The Forgotten Kingdom (Skyelorn Chronicles #2)

The Commander

The muscles in Princess Taileen's arm were on fire as she gripped the hefty sword in gloved hands. The frills and folds of her ceremonial dress danced around her heeled feet, caught in a frosty gust of wind, and she started to lose feeling in her toes. She'd been both anticipating and dreading this moment all day.

          "I am humbled to look out upon all of you this morning." King Harlan's voice seemed to echo across the entire kingdom, rolling down over the castle balcony, Lake Heylweay, and the sprawling fields beyond. Following the shocking events that marked the end of the Exposition, he'd been happier than she'd ever seen him. He greeted guards in the corridors, grinned through all of his meetings with advisors, never insulted the quality of the cooking at dinnertime; the change was jarring.

Taileen craned her neck to look down upon the people that had gathered on the lake shore in front of the castle. A strand of her pale hair fell loose of its pin and she brushed it behind her ear. She had never seen such an enormous crowd before, even at her brother's royal Appointment. There were citizens and representatives from all Karvothian provinces: Kivo, Zander, Samsia, Terradin, Gyrtha, and of course Mandrell. They stared up at her and the King like little worker ants awaiting orders, standing among the Exposition wreckage that was yet to be cleared away.

          "The purpose for which we gather today is not one I take lightly, and I can't help but remember a time years ago when my son were the one standing beside me." The King etched sorrow into his voice, but Taileen knew better. Everything her father did was an act. All the same, she still felt uncomfortable when anybody mentioned Markus. "As easy as it seems to be caught up in grief, I want you all to join me in celebrating my daughter, Princess Taileen Winship."

          A dull roar sailed across Lake Heylweay and Taileen stepped gracefully towards the edge of the balcony, as the King had instructed her. She was glad that the people were too far away to see her flushed face. Her mind buzzed with the instructions her father had given her just hours before: Never smile, walk evenly, always grasp the sword from the hilt, speak from your diaphragm ... Don't lose control.

          "People of Karvoth," she said. It surprised her how strong her voice sounded in the cold. "I come before you all today not as a Princess, but as a faithful servant of the kingdom. I have been chosen by my father to succeed Benjamin Arxby as the new Commander of the Karvothian military."

The people cheered louder than ever, which was lucky because Taileen's voice caught mid-sentence and her throat started to burn with unshed tears. She glanced down at the sword grasped tightly in her white knuckles as a memory tore through her mind, a memory of the Shadow Witch exploding through the Exposition tent like a demon, hurling knives and sending horrifying bursts of power towards entire fleets of royal soldiers with careless abandon.

She remembered Benjamin's screams more than anything else. That fateful day, lost in her bloodlust, the Princess had failed to notice when the witch turned her attention to Taileen's beloved Commander. He had been blinded in the crossfire of battle, and the King – having no use for a blind Commander – sent him into exile early the next morning, before anyone had awoken.

She never got to say goodbye.

Of course, King Harlan had no idea at the time that his daughter was falling in love with Commander Arxby, but Taileen didn't think it would have made a difference even if he did. She had learned a long time ago that there was no place for love in Pathos castle.

King Harlan placed a hand on Taileen's shoulder, jolting her from her troubled thoughts, and she nearly shuddered. It was her first warning. Taileen knew she was rusty when it came to public speaking, but her father would never stand for an embarrassment in front of the entire kingdom. A nasty potion of heartbreak and hatred brewed inside of her, but when she spoke again she was careful to keep her voice steady.

"As your new Commander, it is my greatest pleasure to make an announcement that is long overdue. I hope you'll find that your arduous trip to Pathos was worth it." Taileen raised Benjamin's old sword above her head and the King sent her a wary glance. She was going off-script. "As of three days ago, our forces have captured and imprisoned Marithyda Skyelorn."

It was as if she'd set off a bomb. First, there was nothing but silence and stillness. But then, like a wave, the people down below started celebrating and causing a noise unlike anything she'd heard before. It was almost overwhelming to hear and see the sheer amount of loathing that the kingdom had for the Shadow Witch. Taileen was flooded with dark reassurance. She kept yelling over the roar of the crowd, swept up in the fervor.

"At this moment, Skyelorn sits in the dungeons with Sabin Carthage, another extremely dangerous Touched slave, and is no longer a threat to you or your families. The curse of fear that has plagued Karvoth for so long has now been lifted. You can freely travel, gather with family and friends, and live your lives without the threat of Skyelorn's dark, unnatural magic. I pledge this to you as Karvoth's new Commander and as Prince Markus's sister: I won't rest until I have every Touched bastard's head on a spike."

The crowd reached a new level of enthusiasm, and King Harlan whispered, "Good job, my dear," into her ear. He finished out the ceremony with a quick report detailing Touched imprisonment records and trade updates while Taileen stood in a daze, gripping her banished lover's sword. They're clapping for me. But they don't even know who I am; not really.

A single tear fell upon Taileen's porcelain cheek and she wiped it away before her father noticed. She remembered bowing at the end to great applause, walking back inside, eating supper with her father, retiring to her bedroom ... But it was all a daydream, a distraction from the dark fantasy that she desired most of all.

She wanted Marithyda Skyelorn to suffer for what she'd done. And Taileen wanted to witness every second of it.