Royal Legacy: The Fae Queen
Автор
Emily Goulden
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Chapter 1
Book 8: The Fae Queen
“Lili, would you like to explain why there’s a tornado inside my house?” Uncle Bayu sighed, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lili shrugged innocently, tucking her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.
“Lili…” Uncle Bayu shook his head.
Lili sighed loudly and blinked, clearing the fog from her eyes as the winds began to still. The furniture, vases, and trinkets all came crashing down onto the marble floor.
“I thought we talked about control,” Uncle Bayu said, stomping across the throne room and planting himself in front of his seventeen-year-old niece.
“I was in complete control, Uncle Bayu. I chose to make a tornado in the throne room.” Lili smirked.
“Of course you did. Why wouldn’t you? You are your mother’s daughter.” Uncle Bayu shook his head, but he couldn’t help the sly smirk that slid across his face.
Lili Oxford was the seventeen-year-old daughter of Marigold and Finn Oxford, the former alpha and luna of the Silver Moon Pack. Once upon a time, Marigold was the banished Fae princess, but now her brother, King Bayu, has named her daughter as his heir.
Bayu had no children of his own and never found his mate. He was forced to take over the throne of the Fae realm from his eldest brother, Solaris, when he was murdered defending the werewolves from the heinous council.
When she was sixteen, Lili moved permanently to the Fae realm, after spending months at a time there throughout her entire childhood. Her older twin siblings, Lexi and Levi, became the new co-alphas of the Silver Moon Pack, and Lili left to train alongside her uncle–train to control her abilities and train to take over the throne as Queen of the Fae.
Lili got her mother’s strength and all of her stubbornness, but none of her control. She was a wild spirit who barely had a handle on her abilities as a wind Fae.
Luckily for her, Bayu had decades of experience in controlling the wind element, and he was prepared to teach his niece everything he knew before handing over the throne.
“Did you need something?” Lili asked.
“I need you to clean up this mess and then get changed. The leaders from the nine villages will be here shortly,” Uncle Bayu said, eyeing Lili with a threatening gaze.
“Yes, Uncle Bayu,” Lili grumbled, knowing she was fighting a losing battle.
The nine villages made up the Fae realm, led by nine elected officials that were overseen by the royal family. Once every three months, all of the leaders came to the palace to update the king on their village’s successes and needs.
These dinners were the bane of Lili’s existence; she hated them. The leaders were mostly old men or their young male heirs who were pigheaded idiots.
It was a boys’ club and everyone knew it; Lili was determined to change it.
She quickly cleaned up the throne room and then hurried through the elaborate castle. She ran up the huge marble staircase, taking the steps two at a time as they wrapped their way up to the second and then third story of the castle.
She moved swiftly down the long hallway, which was adorned in old tapestries and intricately designed runners that covered the ancient hardwood floors.
At the end of the hall was an arched wooden door with a brass handle. She tugged at the handle, and the door creaked open, revealing a spiral staircase.
The metal staircase was lit only by the soft flames of torches littering the old cobblestone wall. The tower was a part of the old castle, built long before the palace was updated with marble floors, glass ceilings, and gold details.
The original gothic architecture left the tower feeling dark and cool, but it was Lili’s favorite place in the whole castle, which was why her room was at the very top.
The spiral staircase snaked up the tower a few times before coming to a stop at another arched wooden door. Lili pushed it open and revealed a large, open room.
The river stone floor was covered with overlapping Persian rugs of bright purples and pinks and warm blues and greens. Tapestries of the same colors were draped from the fifty-foot ceilings.
Windows that began at the floor and rose all the way up toward the ceiling, arching at the top in a half-moon shape, let all of the afternoon sun stream inside of her room.
A king-size four-poster bed sat in the center of the room. Sheer drapes hid the dark rose-colored comforter and pillowcases. There was large, dark furniture all over the room, along with pillows, blankets, and books thrown haphazardly on the floor, cushioned window seats, and a loveseat that sat in the corner.
