Heir of Golden Storms
Chapter Nine

A knock on the door wakes me up. I do not like when people wake me from my sleep. A knock again on the door and I sit up. The servant who is knocking should wait until I am ready. Just as I am standing up, a third knock interrupts me, making me sit down again. I walk towards the door with anger, ready to chew and spit out whoever is there.

“I hope that you have a great ex–” I start to say as I open the door but stop. Father is standing there with the golden crown of the High King on his head and white and gold clothes that look more elegant than to be for daily use.

“Ah! Did I wake you?” he asks, but he knows that he did. I ignore his comment.

“Not that I am complaining, but why are you delighting me with your presence so early in the morning?”

“Because I need you to get dressed,” he says. He moves his hands and Oberon enters my room with clothes in his hands. “We are parting in five minutes.” He turns around and leaves with knights following him.

“Where are we going?” I ask Oberon when I close the door.

“I do not know, but you need to take a bath, wash your mouth, and dress in five minutes,” he says. He rushes to the bathroom and I hear water flowing. “Come on! Hurry up!” He pushes me towards the bathroom and closes the door.

After I do all the things in the bathroom, I return to my room. White and golden clothes, even with a cape and the silver prince’s crown smaller than father’s, are on my bed. Father only orders me to wear my prince’s crown when we are visiting other courts. After I put my clothes on, I practice my smile on the mirror. This is the smile that everyone expects, the smile of a smug prince.

When I walk down the stairs, I decipher which court we are visiting. Easton and Gracin are at the Court of Spirits and they married recently. Knowing father, he wants to check the court that his son has married into. When I walk to the entrance, I am surprised to see Thalia waiting for me. She is wearing a dark purple dress and a silver crown with amethyst jewels on different parts of it. When she becomes queen, the crown will be gold instead of silver.

“What a surprise!” I say, trying to act happy in case if anyone is seeing me. I want to ask her why she is here, but I do not think that I can say it without sounding mean.

“The High King asked me to come,” she says, also faking a smile. This king’s purpose of bringing Thalia is to show the other court that the Court of Storms is also an ally to the Court of Miracles.

I kiss her, not fiercely nor vaguely, but enough for anyone to think that I like her. I even move a strand of her hair behind her pointy ear as I stare at her deep blue eyes. I do not know how she does it, but she even manages to blush.

“Come on, love birds, there is enough time for playing love after your wedding,” Zephyrus says. He even shoves us to the side to walk between us.

“Jealous much?” Thalia asks. Now that I know her a little, she is teasing, but Zephyrus does not know it.

“Listen, little princess,” he says when he turns around. “You are lucky for getting married into the Court of Miracles when you are coming from such a low court.”

“Zephyrus,” I warn him. “I ask you to stop talking to my fiancée the same way as you speak to your wife.” This angers Zephyrus, but he only takes a deep breath.

“Whatever,” he says. “I do not even know why father asked you to come.”

Zephyrus waves his hand at us as if dismissing us, but he is the one to leave. He climbs in the front carriage, meaning that that is where father is, and that the other carriage is for Thalia and me. We walk towards the carriage. A servant opens the door for us, and I help Thalia step in before I do. The winged horses start galloping, instead of flying. That means that we are going somewhere near.

“Where are we going?” Thalia asks.

“I thought that we were going to the Court of Spirits, but the carriages are going the other way,” I say.

We should trust each other if we want to survive after getting married.

“I am going to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone,” I say. She nods, but I add, “I need you to say it.”

“I promise,” she says, her eyes directly at my eyes.

For a second, I consider telling her about Queen Willow. I want to tell her about how father and Zephyrus want me to kill her and steal Thalia’s throne. But I do not know how she will act. I do not know if she will go to Queen Willow. I do not know if she will call the wedding off. I do not know if she will wage war against our court even if it is not convenient for her court.

“North and I have been going to the Slumbering Forest,” I tell her instead.

“What? Isn’t that forest dangerous?” Thalia asks. I am lucky that she is across from me or she would have hit my arm in frustration.

“It is,” I tell her. “A forest sprite lured me there to try to break a curse that he probably invented. He said that the Cursebreaker could break it, but it was not true.”

“What curse did he want you to break?” Thalia asks.

“Well, he said that the trees of the Slumbering Forest are the mythical treefolk,” I say. “He wanted me to wake them.”

“Do you know about the Forbidden Forest?” Thalia asks me. I nod.

The Forbidden Forest starts at the edge of the Court of Storms and the Court of Mountains. Its trees extend from the coast of the land near the Court of Mountains to the other end of the land near the Court of Storms. Faeries are not allowed to cross the forest, not even pass the edge of the courts that are next to it. We are not even allowed to talk about it, but Thalia does not care about the rules.

