Page 2 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

2

TEDDY

T eddy Savero was a creature of habit. He loathed being in Olney. The weather was unbearably humid, the people were too chatty, and it was impossible to find a private place to train.

Sand kicked out behind him as he ran, sticking to the backs of his calves as he sprinted down the beach.

As the future king of Argaria, Teddy needed to control his public image, and he didn’t want any Olney hunters getting a glimpse of his fighting technique before he’d eyed them up first. That meant he was stuck running along the godsforsaken beach.

Being the future king was as much about cultivating the right image as it was about living up to it in every aspect of life. The last thing he needed was to look weak in an allied kingdom. He was the son of two warriors, and fierce as anyone in Argaria, but it only took one slip-up on foreign soil for tongues to wag.

The hunters were the foot soldiers of both the Argarian and Olney armies, not only trained to be expertly good at tracking stealthily, fighting, and spying but also equipped with exceptional observational skills. Their training focused heavily on finding an opponent’s weakness and Teddy didn’t want his to be fodder for foreign gossip.

His mother, Jessamin, was once the leader of the army in the Queendom of Novum and had brought those skills to her role as Queen of Argaria, helping to teach their hunters new fighting styles and battle techniques. His father, Xander, was a warrior who’d saved Argaria not just from the trickster god, Cato, but also from the invasion of his vicious cousin, Vincent. Teddy had a lot to live up to, and the voice in his mind never seemed to run out of ways that he could improve with just a few more hours of practice or a few more turns in the ring.

A run on the beach had seemed the next best thing to burn off the restless energy in his body. But now he was panting from the humidity, a brutal sand coating tearing up his ankles, and the idea seemed ridiculous.

Teddy paused, looking out at the Adiran Sea, sweat dripping down his back as he tried to catch his breath. He drew in deep gulps of salt air, trying to match the soft rhythm to the bright cerulean waves crashing on the shore. The longer he held still, the more he wanted to run. But no matter how far he went, he would not outrun the hard conversation he needed to have with his parents.

Teddy had planned a hundred different futures, but each year he found himself caught in the same cycle of kingdom visits and elaborate balls. Escape was an unsolvable riddle that teased him with its simplicity. He could walk away, and yet, he wouldn’t. Because staying was right, and he could not bear to be weak enough to leave. What would people think of a prince who ran from his problems? They could never learn to trust a king who lacked the courage to make hard, unselfish choices.

Soft footsteps drew closer, but Teddy didn’t bother turning. He knew who it was by the crackle in the air. It was the subtle warning that preceded the Storm King.

“Thought I might find you here. I spent quite a few mornings down here myself,” Xander said, glancing up at a cottage that sat on the cliffs high above the sea .

“When you were married to her .”

It was childish not to say her name. Despite the close relationship between their families, Teddy had never warmed to the woman who’d broken his father’s heart. Logically he knew that his father had made mistakes, but over the years the world had run away with their fairy tale, leaving Xander as some interloper keeping fated lovers apart. The simplified version of the story was one love story instead of two.

“You can say her name. She won’t appear…sadly.”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “How do you still hold her in such high esteem?”

“Because I don’t care about the stories or what other people think,” Xander said. “I was there and I know what happened and Cece will always have my respect and affection. She is my dearest friend, second only to your mother.” His father tugged up his tunic, showing the scar over his heart. “You think I’d so easily forget the person who saved my life and then helped me save my kingdom—and at great personal cost?”

Teddy shook his head and looked away. He held his tongue.

In his weaker moments, Teddy wondered if the way his father spoke so freely about Cecilia Reznik was the reason Isla had left him. There was nothing wrong with holding an old love in high esteem, but Xander spoke of her and wrote to her often.

Isla was a confident woman—a consort needed to be. But everyone had their limits.

Teddy was close with both of his parents’ consorts. While the king and queen were often focused on his siblings, who were eternally getting into trouble, Maren and Isla had both made a point to pay him as much attention for behaving himself as his siblings received for not doing the same.

Teddy had taken Isla’s leaving particularly hard, no matter how many times his father insisted it was temporary. Teddy had never suffered the same delusion. How the man could survive so much and remain an optimist was beyond Teddy .

“I know you hate the disruption to your routine,” his father said. “I’m sure Jalen would be happy to spar with you.”

