Saving the Fae (Daughter of Light Book 3) Read online

  Saving the Fae

  Daughter of Light Book Three

  Leia Stone

  Copyright © 2020 by Leia Stone

  Cover by KD Richie (Story Wrappers)

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  Dedication

  I’m running out of people to dedicate to.

  To Jessica.

  There must be plenty of Jessica’s out there.

  Chapter 1

  My chest felt like it might explode. It was so tight I could barely breathe.

  Liam killed my mom.

  My soulmate killed my mother!

  Pain sliced through my heart as I remembered her lying there, bleeding out in the bathtub.

  It was because of Liam, not his father…

  Light burst from my palms, and the walls of the hut shook. The Winter King had just taken all of Faeries’ crystals, but I’d managed to save one. And now, Liam and his men were gone, and my people needed me. But I couldn’t control my grief and anger well enough to leave this hut and see them. I couldn’t be what they needed right now.

  “Lily!” Elle’s voice rang throughout the village as sobs wracked my chest.

  Light shot from my palms, collapsing part of the roof as I struggled to contain my power.

  “Lily!” Elle burst into the space, covering her eyes against the glowing sunlight that engulfed me.

  “He killed her!” I wailed.

  I slept with him… I had sex with the man who murdered my mother. I was going to be sick.

  “What?” Elle looked confused. She held her hands out as if approaching a rabid dog.

  “Just breathe, Lil,” she cooed.

  I shook my head as light continued pulsing from my palms in short bursts. “Liam. He admitted to killing my mother,” I growled as the anger became too much. Saying it out loud, to my best friend, it broke me.

  Her face fell, and she sagged against the wall. “No… he wouldn’t.”

  “He did!” I pounded my fist on the ground, and chunks of dirt went flying along with more light. I’d never been so angry in all my life.

  “Maybe there’s an explanation,” she hedged, pulling herself up off the wall.

  My gaze snapped to hers, and I must have looked murderous because she recoiled.

  “Elle.” My lower lip quivered as the rage dialed down and the grief ramped up. “I fell in love with him.” A whimper left my throat… “And he killed her.”

  Sobs wracked my body as Elle crossed the space and fell to her knees before me, pulling me into a tight embrace.

  “I’m… so sorry. How could he?” There was grief in her voice too, and it sent me over the edge.

  I couldn’t hold on to my power any longer. The light, the heat, it was suffocating me. With a cry, I aimed it at the far wall of the hut and let everything go.

  I just wanted to be free of this feeling. I just wanted to breathe.

  The light ignited the entire tent, and Elle held me as we both closed our eyes while I prayed I wouldn’t burn us up. I just couldn’t hold it together anymore. I didn’t care anymore… about anything.

  When the light finally stopped and the pressure on my chest was gone, I opened my eyes to see the entire hut had collapsed around us. Where there was once a muddy bog, there was now lush green grass covering the ground and hundreds of flowers. Even in my grief, my light magic hadn’t intended to do harm; it restored.

  When I raised my eyes, what I saw stole my breath. Half the village had gathered around and now fell to their knees, bowing their heads.

  Elle released me and helped me to stand before bowing her own head.

  Oh shit.

  My power display had just outed my royal lineage.

  No more hiding.

  The time to take up my royal birthright and be honest with Faerie was now.

  “Lily?” May, head hung low in respect, looked up at me with confusion.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “We’ve all been lied to… myself included.”

  As soon as I said it, the elders turned the corner, minus Maple. The elder had died protecting the crystals. Indra looked at everyone on their knees as shock marred her face. The same expression was worn by Rose and Aubin.

  “The Spring Queen lives!” I yelled and watched as Indra’s shock turned to anger. “She remains in a magical sleep until I can retrieve all twelve crystals.”

  There were gasps, and some fae even fell over as they processed what I said. “I… am… her biological daughter, the Princess of Spring.”

  I let that sink in. No one said a word; they just stared at me in shock, whispering among themselves. I went on, “Until the Queen wakes, it will be up to me to save us, and I will. I promise you that.”

  Rose and Aubin looked surprised at that, but Indra just glared at me, and I dared her with my gaze to say something to the contrary.

  Elle pulled her dagger and pointed it at the three elders. “Show respect to the Princess of Spring,” she declared.

  I stiffened at my bestie’s boldness.

  As elders, they wouldn’t need to kneel, but a head bow was customary from what little information I knew about royal lineage.

  Rose and Aubin immediately dipped their heads low while Indra’s nostrils flared as she gave the slightest of nods.

  “We must have missed the show.” Indra smiled. “Did you prove your lineage with a power display of sunlight magic?”

  Oh, she was going to test me? In this mood?

  Without thinking, I flicked my right wrist and sent a bolt of buttery yellow light right at her feet. She stumbled backward, wide-eyed, as the other fae gasped.

