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

  “To fulfill a prophecy and gather warriors.” I gestured to Visteal who was speaking with Firo. “This is the human princess who will bring balance back to Faerie. The reason the blood moon ritual was called off.”

  His black eyes widened. “For certain?”

  I smiled. “For certain.”

  He sniffed near me. “What are you? Not entirely human.”

  It was strange to say I was anything but that. My entire life I was but a human, not even magic-born. “I can shift into a wolf and I use magic.”

  “And what are you to the Princess?”

  “I am her husband.” Another thing that was also new and somewhat strange to say.

  The half-man nodded slowly as if putting something together in his mind. “I will fight as will my brothers. Word has already traveled here. We’ve been expecting you.” He smiled. “A chance of equal treatment to the Fae is why we have come.”

  And here I was thinking he was surprised. “I hope that does come to pass for you all. The way we were treated when we first arrived was disgusting.”

  When a countless number had gathered, and we met with the Fae rulers. Visteal gave her speech. Much the same as the one she gave the Night Court. I shifted into a wolf to show them that side of me. The people marveled that a wolf and a vampire could get along. That two magic-born humans were with us. That Firo, the half Fae son of King Venos was joined too. But most of all they loved Visteal. She was the chosen one. They flocked to her. Some just wanted to touch her even if for a moment.

  To show off her magic she grew plants and vines. She also made it snow in a small area around us; the children laughed when they touched it. Those same kids brought her a crown made of flowers. It looked beautiful on her. I loved that she could be both delicate as those flowers and tough as steel.

  When Froststorm landed many ran to hide but they slowly crept out. Soon they touched her scales and marveled at her magnificence.

  A purple-haired half Fae looking girl had attached herself to Taz. She smiled and laughed at nearly everything he said. Every touch of his arm or play with his hair made him blush.

  Aric leaned toward me with his arms folded. “We’ll have to drag Taz to the next court. The boy finally has some attention.” Everyone there seemed to avoid Aric. They knew what he was but he didn’t let on that it bothered him.

  “We might have to drag him back to our world entirely,” I said with a laugh.

  Gideon chased butterflies with Pixie and no one spoke a cruel word. Not to us and not each other. Already I could see the balance happening.

  When we left Spring with their promise to join, we went to Autumn Court. The travel was a few days but not terrible. Rich, warm colors spread across every tree. The setting sun gave everything a golden glow. There was a slight chill in the air, enough I put on a long-sleeved top but I didn’t need anything more.

  Froststorm landed in a golden wheat field that shifted in a slight breeze. I hopped down and peered at the city below. Before we could even start walking, a battalion of at least a hundred soldiers crested the hill, with bronze chested armor and spears in hand. A man and a woman in burnt orange led them. Both wore golden crowns.

  Visteal landed beside me. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  Firo appeared next to her. “Well, it looks as if we won’t have to walk into the city this time.”

  Tensing a little, I gripped my sword’s handle. If they meant for this to be a friendly chat would they have brought so many soldiers? They were actively keeping us from entering their city. Spring Court welcomed us with open arms. “It looks as if we might have a problem.”

  They stopped, far out of range of Froststorm. Pixie fluttered near my shoulder. Rubbing her hands together she said, “We fight them?”

  “Um, no,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Come hither!” the King’s voice boomed.

  With his hands behind his back, holding on to a dagger, Firo started off.

  “Stay here Froststorm,” I said. Visteal and I hurried to catch up. “I thought you said Autumn court was friendly, Firo.”

  “I said they were civil.” He turned his head. “It’s quite different from friendly.”

  We lined up before the Autumn Court King and Queen. “We know why you have come,” the queen spoke to all of us but her roving eyes stopped on Visteal. “You are not welcome here. And if you do not leave we will be forced to take violent measures.”

  My blood felt hot suddenly and my inner wolf wanted to break loose. I had to keep it at bay. I couldn’t let my beast control me.

