Shadow Crown

Shannon Riley

Description

"We hesitated, and it cost us our princess."
Fiaa's secret is out and those she thought were on her side had hesitated.
Now, taken by Sintus, the dark prince of the Fae. Fiaa is shown why the Fae are the enemy.
When Fiaa escapes and finds herself back in Faerie, will she be able to forgive the ones she lows - the ones that hesitated because of her heritage?
Part Faerie, Part Fae, will she be accepted despite her tri-coloured eyes?
It's more important than ever to uncover the secrets of her birth and find the answers she needs to save Faerie.
War has come to Faerie, but will they stand with her or against her.

Sujets

• Riley
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 20 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798369492345
• Langue: English

Extrait

Shadow Crown
 
PART TWO
 
 
 
 
 
Shannon Riley
 
 
Copyright © 2023 by Shannon Riley.
ISBN:
Softcover
979-8-3694-9235-2
 
eBook
979-8-3694-9234-5
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Book cover design by Clarissa Kenzen- ckbookdesigns.com
 
Artwork by Zoe Holland - Instagram-
artworkbyzoeholland
 
Map art by Katrina Yates
 
 
 
Rev. date: 06/19/2023
 
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
www.Xlibris.com.au
 
837029
Contents
1.     Crowning of a New King
2.     Powerless
3.     Bond
4.     Dark Princes
5.     Scars
6.     Peace for Us Three
7.     Mated
8.     New Friends
9.     Opening Eyes
10.   Summer Court
11.   Uneasy Times
12.   Shadow Kingdom
13.   War Is Coming
14.   Crowning, A New Era.
Glossary Of Terms
Faerie- Magical being found in Faerie.
Darken- Dark Fae.
Shadow Fae- Light Fae.
Phasing- A Faerie’s ability to teleport through pace.
Shadow walking- Using the shadows between the light to teleport.
Shadow step- Using previous steps already taking in time to teleport between places.
Transition- A faerie’s coming-of-age transformation into one’s full magical ability.
Terra- Earth, mortal realm.
Division- A unit of warriors.
Stelsh- A stealth armour suit.
Shields- A defensive power a Faerie can use to shield themselves and project it onto others, it is a rare ability.
Asa- Head healer, only one can hold the title at a time.
Celerian bond- A moon-kissed connection, a link created between brothers in arms, a warrior’s bond, a rare bond.
Ucarna- Faerie blood connection between father and child, links their minds, a sharing and bond between blood, it is a way the child is recognised as heir to the father.
Definition/Pronunciation Glossary
Onu- Uncle- pronounced - A-nu.
Manu- Mother- pronounced- Ma-nu.
Soonua- Son- pronounced- Soon-a.
Niien- Niece- pronounced- Nii-en.
Ucarna- Blood connection- pronounced- Oo-carna.
Coola- Cousin- pronounced- Coo-la.
Shadow Fae lang uage.
Marna- Mother- pronounced- Mar-na
Doola- Daughter- pronounced- Dool-la
 
PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES
Lexxon- Lex-in
Rayn- Rain
Gialyn- Guy-lin
Dedication
To myself, and to you the readers.
This book has been a marathon. And I feel kind of selfish dedicating this book to myself, but I feel it’s right, this book has been a journey of self-growth as an indie author, and I couldn’t have done it without you the readers.
I’ve never gotten the chance to write a second book. It’s always just been the one, or never gotten to the second part. So, I was extremely excited to take on the challenge of writing book two of Fox Fire. It has been an amazing and tough journey. Learning new skills in world-building, to deepen what I’d started in book one. To further the characters and their worlds. I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this book, not only in the story itself but in the beautiful artwork I hope brings the words from the pages alive! I hope you enjoy the continued story of Fiaa and enjoy not only hearing the story from her eyes but also the eyes of Ryker and Keelan.
I hope you laugh, cry, shout, and yell along with Fiaa and her boys, as this book takes you on a ride of love, hurt and danger.
 
 
 
 
DISCLAIMER
This book contains, swearing, sex, violence, mentions of torture, gore.
This book was written with the British dictionary, so it has different spelling and grammar from the American dictionary.
 
