Page 22 of Unwilling Queen (Kingdoms #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Colbie

T he sweet sound of a child singing is the first thing I register as I struggle to wake up. My body aches, and my limbs are so heavy I can barely lift them. I crack an eyelid open, and I wince at the throb my head gives as the light attacks my senses.

“Ugh,” I groan and put a hand over my face to block out the offensive brightness as I struggle to sit up.

“Colbie, you’re awake! I knew my singing would help.” Is that Archie? Why is he sitting on the end of my bed?

A hand on my arm helps me, and I can smell violets—sweet, fresh, and delicate but strong, like I’m sitting in a field of them. “Here, let me help you. Archie, go dim the lights a little.” I feel him jump to do as she asked.

Huh, Violet smells like her namesake. I’ve never noticed before. I feel her put a couple of pillows behind my body as I drag it up the bed. Huffing from exertion, I lean back against them and try to crack my eyes open again. This time, I have more success, and I feel a small body jump back onto my bed as Archie appears in my line of sight, grinning like a loon.

“Colbie, did you miss me like I missed you? I told my papa that you and I are going to get married, but we’re going to have to wait until I’m a little older, okay? Papa says I need to finish high school first, but you can live here with me, and we can hang out and play video games. I bet because you’re going to be my wife, Papa and Mama will even let me play Shifter Quest if you ask them to.”

Violet giggles as I try to wrap my head around everything that just came out of Archie’s mouth. Before I can even form a response, the door to my room flies open, and I flinch back in surprise. Standing there is a gorgeous blonde woman who’s about my height and age, with beautiful, deep ocean blue eyes that look fairly freaking mad at the moment, but she’s not glaring at me. Instead, her attention is on the boy on my bed. He shrinks in on himself and holds out his hand, grabbing mine and mumbling, “Uh-oh.”

“Archer Lucas Frankland. What did I tell you about leaving Colbie be?” She storms over to the bed and looks down at him.

His hand shakes in mine, but I see him steel his spine and look the woman directly in the eye. “But, Mama, you and Papa told me that when the people we love are sick, we need to do everything in our power to make them feel better, so I sang to Colbie just like you sing to me when I’m sick, and she woke up.” He sounds proud, and I see his mother melt at the super sweet words. Gosh, this kid is adorable. Heck, maybe I should wait for him to leave high school. He’s ten times more charming than any adult male I’ve ever dated.

She chuckles and ruffles his hair, all the tension draining out of her body. “I can see she is awake. That must have been some powerful singing. Good job.”

“Colbie, this is Princess Gracelin,” Violet murmurs from the side where she’s been watching the action, struggling to contain her amusement.

My attention sharpens as she mentions the woman’s name. I look closer, and I recognize the familiar features of my old childhood friend in this elegant woman’s face.

Gracelin turns her attention to me, and she studies me with the same intense scrutiny. She gestures for Archie to move over and make space then takes a seat in the bed, grabbing my other hand that Archie isn’t currently clinging to and giving it a squeeze. “Hello, Colbie. I don’t know how to thank you for what you did for my son.”

“I remember you,” I murmur, and she nods.

“Yes, we were friends a long time ago,” she confirms, and another flash of locked away memories flutters through my mind like an old movie reel—tea parties, hide-and-seek, snuggling on the couch watching movies and eating popcorn, playing board games and laughing and shouting over winning or losing, then the heartache and tears of realizing my friends were gone and never coming back. My mother told me I had to go to my grandparents if I was going to cry every time the queens came and didn’t bring their children. She said I wasn’t special enough to be their friends any longer. Fuck, that hurt. How could she have been such a bitch to me? I had obviously locked all of that away.

“And you went away without saying goodbye and didn’t come back,” I say flatly, and her eyes shine with unshed tears.

“Yes, we did. Our mothers thought it would be better for all of us to have a clean break. Your mother hadn’t told you we were shifters, and ours were worried we would shift in front of you and scare you. Apparently, we were pretty cocky once we gained control of our shifts.” She winces. “They were probably right, especially Gryffin. He shifted as often as he could and liked to scare the castle staff by jumping out at them. Gretchin wasn’t much better. They turned it into a competition to see who could get the loudest shrieks. They were menaces.” The affection in her tone tells me how much she loves her brother and sister.

The door bangs open, and another girl walks in. This one is tall and slender but looks strong. Her black hair is shaved close to her head, and her dark skin glimmers in the low light. She has the same deep, ocean blue eyes as Gracelin, but they are currently glaring at her. “Gracelin, are you telling tall tales? I’m almost certain you were the one who started that game and convinced Gryffin and me to play it.”

“Gretchin, keep your voice down. Poor Colbie only just woke up. She doesn’t need your harpy tones in her ears,” Gracelin scolds her sister who walks closer to us, her attention turning to the boy on the bed.

“Weren’t you told to stay away?” She lifts one elegant eyebrow before tickling Archie. He dissolves into giggles and throws his arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. She pretends to choke like she can’t breathe and flops down on the bed too. It’s getting awfully crowded on my bed. If Violet joined us, we would have the makings of a slumber party. We just need popcorn and movies.

Violet clears her throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“Uh-oh, we’re busted,” Gretchin whispers to Archie, who giggles again. Gretchin turns her attention to me and smiles widely, and I have a vivid memory of her smiling at me just like that when we were kids, except back then, she had braces.

