The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (15 page)

“I’m sorry, Ari.  I should have warned you.”  Clay said, thinking he knew why I was upset, but he had no idea that I was standing there, heartbroken, over what might become of him. 
I took a deep breath, putting the walls back up around my soul, trying not to let my love for him get the best of me.  I squared my shoulders and turned to face the
Eartha
Royal
Clan
, careful to keep my eyes trained on the King.  I walked toward him and knelt
down, gently taking his hand.

“Thank you for coming,” I said unsure of what else to say.
  He gave me the slightest grin
, and he looked more like Clay in that way than ev
er before, twisting a knife to
my insides. 

He leaned forward and gave my forehead a light kiss, “You will be
the most magnificent Queen
Draí
ochta
has ever been privileged to have.  Promise me, you won’t forget.”  Bryan said quietly as his eyes leveled with mine, returning to his stern composure that I had grown to appreciate.  I nodded, unable to speak, or I would begin to cry.  Bryan had made me prom
ise I would never forge
t my purpose or why I was born.  I looked up at Clay and decided the people should know what I have been fighting for.  Fiona appeared in the doorway.

“We are ready for you.”  I nodded again and brushed the hair out of my face.  I stood up and grabbed Clay’s hand, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do right now, because I didn’t want him to sense what I was about to do.  He looked at me in a way that I knew he could tell I was upset, but once again, he had no clue why.  I was shaking.  I was so terrified, but as scary a
s it was, I had made a choice.

My breathing had become shallow as I waited in the wings.  I felt a little like I was back
stage
at my senior dance recital, waiting to go on for my solo.  My nerves were totally shot as Fiona walked over to the podium and announced the
Eartha
Royal Clan.  Clay rolled his Father out to the podium area with Aileen close at their side.  They approached two lavish thrones waiting for us at the center of the stage and took their spots.  I was told these custom cra
fted thrones were as old as
Draí
ochta
, and they were only brought out for Crowning and Binding Ceremonies.  They looked to be made almost entirely of silver and gold.  A carved tree trunk made up the arch of the chair with flowers laden wit
h jewels, mimicking
Draí
ochta’s
spectacular gate entrance that had first welco
med me to this mystical place. 
I looked down at my black cocktail dress thinking it wasn’t fancy enough to sit in that throne.  Only a ball gown woul
d do, but it was too late now.

I peeked ou
t of the side of the pillar after
the clapping for the
Eartha
family had subsided and Fiona had instructed everyone to take their seats.  My vision blurred as I took in the packed Council building that had extra seating filled all the way through the lobby, while
Aira
Fae
were still floating around
toward
the back so they could see up front.  I put my hand on the pillar and rested my forehead against the cold marble as Fiona went through the protocol of tonight’s proceedings.  I braved another peek, wanting to see a friendly face, and scanned the front rows where the Court membe
rs took precedence in seating.

I found Adam in the first row sitting next to Grant and Morgan, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Adam had his hands hidden in his lap but I could still see the golden handcuffs glowing around his wrists.  A shot of heat went through me, but I tried to ignore it, at least he was here.  Jeremy sat next to Adam on the other side, and my eyebrows rose when I saw
Bree
sitting there too.  I guess that
meant last night went well.  I could see other Court members eyeing her, wondering what she doing sitting up there with them.  I clenched my jaw tight, irritated by their
cold looks.  Kayla was the last one on the pew sitting next to
Bree
, closest to me.  The Court members eyed her too for taki
ng precious front row seating, as if just
because she was allowed at the Court meetings
,
it
didn’t give her the right to be up there
with them now
.  Another sharp tap of fire shot through me, and I had to step away to gain control.  I felt eyes trying to find me, standing behind the pillar as I radiated energy too intense to hide.  My heart drummed in my ears
as I attempted to calm myself.

“We can all feel her powerful presence, so I will not keep you in suspens
e any longer.  Citizens of
Draí
ochta
, I give you Aria Brennan, our Queen.”  Fiona triumphantly announced.  I had to quickly recover from the jolt of hearing my lineage name instead of my adoptive name, Darwin.  I took a deep breath and hovered only inches above the ground floating out from my hiding spot toward my
throne as I waved and smiled.

Cheers and clapping shook the chandeliers in the ceiling as I came into view.  I sat next to King Bryan who had moved from his wheel chair into his throne.  I crossed my ankles, putting my hands gingerly in my lap, to appear as ladylike as possible.  I made eye contact with each of my friends and my brother, silently thanking them for sitting right in front of the throne
s
where I cou
ld see their supportive faces.

As before when I announced my Crowning, many of the Court members cheered with little enthusiasm.  Tonight was no different.  I saw
Penni
and some of her friends toward the back, giving the same half-c
laps, plus more citizens of
Draí
ochta
than I cared to count following suit.  I immediately felt a lightning of doom strike me when I thought of having to persuade these citizens to be on my side, and with what?  Some pitiful speech tucked in my bra about how honored I was to be here.  My mind raced, realizing that only my back-up plan would suffice, while the thought of it made me wan
t to disappear into my throne.

“Before we begin, do a
ny Court members object to the c
rowning of our Queen?”  Fiona asked as a formality.  Everyone in the Court looked at William, waiting.  He slowly stood holding a manila envelope in his h
and, looking at me evenly.

“I, William O’Connor, object to these proceedings, and I have prepared the proper doc
ument to set forth postponement,” h
e said, holding up the envelope.  A small smile crossed his face as he watched me.  I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking worried.  My face
remained expressionless as I waved for him to approach the thrones and present his proof.  A mumble of whispers echoed through the back as he approached.  Obviously many of the citizens did not know of the turmoi
l within the Court.

