Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms 1)

“Should I send Mira to you later?”

“No. Let her have a night off from attending to me. I’m sure she’s having a difficult time worrying about the siege outside.”

“At least it’s a quiet siege. I think that must be a good sign.” If she didn’t already know something horrible was happening outside, she never would have guessed it. The sounds of battle did not penetrate the thick castle walls.

Emilia didn’t smile at this. She just looked tired and sad. “I hope so.”

“Tomorrow will be a better day.” Cleo bent over and kissed her sister’s cool forehead. “I love you, sister.”

“I love you too.”

Cleo slipped out of Emilia’s chambers and padded along the hallway. It was eerily quiet in the castle. The windows had all been blocked with boards.

Being cooped up gave her far too much time to think about Theon. She missed him being around, shadowing her at the castle, giving her stern looks when she did or said something mischievous. The relief on his face when he’d found her unharmed in Paelsia. The heat in his gaze when he admitted that he cared deeply for her.

And then, the surprised pain when the Limerian prince impaled him with a sword and stole his life forever.

She pushed away her tears as she moved through the same hallways they’d walked together. His loss was a constant weight on her heart, and it only grew heavier with each day that had passed.

She was so tired that she retired to her chambers rather than go in search of Mira and Nic. There, however, she found that she only stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

If she’d found the exiled Watcher, everything would be different. She would very possibly have the means now to return Emilia’s health and vitality.

Perhaps it was only a legend. It pained her to even consider this.

All that had kept her optimism and belief going had been Eirene’s stories. They’d been so alive, so real. Eirene had given Cleo hope.

She’d all but forgotten the old woman these past days. The envelope with the name of the local tavern owner, to whom Cleo had planned to send her gifts of gratitude through, had gone untouched and unopened.

“Good fortune will find those with pure hearts, even when all seems lost.”

They were Eirene’s parting words to her. All certainly seemed lost right now. Trapped in a castle, with no idea when she’d be able to safely leave again. Her sister fading away before her very eyes.

Cleo swung her legs out of bed, determined to find the envelope. Even if she was unable to send anything yet, she could gather what she needed in her spare time. Lately, she had a great deal of spare time.

The small envelope sat on her dressing table, beneath a pile of unread books. She picked it up and broke the seal.

Instead of an address, she was surprised to find a note and two tiny brown pebbles inside.

The note read:

Princess, please accept my apologies that I couldn’t tell you the truth about myself. It is a secret that I’ve held for many years that no one knows, apart from legend, not even my granddaughter. A pure heart is worth more to me than gold. Yours is such a heart. Use these precious seeds to heal your sister so she can help lead Auranos toward a brighter future. —Eirene

Cleo read the note three times before it began to make any sort of sense to her. But when it did, the note literally dropped from her hands.

Eirene had seen through her and Nic’s lies about being from Limeros. She’d known Cleo was the Auranian princess.

Even more than that—Eirene was the exiled Watcher herself. While they had searched for her, she had found them instead.

And Cleo had no idea.

She looked down at the tiny pebbles and her eyes widened. These were the grape seeds infused with earth magic. They’d been in her possession the entire time.

Two seeds that were capable of healing someone near death.

If she’d known this, she could have saved Theon’s life with one of them.

The hopeless thought wrenched her heart from her chest. She let out a loud cry of pain, then gave in to her grief and collapsed to the floor, drawing her knees tight to her chest.