Heir of Iron Hearts: Iron Crown Faerie Tales Book 2 Read online

  Sweat dewed up on her forehead and back as they continued to creep slowly through the forest. The Summer Castle towered ahead, a dark shadow against the bright sky. From what she could tell, it looked similar to the Winter Castle with its tall watchtowers, turrets, and battlements. Even in the darkness, it looked like an impenetrable fortress, and had Ivy never seen the power of Winter magic, she might have believed they were doomed to fail. But now, Winter had joined forces with the Unseelies, whose darker magic would make their power all the more formidable.

  Somewhere behind her, she heard Padraic’s command, and all around her, archers pulled back their bowstrings. Their arrows were infused with dark Unseelie magic that coiled around the shafts like silvery ribbons of smoke against the backdrop of night. To her right, Ardan’s men-at-arms waited as Lochlan and his extraction team crept toward the castle.

  But suddenly, Lochlan held up his hand. Everyone froze. One of the Fae guards, Holly, who had been sent ahead of them to scout the area, approached them, speaking in a low voice to Lochlan.

  “A what?” Ivy heard Lochlan say, followed by, “this complicates things.”

  He turned to Ivy then, looking at her with a hesitant expression.

  “What is it?” she whispered. “What’s happened?”

  Lochlan to three wide strides toward her and crouched down beside her. “We apparently had an older print of the castle. They’ve added a moat just inside the ramparts.”

  “So?” Ivy shrugged. Couldn’t the Winter Fae swim?

  “So we don’t know what they could have lurking in the water.”

  “Can’t we just freeze it?”

  Lochlan eyed her for a moment before looking at Bear.

  “No. Out of the question,” Bear hissed. He shook his head at Lochlan.

  “What?” Ivy asked.

  “We could freeze it, but even combined, our magic isn’t strong enough in this court to freeze deep water. But…”

  “But mine is?” Ivy guessed.

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Ivy looked at Bear and then turned to Jules. “I’m going with them,” she whispered. “I have to bring my mother home safely.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jules asked.

  “No, but I’m going anyway. You stay here with Padraic.”

  “What you are doing?” Bear hissed. Lochlan grabbed his arm, but Bear shrugged out of his grasp. Moving swiftly around her, he stood in her way. “I cannot let you go in there. Queen Lyric will put me in an eternal freeze if I allow this.”

  Ivy looked into his worried face. “As long as my mother is inside, I am the Queen, and you follow my commands, right?”

  “Ivy…”

  Lochlan smirked, as if she’d just said something funny, but Bear looked angry enough to kill someone. Still, she could tell she had won. Lochlan nodded, acknowledging her command, and signaled the extraction team forward.

  Without another word, Bear stood aside and Ivy crept forward beside him. She counted only ten guards, including herself and Bear. She was amazed by how silently they moved, as they circled closer and closer to the castle. Summer guards moved back and forth across the battlements, stopping now and then to gaze out into the dark Midsummer Forest.

  Ivy’s heart pounded as she crouched down behind a tree with Bear beside her. After a few minutes of torturous silence, Lochlan signaled them forward. Ivy crept behind them as soundlessly as she could, as they drew closer and closer to the palace.

  “Stay with me,” Bear commanded. “Do not leave my sight.”

  Ivy took his hand and squeezed. They were in this together. They would all bring her mother safely home. She followed the rest of the team, stopping in the trees just before the ramparts that surrounded the castle. They would have to scale to the top and then drop over, combining their magic to freeze the moat. Then, they would break inside the dungeons and free her mother.

  The team gathered around Ivy, placing their hands on her arms and shoulders. “Now, concentrate just like you did earlier with Padraic,” Lochlan whispered. “Then, imagine the water just beyond and picture it turning to solid ice.”

  Ivy closed her eyes. She blocked out the wind, the nighttime sounds, the fact that there were guards only yards away from them. She focused on the cold hands of the Fae guards against her skin. She took a deep breath. Magic swam through her veins, cold and tingly. It rushed through her arms and settled in her chest just over her heart. Picturing the dark water of the moat beyond, she exhaled, imagining the entire body freezing from the bottom up.

