Ash (The Underground Series Book 2) Page 6

  Autumn and Luke smiled and waved at the crowd below, which had now erupted into tumultuous applause. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit foolish. She’d never been much of a pageant queen. There was a small ceremony where the twins pledged to uphold the duties of king and queen in the unfortunate event of Olympus’ death or when the time came for him to step down as ruler. Then Autumn and Luke both gave a small speech.

  Luke demonstrated his charismatic speaking skills and Autumn stumbled over her words like an idiot. She was sure the elves of Arbor Falls were wondering why Luke hadn’t been the only one chosen, but then she had a stroke of brilliance and decided to Sing a short song to the people of Arbor Falls, mesmerizing them with her Power. They all clapped with enthusiasm when she finished and Luke rolled his eyes at her as she flashed him a wide grin.

  Now that all of the speeches and formalities were over, people began to make their way onto the dance floor, spinning and twirling around with their partners. Autumn and Luke approached the table full of Quinns, who all congratulated them—except for a moody looking Kyndel. Luke took a seat next to Ember, shooting a glare every now and then at Crystal and Edric, who were leaning towards each other, speaking in hushed whispers and laughing.

  Ember seemed to notice this and soon pulled Luke onto the dance floor, playfully twirling around and giggling, which sounded very strange coming from her because she was usually scowling silently at the rest of them. Autumn thought this was the first time she’d heard the fire girl laugh. Ember flashed a dazzling smile at Crystal, who was now watching them with the shadow of a frown. Edric looked from Luke to Crystal before taking Crystal’s hand and pulling her onto the dance floor as well, causing Luke’s face to fall. So dramatic, Autumn thought.

  As another song started up, a castle worker approached the Quinn table and told Autumn and Luke that Olympus wanted to speak with them. They left the others and made their way to their grandfather who was surrounded by a small group of people near the throne, including a young man with dark brown hair and a young woman with hair trailing down her back in raven waves. Autumn presumed that they were somehow related judging by their similar shade of piercing blue eyes.

  “Ah, here they are now,” Olympus said, smiling warmly. “Luke, Autumn, this is Christopher and Christine Wellington. They’re Thomas’s children, the Head of Windy Meadows.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Autumn and Luke said in unison.

  “We were just discussing the binding ceremonies,” Olympus said.

  Luke’s brows met at this. “Binding… That’s like a wedding, right?”

  Olympus laughed. “Yes, like a wedding.”

  “Whose wedding?” Luke asked, more to be polite, Autumn assumed, than out of actual interest.

  Christopher and Christine exchanged confused looks and Olympus frowned before he spoke. “Yours, of course.”

  More Surprises

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “My wedding?” Luke said in horror.

  “Well both of your weddings,” Olympus said, waving a hand across the air to indicate he was talking about Luke and Autumn, whose mouth dropped along with her stomach. “As elf rulers you will be expected to be bound to respectable elves of the Underground. Christopher and Christine are certainly worthy candidates.”

  Christopher and Christine’s mouths formed proud smiles at this and Autumn and Luke looked at Olympus with thunderstruck expressions.

  “C—can’t we just choose for ourselves who we want to marry?” Autumn asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She glanced over her shoulder at the table where Avery sat laughing with Forrest and Jastin.

  “Christopher, Christine, will you excuse us please,” Olympus said. The dark headed siblings nodded and floated away onto the dance floor. “This is royal elf tradition,” Olympus said in a serious tone, frowning at Autumn.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Autumn asked.

  Luke was still speechless.

  “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much information—and I didn’t want it to influence your decision in becoming the next ruler.”

  Luke finally spoke up. “So you tricked us?”

  “Of course not. I assumed you knew. Have they not spoken about this in your History lessons?”

  Autumn frowned, thinking back. Now that she thought about it, Magister Parkey had said something about arranged marriages, but she never connected that to the present day. Things had changed, or at least she’d thought they had.

  “Our dad left when he turned eighteen,” Autumn said. “Is this why? Because he didn’t want to be forced to marry someone he didn’t love?”

