Richelle Mead - Iron Crowned

Rurik was still in residence, personally overseeing the occupation. I felt secure in his control and listened as he explained what needed to be done next. I understood it only a little better than the economics Shaya had pushed on me, the main point being I’d need a governing body here soon. Picking that staff would be a problem. Shaya was one in a million, but even she couldn’t be in two places at once. Seeing my dismay, Rurik hesitantly added that Dorian had offered to provide people for the job. My expression at those words gave Rurik all the answer he needed.

The Rowan Land’s energy continued to flow into me when I set out to have my meditation session with it. The nature of the connection was similar to what I had with the Thorn Land, but the kingdom’s feel was totally different. The Thorn Land was harsh—filled with life, yes, but life that fought fiercely against the elements for survival. The Rowan Land was softer, its life bursting forth easily and radiating through its many trees and plants.

“Eugenie,” said Kiyo, following me out to a small garden behind the castle. “Look.”

I paused and glanced behind me. Where I’d walked, flowers had blossomed, small red ones scattered throughout the grassy path. I knelt down, inhaling their heady scent. “Why’s it happening?”

“You’re its ruler. You’re giving the land life and energy.”

I thought about how being here had made me feel marginally better. “It’s strengthening me too … but this doesn’t happen in the Thorn Land. I don’t have that kind of effect.”

“Don’t you?” he teased, a mischievous smile on his face. “You make it rain….”

A memory came to me of when the Thorn Land had floundered in drought. While connecting with the land, I’d had sex with Kiyo, and the energy from that union had empowered the kingdom, breaking the dry spell and sending much-needed rain that made the people and plants flourish.

I smiled back at him. “Looks like we don’t have to worry about that today. This land doesn’t need as much help.”

He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him, voice husky. “But imagine the results if we did. Extra credit.”

Leaning down, he brought his lips to mine, his tongue pushing into my mouth with a rough passion. I felt my body answer, and for a moment, the offer was tempting. I pictured what it would be like to make love among all this greenery, here in the sunshine. Would a bed of red flowers fill the ground below us? Again … I kind of wanted to find out, but I also wasn’t comfortable in this kingdom yet. I didn’t want to risk discovery of my sex life, even if it wouldn’t be a big deal to the gentry. Reluctantly, I pulled away from him.

“Another time.”

After a few more protests, he let me be. I sat on the ground while he waited, closing my eyes and opening myself to the world around me. We are one, I assured the land. I am here. I felt its answer, felt warmth spread through me and lost track of time. When I finished, I was startled at how far the sun had moved across the sky. Kiyo sat on the ground cross-legged, looking at ease as he watched me.

“Crap,” I said, jumping up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you wait so long.”

He stood as well. “It’s no problem. You needed it. You both needed it.” I knew he was right. I was more energized, and the land felt strong and content.

After another check with Rurik, Kiyo and I headed back to the Thorn Land. Here, he parted from me, again to “take care of a few things.” He assured me he’d be back in Tucson as soon as he could, but I saw the look Jasmine gave me when she overheard. I could guess her thoughts: more reports to Maiwenn.

Jasmine was impatient to go to Tucson, but before leaving, I impulsively set out alone to where I’d communed earlier with the Thorn Land. It had been on a distant part of the grounds, one of my favorite places, in the shade of a mesquite tree. Its perfume rivaled that of the Rowan flowers, and around it stood cacti in all shapes and sizes, some of them small and squat and some tall and foreboding like sentries.

Almost all of them were blooming.

A chill ran down my spine as I stared at the flowers on the cacti. They formed a brilliantly colored perimeter, right around where I’d been meditating, the petals in all shapes and sizes. The flowers were beautiful. Exquisite.

And none of them had been there earlier.

I didn’t know what the flowers meant. Nothing like that had ever happened when I’d meditated in the Thorn Land. Over the next few days, I just kept thinking about what Rurik had said, that no other monarch save my father had ruled more than one kingdom in recent history. It had taken great power and magic for me to exert my dominance over the lands…. Were they feeding it back to me in return? I certainly felt stronger with them, but I’d never expected any sort of unconscious physical manifestation. What else was I capable of? What could I make the land do?

I didn’t mention the matter to anyone, not even Kiyo. He’d seen the red flowers but brushed them off. If I told him about the Thorn Land, I feared he’d grow upset about the thought of my magic increasing. He grudgingly accepted what I already possessed but still feared it would turn me into my father, no heir needed.

And although I’d felt physically better in the Otherworld, I grew weak again after a day or so back in Tucson. I didn’t mention this to Kiyo either, but Jasmine was around enough to pick up on it.

“Are they calling to you again?” she asked over breakfast one day. She was devouring Pop-Tarts, another love we apparently shared. I was too worried to have an appetite and simply watched. “You look like crap.”

“I don’t know,” I said, drumming my fingers against a glass of water. “There’s no precedent for this—at least not anymore. No one knows what to expect from me having two kingdoms.”

“I bet Dorian would know.”

I bet he would too, but I shook my head. “He’s not all-knowing no matter how much he wants to be,” I countered. “And I’m done with him.”

“Okay.” She didn’t fight it. For a while, she’d kept telling me I’d made a mistake in breaking up with Dorian, but Kiyo had been growing on her. I still wasn’t sure if she approved, but at least I didn’t have to listen to teen advice about my love life anymore. “But you might just have to go back soon. I mean, think about it. You’re bound to two lands in the Otherworld. Aren’t the lands and the monarch one? Part of you’s there. It makes sense you’d have to be there twice as much.”

I winced at the idea, though it had been on my mind too. “If I were there any more, I’d be living there permanently.”

She swallowed the last of some crust. “You may not have a choice.”

Her flippant tone irritated me. “There’s always a choice. I rule them. They don’t rule me.” I stood up abruptly and briefly became dizzy. It felt like the lands were mocking me. Damn it, I thought. You will not call me back so quickly. I’m staying in this world for a while. I’ll come and go when I please. “I just need to stop thinking about it. I’m going to see if Lara’s got a job.”

“Yeah,” said Jasmine dryly. “That’ll fix everything.”

Lara did have a job for me, several actually. Even though she was all but living with Tim—in my house—she still kept meticulous records and took all my calls. She looked disappointed that I only accepted one from her growing list of jobs, a small one at that: a simple haunting that would probably take about five minutes. She said nothing, but I knew that she worried if I didn’t make any money, she wouldn’t either. So, remembering Enrique’s comment about needing help but not being able to trust anyone, I gave her his card with the suggestion she call about part-time work.