William smugly handed me the envelope and swept his eyes over my jeweled throne looking envious.  I had to suppress my urge to growl at him, like an animal protecting its territory, and carefully unwound the string holding the envelope closed.  I pulled out the document and scanned it.  I didn’t really know what I was looking for, but it looked like a straight forward petition to me.  The only difference was that the paper was beautifully bordered with gold leaf, and the signatures all looked to be penned with an ink dipping pen. 
Fae
must take a cursive class in their schooling because each signat
ure was beautiful and legible.

I had to hide a flinch when I read some of the names on the petition.  They were surprising and a bit hurtful.  This was going to be tougher than I thought.  I nodded once and carefully handed the document over for King Bryan to inspect and approve its admissibility.  I looked past William still standing in front of me to find my friends for comfort, and they all smiled.  I felt like they were the only ones
in this building of thousands
left on my team.  I was so screwed.  King Bryan also nodded a
nd held the document out.  Clay,
sitting in a chair beside his throne
,
snatched it up and brought it over to Fiona at the podium, the last of the leaders who needed to authenticate the document.

I watched
her,
hopeful that she would find something wrong, but I knew all was lost when her eyes went tight
,
tryi
ng to hide her disappointment.

“I see.”  She said mostly to herself, but the microphone caught it, sharing the news.  I looked up at William and tossed the envelope at him.  He caught it and glared at me, his back still turned from the audience. 

“You can take you
r
seat now, William.”  I said, not doing well at hiding the intense anger in my voice.  He looked pleased with hims
elf as he returned to his pew.

“Ari
a has prepared a statement, after which the citizens of
Draí
o
c
hta
will be polled
in a vote,
to determine if she will be crowned this evening.”  Fiona said looking over at me.  Taking my queue, I slowly stood up and walked to the podium.  Fiona gave me a reassuring smile before
she stepped aside, allowing me to speak.  I was grateful that I had worn high heels or it wouldn’t have done much for my authorit
y if I barely cleared the stand
.  Even th
ough I could see over it easily
in my towering shoes, I sud
denly had never felt so small.

I took
out
t
he folded piece of paper tucked in
my bra, figuring it worth a shot, knowing the other option was a last resort, and a light hum of laughter sung through the room.  I guess I should have worn a dress with pockets.  I unfolded the small scratch paper and smoothed it out over the podium’s surface.  The wooden stand hid my knees, knocking together with nervousness as I began to freeze up.  I felt utterly panicked.  Whose life was this?  How did I even get here?  It seemed like minute ago I was a kid swimming in a river back home, and now I was a joke of a Queen with the weight of our world on top of me.  I licked my lips and my tongue felt like sandpaper against them.  I found my friends, and they all looked at me with encouragement, nodding for me to start.  I swallowed and fixed my eyes on the paper. 

“First of all, I would like to say thank you for coming.  I know some of you have mixed emotions about my Crowning and why I should be your Queen, and I am here today to reassure you.  I am honored to be a part of such a powerful lineage and wish to fulfill my destiny as the Trinity
Fae
you have all waited hundreds of years for.  I understand that my interaction with the
Eartha
Prince has been unorthodox, and I apologize if I made anyone question how serious I take my role as your Queen by going against tradition.”  My voice was shaky when I spoke of Clay and as I thought about his Father.  What would beco
me of Clay after Liam killed me?
 

The ink ran together over the paper as a tear dripped from my eye.  I quickly wiped it away and looked up at the faces before me.  Many had their arms crossed in a closed-off posture with tight expressions.  I didn’t blame them.  I was a mess.  Who would want me as their prophet’s legacy?  Who would believe that I could help protect their
souls
.
  That word sparked a fire inside me, and at that moment I was done.  I sighed, and dipped my head.

“I can’t do this...I can’t do this anymore!”  I threw my hands up in frustration, and whispe
rs began taking over the room.

“The truth is...” I looked back at Clay.  His eyes were warm when he looked at me, blanketing my heart until the ice melted away.

I looked straight forward sweeping my eyes over the distracted whispering citizens, “Clay is my Soul Keeper.”  I blurted out.  Instantaneously every head in that room whipped up to look at me, falling silent.  The gasp by the thousands, all at once, sucked the oxygen from the room, and their mouths went slack in disbelief as the air became still and awkward.  The room stayed silent,
eyes darting between Clay and me
in confusion
,
as if they had heard it w
rong.

None of their stares compared to Clay’s, sitting on the chair just out of my line of sight.  I
t didn’t matter
that he was out of my line of vision because I could feel his eyes burning into me, as anger radiated through him seeping into my skin.  I swore I could hear his heart beating in my ears as he tried to understand how I could know as h
e tried to control his blistering anger. 
Doing my best to ignore him,
I kept looking straight ahead.

“I realize this comes as a surprise.  It did to me as well.  I know you are all wondering how you don’t see it in my energy, and the answer to that question is that I do not remember my
sealment
.  It took place the day I almost drowned by K
ing
Thadeus’s
hand and I have suffered a bit of amnesia surrounding that day’s events.  The reason I have told you something so private about myself is because tonight I want to talk about souls.  I don’t want to talk about power, or lineage, or who would make the best leader.  I want to talk about your
sou
ls
.  The lifeblood of every living, breathing, magical thing in this city stems from our souls.  I don’t discount that tradition is important, but at what cost?”  I said with regret
,
and everyone looked past me, eyeing King Bryan with sadness.  Even though no one spoke of his condition, they seemed to know its cause, and I could feel his discomfort.  He was the last
Fae
on earth who wanted pity.  I scrambled to continue.