Reign (Roam Series, Book Six) Read online

  Reign

  Roam Series, Book Six

  By

  Kimberly Stedronsky

  Reign (Roam Series, Book Six)

  Kimberly Stedronsky

  Text copyright © 2013 Kimberly Stedronsky

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

  Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission from the author.

  To my own Meena

  Thank you for a lifetime of friendship

  Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

  -Socrates

  Prologue

  “Your sentence is death.”

  Troy’s words clawed through my body, chilling my blood like instant hypothermia.

  “Troy-…,”

  “Do not speak to me,” he snarled, rushing at me too quickly. I couldn’t look away; I could only endure his face in my face, his lips against my lips, and his blind fury.

  His vehemence destroyed my resolve.

  “You whored yourself to my own brother, and to my knight, and now you tell me… that this bastard…,” he wrung his hands in the direction of my stomach as he seethed, “is not mine? And you wish to beg from me? You ask me for mercy?”

  I tried to steady my breathing, searching for Logan.

  The crowd in the great hall watched the trial, fascinated with the horrible tragedy unfolding before them. Logan met my eyes, once, before turning away.

  I was betrayed.

  In the end, he betrayed me. The one person I trusted almost as much as West, who I believed in, who I gave everything to.

  I let my eyes fill with tears, remembering the way he’d touched me, and kissed me, and made love to me in my darkest hour.

  Bringing me back to life.

  “I hate you,” I cried, letting the tears fall down my cheeks. I could see the pain slash across his handsome face, just for a second, before his stoic mask of indifference returned. “You coward. You should have joined him in the castle the first time we were stuck there. I’d much rather remember you forcing me than me just giving myself to you. I hate you, I hate you,” I fell to my knees, sobbing.

  West was led into the great hall at that moment, struggling against the guards and chains. “Roam-…,”

  “Silence!” Troy roared, and I bent over my rounded stomach, holding West’s child in my arms.

  “Please don’t kill me,” I shook my head, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of my gown. “You can’t kill an innocent baby, Troy. I am so sorry. I am sorry for what I’ve done to you, and how I’ve hurt you. Please… please let me make this right-…,”

  “Roam!” West fought his chains until blood streaked down his arms.

  “You think I have no pride? That I can just accept you back into my kingdom, my bed, my arms?” Troy paced, and I nodded, reaching for him.

  “No! I know you have pride… but I need you… not West, not your brother… just you, Troy, my love... it’s always been you.”

  He caught my face in his hands, cruelly gripping my chin and roaring in my face. “You horrible bitch. You have hurt me with your lies. I will see you hang, but so will my brother, and my knight. And then they will hang with you.”

  The crowd exploded. Logan burst to his feet as guards flanked him, taking him into custody.

  My God.

  Logan and West were to die.

  I met West’s eyes from across the hall, and his expression fell.

  I knew his look. I knew every look on my husband’s familiar face. I’d known him for nineteen years of my life, and now, I would die in front of him…

  For the last time.

  The prophecy… end.

  The very beginning…

  I’d sentenced us all to death.

  Chapter One

  Eva

  “Eva.”

  I stirred, slowly opening my eyes. I’d slept, kneeling, with my face on my arms and my fingers touching Violet’s. My body resisted movement, having spent who knows how long folded in half on the cold, stone altar.

  “Hmn?”

  “Come, love. You must rest.”

  “I’m not leaving her.” He glanced at the guard before moving toward me. They blocked him, but I raised my hand, turning a circle and forcing their swords to the ground. My frequency screamed through the air, and they flinched. “I’ll behead both of you double-crossing dickheads if you don’t let him come to me.” Queasiness settled in my stomach, and I resisted the urge to cover my mouth.

  The guards, terrified, nodded. Will dropped to my side, gathering me into his arms.

  “Just a little sleep and you have such control of your magic. You need to rest to strengthen your power.”

  I remembered only hours earlier, as I pulled from all of the music and magic that I possessed and sent my parents and Logan away. Truly, I had no idea where I’d sent them- a past life, back into time, or even to which world. The confusion, the desperation, and the hopelessness of the moment had forced my hand at a magic that I wasn’t taught yet how to use.

  When they disappeared, the fountain in the ceiling, a sort of never-ending waterfall, closed in the middle of the great hall. I had collapsed into Will’s arms, begging him to take me to Violet. Christopher was a mess, kicking and fighting the traitorous guards.

  “Where’s Christopher?”

  “He is below, in the dungeons.” He lowered his eyes. “I have spent the last hours trying to speak with my sister. Meredith is beyond madness. Revenge has taken over her logic.”

  I cringed, narrowing my eyes. “I have no idea what I’m doing, Will,” I whispered, pressing my face into the warmth of his neck. “I don’t know where I sent them. I don’t know how to bring them back.”

  His hand lingered at my waist, and his lips searched for mine. “You must protect yourself, my love,” he whispered, his fingertips tracing under the base of my tee-shirt, over my bare stomach.