Teddy crossed his arms. “Jalen’s too busy chasing girls to spar this week.”

“Care to throw down with your dear old dad?” Xander asked.

Teddy nodded to the guards standing a respectful distance away. “They’ll let me hit the king?”

Xander chuckled. “They’ll let you try. Me, on the other hand?—”

Teddy shook his head. “It’s all right. I was just going to go for a run and save the sparring for another day.”

“I’m going to visit the fighting rings this afternoon to see the competition for the Gauntlet Games. Warriors won’t start declaring until the magical binding ceremony in a few days, but I’m sure there will be enough men there bragging about their plans to join,” Xander said.

It was an olive branch, but Teddy wasn’t ready to make peace.

Teddy shrugged. “I have no interest in the Games.”

His father laughed. “Of course. You’ve always been too smart for petty shows of strength. I’m all for fighting, but that tournament is no place for the heir to the throne. You and your siblings best stay as far from that competition as possible.”

“You might want to remind Jalen, then,” Teddy said. “He fancies himself invincible and you know how he gets when someone tells him he can’t do something.”

His father smiled fondly. “Yes, well, he gets that as much from your mother as me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m more concerned about your sister. Alexandra was up at dawn to watch the Olney hunters and guardians train. I have four children, but it’s always the same one giving me heartburn.”

“She’s bold, but not stupid,” Teddy said. He looked out at the glittering sea, trying to settle the nervousness in his stomach.

It was now or never. His father was in good spirits and this was the chance he needed to get Xander on board with his marriage plans .

Teddy wanted Grace by his side this week and in life. She had such a different way of seeing things. He’d been so relieved that the Farlans had accompanied them to Olney for the festival. He couldn’t imagine being away from her for weeks. Fortunately, Grace’s extended family was in Olney and she would be close the whole time. She was the only thing that made the constant daily demands of his life manageable.

Grace could read people so well. She picked up anything Teddy missed, she directed his missteps, and when she was beside him, he felt calm. The woman was intelligent, beautiful, and born to be a queen.

Plus, she felt a natural choice for a wife since their fathers were so close. Evan and Sylvie Farlan had been loyal friends to the kingdom and some of his father’s closest advisors for years. When he wasn’t busy helping raise his three daughters, Evan took a special interest in Teddy’s training, in particular when it came to assessing threats in a crowd and prying secrets from people who weren’t eager to share. He was too clever not to have noticed Teddy’s interest in Grace, but he hadn’t said a word about it. If Teddy wanted to make his intentions known, he’d have to start with his own father.

“I was hoping to bring Grace to dinner tomorrow night.”

His father frowned. “Grace is lovely and your affection for her is clear, but that’s unwise. You don’t want to give her the wrong idea.”

“The idea that I value her and she’s an important part of my life?” Teddy asked.

“The idea that she’s a real prospect for marriage. We’ve indulged you thus far because we love Grace and you thrived with her support. It gives me no pleasure to remind you that you must marry for alliances. You’re always so rational and you know how perilous our position has become with the Sons of Endros making so much havoc. Besides, Grace will be there with your Uncle Evan and Aunt Sylvie and her sisters anyway. No need to give her hope for something that can never be.”

Teddy wanted to break things and make a scene just to prove he could. But like everything else, his anger had to be tucked away in a neat little box. People thought being king meant having power, but it really meant trading away all your personal power for the good of the kingdom. As if one man could even know what was best for everyone.

“Giving her hope for what can never be—like you with Isla?” Teddy asked.

His father flinched. It was a low blow. Xander had presented a calm front outwardly, but the wind had left his sails since Isla had left months earlier. Teddy had never seen his father so low.

He still couldn’t believe Xander had asked Isla to resign as commander of the Argarian army. Things had been tense for months, with the Sons of Endros popping up and destroying property in Ardenis and Olney City alike. When they started murdering progressive public figures, it was clear something needed to be done to keep the faith of their people.

Isla wanted to continue to monitor them and not give them the attention of meeting them head-on. But Teddy’s father faced intense political pressure to resolve it.

When Isla wouldn’t compromise, Xander was forced to ask her to resign.

Instead of surrendering her position, she’d taken a battalion of her most loyal warriors with her and disappeared in the dark of night.

