Curse of the Cruel and Lovely : Allied Kingdoms Academy 3 Read online

  Curse of the Cruel and Lovely

  Allied Kingdoms Academy 3

  J.M. Kearl

  Curse of the Cruel and Lovely

  Allied Kingdoms Academy 3

  By J.M. Kearl

  Copyright J.M. Kearl 2021

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by: Janie Hannan Kearl

  Contents

  Also by J.M. Kearl

  1. Visteal

  2. Visteal

  3. Visteal

  4. Visteal

  5. Zyacus

  6. Visteal

  7. Zyacus

  8. Visteal

  9. Zyacus

  10. Visteal

  11. Visteal

  12. Zyacus

  13. Visteal

  14. Visteal

  15. Zyacus

  16. Visteal

  17. Zyacus

  18. Visteal

  19. Visteal

  20. Zyacus

  21. Visteal

  22. Zyacus

  23. Visteal

  24. Visteal

  25. Visteal

  26. Zyacus

  27. Visteal

  28. Visteal

  29. Zyacus

  30. Visteal

  31. Visteal

  32. Zyacus

  33. Visteal

  34. Visteal

  About the Author

  Also by J.M. Kearl

  Also by J.M. Kearl

  Allied Kingdoms Academy

  Curse of Blood and Shadow

  Curse of the Fae Moon

  Curse of the Cruel and Lovely

  Curse of the Night

  RISE Trilogy

  RISE

  WRATH

  RIVAL

  RISE: The Complete Trilogy

  Allora Knightstar: Sky Fae

  Born of Sky

  Crown of Sky

  1

  Visteal

  The Fae would have us believe they’re simply beautiful, lovely beings but I’d only been in their realm for an hour and the truth slipped through their well-manicured cracks. They pranced about with smiles and bows, offering pretty words and kind gestures to each other. But behind their lithe bodies and strangely perfect eyes, malice lurked.

  After making a deal with Prince Helios to save my people by coming to this realm, he told us to trust him. I didn’t trust him much more than I trusted Astaroth Nightfrost. And I trusted the Winter Prick as much as I trusted a blood-crazed vampire not to bite.

  After stepping through the portal, we’d walked through their blazing hot landscape for a while before anyone spoke to me. All had saved their speech for Helios, their Summer Court Prince.

  “Have a Summer Apple,” offered a tall Fae girl with marmalade hair that reminded me of the sun. In her hand, she held a golden fruit with hints of orange. My dry mouth watered at the sight of it. She inched it closer, enticing me.

  “Did you understand me, human?” she asked, wide doe eyes playing innocent. “Eat the apple.”

  “I understood you fine,” I said, keeping one hand on the hilt of my sword. Although it looked as delicious as any sweet, crisp apple would to a hungry girl, something—no, not something, she—set a warning off in my head. Why did she want me to take it so bad?

  I wiped the sweat from my brow with my sleeve. The heat made me long for a cool gust of wind, especially in my long-sleeved black uniform. Why hadn’t I anticipated that Summer Court would be hot? Palm trees lined the path I walked, casting a little shade but not enough.

  Zyacus was ahead talking with Helios, Aric, and Taz. None of them had noticed I’d been stopped. I glanced around at all the Fae watching this girl and me. They sat at the edge of lavish ponds with white swans slipping through the water. Many gathered near a fountain made of pure gold shaped as a Fae woman holding a bird on her finger. If it wouldn’t have been wildly inappropriate, I would have dashed over there and dived in.

  White gazebos littered the area with Fae lying in hammocks while pixies attended to their every need. Their conversations carried on but their eyes were pinned to the two of us.

  It was they who truly made me hesitant to take the apple. They waited for something. Had they dared her to speak to me? To offer me fruit? All Helios had said was that Fae liked games and they liked tricks. “Immortality is boring otherwise.” From then on he’d only spoken of the faerie courts and their leaders, who was an ally and who was the enemy. I considered them all enemies. The only allies I had here were the three boys I brought with me.

  “It is imprudent to refuse an offering from a Fae, human. Take a bite of the apple.” The girl’s white smile broadened, and although she tried to look sweet, I only saw a serpent. Perhaps many of the humans here were slaves or thought of as less than, but I wouldn’t be pushed around.

  “No, thank you.” I walked by her and quickened my pace. How have none of the boys noticed I’ve fallen so far behind? As I was about to spell directly to them, a nearby boy with raven hair and rust-colored eyes moved into my path, distracting me. His coppery brown skin almost had a glow about it.

  “Accept the gift or suffer the consequences for disobeying your Fae Lords.”

  Consequences for disobeying? “You’re certainly not my Lord and neither is she.” I gripped my sword handle tighter, ready to pull it out if necessary. My magic buzzed, creating a cooling sensation along my skin as ice crept to my fingertips.

  His lovely face pulled into a sneer. His hand flashed out and I smacked it away.

  “Don’t touch me,” I growled.