  The temperature around their small group dropped until goosebumps pebbled on her skin. When she opened her eyes once more, her breaths wafted from her mouth in visible puffs, despite the humid heat of summer. Holly squeezed Ivy’s wrist before turning away. Speeding to a sprint, she leapt into the air just high enough to grip the top of the wall. Then, she used her momentum to heft herself over. They waited in silence until she hooted like an owl, signaling that the job was done. Lochlan slapped Ivy on the back, commending her.

  “Now what?” Ivy asked.

  “Now we wait,” Lochlan said.

  They remained just inside the tree line for what seemed like hours, so long Ivy worried the moat might thaw before they ever scaled the wall. Exhausted, she leaned back into the circle of Bear’s arm, feeling safe and protected—but filled with dread. Afraid of what was happening to her mother as they waited on Padraic’s signal.

  Ivy must have dozed off. Sometime later, she was awakened by a faint whistling sound. Once she had reoriented herself by blinking several times, she saw the black arrows of the Unseelie archers ripping through the sky. When they struck the soldiers standing guard on the battlements, ribbons of black magic swirled around the Summer Fae, cloaking them in impenetrable cocoons of black smoke—stunned but not dead.

  “Let’s go,” Lochlan whispered.

  When they reached the wall, the Fae on the extraction team scaled the high stones effortlessly, dropping onto the ice with a slick thud. Ivy eyed the wall skeptically until Bear twined his fingers and held them out. She stepped into his hands, and he pushed her off, sending her sailing upward, high enough to grip the wall and swing herself over. Lochlan was waiting to catch her on the other side. She dropped into his arms, and he lowered her to the ground as Bear dropped down beside her.

  Carefully, they balanced across the ice, climbing up a steep, rocky bank and blending with the shadows beside the castle walls. Had Ivy not been wearing her fighting leathers, she would have scrapes and cuts over every inch of her. She had always found the thick leather to be uncomfortable, but now she was thankful for the extra protection.

  In expert formation, the extraction team rounded the castle, creeping low and staying out of sight. Finally, they reached the downward slope Lochlan had told them about earlier. If he was right, the dungeons would be just around the curve of the tower. If he was right, they would find Queen Lyric inside—but in what condition, Ivy couldn’t know.

  The Fae in front of her pressed themselves to the wall, as Lochlan and Holly stood just outside the door. With a touch of his hand, Lochlan froze the lock on the door, which caused the entire knob to break apart, shattering like glass. Nodding at Holly, he opened the door wide and stepped inside. The rest of them followed.

  Ivy’s heart pounded as she rounded the corner and burst into the dark room. But she skidded to a stop when she saw Lochlan.

  Bear took her hand when his eyes locked onto the scene they all were staring at.

  The cell door had been torn from the hinges. Lochlan knelt in the center of the cell, which was completely empty, save her mother’s heavy crown resting in a pool of dark blood.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Time was running out for Alena.

  Now that Queen Vera knew she was in the Summer Court and had manipulated King Zane into loaning her his guard and his dungeons to exact her vengeance against Lyric, there would be no mercy for her. She had been so certain of Damarion and Violet, but
the stupid fools had betrayed her. If she made it out of Summer alive, both of them would pay. Even if it took centuries to carry out the dark plans she was forming for them, she would make sure they were sorry for ever crossing her.

  She shifted her grip beneath Lyric’s arms and continued dragging her up the stairs. She had heard the commotion overhead, and if she knew Lochlan, he was already on his way to rescue his beloved Queen. Lyric was Alena’s only bargaining chip, and she would use her to get out of this mess alive.

