Page 49 of Crown of Ellova: Vol 1

“The crown’s magic has overshadowed yours,” Nyvenah explains. “It’s much stronger and you are only half fae. The crown has been pulling magic for thousands of years.” She makes her way to her throne, and the moment she sits, she grimaces before her features smooth out.

“Mother?” Nueena’s eyes widen with concern as she moves closer to Nyvenah. “Are you all right?” As Nueena approaches, the gemstones embedded in the throne flare to life, growing bright. “I wish we could move up my coronation.” When she is within arm’s reach of her mother, small white flowers bloom from the tangled ivy, releasing an enticing floral perfume.

Nyvenah shakes her head. “Sunflower, I can handle it for a few more weeks. I must wait for the full rejection of the throne before you can ascend. I know it’s difficult to watch. I hated seeing my mother’s slow rejection, and she hated seeing her mother go through it, and her mother hated to see the throne reject Zarella, but this is the way it’s done. We must wait for the navlue flowers to fully bloom before we can start the coronation.” She shifts uncomfortably again before returning her attention to me.

I glance at the navlue tree, dreading telling them about Grayden and the fruit he had. The navlue fruit is ripening but the pale purple flower buds are still tightly closed.

“I do have a question, Della. How did you know what KingJedrick looked like and who Leon was?” Nyvenah tries to appear indifferent, but the question is laced with suspicion, her eyes narrowing at Nueena and me.

I keep my expression blank, and Nueena moves to stand behind me. We’ve talked before about how they would react if they ever found out. She straightens her back, ready to face their reaction with me.

“Well,” I say, leaving Nueena out of it, “I have been sneaking into Adreania with a stockpile of provisions for a place called Beggars’ Row.”

Alachite and Nyvenah are tense as they listen to my confession. Nyvenah’s face is frozen in fear.

“My only living mortal relative, my cousin Cyanna, ran an orphanage there with twenty-two children. They were desperately in need of help. The children she’s raising were starving and sick, so I’ve done what I could. I have gone once a month for a while. For the first few years I stayed at the orphanage, but while the food was helpful, what they truly needed were coins. I didn’t have their currency so at first I just sold my jewelry to the noble houses out of an old family shop. Once I made a name for myself, I got an invitation to the monthly royal bazaar, where I had been selling my pieces. At the end of the night, I distributed the coins to the families there. I know there were risks but they were suffering so much.”

“Oh, Della…I cannotbeginto explain how dangerous that was! Howfoolish! The arrogance inside you to believe you would be safe in that monster’s kingdom!” Fear no longer graces Nyvenah’s beautiful face; only rage.

“I took every precaution. But even before I was forced to put on the crown, I was never going to risk returning after my last night there.”

Nueena is ready to defend me and my choices. “We have so much here, and those who live in Adreania have nothing. She couldn’t just turn her back when she found out children in her family’s care were dying there!”

“Why?” Alachite says, ignoring Nueena, fury simmering in hiseyes. I look between them. Alachite so rarely gets angry; this might not end well.

“Because I do not possess the ability to ignore my family’s suffering.”

“No.” His tone is ice.“Why aren’t you going anymore after that last night? You said you were not going to risk returning. Besides the crown. What. Happened.”

I may be over a hundred years old and proud of what I have accomplished in the past ten years, of the lives I have saved and the children I have kept fed, but I exchange a guilty look with Nueena like we are dewlings again, caught stealing treats from the kitchens.

“Because Jedrick looked like he was on his last breath and Grayden was about to take over as king.”

Alachite crosses his arms, waiting.

“Jedrick was a lazy and apathetic king, only wanting to give in to drink and bleed the coffers dry, ignoring the pleas of its people, but Grayden…He seemed to believe the cure to the sickness that spreads in Adreania could be found in Kalvorn. He plans to lead both Adreania and Versairen to war against Kalvorn.”

Alachite sees right through me, one eyebrow arched, unconvinced that was the reason we left. “So because he was planning a war that would not affect you, you decided your safety suddenly mattered? Our spies keep an eye on the activities of our enemies. He has little weapons, starving cities, and a malnourished army. Not much of a threat to anyone.”

“Leon was concerned for my safety. He had a plan in place to get me out of Adreania when he thought I was a mortal woman with children. He had hired a ship captain to bring me to his childhood home. I sent Cyanna and her children in my place. With Cyanna safe, my work there was done, and I could not risk seeing Grayden again.”

Nueena continues for me, “Jedrick wasn’t going to last the month, and Grayden is insidious. An heir to make King Drystan proud. Cruel, merciless. Whatever he is planning, he deserves to die. He also showed far too much interest in Della.”

Nyvenah’s blue eyes are glassy and Alachite looks even moreenraged. I shrink even more under their gaze, hating that I will need to tell them exactly what Grayden’s plan were for me.

Ellova’s grave, I just want to crawl back into my warm bed and sleep ’til Nueena’s coronation. See if Leon will hold me like he did last night, hold me so tightly and tenderly this will all fade away. I look up at the mural painted above us to avoid the eyes of anyone around me.

I’m so tired.

Alachite opens his mouth to speak, but Nyvenah claims the next words.

“I know that this came from a good place.” Nyvenah closes her eyes and takes a long, deep breath to calm herself before speaking to us again. “Della, it was a precious gift to help raise you. I love your heart, that you care so much for those poor mortals. The Forger and your mother would be immensely proud of the woman you have become.” She speaks through gritted teeth now. “But you have been reckless with your life to go into the forest alone and cross the realms.”

Alachite slides his eyes suspiciously to his daughter. “Why do I just know you went with her?”

Nyvenah lets out a little gasp when Nueena does not deny it. The room shakes with it, the evidence clear on the windows, which all have jagged cracks running down them, threatening to shatter. Above Nyvenah, the crystal lights shudder, burning so brightly they nearly explode.

Nueena quickly confesses her part in all of this. “I never went to Adreania, never once crossed the Divide, but yes, I did travel with her there to ensure she returned. She begged me not to. It was my choice to accompany her through the forest. Nothing ever happened. It’s as empty as it has always been since the war ended. I also provided all the food she brought to Cyanna from our kitchens.”

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