  Gasps from the crowd made me suddenly nervous. Who had I just smacked? The look of shock on his face told me he’d never been struck by a human, or maybe not by anyone before.

  “You must have a death wish,” Apple Girl said from behind me. She grabbed my sleeve and tore it at the seam of my shoulder. “Oh even better, a Winter wench.”

  My eyes fell to the Winter tattoo on my arm. I wasn’t Winter. I was Delhoon. I gritted my teeth and swung at her. She ducked under my punch and shoved me, throwing me into the Fae boy.

  With a wicked grin, he grabbed the hem of my collar. “Maybe we should see what else is under this strange attire.”

  Everyone nearby laughed.

  “Yes, please do,” another boy said, gliding toward us.

  Hot anger flooded my body and I shocked him with an electric volt. Take that, prick.

  He hissed and jerked away. “How dare you attack me?”

  “How dare you!” I roared. “Touch me again and I’ll—”

  “That is quite enough!” Helios barked. He shoved his way in between us and grabbed ahold of me. “This human is my personal guest. Leave her be.”

  The Fae who’d accosted me, dropped his eyes to my bare forearm where the Winter Prick had left me branded. Probably wondering why a human girl branded by the Winter Court would be the guest of the Summer Prince. Then he stepped to the side, glaring and angry but neither he, nor the apple girl, made another move against me.

  I said nothing further and neither did they so I hurried to Zyacus’s side. He looked like he was about ready to shift into a wolf and rip the heads off each one of them.

  I wanted to ask what had taken them so long to notice I was under attack, but instead I turned on He
lios. “Explain why Apple Girl and her boyfriend back there would demand I eat an apple and then try to punish me for disobeying them? I didn’t come here to be treated like a slave.”

  Helios’s eyes drifted down the path to the pair who glided back toward their spot near the fountain. “Your kind isn’t always treated with respect here. It’s something I am working to change.”

  “You’re not doing a good job,” I snapped and rested my hand on my sword.

  “As I said, I am working on it,” he replied in a light tone. “Nothing moves at a fast pace in Faerie. If it did we’d already be under attack by Winter today since we backed out of the ritual. I’ve studied your realm. Your kind is impulsive and hasty, but here anger doesn’t boil over. It simmers for years.”

  … Years? Could I be here for years? I couldn’t. I had to get out of here as fast as possible.

  He marched down the path waving for us to follow. “You will learn of this soon enough. You’ll be schooled in everything there is to know about the Fae and our courts to prepare for the competition. I’d also advise you to never eat or drink anything that is not served at my banquet or given to you directly from me. Once you’re in Winter you’ll need to be even more careful. Trust no one.”

  I knew something was wrong with the apple… wait, competition? “Did you mean to say competition?”

  Helios kept his eyes straight ahead. Was he avoiding me? Or was I getting paranoid? “Did I say competition?”

  “Yes,” I said slowly.

  “We’ll teach you all we can to blend in at Winter so you can get close to the king.” It was as if he recited lines he’d said in front of the mirror a hundred times.

  Maybe it was my growing anxiety but I felt like he was keeping something from me. Zyacus and I shared a look. I wondered if he thought something was off too. “So I take a couple lessons on how to sneak into Winter Court and kill the King. Simple enough.” I knew it wouldn’t be but maybe if I said it out loud enough it would be real. There had to be a reason why he hadn’t been assassinated yet. And if Astaroth wanted him dead so bad why didn’t he just do it? Maybe he just didn’t want to be the one to murder his own father but having met the Winter Prick, I highly doubted that was his reason.

  Helios laughed. “Not exactly simple. If we could kill him, we wouldn’t need you, Princess.”

  There was something missing in what Helios had been saying. “What makes him so hard to kill?”

  “I know you’re eager to learn, but all in due time. I need you to meet my father and the seer.”

  Nervous butterflies bounced around in my belly. Maybe this would be a mistake, maybe I wouldn’t be this girl and we could go home. But if they weren’t certain would they have risked angering Winter?

  A castle made of reddish sandstone came into view. Like everything else here it was surrounded by palm trees, ponds and lavish flower gardens. Small creatures I’d never seen hopped, skittered, and flew about. Rabbits with horns, birds that looked to be part feline. It was all fascinating until one bird-thing landed on a beautiful red petaled flower and it snapped closed, consuming the poor bird.

  Stay away from the Fae and their plants, got it.

  The boys had been quiet. Like me they watched everything around them with caution. We walked up what felt like five hundred steps and when we finally reached the top, huge golden doors with an embossed sun pulled in as we approached. Two men in tan attire stood with golden staffs.

  “This is her?” a voice boomed from the top of the massive staircase dominating the center of the entryway. It came from a male Fae in a white sleeveless robe. We stared at him in silence as he glided down the steps as if on air and with a huge, almost comedic grin. The crown on his head looked like branches from a tree had been seamed together and painted a glossy white. His hair was golden blond and in many ways, he looked like Helios, except his eyes. They were like the ocean, shifting from green to blue.