  “He didn’t want anything to do with being king,” Olympus said. “Though, I assume his arranged binding with Abigail Reynolds of Maplewood might have played a minor part in it as well.”

  “And when are these binding ceremonies supposed to be going down?” Luke muttered as he watched Christine and Christopher swirl with expert precision across the crowded dance floor, weaving between couples less capable than them.

  “Before you are initiated as elf rulers. Sometime within the next few years I assume. Don’t worry, you will have plenty of time to get to know your betrothed.”

  Autumn laughed humorlessly.

  “Don’t worry, little Autumn,” Olympus said cupping her cheek in his hand. “I felt the same way when I was told I was to be bound to your grandmother. In time I grew to love her very much. She was my world. You’ll see.” Autumn felt her eyes threatening to tear up at this. She didn’t want to grow to love this Christopher person. She already loved Avery. “Now, go enjoy your birthday celebration, kids,” Olympus said, shooing them.

  Autumn and Luke walked away from their grandfather with false smiles painted across their faces.

  “Binding ceremonies,” Autumn scoffed.

  “Wait, weren’t you bound to Victor?” Luke said, looking confused now.

  “Yes, but there are different levels of binding depending on the roses that are exchanged. Diamond roses are like engagement rings and then golden roses are used during the official binding ceremonies, which are like weddings. Crystal explained it all to me after Victor gave me that red rose, which is the lowest level of binding—like dating.”

  “I don’t want to get married,” Luke said through his forced smile.

  “I do eventually, but not to that Beef Wellington guy.”

  “What’re you going to tell Avery?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Autumn, you have to tell—”

  “We aren’t going to marry them,” Autumn said. Luke shot her a quizzical look. “We’re the last remaining heirs, Luke. If we both refuse to rule, they’ll be forced to drop this particular tradition. It’s the 21st century, for goodness sake. Arranged marriages are practically medieval.”

  Luke looked at her uncertainly. “I don’t know if that’s going to work.”

  “It’ll work,” Autumn stated, sounding more confident than she felt.

  Autumn and Luke rejoined the Quinn table, both acting as though they hadn’t just been told that they would eventually have to get married to complete strangers. Autumn chose to put this situation in the back of her mind. They would figure something out. There was no need to dwell on it. Perhaps she was being delusional, but she was an expert at procrastinating and this was no exception.

  Avery swept Autumn onto the dance floor for the remainder of the ball. She pretended not to notice Christopher Wellington’s jealous looks. He and his sister spent their time dancing together, which Autumn thought was sort of strange.

  The Quinns ended the night with their feet aching and their stomachs cramping from laughing so hard at Kyndel and Forrest. Poor Forrest wasn’t the best dancer and continuously stepped on Kyndel’s feet. Every time he did this, she would let out a yelp of pain and the others would howl with laughter.

  To Crystal’s obvious annoyance, Luke left the ball with Ember. Her mind seemed to stray from Luke, though, as Edric kissed her softly befor
e departing from the ballroom with a wide smile. Crystal joined Avery and Autumn with flushed cheeks. Her breathing had become shallow and she hadn’t stopped smiling.

  “Enjoy the ball?” Autumn asked, repressing a smile.

  Crystal nodded with flushed cheeks. “It was wonderful.”

  Autumn couldn’t help but smile wryly at her.

  “What?” she said.

  Autumn laughed. “Could you be more smitten?”

  The shadow of a smile danced on Crystal’s lips as she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The Attack

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  To Luke’s extreme annoyance, Edric now spent most of his time with the four of them. Autumn wasn’t sure what Crystal had done to him, but Edric seemed to only have eyes for her. He no longer strutted around, bragging about himself in between classes to his band of love-struck girls, or made out with them behind the Healing Tree. Instead, he walked Crystal to all of her classes, kissing her on the cheek each time they parted. She blushed every time.

  The Quinns usually went to lunch together anyway, but instead of talking loudly to the whole table about his many accomplishments, Edric spoke quietly with Crystal. Luke sat with his arms crossed, wearing a permanent scowl on his face.

