Page 1 of To Save a Kingdom

Chapter 1

Brooks

Why do things always start with me being thrown in prison?

Brooks heaved himself off the floor and dusted his hands on his pants as the jail door slammed shut behind him. The metallic clank of a latch slid into place. His hood hung low, obscuring the gem embedded in his forehead. At least the jailor hadn’t taken the literal cloak off his back—he had no idea how the wretches would respond if they found the jewel and discovered he was the former Arcane Inquisitor.

Despite the cell’s proximity to the open air of the front gate, the scent of body odor, human waste and damp mildew saturated his nostrils and coated the back of his throat. He fought back a gag. This had better be worth it.

The guard and his cronies rifled through the contents of his pockets and backpack. Not that he was stupid enough to store anything of value in them.

One of the men upended the satchel, spilling his belongings across the ground.

“Hey!” Brooks smashed the side of his fist against the bars, slurring his words to keep up the drunkard act. “Stay outta my things!”

He pulled his hands away as one of the thugs slammed his club where his fingers had been moments before. “Shut up, you. You’re lucky it’s Queen Aliya that’s in charge now. Malkov would’a just let us hang you and be done with it.” He kicked at the floor, scattering dust, bits of dirty straw and gravel into the cell.

Pushing his lips into a thin line, Brooks reined in the rage boiling through his chest and up the back of his throat. The last thing he needed was for the gem in his forehead to start glowing and give him away.

Blast it.

His skin crackled as fragments of magic zinged through his veins. It begged to be unleashed, to suck every bit of life from these worthless pieces of filth as their bodies collapsed from the inside out. It would be agonizingly slow, and so, so satisfying.

With a groan, Brooks pulled the power back.

It would have to wait. At least, for now. If he burned through the magic in his magestone before he figured out how to replenish it, he’d regret it when he finally came face to face with the false queen, Aliya Larimar.

He kicked one of the larger pebbles back at the guards. The irony wasn’t lost on him that those who worked the jails were often no better than those locked within. Regardless of the nation, dungeons attracted a certain type of man.

He peered down the hallway into the darkness beyond. The jewel in his forehead pulsed. His target was that way, somewhere.

Pushing himself away from the bars, he stumbled to the back of the cell and slid down the wall. Crossing his legs, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Shift change would be in a few hours. By then, these bastards would be finished with his things and would wander off to darken other parts of the world.

Then, he could get on with this.

Chapter 2

Aliya

“Ugh.” Aliya put her elbows on the desk, careful not to smudge any of the ink in the proposed trade contract, and buried her eyes behind her open palms. Nausea unfurled in her stomach at the thought of the impossibly tall stacks of papers awaiting her attention on both sides of her workspace. Even if she stayed up all night, she wouldn’t make it through half of them. “If I have to read one more legal document, my brain is going to turn to mush.”

The black cat sitting on the pile of documents off to the side tiptoed around the inkwell and ran its tail under her chin. “Don’t worry, niece. You don’t have to review them all tonight.”

Aliya sighed. Shadow was only trying to help, but… “The council meeting is tomorrow morning. They’re going to expect decisions.” And not just any, but ones in line with what each member wanted. Not only would such an accomplishment be impossible, but it most likely wouldn’t benefit the realm or its people. Not that the human nobility cared, from what she’d seen.

She felt like dropping her face into her hands, shapeshifting into a cat like Shadow, and running away, shunning all responsibility associated with the crown and kingdom. There was so much systemic abuse and corruption to root out. It was beyond overwhelming. And she couldn’t even start on the situation with the elves. And with Elessan.

The cat purred, kneading the edge of the table with her claws. Its quicksilver eyes, an exact match for Aliya’s, speared her with their intense gaze. “Pick the five you cannot delegate, and assign the rest to your advisors tomorrow.”

Chewing the inside of one cheek, Aliya ran her thumb up one corner of the larger stack. The snap of the paper flicking into place was surprisingly satisfying. “That would work… if only I knew who I could trust on the council.”

King Malkov had only been dead for three days—nowhere near long enough to sort out who was loyal to her and who favored the old regime and planned to undermine her rule. Not to mention the humans chafing at the continued presence of the other races.

The dwarves, under Thane Hedul, would be leaving as soon as the details of their new trade agreement were hammered out. The elves…

Aliya swallowed. She wasn’t quite sure when the elves were departing, or if Elessan was planning to go with them. He’d promised to stay as long as she needed, but the way Tsara was talking at their last meeting made it clear the sun elf princess was expecting him to depart when they did. And even Aliya saw the yearning in his eyes when he spoke of home.

She felt much more secure in her position knowing the elves, under the leadership of Tsara and Zadé, were here to back her up. But she also understood why her subjects were uncomfortable having their former enemies occupying the castle.