  I looked at my people on their knees in the dirt and shook my head. “Get up. Please. You don’t ever need to kneel to me again.”

  They looked unsure, but when May stood, they seemed to catch on. Indra was like a frozen statue of shock, hand clutched to her chest and face marred in surprise. As if she didn’t know. I just didn’t trust her anymore, not after reading my mother’s journal.

  Elle leaned into me. “What do we do about the crystals? We have no army.”

  I swallowed hard. “We build our own army. Fuck Liam.”

  I stepped forward and pointed to three tall and lean looking farmers. “You three, grab a bow and arrows and man the river. If anything crosses it, kill it.”

  They blanched but nodded before leaving. Our protection dome was down, and the dark creatures of the forest would use that to their full advantage, I had no doubt.

  “You five!” I pointed at another group of fae who looked like they might be decent warriors. “You need to train with Trissa or Elle and learn to shoot a gun, understand?”

  One of them gasped. “A gun? That’s an Earth weapon.”

  I nodded. “And they will use them against us. We must fight in kind.”

  With some reluctance, they agreed and walked over to Elle who started to pull the gun off her hip and explain how it worked to them. The elders just watched me silently as I barked orders and put the entire villa
ge to work. I kept sneaking glances at Indra, daring her to disagree with me or try to take charge, but she kept silent.

  Trissa popped up beside me. “What do you need of me?” She bowed her head slightly.

  “Fetch Jasper.” I hadn’t seen the warlock since we got back from the Winter Court lands. “We’re going to war.”

  My heart hammered in my chest as I fought to process everything. We had one crystal.

  Fucking one.

  Liam murdered my mom and took his army with him when he left, and it was up to me to get the eleven crystals back before Faerie fell for good or the dark creatures from the woods picked us off, one by one.

  When I called Rose over, she approached me hesitantly. “I need you to prepare Maple’s celebration of life. I might not be able to attend but—”

  Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I understand, and I would be honored.”

  She left, and I was about to call over someone else when Jasper spoke from behind me.

  “You rang?” Jasper appeared with Trissa at his side.

  Relief washed over me. “You didn’t leave.”

  He tipped his head. “I am loyal to you, Princess.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And our deal.”

  He grinned. “And our deal. I hear there is a nice, unused castle in the Fall Court. Maybe I’ll make that my lands to lord over.”

  Figured. “Yeah, well, we need to get the crystals back first.”

  Jasper rubbed the snake tattoo on his forehead. “Yes, Liam left with his brothers and the army.” Then, he winced. “He took the Sword of Night, too.”

  Yeah… he did.

  The one thing that would help us control his dad. It panged my heart for a minute that he took his brothers… Would they be safe out there on Earth? He didn’t trust me with his family? His dad had already kidnapped one of them… But it wasn’t my problem. I never said his brothers or the army had to go. I only told him that he had to go. He was a liar and a two-faced scum bag, and if I saw him out in the real world, trying to take my crystals, I’d kill him.

  Chapter 2

  I wanted to leave right then and start tracking the crystals, but the village was in shock over having a living royal… two for that matter. Word spread, and then they were calling for a coronation ceremony. Elle took a book from the elder library on royal protocols and read the entire thing, cover to cover, in an hour.

  I wanted to go out there and fight, get these crystals back or, at least, track them before they were hidden, but my people wanted leadership, and the elders were making me nervous. Aubin and Indra were whispering off on the sidelines. I wasn’t sure what they were plotting, but it couldn’t be good.

  Kira curled my hair while Elle set a wreath of flowers around each of my wrists.

  “So, they’re not crowning me Queen, right?” Nerves churned in my gut. The real Queen was sleeping. I was just a princess and didn’t even know I was one until recently.

  Elle held open her book, peering down at it. “In a moment of the current reigning Queen being indisposed, the princess can be crowned Acting Queen until the original monarch can carry out her duties.”

  Acting what?

  She must have seen the confusion cross my face.

  “You’re a temp Queen. Just until the real one wakes up.”

  I let out the breath I’d been holding. Okay. Temp Queen. I could do that.

  There was a knock on my front door, and Trissa opened it. She had been stationed at my door in full battle gear as if she expected the entire village to come after me now that it was public knowledge I was a royal.

  It was Jasper.

  “Come in!” I yelled over to him, and Trissa reluctantly let him pass.

  The warlock crossed the room and looked around at my living room, his gaze lingering on a scratch in the coffee table.

  “As your royal warlock advisor,” he drawled, “I came to give you some advice.”

  “Advice on getting the crystals back?” I perked up.

  He chuckled, clasping his hands, “No. Advice on keeping up appearances.” He waved around my modest childhood home.

  “What do you mean?” I gave him a glare.