“Some citizens from my court have said to see creatures hiding within the trees,” Thalia says. “Some have even seen moving trees.”

“And do you believe them?” I ask. It sounds delusional. Father would have dismissed those rumors and they would have been gone from our court.

“Well, I have seen… things,” she says and looks out her window.

“What kind of things?” I ask. She looks back at me and smiles.

“You do not expect me to reveal everything about myself before the wedding, do you?” she asks. “Some things are better left as a surprise.” She winks at me and flashes that flirty smile, the smile that makes me want her. I only look away in answer, trying to stop me from telling her how much I crave for her.

Moments later, I feel the change of environment. We have left the Court of Miracles. The sun shines warmer here, and it also shines less brightly. The trees around us hold red, orange, and brown leaves. The air smell of pumpkin and spices. I poke my head outside and look at the ground. Leaves are on every inch of the ground. I hurry back inside the carriage.

“Where are we?” Thalia asks.

“The Court of Autumn,” I sigh.

I do not know what father is planning. If he is taking me here, that means that he took my advice of making a deal. If he would have asked, I would have accompanied him without hesitation, but he did not ask me. Also, he brought Thalia with us. If something happens to Thalia, I will blame this all on him.

The carriage stops, and someone opens the door. I walk first out and extend my hand for Thalia to hold. When she steps out, I move her arm to let it rest between us. We are a couple in the public eyes, we must act like one.

In front of us stands a brown castle, same color as the trees around us. Orange banners are erected on the path to the entrance. The doors are open, but it still shows the brown wooden color that seems to be polished every single day. This is the Autumn Castle.

Father and Zephyrus are beside us with knights around them. Father moves to speak with the Autumn knights in front of us.

“The king awaits you,” the knight says. “Follow me.” If it were father’s knight, he would lose knighthood for commanding father.

Father only nods, and the silver knights start marching to the castle. Behind father, Zephyrus follows, and behind him, Thalia and I do too. Some of our knights gather behind us, protecting us from whatever might come from behind. When we pass the entrance, the door closes behind us.

Inside the castle is darker than the Miracle Castle. Colorful windows made of glass are on every wall. Each one holds a picture from trees to persons. They might hold a story in each one. When the sun hits the windows, it illuminates the rooms with rainbow colors, from yellow to blue to orange to red.

After the long hall at the entrance, the throne room stands. My mind starts running. Having the throne room close to the entrance can make the king vulnerable. Having the ceiling made of colorful glass can also be dangerous. It could be beautiful and bring elegance to the throne room but anyone sane enough will not put glass on top of the king for it to break and fall on him.

“Welcome to the Court of Autumn,” the king sitting at the throne room says with confidence. “You asked for parlay, but I have some terms. No weapons in my throne room.”

I hand the Cursebreaker to the nearest knight while father, Zephyrus, and the rest of our few knights do. The king of the Court of Autumn looks younger than father. He has a full short black beard covering his face, blending with his gorgeous brown skin. He seems eager, even confident that we were the one to ask for a parlay.

Each side of a war has a chance to ask for parlay. Usually, the parlay will take place at the land of the one who did not ask for parlay. They will talk and try to strike a deal without any violence. In the end, everyone can walk out without being hurt, even if a deal was not made.

“King Eustace of the Court of Autumn,” father says. “I have come to hear your pleading.”

“Our pleading? You murdered my sister!” Prince Fulton shouts. King Eustace extends his arm to stop Prince Fulton from yelling.

Besides the king stands a woman with a crown on her head. She is holding a baby, a newborn from the king. Her face is emotionless, but her eyes watch father with hatred. She must have been the mother of Princess Vera.

“There are casualties at war. Your father knows that,” father’s voice is cold.

“What do you want, Auden?” King Eustace asks. He does not even bother to call father a king, and father does not show any sing of that bothering him.

“I am here to form peace between our courts,” father says. “I will grant you three wishes within my power as king for this war to be over.”

King Eustace takes a moment but then nods. “Very well. My first wish would be to resurrect my daughter.”

“Ah, I cannot do that,” father says, shaking his head. This makes Prince Fulton open his mouth, but he closes it when he sees King Eustace lean on his throne.

“And why not? You said that you were going to grant me three wishes,” King Eustace says. “This is one of my wishes, and you are held to your word.”

“I am bound to my word, the word that stated that I will grant you three wishes within my power as king,” father answers.

Father has tricked the king of the Court of Autumn. The gift of granting miracles does not come for being a king. It comes from himself and his bloodline.

King Eustace shifts in his throne. “I do not like being played, Auden,” he says.