  “So, uh, do you like Crystal now then?” Autumn asked Luke bluntly one night after they’d finished having dinner with Olympus.

  “Wh—what? What do you mean?”

  “Do you have feelings for Crystal?”

  “No!” he said. “Don’t be stupid, Rose. I don’t have feelings for girls. I hook up with them. No feelings involved.”

  “Mhmm.”

  “Doesn’t matter anyway. We have to marry those Wellington weirdos.”

  Autumn’s eyes narrowed at this. “Not if I can help it.”

  Later that night Avery and Autumn managed to sneak out of the castle and fly Knight to Arbor Lake. They lay beside each other in the hovering hammocks, swaying slowly beneath the darkening sky.

  “When do you think Luke and Crystal will start talking again?” Avery asked.

  “When they both admit that they have feelings for each other.”

  “So, never, then?”

  “Not never, but not for a while,” Autumn said. “I wish they would just get over this stupid fight and tell each other how they feel.”

  Avery laughed. “Oh, you’re one to talk.”

  “What do you mean?” Autumn said innocently.

  “It took you forever to admit that you had feelings for me.”

  Autumn shrugged. “Must be an Underground thing.”

  “Must be an Oaken thing.”

  “Yeah, and that’s why we Oaken are so irresistible,” Autumn whispered in his ear, her breath caressing his skin. A tremor traveled through his body and he pulled her onto him, pressing his lips hungrily to hers. She hovered over him, her curls framing his face like an auburn curtain. The ever-present magnetic pull kicked into high gear, forcing her to press herself more firmly against him, a small gasp escaping from his mouth as she did so.

  Suddenly he pulled away from her, with a serious look and narrowed eyes like he was trying to concentrate on something.

  “What—?” Autumn began, but he pressed his hand to her mouth, hushing her. She listened intently, trying to hear something other than the sounds of nature—and then she did.

  Distant shouts and screams permeated the air, growing steadily louder. It sounded as if it was coming from City Circle. Quickly untangling themselves, they sprinted to Knight, who was grazing in the grass nearby. They jumped onto his back and he shot into the air, heading for City Circle.

  The screams and cries grew louder as they neared the center of town. Landing with a thud, Autumn and Avery leaped from Knight’s back into the chaos. She barely had time to register her surroundings. Everything came in flashes. Shadows and Atrums swarming the circle. Elves screaming and dashing to safety. Warriors killing Shadows and battling Atrums.

  Autumn and Avery jumped into the onslaught of evil, working flawlessly as a team. Autumn shot jets of Song at each Shadow and Atrum they happened upon and Avery immediately attacked, killing them instantly with his immeasurable Strength.

  After taking down a particularly vicious Atrum, Autumn looked up to see Crystal freezing a hoard of Shadows in her path. Autumn’s stomach dropped when she saw the Atrum charging at Crystal from behind.

  “Crystal, watch out!” she shouted.

  She was sure it was too late when Luke jumped in front of the Atrum, his fighting knife held before him. The Atrum impaled himself on Luke’s knife and collapsed to the ground. Crystal watched this with wide eyes, and something unspoken passed between the two of them as they continued to battle as a team.

  Autumn smiled slightly to herself, but quickly snapped back into action, as there were still about twenty Shadows and Atrums left to destroy. She jumped over one of Forrest’s fire foxes he had called to help and aimed a few more streams of Song at three Atrums who had Charlotte cornered. Her Song halted their progress and Charlotte immediately shot an arrow through each of their hearts.

  “Thanks, Autumn!”

  “No problem!” Autumn shouted back, ducking as a Shadow aimed a heavy-hoofed foot at her head. She kicked the Shadow hard in the stomach and Avery quickly scaled the creature’s back, grasping it by the horns and snapping its neck.

  Autumn turned to see an Atrum throw a well-aimed dagger towards her chest and winced as it came within inches of her before dropping suddenly to the ground. She looked around wildly to see Edric watching her. It had been his Shield that saved her. Autumn flashed him a grateful smile, as did Avery. Edric may have been conceited at times, but there was no doubt he was a skilled fighter.