 
Chapter One
CROWNING OF A NEW KING
 
WHAT DID WE DO? What did I do ? Faerie above we hesitated. She’s my mate? Her eyes— Faerie above, she’s Fae . Ryker’s thoughts shout inside my mind and rattle around with my own disbelief. Fiaa is gone! I shake my head to stop the shouting both Ryker and I were doing as we phase into utter chaos back at the Night Court. I look down as I feel wetness at my knees, my eyes widen as I realise what I’m kneeling in, blood. I swallow, my mouth becoming dry as I finally lift my gaze from the blood seeping through my leathers. The courtyard is destroyed, and bodies litter the cobblestone that only hours ago held laughing and dancing Faeries. The sounds of metal clashing and pained screams come into focus as Night Court Faeries battle against the Winter Court warriors. What is happening, why is Winter court attacking us and where was King Grogan? Ryker stands from our crouched positions. I blink several times as he dons his royal armour that I’ve not seen since the war. His Stelsh sits close to his body, the lightweight armour covering all the important parts, his chest, tops of his thighs, his wrists. The hard leather of the Stelsh comes up his neck stopping under his ears as the mask of the Stelsh covers his face, the only recognisable feature is his eyes shining through the small slit of the mask. The armour is of the darkest black it looks like scales in the rippling fires around us. I shake myself out of the memories the armour brings as I stand donning my own Stelsh, I leave the armour to the prince, the Stelsh is enough for me. I push back the panic of what has just happened that Fiaa is gone as I pull dual blades from my Stelsh, there is no time to think as we run into the chaos of battle unfolding in front of us.
I pull one of the dual blades out of the chest of a winter Faerie, the squelch of ripping flesh has my stomach twisted in notes as the Faerie drops lifeless to the floor. Blood drips off the blade as I scan the courtyard, we’re to spread out. I release the blades back into the Stelsh, pulling on my favourite weapon. The rope dart sits heavy in my palms. Smiling, I fling it out towards an oncoming Winter Faerie, and it flings back in my hand stinging the tender flesh of my palm. Blood drips off the silver arrowhead. Only minutes have passed since we arrived, but we are both covered in blood. The clash of metal rings in my head as I advance with Ry, the Winter Faeries are starting to retreat. A scream swings our attention behind us. Aurora pulls an arrow out of the chest of a Faerie, lifting her foot to kick him in the centre of the chest, sending him to the ground.
Ryker shouts, “Where is the King?”
Aurora fires the same arrow she’d just pulled, killing an advancing Winter Faerie dead before she turns her attention to us. “The king?” she spits. “Probably with High Lord Stirling.”
I look to Ryker as I realise what I’d miss. What we’d miss.
“Faerie above.” The words leave me breathless as I see them confirmed in Aurora’s eyes.
Ryker stiffens. He had expected something was going on with his father and the meetings he was taking with High Lord Stirling, but did he actually think his father was aligned with this betrayal?
“This is treason, Aurora. If what you say is true, if my father, the king of Faerie has attacked his own court…” There’s disbelief in Ry’s voice, his anger rippling through the bond.
I almost stumble at the fierceness of his tongue. Before we can speak any more on it, shouts from the front of the keep grow as warnings reach our ears, horns erupt around us as we turn just in time to see several Winter Court Faeries mounted on war horses coming directly at us. I grab Ryker pulling him out of the way, my back hits the stone wall hard as they bolt through the narrow passageway heading out of the Court.
“Stop them!” Ryker yells as he pulls a bow from his suit.
Ten Winter Court Faeries gallop towards the large archway of the Night Court that leads to the roads out of our territory, the heavy hooves pound loudly against the cobblestone. In the next second Ryker notches and fires an arrow, it hits one of the Winter Faeries in the shoulder the impact knocking him off his horse, he rolls roughly losing the helmet that covers his face, Ryker stumbles into me and I catch him as icy shock comes through the bond, I look towards the fallen Winter Faerie and stop dead as I see that it’s not a Winter Faerie at all, it’s his father, the king.
 
A month has passed since that horrific night. Not only did Ryker hesitate, but so did I, and that split second cost us our princess. The hurt on Fiaa’s face still deprives me of slumber, an agony that I could not only see clear on her face but also experience through our bond. And to add salt to the already gaping wound, I have not felt her through the bond since. At first, there were echoes of her magic. All I felt was pain, physical and mental. I blink several times trying to shake the memories of that night free from my mind. Ry paces in front of me, his anger coming off him in waves. Since Fiaa was taken, stunting their bond halfway to bloom, he’s been in an oscillating state of loss and pain. I think her magic had started to break the curse on him. I can see his Griffin waking in the depths of him, prowling inside, the beast not able to fully awaken.