“High King Auden,” father corrects him. He let it slide one, not twice.

“Then I wish for my court to be the high court and I to be the high king,” King Eustace says, ignoring the correction.

“I cannot do that either,” father says. “That is not within my powers. I was chosen to be high king because my ancestors once ruled over the whole land. For you to become high king, you would have to convince every court to become your ally and choose you as their king.”

“I want my court to be independent from yours.” King Eustace’s voice comes rough and mad. “That means that you won’t ever attack my court nor will you walk through it.”

“Done,” father says.

“I want your three best knights in your kingdom,” King Eustace continues. “I want them to show their loyalty to the Autumn King instead of Miracles.”

“You cannot take our –” Zephyrus starts saying.

“Zephyrus!” father interrupts him. Zephyrus takes a step back. Father looks back at the Autumn King and smiles without showing any teeth. “Done.”

“Finally, I want my court to have total freedom on your court and each court that you are aligned with,” the Autumn King says. “That means that any person can enter and leave your courts without being harmed.”

“No,” I say. Everyone eyes draw on me. They did not expect me to speak.

“This does not concern you, prince,” King Eustace says. “This only concerns your father and I.”

“I beg to differ,” I say. I look at father. His face is blank. If he does not want me to talk, he would have told me something by now. He is trusting me. That is why he brought me here. He is testing me to see if I belong in the court strategizing beside him.

“Let us imagine if father grants you that wish,” I say. I let go of Thalia’s arm and start walking towards the king. Knights start moving towards me, protecting King Eustace. “What would a harmless person do with that freedom? Well, they would visit other courts, learn about them, maybe even move to another court. But we all know that you are not a harmless person.” I stop a few feet away from the steps towards the throne. The knights are two feet away from me.

“How dare you call the king of the Court of Autumn dangerous?” Prince Fulton yells. “Your father is the dangerous one!”

“And yet, he did not start the war,” I tell Prince Fulton. My gaze returns to the king without giving a second thought at the prince. “You would use that freedom to invade other courts. You will use that freedom to intimidate every single court or even assassinate the royal families. If we agree to this, you will not be harmed even if you declare war against any court. You will eventually rule every court without a scratch on your face. So, I speak firmly for father when I say that we will not agree to that wish.”

“Listen, kid,” King Eustace says.

“Prince Rowan,” I correct him. Father should be proud that I am using my title.

“Your father agreed to three wishes,” he says. “This is my third wish. Take it or leave my court.”

“Very well,” I say, turning around. I start walking back towards father, Zephyrus and Thalia. “We will leave. You will not get any wish from our court. Let me tell you that you should have taken both wishes and renounced to the third one.” I stop in front of Thalia and grab her hand. I kiss it gently. It is all for show. I need to show the king confidence and that I do not care if we walk out, even if I am bluffing.

I move Thalia’s arm and rest it on mine. “Let me tell you why,” I carry on. “When you attacked, I must admit that you took us by surprise. You can fool us once, but not twice, because the second time that you even think about waging war, we will have armies of knights from every court attacking your court. We will march into your castle and we will personally take your crown and strip you from your title.”

“Is that a threat?” King Eustace asks.

“This? Oh, no, I have not even threatened you,” I say. For a second, I think about the forest sprite and how his seriousness can intimidate anyone. I try to imitate him. “When we leave empty handed, I will personally contact every court. I will personally lead the Court of Miracles’ army to your court. I will personally grab your crown and break it in half in less than twelve hours. And that is a promise, and threat, from this prince.”

King Eustace does not show anything in his face. I keep my gaze steady at him. He looks at Prince Fulton, who looks back at him. They do not know what to do. Then, King Eustace stares at father.

“King Auden, I accept your two wishes and I renounce to the third,” King Eustace says.

“I will keep my word,” father says. He turns around and we follow him, being escorted by Autumn’s knights and ours.

What King Eustace did not think was that father was the one granting him the wishes, not the Court of Miracles. In other words, if father is no longer king, the wishes will be worthless. The next ruler of the Court of Miracles can attack the Court of Autumn with nothing to hold him back.

“Listen to me, Zephyrus,” father says when the knights of the Court of Autumn have return to the castle and we are standing in front of the carriages. “King Eustace wants independence and I will grant him independence, but in twenty-three years, when I step down and you become king, I want you to claim the Court of Autumn by force.”

Zephyrus nods. “When do I send him our best three knights?”

“Right away, but not before you cut their tongues and arms,” father says as he steps into the carriage. “He thought that my knights will tell them all about our tactics and training, but without tongues or arms, they will be useless.” Zephyrus nods, with a grin as big as father’s smile.