  When she had finally reached the top of the stairs, she lifted her sister’s limp torso and walked backwards down the hallway until she reached the secret passage. Sliding them both behind the tapestry of dancing Summer Girls, Alena dragged her down the back stairs. Lyric’s feet pounded rhythmically against the stone steps as they wound down to the lower levels. When she had finally reached the bottom landing, she pushed open the door with her hips and dragged her sister outside through the back gate. She had just crossed the bridge and exited the back gate when a voice stopped her.

  “Alena, what are you doing?”

  King Zane, surrounded by Summer guards, held up a lantern and glared at her.

  “What does it look like? My sister is my only ticket out of Summer, thanks to your self-righteous queen. Speaking of which, she and your coward son are probably negotiating terms for peace with half the Winter Guard and Unseelie’s Red Caps and Hellhounds.”

  “My guards have been ordered to stand against them,” he said. “Summer surrenders to no one.”

  “Good for you,” Alena said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

  But then, she heard the metallic sound of a dozen weapons being unsheathed. She straightened her back and looked into Zane’s eyes.

  “After all I’ve done for you? It comes to this?”

  Zane burst into laughter. “What you’ve done for me? Oh, Alena, you do have an inflated sense of self-worth, don’t you? But you are in my Court and you are taking my prisoner.”

  “We had a deal!” Rage, swift and strong, rose through Alena’s body, causing her to tremble.

  “Our deal was that you would exact your revenge against your sister by delivering her to me. There were no further negotiations. Do not forget that I am King. That means I make and break deals when and how I choose. Now, give me the Winter Queen before I have my guard take her from you.”

  Alena scanned the trees beyond. She only needed to get to the Elder Tree—only a few yards away. From Winter, she could make her way to the human realm, where Slaine and Teagan would be waiting.

  But she was surrounded.

  The moon was bright enough to reveal Zane’s personal guards—and they all hated her, hated the power she held over the king. Which was, apparently, a power she had just lost.

  She held onto her sister as the King’s guards drew their weapons against her.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “There! Just ahead!”

  Bear sped forward just behind Ivy as their team followed the trail of blood up two flights of stairs from the lower dungeons until they stepped into a wide hallway adorned with summer blossoms and flickering candles. Lochlan followed the droplets of their queen’s spilled blood, which stopped just in front of a great tapestry.

  “Tear it down,” Ivy ordered.

  Lochlan nodded, gripping the side of the wall hanging, and with a single jerk, yanked it from the wall to reveal an ancient wooden door.

  “What is she doing to her?” Ivy hissed. “Just dragging her?”

  Judging by the blood, the queen was wounded, maybe fatally. But if she were dead, Bear couldn’t imagine what Alena could possibly gain by dragging her body along behind her.

  “I think we interrupted whatever she was doing to Queen Lyric, and now she needs her to bribe her way out of Summer.”

  “Bear’s right, Your Highness,” Lochlan said. “Alena never makes any effort that won’t benefit her in the end. If the Queen were dead, she would have left her behind.”

  Ivy, who had gone pale with the thought, exhaled in relief.

  “This way,” Holly said, waving them forward.

  Bear and Ivy trailed the team, hustling down two flights of stairs and out the back door of the castle. As they neared a bridge, though, they heard voices.

  “Now give me the Winter queen before I have my guard take her from you.”

  Bear recognized the voice. King Zane.

  So Alena was trying to escape with Queen Lyric. To barter her in exchange for safe passage.

  “You do realize that the Unseelies have joined the Winter Court?” Alena said smoothly. “That means that regardless of your personal guards, there are hundreds of Unseelie forces in these woods. Probably Hellhounds and Redcaps, too.”

  “Which is why we need Queen Lyric,” the King said. “You started a war to unseat your sister, and now we wish for peace.”

  “You are spineless,” Alena said. “No wonder your own wife can’t stand to bed you.”

  With that, chaos erupted as the King’s guard launched into action.

  “Now!” Lochlan commanded.

  Taking advantage of the situation, Bear and Ivy sprinted after the extraction team across the bridge and surrounded the King’s guards, some of their forces bursting through the gate and others scaling the walls and dropping into low crouches on the other side.

