Page 42 of A Monarch's Fall

“Tomorrow, we will make a new attempt. I will research tonight, and we will go again. Sometimes enchantments must be repeated; the effects layer upon each other, becoming stronger. Additionally, sometimes enchantments take time to take effect; not everything is instant gratification.”

I growled. At least he wasn’t the giving-up type. Neither was I.

“Very well. Tomorrow morning, at first light. I have a tight schedule to keep,” I told him, controlling myself from snarling in anger. He set my nerves on edge.

I left his office; the space was cramped, unkempt, dishevelled like the man himself.

I wanted to speak with General Creel; he had promised me a full debriefing on The New Foundation, which, according to Rylan and Sasha’s reports, was present and trying to abduct Percy during the attack on the Ardens Estate. They were the group who held captive what was mine.

The corridors of the castle bustled. There was no peace within the stone walls. Not now. The Royal Conference would soon be in full swing. Lords and Ladies from nearly every House had been arriving over the last few days. The most noble of the Houses were invited to reside within the King’s abode. Their servants were arriving ahead of them to make preparations.

I despised the chaos that the Royal Conference descended upon the castle and grounds. This conference was ready to be one of the largest in history. My father’s attempted assassination, the betrayal of House Halvorsen, the attack on House Ardens, the various factional rebel groups in the north of the Kingdom and The New Foundation of the south were beginning to have major ripples through the Houses. It was a season of alliance-building, foe-destroying and power-grabbing. What better stage to lay your claims than the Royal Conference, where everyone is watching?

Venom poisoning. I was ashamed of myself; that one such as Lydia’s venom had taken me down. I had been bed-bound, lost in delirium, and fever-spurred dreams for three days. When I awoke, my dreams had become reality — Percy was gone, taken. For a second time.

At this rate, when I had her back, I was going to collar and leash my pet, keeping her chained to me and within my line of sight at all times. I had forgotten my own words of caution to her. Nowhere is safe. I had allowed her to be unguarded within the walls of the Ardens estate, and her capture was my own doing. My lack of caution, my own feelings of safety within my mother's ancestral home, had been the greatest risk to my Percy.

I had thought Ardens would be our sanctuary — a place where we could be free. Where Percy could be safe and happy, the northern rebel groups were nothing new; they had existed in some form for over a generation, starting with the swallowingof House Petra into Ardens. But they had never cooperated with each other before.

The northern rebel groups were nothing more than a buzzing insect, annoying and greedy for sweet treats, but easily swatted. Now they had morphed into some semblance of something more, something close to a swarm that descended upon Ardens Estate that day. And somehow, within that swarm, a much older yet newer incantation of a centuries-old enemy had crept in and stolen that which was worth more than any land, House or crown. They had taken a part of me.

I felt it. Heavy in my chest. As if the venom had never ceased. As if internally, my most crucial organs were fighting against paralysis, against being turned to stone. For my heart and lungs felt somehow hollow and endless, heavy like a physical burden. It almost felt impossible, and yet I swear in the absence of my pet, it hurt to so much as breathe, and worryingly, I had not been able to keep down any blood that I had consumed since waking. It was as if my body was refusing to function without her. Every moment was a struggle.

And I did not struggle.

I was heir to the throne.

I was of the strongest of bloodlines.

I was to be feared and respected in equal measure.

And still, everything I felt was so precariously breakable without her.

The New Foundation was the body of the snake, and I would find and cut off its head. It had taken my heart, part of my soul, but I would not be like Orpheus for his Eurydice. Charm was reserved for those who held power over that which you desired. I would storm the underworld and retrieve what was mine.

General Creel’s laughter was heard before I had even entered the corridor of the General’s command rooms.

“And then he said —” General Creel stopped mid-flow, of whatever tale he was regaling his subordinates with, as I entered the room. “My Royal Highness, it’s a pleasure to see you looking so well,” he greeted, standing from his chair and wiping crumbs from his lunch out of his thick red beard.

When we had spoken the previous day, I was still weak and recovering. I was nearly bed-bound, exhausted from simply walking around my room. I was almost tempted to offer the Gods praise when I awoke in the morning, far from feeling at my full strength, but no longer one notch above an invalid.

“I am well,” I told him.

“Of course, and why wouldn’t you be?” he said enthusiastically, “Our future queen is immune to poisons and toxins,” he praised, and his captains and soldiers cheered.

The noise was a nuisance, the praise was unnecessary, and it was a distraction from my purpose. I was hardly immune; my pet had saved me twice. First by being one of the few people alive who knew of and were capable of obtaining the cure I required for Hades’ Delight, and secondly because I desired to return to her so desperately, through nothing more than stubborn willpower, my body had held off succumbing to the effects of Lydia’s venom poisoning long enough to be seen as some sort of immunity. Ridiculous.

“That’s enough,” I said, trying not to appear as impatient as I was. Having soldiers who respected you, who cheered for your apparent physical accomplishments, was good. It inspired loyalty. I would get Percy back. And there would be a future in which we may need loyal soldiers.

General Creel raised his arms and lowered them to signal for those around him to quiet down.

“Our future queen is far too humble,” he said.

I tried to smile, but I wasn’t sure I managed it.

“Your report on The New Foundation,” I said, wanting to get to work immediately.

There was no time to waste. Percy needed to be located before The New Foundation understood her true importance. My father’s new enchanter might have proven himself all theory and no practice, but I would not risk that The New Foundation did not have within their ranks those capable of utilising the soul match to their advantage, and to my detriment. The consequences would be dire for me, Percy and the future of the Borealis Kingdom.