Page 67 of Boundless

It didn’t.

The palace didn’t stop me. Didn’t take the crown away. Didn’t make it disappear.

Instead, it let me walked back to Jasewine, who hadn’t moved an inch from her place. It let me put the crown right in her hands, and nothing happened. No shadows detached fromthe floors or the ceiling. The palace didn’t even make a sound or give me any kind of sign.

We waited a heartbeat, then two. Our eyes, almost identical, were locked, our breathing heavy.

“I, Rune Kalygorn, King of the Midnight Court, grant you, Jasewine Teneris the right to rule in my stead, to bear the crown’s weight and command—until my return. The Midnight Palace is my witness, and should there be a reason why you are not fit to temporarily lead in my place, it shall act now.”

Seconds ticked by.

No sound, no magic, no shadows.

The palace remained perfectly calm.

I smiled. Jasewine smiled, too, and tears slipped down her pale cheeks as she looked at the crown in her shaking hands.

“I’m queen,” she whispered.

“For a few days, until I return,” I said, and whether this was the most brilliant idea I’d ever had, or if it was the biggest mistake I would ever make, I wasn’t sure. But I would be on my way to Nilah—one way or the other—today,and I believed I could handle whatever waited for me back here when I returned with her.

I believed the palace knew what it was doing, that it would have intervened if Jasewine hadn’t been worthy.

And most important, I believed in Raja.

“Temporary queen,” she whispered, running her fingertips over the sharp edges of the crown.

“Raja remains your second in command, Jasewine. And everything else remains as is, until I return. Do you understand?” A nod and a shaky sigh. “Do you think you can do this?”

Again, she looked at me. “Yes,” she whispered, but it was good enough for me.

I nodded. “Good. Go, eat, prepare, do what you need to do before you come back and take over.” I took the crown from her hand. “Send Raja to me while you do.”

She bowed her head and moved back a couple of steps, but she didn’t leave just yet.

Instead, she looked at me, now with a completely new light. “Why? Why would you leave your kingdom to me? I’m a stranger.”

Because I won’t leave Nilah’s life in anybody else’s hand.

“I think Helem was a bad man, too, Jasewine,” I told her, which was a big part of the truth as well. “And I think you’re good.” At least for now. I’d seen power corrupt, and I didn’t think anybody strong enough to preserve themselves in the face of it, but it would be only days.

And there was something about Jasewine that had all my instincts at ease.

“You’re…you’re absolutely sure this is a good idea?” she asked, her voice shaking still, though the color on her cheeks had already returned.

“I am.” I wasn’t. “I’ll call for you when I’m ready.”

Another bow of her head. “Yes, Your Highness.”

By the time she walked out the doors, I put the crown on the table and went back to the windows, thinking of the best way to break this to Raja. Thinking of the best way to walk out of the palace without being stopped by it.

It won’t,I told myself.The throne won’t be empty. The palace will not stop me.That’s what I hoped for with my entire being.

While I waited for Raja to come give me a piece of her mind, I reinforced the throne room with clearer instructions, not only to keep anyone who wanted toharm meout of this throne room, but any kind of magicat allthat wasn’t mine.

And lastly…

“Let me hear you.” I raised a hand and released my magic onto whatever spell kept the sound of that waterfall muted. It took more effort than I thought it would, but whatever sound barrier had been put on it broke under the pressure of my shadows—and the sound came all at once,burstout into the world like it had finally been set free.