She’d left without even saying goodbye to Teddy. The woman who’d helped raise him, who had taught him everything she knew about combat and strategy, had left him without even a note.

The world felt tilted and oddly off-kilter without her. His whole family was shaken by the loss. But Teddy couldn’t blame her for feeling betrayed by his father’s callous decision.

“Believe me. I know the pain of not being able to give a woman what she wants,” Xander said. “I’m trying to save you from the same.”

The guilt was a gut punch. “I?—”

“You think I don’t know?” Xander scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. “I never wanted to rule, but I did what was required of me because being in this family means thinking about the greater good.”

“Funny, it feels like that only applies to me.”

Xander’s eyes lit with anger. “You think your sisters will be able to love freely? That we won’t have to think strategically about their marriages? Your brother and sisters might have more freedom now, but make no mistake that they will be in a similar boat later,” Xander said. “This peace is such a delicate thing. I’ve been able to do so much good over the past twenty-five years as king. I have tried to make this role more bearable, to spread around the power so the people have more. But everyone has very quickly forgotten what it’s like to truly be at war. Things are more delicate than they should be.” The king shook his head, looking more world-weary than anyone his age should. “That’s why we’re here. To honor the alliance between Olney and Argaria and to bear witness to the contained violence of the Gauntlet Games.”

“I know,” Teddy snapped.

“Do you?” Xander challenged, his gaze piercing. “You know our history. You know what this peace cost me. There are stories you know and stories you don’t, but just because you’ve been insulated from the worst of it doesn’t mean that you have no sacrifices to make.” The king ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I wish things could be different for you. I wanted you to have choices I didn’t. But I have fought hard and only managed to find the most tentative peace. That failure is on me. I’m sorry you must suffer for it.”

Teddy hung his head. His parents both had to make sacrifices and, although they weren’t a love match, they had clear affection for each other and a wonderful relationship.

“But did you not sacrifice so future generations wouldn’t have to? Grace has family that are well-connected in both kingdoms. They’re close family friends and she has the right temperament to be queen.”

Xander pursed his lips. “But she does not have any political appeal. Aldrena has yet to renew our trade routes, and if they don’t, our merchants and farmers can easily make life hell for us. At the same time, the aristocracy will relish in our failure and use it as a reason that anyone else should be on the throne and they won’t be talking about you, Teddy. A good king understands how to pick his battles.” His father placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry to ask it of you, but you must always be king first, and a man second. ”

As if Teddy didn’t already hold himself to that very impossible standard. If only he could figure out how to shut down the part of him that wanted this one thing—maybe then he’d truly be the perfect king.

Ever since his parents had begun to float the idea of Aldrenian princesses, he’d made the tentative plan to go to the Temple of Desiree, goddess of love, and get irrefutable proof that he and Grace were meant to be. The type of bond that Desiree’s priestesses granted was goddess-blessed. Teddy was not terribly romantic at heart, but people respected those bonds and it was one of the few things that would make his parents bend. Even a princess could not be a better option than his perfect match. They might be frustrated after the fact, but they would realize the wisdom of his choice once they saw how he and Grace ruled together.

Movement over his father’s shoulder caught Teddy’s eye. His father’s guards, several paces away, turned too.

Teddy’s sister, Alexandra, ducked out of a cave hidden along the jagged cliff face.

Xander turned, following Teddy’s gaze.

Alexandra froze, a bright smile on her face. “Good morning, Papa,” she said cheerfully. “Don’t you just love this summer weather?”

“And where are you coming from, Alexandra?” their father asked.

Xander was too smart to ask such questions, especially given the stories about what he was like in his youth. Alexandra’s hair was mussed, her tunic rumpled, and her lips swollen. She was clearly coming from the most recent in a long line of inappropriate trysts.

Teddy could never decide if his father preferred to feign ignorance or if he was entertained by her improvised excuses. Alexandra and Jalen always seemed in a tense competition to be most like their father and most at odds for his attention.

Alexandra gave him her winningest smile. “If you must know, I was making an offering to the goddess of the sea. Why else would I be on the beach so early? ”

“I certainly can’t fathom what else you’d be doing. Let’s make sure no one else does either,” Xander said.

