer, making