  Visteal took a step forward. “We didn’t come to fight. We came to—”

  The King leveled his spear at her. “Stay where you are, girl or I will shove this through your heart.”

  Visteal halted with her hands up.

  Body trembling, I pulled my sword, threw up my magical shield and in one swipe cut his spear in half then pressed my blade point to his throat. “If you threaten her again, it is you who will not have a beating heart.”

  The queen slammed her weapon against my shield and it bounced off. “And you’ll be next, wench,” I growled at her.

  The King’s Adam’s apple dropped and his weapon hit the ground. Their soldiers moved in a circle around us and Froststorm roared. I didn’t know if she would attack just yet but she was on the verge. Visteal and the boys moved in and we stood shoulder to shoulder, weapons drawn. Pixie flew forward and slapped the Queen on the cheek and then zipped back to me. As if we needed to provoke them further.

  “How dare you,” she hissed. My sword was still at the King’s throat so she didn’t move to attack but she wanted to.

  Visteal pointed at the King. “If you wish to cower here in your court while the rest of us take down a tyrant that is fine. But if you fight us now, I assure you, not even one of you standing here now will leave this field alive.” She held a massive ball of red energy sparking between her palms. If that thing let loose on these Fae, it would take at least ten down in one fell swoop. “And my friend will feed on the blood of your corpses.”

  I tried to hold back my smile but damn, Visteal was ruthless.

  “Back off!” the king shouted at his warriors.

  “Smart man,” I said but didn’t lower my weapon yet. “Now tell them to back off further and we will take our leave.”

  “You will never win against him,” the King spat. “He is too powerful. He cannot be killed. His armies will not fall.”

  “When we do win,” Visteal said. “All will look to the cowards in Autumn and turn their backs on you.”

  Sneering the Queen said, “You are a human girl not of this realm. You cannot speak for anyone.”

  Firo looked over his shoulder at the pair. “I can promise you she’s correct.”

  Wild eyed, the Autumn King shifted ever so slightly. “Firo, your kingdom needs our wheat. We nee—”

  “We will need nothing from you,” Firo said with a sly smile. “But you will need much from the rest of us. And when you come asking for it, it will not be there just as you won’t be there during the war.”

  “You can’t do that!” the Autumn King boomed.

  A single arrow bounced off Visteal’s shield and then with a mighty roar, Froststorm swiped one giant paw at the soldiers, sweeping maybe twenty of them into the air in one blow. Shit. Screaming and cries of pain filled the quiet. The Autumn King jabbed a dagger at me, I slammed my sword on it and he backpedaled disappearing into his crowd of soldiers. Metal against metal rang out as we clashed weapons against the Autumn Fae.

  The energy orb Visteal created propelled and exploded on impact, sending several soldiers flying. Aric savagely tore into a man with his teeth after slashing his throat open with a sword. Taz threw a myriad of spells and then started hacking and slashing.

  This was not the academy anymore. This was not training. This was kill or be killed. I had to think of them as nothing more than enemies. They were nothing more than the vampires I’d slaughtered at t
he end of last year.

  I blocked a sword coming down at me and blew the attacker back with a blast of energy. “Get out of here Pixie!” I shouted. She hovered nearby pulling at the ear of one of the Fae locked in a fight against Aric. Instead of listening she sunk her little teeth into the Fae’s flesh.

  I couldn’t worry about her. Steadying my breathing, I fell into a fighting mode that seemed too natural for me. Ducking under another weapon, I slashed at the Fae’s leg and then sent a bolt of lightning into him. His armor blackened where it struck and then I shoved my sword through his throat. Blood squirted out and hit me in the face. Unfazed, I pulled it and went to the next, hacking and slicing, killing three, four, five, six. I stopped counting.

  Froststorm chomped a mouthful of screaming Fae, but more of them kept coming up from their city. Even with a dragon, we could never win this battle; when one fell another took their place. Some of them had magic, some didn’t, none of them even came close to Nightfrost’s abilities. Most didn’t even compare to us or hadn’t been trained to use their magic in a battle like we had. Perhaps they had gotten lazy in their time of peace.