  “Will,” I sighed, exhaling his name into his kiss. “I don’t know how to turn back time,” I admitted, reaching for a lock of Violet’s hair. I curled the blonde tendril between my fingertips. “I just need to heal her.”

  He tenderly prodded my cheekbone, and I winced. Only hours had passed since Meredith had slapped me, and my mortal body had yet to repair itself. “You must heal.” He reached into his coat and removed the pink Adarna bird feather, glancing sideways. One guard was gone, and I knew he’d run with his tail between his legs to find Eric. “You will heal, and you will sleep. You need strength, Eva,” he added, cradling me in his arms. “Our heartbeats are numbered now.”

  I sighed, accepting the feather. “She’ll destroy this if she finds it.”

  “Use it quickly.”

  Lifting the feather in the air, I glanced down at my sister.

  I would never understand why black was associated with the color of death. Death was white, even on the darkest toned skin. Death was cold, taut, and bloodless.

  Breathless.

  Her ashen face quickened my heartbeat.

  “Grandfather said… I could use it on others,” I sat up, fully aware that I was being watched by the other guard. “Maybe I can heal her, Will-…,”

  His inward sigh, so full of sympathy, hurt my heart. “She has passed, my love.”

  I shook my head defiantly. “No… no. I have to try. But… what if she comes back… different?” I thought of the possibilities and shuddered, trying desperately to focus and make a decision.

  Will gave me a mournful glance.

 
Centering, I sat up straight.

  Do it.

  I waved the feather slowly, beginning at her forehead and dragging over her body. By the time I reached her feet, Eric burst through the doors, sending the feather flying from my hand.

  Will remained still, but the moment a guard grabbed for his arm, I watched as my husband ducked, lowered, and launched.

  The guard’s sword slid across the stone and he was on his back. Will pounded his face into a bloody pulp before Eric or the other guard could restrain him.

  I stared my husband, astounded.

  “There is only so much that William can take before he becomes the animal that I met in the dungeons,” Eric chuckled. “Time to make yourself at home in the cells once again.”

  “I’m going with him,” I tried to cast small, weak spells to try to loosen Eric’s grip, but only grew more nauseated with each attempt at magic.

  “Eva, I will tailor your punishments to meet your fears.” Eric promised, turning to me.

  “I fear nothing,” I spat, fighting his hold.

  He held my face steady, diving into my eyes. The chill of his gaze seeped through my veins. “Though your title places you above all others… you do fear those heights.” He leered. “And your husband’s mortal life.”

  Fuck. I exhaled angrily as hot tears slid down my cheek. Fucking fuck! Don’t stand here and cry!

  His eyes sailed past my shoulder, and a mask of artificial pity fell over his eyes as he twisted his mouth. “You continue to weep for her.”

  He released me, and I turned to my sister, fully expecting to find her breathing. Holding my hand over her neck, I found no pulse, and her skin so very, very cold.

  There are boundaries to magic, I could hear my grandfather saying, long ago in my childhood dreams.

  I don’t know magic as well as I know weapons. I know how to fight. I need strength.

  I cried out, so angry, so exhausted and desperate. My hand flew into the air, and my frequency began. With a simple wave of Eric’s hand, my arm was once again wrenched behind my back.

  He plucked the feather from the air. “Where did you get this?”

  I sneered. “The bird gave it for me. Only I can control it.”

  He tucked the feather into his coat and turned to me as Will was dragged from the room by more than five guards. “And I now control you. All is in order.”

  I turned back to Violet, unable to fight the burning tears.

  “I need to rest, or I can’t work on bringing them back. And I can’t rest without Will, without knowing that he and Christopher are safe.”

  Eric took a step closer, the yellow-gold color deep within his eyes taking over his pupils. I looked up at him, wishing I was at least three inches taller.

  “You’ll rest when I tell you to rest,” he slid his fingers over my cheek, and my weak body instantly gave in to the dizzying rapture of his touch. “Good-night, Eva.”

  I closed my eyes, surrendering to the inevitable sleep.

  Chapter Two

  Roam

  Where is my mirror?

  I blinked twice, focused on my hands.

  My hands.

  Snow danced over my fingertips, melting each starry flake that made contact with my skin. My gown, heavy, white, and trimmed with gray fur, would have kept me warm even in the thralls of the coldest Ohio winter. The boots peeking out from beneath the gown were blue, lined with white fur. I narrowed my eyes at a distant memory that wouldn’t quite surface.

  “Roamina.”

  I stood near a lake of glass, its frosted surface skewing my reflection. Her voice reached inside my chest and stilled my pounding heart.

  Turning slowly, I prayed for the truth. Not another dream, not a past life, not history… Reality, standing to my left, with her melodic voice and her loving smile.

  Please. Please.

  As I shifted my eyes to her voice, I was no longer a thirty-six-year-old married woman, with two children, a career, and a predestined life.

  I was a daughter. I was her daughter.

  “Mom?”

  My mother, with her smiling, russet eyes, and heart-shaped face so like my own, approached me with her arms held out. “Mom?” She repeated, making a sound that I remembered from my childhood that indicated that she was amused. A small hum and a wayward smile. How easily I can remember her doing that now, even after all of these years…

  “Mother,” I corrected, collapsing into her arms.