There were two doors adjacent to the bed, which led to the bathroom and closet.
Lili walked into the bathroom first to shower. Afterward, she sat down on the pink-cushioned seat in front of the large vanity mirror and started running her fingers through her hair.
In a matter of seconds, warm air was blowing from the palm of her hand, drying her hair, which was such a dark-brown color that it was nearly black. Her eyes, pools of ocean blue, stood out against her dark features and warm, rich-brown skin.
She brushed her hair out and let it fall naturally around her shoulders before standing up and retreating to her closet. She dressed in a pair of pants and a powder-blue blouse, tugging a gray blazer over her top.
She sat down on the burgundy-colored ottoman in the center of the closet and slipped her feet into the tiny, no-show socks before stepping into a pair of blue flats.
Lili had made a point to not wear dresses or skirts too often, to the utter dismay of the Fae Elders and the village leaders. The day they showed up to the meetings in dresses and high heels, so would she. Until then, she would wear the same slacks and flat shoes that they had the privilege of wearing.
She took for granted how understanding Uncle Bayu was about her new, modern point of view and feminist ideology that she was trying to bestow upon the realm. Without his support, she wouldn’t be living in the castle, let alone be the next Queen of the Fae.
There was a knock on her bedroom door, and then they entered without waiting for Lili’s response. Lili sighed, already guessing who the intruder was.
“Are you almost ready?” an irritated voice called into the room.
Lili exited the closet and glared at Gertrude, her lady’s maid. Lili didn’t want a lady’s maid any more than Gertrude wanted to be her lady’s maid, but Uncle Bayu had insisted.
Gertrude was a young lady when Lili’s grandmother was queen. Although she didn’t look much older than thirty or forty, she was more than a century old and was one of the first to follow Solaris and Bayu when they decided to take over the realm from their father.
“I’m ready now, Gertie.” Lili smirked, knowing how much she hated that nickname.
Gertrude pressed her lips together but didn’t bother to respond. She just opened up the door and gestured toward the steps.
Lili had hoped that, by moving to the tallest, most secluded part of the castle, people would leave her alone. She didn’t take into account the fact that Gertrude’s ability was to evaporate and appear anywhere she could visualize.
So, in all reality, the steps became Lili’s punishment instead of Gertrude’s.
Lili took her time descending the stairs, dragging her feet as she sulked toward the dining hall. Gertrude glared at Lili from over her shoulder the entire time, urging her to hurry up.
They moved their way through the castle until the double doors of the dining hall towered above them. Gertrude nodded at the guards. Each took hold of one of the brass handles and pushed the doors open.
Lili strolled through the doorway first, with Gertrude following a few steps behind her. The table, which seated thirty people or more, was already full by the time Lili had arrived.
The sounds of chairs screeching across the marble flooring echoed off the walls as everyone stood to honor the arrival of the Fae princess.
“I’m so glad you could join us, Princess Lili.” Uncle Bayu smirked at his niece, knowing perfectly well that she was running late on purpose.
“Thank you.” Lili pressed her lips together in a firm smile as she took her seat beside her uncle.
Everyone else sat back down, and the room filled with the wait staff. Trays of food and pitchers of drinks flew around the room with the use of Fae magic, the waiters and waitresses floating in as if they were on a fluffy cloud gliding across the sky.
As the trays settled down on the table, the staff served all of the guests their food. Just like she was trained to do, she picked up the proper golden salad fork and stabbed angrily at the lettuce like she blamed it for forcing her to sit through this meal.
As the bureaucrats at the table began to discuss the boring details of their villages, Lili tuned them out and looked over the gourmet salad that covered the white porcelain plate in front of her.
Suddenly, a single rose floated past her head and fluttered down to her lap. She gasped and dropped her fork. It clattered loudly against the plate, but no one even spared her a glance.
She looked around. Her eyes latched on to the only person in the room who was actually paying any attention to her.