  Taking a deep breath, he motioned again to the space around him. “Although this place is… charming, it’s not fit for a princess. You should have the elders move out of the Tree of Life home, and you should take up residence there with your guards.”

  Kira, Elle, and I all dropped our jaws.

  “You want her to kick the elders out of their home?” Kira snort-laughed.

  Was he trying to get me killed?

  Jasper looked at Kira like she was a speck on his shoe. “First of all, that’s not the elders’ home. It’s the Tree of Life prayer hall, or it used to be before the elders commandeered it.” He looked deadpan at me. “And secondly, yes, I expect you to protect the Queen and the Tree. How can you do that with those traitors living in there?”

  I blew out air through my teeth. So he knew what Indra was up to? Changing memories so that everyone in the village didn’t know of my lineage? Drugging the Queen with a sleeping potion. Caging my mom and cuffing Mara…

  Shit.

  Maybe he had a point… Why would I allow them to keep their titles and claim on the Tree of Life home?

  “The Tree of Life prayer hall has always been a holy place, owned by the crown,” Jasper informed me. I wanted to ask him how he knew all of this, but he wouldn’t answer me anyway.

  “He’s right,” Trissa acknowledged.

  Finally, they agreed on something.

  “I’ve always envied Rose’s room with the large stained-glass windows,” Elle said.

  I scoffed. “Seriously, you agree with him?”

  She nodded.

  “Me too,” Trissa called from the door. “I’ll take Aubin’s room, and I can protect you and the Queen better.”

  Her mention of the Queen… my biological mother, settled it for me. I didn’t want my first command as an acting royal to be kicking the elders out of their home, but I had to protect the Queen at all costs.

  “For the Queen, then.”

  Jasper clasped his hands together. “Please let me be the one to tell them.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You need to lie low. Go prepare for our trip. As soon as this coronation is over, we’re going hunting for crystals.”

  With a frown, he saluted me and left.

  Craning my neck, I met Trissa’s gaze. “Do you think that you could tell the elders…” I hedged.

  She straightened her spine. “Absolutely, Princess.”

  I pointed a finger at her. “Stop it. Call me Lily.”

  She winked. “Do you have an official letter you want me to deliver?” she asked.

  Elle nodded. “Yes. I’ll draft it up.”

  Wow.

  My friends had rallied around me and supported this crazy situation, and for a small second, I’d forgotten that Liam killed my mother… until now. My gaze fell onto my living room couch, and I remembered the kiss we had there. That seemed like forever ago. How could I have been so stupid?

  Now that I thought about it, there were times he probably tried to tell me. I knew he had a dark past. I knew he’d killed people. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he killed my mother.

  “You’re ready.” Kira bowed her head. The music had started outside, and suddenly I felt like this was all a big unnecessary show.

  “The crystals are missing. The village is in shambles,” I said. “We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s not appropriate.”

  Elle shook her head. “Our people need this. They need someone to look up to, something to look forward to.”

  I sighed, standing, and looked in the mirror.

  I’d refused to wear a gown. I wanted to do this ceremony for legal reasons and to boost morale, and then I was jumping into the blue door and heading to New York to the Seeker Stone. But even in my hunting clothes, I looked beautiful. Kira had done my makeup, curled my hair, and with the floral bracelets, it was
a nice touch.

  “A Queen of the people,” a familiar voice called behind me.

  Spinning, I saw that Mara stood in the open blue doorway to my home.

  Her face looked sullen, and I wondered if Liam told her what happened when he no doubt asked her to transport them all home.

  “I’ll meet you outside,” I told Kira and Elle.

  I wanted a moment alone with Mara.

  When they left out the front door, I walked over to Mara, lip quivering. “Did he tell you?”

  Mara’s brow furrowed. “Liam? Tell me what, about your fight?”

  I nodded and she shook her head. “He just said that he was no longer wanted here, took his mother and his family, and had me drop him off in North Carolina. Then, May told me you exploded with power and were now being crowned. What happened?”

  He took his mom too? Wow, he really didn’t trust me.

  My throat tightened, and I promised myself not to get emotional or let this bother me one second longer. Stepping closer to where Mara stood, I took in a deep breath. “Liam killed my mother.”

  Mara gasped, gripping the edge of the doorframe. “What?” She looked at me with disbelief, and it broke my heart.

  I nodded. “So… I asked him to leave.” I held my chin high.

  Mara looked utterly confused. “But… are you sure it was him? Liam?”

  “He told me himself! Admitted it!” My anger rose inside of me.

  “Yes, but what if—”

  “Mara, please!” I rubbed my temples as tears lined my eyes. “I’ve had all that I can possibly handle today,” I told her.

  She nodded. “Okay, hun. Okay.” She reached a hand out, through the doorway, and I squeezed it, gaining some strength from her touch.

  “Be ready to transport us to New York. I want those crystals back immediately,” I told her, hearing more strength in my voice.