“Hey, Colbie, looks like we’re going to get to hang out again.” I blink a couple of times, and once again, Violet clears her throat.

“Is someone going to tell the king and queens that Colbie is awake? We were instructed to let them know as soon as she woke up.”

Gracelin and Gretchin exchange a glance, and both shrug, neither of them volunteering for the job.

“Not it,” they exclaim together, and my friend rolls her eyes in exasperation.

“What happened?” I ask Violet. “The last thing I remember is stepping over the threshold of the palace and then excruciating pain.”

“That was the royal magic shifting to your body,” Violet tells me.

“Is it supposed to be that painful? Nobody warned me I would black out.” I’m pretty freaking annoyed that no one explained what would happen.

Gracelin purses her lips. “Apparently what happened to you was nothing like what Dad experienced when it was his turn.”

“And what exactly is the shifter royal magic? Am I a shifter now? Does it mean I can do other things? I can’t believe I never thought to ask these questions before I stepped into this place.”

“Yes, you should now have the ability to shift into an animal,” Gretchin tells me, but she frowns as she says this. “To be honest, though, I can’t feel your animal at all.” She looks to Gracelin and then Violet for their opinions, and both of them shake their heads. “We should all be able to sense your inner animal, even if we don’t know what it is. Our dad was the most powerful shifter because of the magic, and you could feel him before he even walked into the room.”

“You can’t feel anything?” I ask, my heart rate speeding up with my panic. What if the magic didn’t find me worthy?

All three of them shake their heads, and tears well in my eyes.

“No, don’t cry, Colbie.” Archie throws himself into my lap and wraps his little arms around my neck. His hug feels nice, so I hug him back as I wipe the stupid tears away.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying. I didn’t want this in the first place. Maybe there really was a mistake.”

“Dad will be able to help, and I’m sure he will be able to coax your animal out. That’s another part of the shifter magic—the ability to control all shifters’ shifts, not to mention the ability to help a human who has been bitten by a shifter to complete their transition. Shifters who decide to marry humans will petition you for permission to change them. It’s not permitted without permission because a human will go mad without royal magic to help them through their first change.”

I try to take in everything Gretchin just explained, but I’m stuck on the first bit. “If I’m supposed to have all that magic now, then how is your dad going to help me?” I ask, and Gracelin smiles.

“Until you are crowned, you both share the magic. It gives Dad the ability to guide you through everything until your coronation.”

“And that doesn’t happen until you pick your mates,” Violet adds, clapping her hands. “Have any presented themselves for selection yet?” she asks the two princesses, sounding excited. “I can’t wait to see who is chosen.”

Again, Gracelin and Gretchin exchange a glance, and my stomach rolls with worry. “Not yet.” Gracelin forces a smile, and Violet’s excitement drops.

“It’s been hours since Colbie arrived. Why haven’t any marked possible mates arrived at the castle?”

“Oh God, the magic really did go wrong, didn’t it?” I groan, and Archie squirms in my lap, patting my cheeks.

“Don’t worry, it’s because they know you’re going to marry me,” he reassures me, and I smile weakly at him. Gosh, he’s a sweet kid. I hope he stays this way.

“Like I said, let’s wait until we see Dad to start to worry. How about you get up, take a shower, and put on some fresh clothes? Then, we can go find everyone and get to the bottom of this. It’s almost dinnertime, and we were hoping you would join us.” Gracelin takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Colbie, the three of us have your back.” Gretchin waves to her sister and Violet. Violet’s mouth rounds with a kind of awe that makes me want to smile.

“Me too? Are you sure? My family isn’t from the palace’s social circle,” she asks, and Gretchin scoffs, “Thank fuck.”

Gracelin screws up her nose. “We never liked any of those snooty bitches anyway. They are only friends with us in the hope that our brother and his bond might look their way. The sooner their mate gets marked, the sooner we’ll find out who our real friends are. It will be nice having two friends who don’t care who he is.”

“It can’t be that bad,” I argue, remembering how nice both girls were when we were kids. Surely they can’t have changed so significantly over the years. Hell, Archie’s lovely, so surely that tells me what kind of person his mother is.

“You wait. They’ll all be kissing your ass soon enough,” Gracelin warns me.

“Or turning on you,” Gretchin mutters, and my nausea turns to dread.

“I’m not good at games,” I say, and Gretchin hops off the bed and grabs Archie off my lap before pulling her sister up.

“Luckily we are. Shifters can be real assholes, always posturing and trying to prove who is the strongest, and it’s no different here in the castle. We will teach you, but first, get cleaned up. The best way to start is to look fucking fabulous, and we can definitely help with that.” Gretchin points at a closed door that I’m assuming is the bathroom, so I push the blankets off, and Violet jumps up to help me. She holds my arm, my body still a little shaky from all the magic, and escorts me to the shower.

“You supervise so she doesn’t pass out in there, and the three of us will pick something for her to wear,” Gracelin instructs Violet, who nods her agreement.

“Oh, I didn’t bring anything with me,” I tell her, and she waves me off.

“Don’t you worry. Part of the magic fills your closet for you, and we sent someone to collect your things from your grandparents. We will have you looking like a queen in no time.”

With no arguments left, I let the girls steamroll me. I must admit it is much more pleasant than letting my mother do the same thing. There is laughter and fun as I reconnect with my old friends and get to know Violet and my future husband—which is how Archie insists I refer to him—better.