  “This is King Venos, my father.” Helios bowed when the king hit the last step.

  I glanced over to the boys on either side of me. We shared a nod and quickly bowed to him out of respect. This was his castle and court, not ours.

  “My, my, you certainly look like the drawing. Gwindola even painted it. I’ll have to show you.” He waved at someone then nodded. “When my son said he had found the girl from the prophecy I didn’t know if it could be real. Of course, we’ve been looking throughout the years but there are so many kingdoms in your realm.” He chuckled. “I guess meddling in human affairs paid off.”

  I smiled, unsure how to respond to that. There were only four kingdoms on our continent. I guess there had to be more beyond the oceans. The merfolk rarely spoke of anyone.

  And as far as meddling, I’d put together that they were involved with the vampires in Collweya and had likely been the ones to pay them to attack the academy but I never knew why. It wouldn’t be diplomatic for me to just come out swinging either so I kept my suspicions to myself.

  King placed his hands behind his back. “Helios, please fetch Gwindola to affirm that this is without a doubt the human girl.”

  The Summer Prince nodded and disappeared in an instant.

  When he finally let me speak, I said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, King Venos. I am Visteal, Princess of Delhoon.”

  He beamed. “What a lovely—” His eyes dropped to my Winter tattoo. He scrambled backward with a hiss. “What is that?” He snapped his fingers as he backpedaled. “Winter imposter!” Guards seemed to come from everywhere surrounding us with their sharp tipped spears. Holy phoenix, this was a bad idea.

  2

  Visteal

  My heart pounded as a shot of terror ripped through me. Was he going to kill us? All this talk of me being the one wiped out in a moment. Where was Helios when we needed him? I should have never trusted him. What had I gotten us into? I inched closer to Zyacus to grab his hand when he went for his sword. “You’ll get us killed,” I breathed.

  Before we started a battle with about a hundred Fae, we had to try to talk ourselves out of this mess.

  “What do we do?” Taz’s golden eyes darted wildly. The four of us moved back-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder. My instinct was to start fighting but I had to push that down. There had to be a way out of this. There’d been a mistake.

  In a low voice, Aric said, “Make a run for it?”

  I shook my head. “We can explain—”

  “Take these human imposters to the dungeon!” The King had moved to the back of his crowd of guards and stood a few steps up the staircase to oversee.

  I swallowed hard. “There has been a misunderstanding,” I said, barely managing to keep my voice from shaking.

  “She is not a Winter imposter.” Zyacus’s voice drew out loud and clear over the noise of the guards. “If she were here to harm you, do you think she’d have the tattoo on full display for all to see?”

  “Only a Winter wench would try to trick us. I will not take the risk,” the King boomed. “Away with them!”

  Here they were calling me a Winter wench again. That nickname had to go. I raised my hands up to show surrender. “Do not fight them,” I hissed to the boys. “Once Helios is back, he’ll explain. This is a mistake.”

  And if for whatever reason we had to, it would be simple for us to escape prison cells. We had our magic. The harder part would be getting out of Faerie and back to our own realm. None of us could open a portal. I might need the Winter Prick after all.

  A handful of guards threw black sacks over our heads, bound our hands with leather straps and herded us through the winding halls of the castle.

  “So why aren’t we escaping?” Aric asked.

  “Shut your mouth, scum,” barked a deep-voiced guard. “Or I’ll remove your head from your shoulders.”

  I was itching to take a swing at that guard but I had to restrain myself.

  Once we descended a flight of stairs and it smelt of damp earth and piss, I knew we had reached the dungeons. The urine scent was strong
enough to make me want to gag. The squeal of metal grinding stirred anxiety in my belly. It sounded like a prison cell door swinging.

  A hard shove on my back sent me flying forward. I tucked and rolled, used magic to break the bonds on my wrists then tore the hood off my head. The boys came tumbling in right after me. The door slammed shut.

  The cell we’d been tossed into was one of many, maybe even hundreds. Although the dim torchlight on the stone wall outside the bars wasn’t enough for me to see how far the cages went. Any other prisoners were too far away to make out anything but dark outlines.

  One of the guards stuck a key in the lock and twisted. “You better pray to your gods. You’ll be meeting them soon.” He puckered his lips at me and then laughed. When he turned to the other guards he said, “Come on, they aren’t going anywhere.”

  That’s what you think. We could leave at any time. Maybe they didn’t know we could use magic? Maybe kirune didn’t exist here and they’d have no way to suppress our abilities. What a gift that would be. I stood and leaned against the stone wall.

  Zyacus gave me a hard look. “We need to get out of here. Helios betrayed us,” he whispered.

  I knew the boys wouldn’t be patient but I had to believe I hadn’t been brought here for nothing. Why the charade? “We don’t know that yet,” I murmured. “Why would he go through all the trouble of bringing us here just to betray us? He stopped the ritual to start a war with Winter. Why would he have done that?”