  Luke and two Tetras, Jack and Willow, took down the final five Shadows. Luke electrocuted two of them with a lightning storm, Jack sent a tornado tearing after one, and Willow morphed into a dragon, devouring the last two in flames and stomping on them for good measure. As the last Atrum turned to smoke and ash, everyone went silent for a moment, taking in the destruction of City Circle—the broken shop windows, the fountain in the middle of the circle that had been cracked, water pouring out onto the cobblestones like a diminutive waterfall.

  The elves of Arbor Falls trickled out of their tree homes, cheering and tearfully thanking the Warriors. Atticus soon called for the Warriors to follow him to Arbor Castle with a grave expression shadowed on his face.

  They filed into the throne room to stand before Olympus. Some were injured, so a Tetra named Olivia quickly went down the line using her Power to Heal everyone. Olympus sat upon his throne wearing a troubled frown. The Warriors stood tall, waiting for him to speak.

  “Firstly, I thank all of you for your quick response this evening. There were no fatalities and very few injuries. Second, I fear I must ask how these creatures managed to infiltrate Arbor Falls for the first time in a decade. Ingrid? Laurel?”

  Two Unum Warriors stepped forward, looking uneasy. Autumn recognized them as the most frequently used city guards. They both had Powers that helped them detect the presence of evil creatures.

  “Your Majesty, neither the Shadows nor the Atrums were visible in my Navigation,” Ingrid stated.

  “I also did not Detect any evil presences, Your Highness,” Laurel said, nervously brushing her strawberry blonde hair off her forehead.

  Olympus brought his hand to his chin in apparent thought. “Very well,” he said and Ingrid and Laurel stepped back in line. “We must take immediate action. These attacks on the Underground are becoming more frequent and more serious.” The Warriors nodded in agreement. Olympus was silent for a minute before he said, “I believe it is time to arrange an attack on Alder Island.”

  “Alder Island?” Luke asked, the only one brave enough to question the king, though Autumn supposed it made a difference when the king was also your grandfather. “But that place is crawling with Shadows and Atrums. There’s no way we would make it out of there alive. Ther
e aren’t enough of us…Sire,” he added respectfully.

  “Indeed.” Olympus nodded. “And that is precisely why I am sending you all out to recruit our fellow magical creatures to fight with us so that we can once and for all defeat Vyra and Victor Vaun, along with their dark followers.”

  The Warriors looked at Olympus with a mixture of expressions. Some gaped at him in surprise, some looked incredulous, and some looked plain terrified.

  Luke was the only one to speak again. “Our fellow magical creatures as in—?”

  “As in the merpeople, centaurs, vampires, warlocks, giants, trolls, leprechauns, and so on.”

  Many of the Warriors looked slightly disgusted. The Underground creatures didn’t cohabitate because they all disliked each other, which Autumn found to be rather ignorant. She smiled slightly to herself because this was exactly what the Underground needed—cooperation between the magical creatures to reach a common goal. Not many Warriors seemed comfortable with this idea, but none voiced objection.

  “I will need the Unum and Duo Warriors to stay behind to protect Arbor Falls in the event of another attack. The Triplexes and three pairs of Tetras will travel to the west, recruiting the giants, trolls, and leprechauns. The remaining Tetras and the Quinns will travel east, conscripting the merpeople, vampires, warlocks, and centaurs. You will leave tomorrow afternoon by pegasus. I wish you luck on your endeavors. Keep in mind that the fate of the Underground rests in your hands. You would do best to keep your faith strong and your mind open.”

  The Warriors departed and Olympus waved Autumn and Luke forward. They approached him with determined looks upon their faces.

  “My dear grandchildren.” He smiled proudly at them. “You are the most important beings in my world. Promise me you will keep each other safe. Be always on your guard. Do not trust easily.” He directed the latter at Autumn before his voice took on a darker quality. “Show the Underground that no one can mess with an Oaken and get away with it.”