  King Zane now held Queen Lyric, whose limp body slumped against him. Blood trickled from a wound in her shoulder, and judging by the sickly-sweet smell, Alena had dipped the blade in Oleander. They had to act fast if they were to save the queen.

  Beside him, Ivy was practically vibrating with fury. The air around her cooled and then dropped to a frigid temperature. He didn’t have to look at her to know her eyes were swirling, wild and glowing green in her anger.

  “Peace?” Ivy said in a low tone. “You conspire with a traitor. You infiltrate our court and our palace. You kill our guards. You poison my mother and take her prisoner. And now you ask for peace?”

  “Princess Ivy, I presume,” King Zane said. “Your mother is yours if you leave our court with no further disruption.”

  But it was already too late.

  Bear could hear the scampering steps of the Red Caps just before the deep, throaty howls of the Hellhounds shattered any chance for peace. Slowly, they stepped from the trees—Hellhounds, Red Caps, Winter Fae armed with iron blades and crossbows, their arrows glowing silver with winter magic, and Unseelie Men-at-Arms led by Ardan, all of them heavily armed and emanating the gray smoke of dark magic.

  Ardan, who was flanked by Padraic and Jules, stepped aside to allow Queen Vera, escorted by her son, Prince Damarion, through the ranks of armed guards.

  Bear felt his mouth drop open. He wasn’t expecting that little twist, but it was certainly a welcome surprise.

  “Your Queen has negotiated a peaceful end to the pointless skirmish,” Ardan said. “Our terms for your surrender will include the return of the Winter Queen, the return of Lady Alena, our prisoner, and your surrender to us. You will both be taken to our dungeons and tried before an impartial council comprised of representatives of each Seelie Court.”

  Bear’s heart thudded against his chest. Queen Vera had agreed to the terms—to allow her own husband to be tried for his plot against the Winter Court. And with no sign of regret. She held her chin high and looked him dead in the eye as Ardan announced the terms.

  Beside him, Ivy slipped her hand into his, squeezing as if her life depended on it. She was about to get her mother back. And King Zane was surrounded. All he had to do was hand over the Queen. But there was something in Zane’s expression, something Ivy must have seen, too. A defiance borne from a thousand years on the throne had settled into his features, giving him a quality of arrogance that couldn’t be mistaken.

  Queen Vera nodded at the guards protecting him. Damarion commanded them to fall back with a wave of his hand. The Summer Guard laid down their weapons and stepped away. King Zane, still clinging to Queen Lyric, stood beside
Alena, staring at his wife and son, his anger and hatred rolling from him in a putrid waft of sulfuric rage that stung Bear’s nostrils.

  The King unsheathed his blade and held it to the Winter Queen’s throat.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Queen Lyric drooped like a wilted flower in King Zane’s arms. Unconscious and bleeding, her mother couldn’t even defend herself against the blade now pressed to her throat. She felt the magic rising inside of her and fought to control it. He was desperate. His own family had turned their backs on him, and now, he would do anything to come out of the situation alive.

  Ivy held her hands up and stepped toward him. Bear, she noticed, followed closely behind.

  “No one has to get hurt,” Ivy said calmly. “Just place my mother gently on the ground, and you can go. No one will come after you.”

  “She lies!” Alena shouted. “She’ll have your head on a pike before sunrise. You can’t trust her!”

  “Shut up, Alena,” Ivy yelled.

  Her rage was getting the best of her as magic rose with icy pressure in her chest. She took another step toward Zane, but he only pressed the blade harder into Lyric’s throat. A droplet of blood trickled down her mother’s neck. Ivy backed away, holding up her hands. She focused on Zane, tried to meet his wild eyes, but he seemed crazed by the betrayal of his family. No longer in his right mind. There was no way to tell what he would do.

  Bear and Lochlan were standing just behind her on either side. She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. If she could only get Zane to drop the knife, she could save her mother. She was so focused on her mother, though, that she didn’t see Alena move until it was too late.