Page 26 of A Tempest of Shadows

Swallowing, I stared out the window as the carriage rattled down the road. I heard the other horses before our carriage slowed and our horse went from a trot to a walk.

I’d known the street would be crowded; there were too many going to this ceremony for it not to take a while to get there, but I’d hoped we’d make it further before having to slow.

Sitting back in my seat, I caught the quirk of my mother’s eyebrow while she looked pointedly at my tangled skirt. “It’s only a few days where you have to act like a lady.”

“You didn’t raise me to be a lady.” Still, I fixed my skirt.

“I raised you how you were meant to be; you were always wild, Ellery, so I let you be wild. However, you have to do this.”

“I know.”

I stopped myself from grumbling those words; she was right. I had no choice in this, but I’d been given many of them throughout my life.

There were a lot of immortals who couldn’t say the same.

“The days will pass quickly,” my mother said.

“Are you excited about attending?”

Her grin lit her blue eyes. She’d styled her pale blonde hair into a meticulous updo with curled tendrils framing her pretty face. “I am.”

We couldn’t look or be any more different than each other, but she’d never done anything to make me think she was disappointed in me. She’d always accepted our differences and nurtured them.

I was lucky to call her my mother. I would do everything I could to ensure she had fun during this celebration… including not complaining the whole time.

I wouldn’t do anything to ruin her good time.

The carriage bumped and rattled along at an excruciatingly slow pace, but at least it meant we weren’t there yet. It wasn’t until the carriage stopped that my anxiety shot through the roof.

I could hide in the trees, steal from some of the wealthiest immortals in this realm, and barely feel my pulse spike, but the idea of this coronation had turned me into a rattled mess. But then, I was about to socialize with some of those I’d robbed.

“Are you okay, Ler Bear?” my mother asked.

I gulped, but my smile wasn’t fake when I turned toward her. My childhood nickname, from her and my father, created a burst of joy and a pang of longing inside me. We could never return to those simpler, better days, but recalling the love and security that surrounded me filled my heart with joy.

“Everything’s fine, Mother.”

“I know you don’t like crowds.”

I leaned across the small space separating us and rested my hand on hers. She’d lost weight since my father’s death, and I hated how much her bones stood out against her ivory skin.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her.

When the carriage door opened, I kept my smile in place as I followed my mother from the vehicle and into the throng of people. We fell into the crowd as it surged toward the palace.

I glanced back at Scarlet’s father standing beside the open doorway and contemplated diving back inside, but it was too late to escape. Plus, I’d vowed to make this event fun for my mother, and I would, even if it killed me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Ryker

It had taken far too long to get through the packed courtyard and into the palace. By the time I arrived at the inner area, where only those personally invited were allowed to gather, I was ready for a drink or to punch Ivan in his too-smug face.

He couldn’t wait the customary three months after burying his brother to crown himself. I was going to have to sit here for the next week or so and watch that pompous asshole parade himself around.

Within the palace, the families of those invited totaled over three hundred or so, but I suspected that not everyone had arrived yet. The aristocrats and landowners milled about the palace’s inner bailey, greeting each other with false cheer and air-kissing each other’s cheeks.

I spotted my father with the Earl of Calwick and his daughter. The earl’s blond hair was so pale in the sun that it made him appear bald.