  She held me, hushing as I cried. I cared nothing about the prophecy, or reality, or anything but the fact that after twenty-four years, I finally was hugging my mom again.

  How can this be? How can she look so much like my real mother?

  I thought about prophecies, and reincarnation, and destiny before finally giving up and thanking God for this moment.

  The last time I’d held my mom in my arms, I could feel every bone in her frail body. The final words she’s spoken to me still played on my mind, several times a day, especially at my weakest moments.

  Just breathe, Roam.

  Breathe.

  “Ah, my dear Roam, you shall be just fine,” she soothed, and I sputtered with tearful laughter, pressing my forehead head against her neck.

  She calls me Roam.

  “What is today?” I asked, beating away the first of my coherent thoughts.

  West.

  “’Tis the day we must part, my sweet,” she took a step back, running her hands over my hair. As she did, I watched the long strands separate between her fingertips, recognizing the same color that I was born with.

  “How old am I?” I touched my neck, my chest, looking down. Pert breasts, what I’d wished for in high school, made me realize that there was no way I was still thirty-six.

  “This, your sixteenth year, shall bring you love and happiness. Madreenon and Icepond shall be united, and together, an inexorable force.”

  I exhaled, refusing to let go of her hands but controlling the tears. “I am going to marry Troy.”

  My mother smiled, catching my chin lightly between her fingers. “Oh, I have heard so much of this Troy over the past weeks. Though I cannot journey with you now, I shall join you soon,” she promised, covering her stomach lightly.

  “Why can’t you come with me?” I asked, feeling every bit like a vulnerable, needy child. She turned us both toward an enormous, unfamiliar castle, and I did a double take as she answered me thoughtfully.

  “The pains come and go with the seasons, Roam. When I am well enough to travel, I will come to you.”

  Pains… I followed the path of her hand as she made small circles over her stomach.

  “Have you seen a doc… physician? What is your illness?” I demanded, turning to her. She smiled at me in confusion as I mentally ran through every possibility. Ulcers, ovarian cysts, acid reflux…

  Cancer.

  “Tsk, never mind. Today is your day. I know of your longing; I felt that same way for your father, awaiting our wedding day. You see, I too met your father before we were wed, and I too fell deeply in love with him. I am happy that you love this Troy so very much. I can rest knowing that you are safe and protected.”

  She clasped her hands over mine, leading me toward the castle.

  I long for Troy?

  The notion was sickening. I quickly gathered my thoughts.

  West… Eva, Christopher.

  Violet.

  I stopped in midstride, doubling over at the heartache. Where are they? Eva succeeded, I’m here, but where are West and Logan?

  “Roamina?” My mother gripped my elbow. “Are you ill?”

  “I… I need to get to Icepond,” I straightened, glancing around nervously. Where are my clothes? My jeans, my wedding ring… they should have traveled, as they did through the fountains. “When am I to leave?”

  “At sunrise. I pray the voyage is safe, and the sea is kind. The vessel from Icepond has already docked.”

  “Please come with me,” I begged, my eyes imploring. I held her fingers
to my cheek, closing my eyes at the memory of the swing set in our backyard. She would always ask me where I wanted to go, holding me still, and I’d respond ‘to the moon’ with a giggle. She’d release the swing, pushing me so high that I could touch the low branches of the overhanging oak trees with my bare toes.

  Could I walk away from her? Was this really my mother?

  “I am not well enough to travel, darling. Your father shall accompany you and see that you are-…,”

  “No, no,” I took a deep breath, my heartbeat slowing. I hadn’t felt this alert in a very long time, or this strong, and I wondered in the distinct feeling of youth in my veins. “Father… must stay. With you. I won’t leave you alone. I’ll be just fine,” I promised, repeating her words and forcing a smile.

  She peered at me, tilting her head slightly. “You are changed today, Roam. Your manner is unfamiliar.”

  “I’ve been me for a very long time,” I countered carefully, taking in every inch of her face for what I guessed would be the last time. “I’ll try to make you proud.”

  She laughed pleasingly, like tinkling bells at Christmas time. “Sweet Roamina, you have always made me proud. And sixteen years is not a very long time,” she teased, brushing the backs of her fingertips over my cold cheek.

  “No, it’s not. You’re right.”

  We reached the castle. The night circled around us as slowly as the snow fell, and the boisterous voices of men from inside the castle drew my attention. “The crew dines with us before the voyage.”

  “Why don’t we leave tonight?”

  Her secretive grin played over her lips as she lowered her voice. “I know that you are eager.” With a second thought, she tightened her hold on my hand. “Do you remember what I have told you, about your wedding night? You understand what is expected of you?”

  I turned and stared at a single, stone slab on the castle wall. My eyes traced each line, stopping slowly at all four corners.

  Troy.

  You are a woman; you are no longer a frightened, seventeen-year-old girl. You are a warrior, a mother, and are capable of enduring what may come. Find West, find Logan, gather weapons, and wait for Eva to return us to the present.