Alexandra curtseyed. “Of course, Papa.” She turned to scurry away but stopped when their father spoke again.

“You can expect a conversation with your mother and Maren about this.”

Alexandra’s shoulders tensed, but she didn’t turn, continuing to scramble up the beach toward the trail to town.

The king shook his head, turning back to look at Teddy. “Think about what I’ve said. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Teddy wished he could scream—transform his frustration from a stoic grunt to an angry throat-shredding howl. But a good prince was a blank canvas upon which a kingdom could paint their hopes. It didn’t suit to be wild or reckless when he had an obligation to be cool and solid as granite. So he forced his anger to look tidy, jammed it into the faint lines of a frown. Inside, he was a violent storm on a raging sea, but on the surface he was calm.

Be steady , the voice in his head chided. Never let them see you sweat . A king needed to be unmoved by aristocrats and common men alike. His father was always testing him for weak spots, making sure he wouldn’t crack under pressure, and though it was out of love and experience, it still chafed that Xander didn’t trust that he could take it. Teddy hadn’t broken yet and he certainly wouldn’t today.

His storm magic stirred beneath his skin, reaching out for the clouds above, aching to spin his frantic, unsettled emotions into a tempest. As much as he loved his magic, that power was wild. Though he always felt the rhythm of a storm and could weave it together like he was directing a symphony, there was always a strange call of the void—a reckless urge to simply let it go and see what happened.

He tore down the beach, trying to sort through the chaos in his mind. His mother had once told him that being royal meant you could only choose a few nonnegotiable things. If he wanted to rule well, he had to choose wisely what he could live with and what he couldn’t live without. Grace was his nonnegotiable thing. He needed her to ground him and keep him sane, and while having consorts had worked for his parents—at least for a time—Grace was not the type of woman to abide being in second place. Nor did he want her there.

He was so lost in thought as he wandered further that he nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed someone in the water.

She rose from the waves like a siren blooming from the sea. The dark green material of her bathing gown clung to her fair skin and her hair dripped down her back in a dark waterfall. For a moment the clouds parted, the sun shining through in a bright slash where she stood. She was lovely, ethereal and so graceful as she stretched her arms up toward the sunshine. The sopping fabric of her dress clung to her soft curves as she moved.

He must have made a sound because she turned and looked at him and then the sunlight seemed like a joke highlighting his mistake. It was Stella McKay who stared at him with a crease forming between her brows. Stella McKay, his nemesis. Stella McKay, the woman who managed to annoy him by merely existing in her perfect daydream bubble. Stella McKay, who was as reckless and emotionally volatile as Teddy was cautious and controlled.

He hadn’t recognized her with her wild curls flattened by seawater. He should have known her at a glance. Not only had he seen her every summer and winter solstice for his entire life, but she bore a striking likeness to her mother, who was captured in numerous art pieces in Argaria.

Stella had the same dark, waist-length curls and fair skin that pinked with the slightest bit of exertion, but where Cecilia was short and petite, Stella was tall, only a few inches shorter than Teddy, and her eyes were bright green like her father’s instead of cerulean like her mother’s.

He stared at her, trying to figure out how he hadn’t recognized her on sight for what she was: the bane of his existence.

“Can I help you, Your Grace ?” Her voice was laced with contempt as she stepped out of the surf and dipped into an offensively shallow curtsey.

That was fine. The feeling was absolutely mutual. Stella was as spoiled as she was ungrateful. Her parents lavished her with praise for doing nothing. She had the freedom to wed anyone she wanted and she possessed the admiration of the people of both kingdoms for no reason other than being the only birth child of Olney’s golden fairy-tale couple.

He sneered at her. “No, I don’t believe there’s a thing you can help me with.”

“Of course not. You just do whatever you want,” she grumbled, stomping by him and picking her towel up before stalking toward the cliff trail. “Royal prick.”

He watched her retreating figure.

Perhaps Stella had done him a small favor. She was right. He could do whatever he wanted. His father was the one who’d taught him it was easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. Xander couldn’t fault Teddy for going after what he wanted. Tomorrow he and Grace would go to the Temple of Desiree and, once the witches there confirmed he and Grace were meant to be, they’d be bonded to each other and then he’d finally have proof enough for his parents that she was the only viable option for a wife.