  Visteal had pulled her bow and launched arrow after arrow, each one exploding with magic, taking out several at once. Blasts of white light pushed from Firo’s palms, burning the Fae they hit the moment it touched their skin.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Taz hit the ground. A spear drove toward him. I threw out a shield which deflected the tip. His magical energy had to be running low or depleted. Chest heaving, he looked up at me with a silent thank you and shoved himself up.

  “We have to get out of here!” I yelled. A second later I was hit from behind by a heavy weapon that sent me flying onto my face. My back throbbed and gods, it felt like my spine had shattered. In shielding Taz, I’d let my own falter. I couldn’t move. It hurt to even take a breath. I focused on my shield so I couldn’t get hit again and chanted the healing spell. My back warmed as the magic took hold. I couldn’t express how lucky I was I had my magic stone or I’d never be able to heal myself.

  When the pain subsided enough I could move again I rolled over, and a hammer as large as my head slammed down against my magical shield. The man wielding it was at least seven and a half feet tall and monstrously muscular. Half his face looked like it had been burned. It was terribly scarred to the point his eyebrow had melted to cover his entire eye socket.

  “Get up, pretty boy,” he growled, slamming the hammer again. It bounced back up at him and he grinned. “You can’t hold that magic forever.”

  Appearus, instantly I was behind him and rammed my sword point at his back, it deflected and I growled. I wasn’t the only one with a magic shield apparently.

  With a deep laugh, he turned and swung. I ducked under the hammer, came up and slashed at his arm. My sword sliced clean through his forearm, and with the hand still clutching the hammer, it fell to the ground. Most couldn’t hold a magical shield for long and he was among the majority. The man roared, holding his stump with the other hand.

  I brought a ball of fire to my hand. “Maybe we can make the right side of your face match the left.” In a rage he ran at me and was met by a wall of flames. I didn’t let him suffer long.

  I looked up to see Visteal standing right in front of me, horrified. “Are you hurt?”

  We had a small window because most of the Fae had focused their attention on Froststorm now. She roared a stream of ice that froze a line of soldiers. But their attacks started to get through. Her side streamed lines of red. I had promised to protect her.

  “I’m fine,” I grabbed her arm and dragged her with me to snatch Taz with my other hand. “We have to leave. They’re going to kill Froststorm.”

  “Firo, we’re leaving!” Visteal shouted.

  Aric finished snapping the neck of a soldier. I silently wished I had the brute strength he did. I was stronger than most but not vampire strong. “To the dragon!”

  Snatching Pixie out of the air, Aric nodded, and we all appeared on Froststorm’s back. Visteal and I both surrounded her in a shield and she lifted into the air.

  “Why would they fight us so fiercely just to not fight against Winter?” Taz asked, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

  “They had to have been bribed,” Firo said, adjusting his long hair.

  “What if they march with Winter and don’t stay out of the war at all?” Aric asked, looking like a nightmare with blood dripping down his face. Some from battle, much from the drinking of blood no doubt.

  Visteal suddenly grabbed my shirt. “Where is Gideon?!”

  30

  Visteal

  I frantically searched every inch of Froststorm but my cat was not on our ride and we were rising far and fast. I couldn’t leave him. Appearus. My boots hit the ground and I ran back toward the battlefield. “GIDEON!” I screamed.

  He had to be hiding. Once Froststorm attacked he would have gotten out of the way. I stopped and turned in a circle. “Gideon!” My racing heart pounded against my ribs when I couldn’t see him. An arrow shot by a distant soldier landed a few feet in front of me. I would kill them all if Gideon were… No, I couldn’t even think about it. That cat had survived way too much to have found his end here and now.

  My magic roared in me with the force of a hundred dragon’s breathing fire. I had barely contained it during the fight. Barely managed to channel it into attacks. It wanted to lash out and destroy, and I worried I would hurt one of my companions by accident if I couldn’t keep control. How did my mother handle this power so well? How did Astaroth?

  I jogged toward the Autumn soldiers, many were gathering their injured but when they saw me coming they turned with their weapons at the ready. Then a white tail poked out from the wheat and I froze. “Gideon?”

  “Fear not, I am here,” Sir Gideon said and leaped out of the golden stalks into my arms. Crimson marred his white and black striped fur near his shoulder.

  “Oh, Gideon, you’re alive!” I squeezed him and kissed the top of his head. Before the soldiers could catch up to me, I turned to look for Froststorm.

  Zyacus stood on the ground not far off with his arms crossed. “What makes you think you can disappear and come down here by yourself?”

  “I had to get Gideon,” I said as if it should be obvious.

  Maybe a quarter-mile away, Froststorm had set down again and waited on us. Glancing over my shoulder I half smiled when the Autumn Fae had halted their advance. They didn’t want to fight unless they had to. Dragon’s breath, it felt kind of good to be feared.

  “Well you have him now. I need to heal up Froststorm. Let’s go.”

  When we both stood beside the dragon, Zyacus got to work on her major wounds. Taz and Aric kept their sights on the soldiers a few fields away. I combed through Gideon’s fur. “Where are you hurt? I can’t really see anything.”

  “Oh, the blood is not mine.” He sounded quite proud. “It was splatter from one of the Fae. I will be needing a bath I am afraid.” He hopped out of my arms. “I cannot believe you all tried to leave me.”

  “If you didn’t notice we were incredibly outnumbered,” I said. “You should have stayed closer.”

  “So I could get trampled, stabbed, charred, or frozen by that one?” His eyes lifted to Froststorm. “I have better survival instincts than that.”

  With a hand resting at his belt, Firo approached me. “You’re good, Visteal. But you could be better. You rival your mother in power but you’re not there yet. I was at the battles during the second war when she fought.”

  I nodded. I knew I wasn’t to her level yet. “I’m still learning.”

  He lifted a golden eyebrow. “You will need to learn faster if you are going to fight Valefrost.”

  “Astaroth said he and I are matched in power, and he is stronger than his father.”

  He tilted his head slightly. “Yes, but Valefrost has thousands of years of battle training. In sheer magical strength he might not overpower you but he will have skill and t
echnique honed to near perfection.”

  I hadn’t let the stress of my task get to me in the past few days, but now I felt sick. Clenching my teeth together, I walked past him and helped Zyacus finish healing Froststorm.

  When the palm trees and sandy deserts appeared below, I knew we were back in Summer Court. All of us were worn down from traveling and the battle, so much of the ride was spent in silence. When we landed at the palace grounds, I threatened the guards with their lives if they touched Froststorm. She waded into a nearby lake and laid down. Her head poked out of the water but the rest of her was covered. She didn’t like the heat.

  It was different walking into the palace this time. This time I had power and sway. No one threatened us or even looked our way. I even saw the Apple Girl with marmalade hair pass by and she averted her gaze. This time they knew I was the prophesied princess and not someone to mess with. Ugh I wish I had established this authority from the start.

  Firo commanded a pair of servants to lead us to a special guest wing where we could each have our own rooms. After climbing a couple sets of stairs, we came to a long hallway. With a wave, Taz disappeared through a doorway. Aric took the room next to his, and Zyacus and I one across the hall from them.

  “If you need anything do not hesitate to ask,” the servant said to me before I stepped inside. I’d seen her before. She was human.

  “I will, thank you.” It was nice to be myself again. Not having to worry about my Fae choice of words, starting with: never use thank you.

  The first thing I did was strip off my dirty, bloodied clothes. I had turned my back to Zy and I kept on my bralette and undergarments. Even though we were married now and he’d seen all of me, I felt… shy. The one and only time we’d been intimate seemed a little far away. It had been several days and it wasn’t like we had any time alone traveling with the boys, a cat, a pixie, and a dragon.