Kingdom of the Zodiac

Chapter 14

Huddled in front of the bonfire, I still struggled to wrap my mind around Liam's last words.

"You're the King." I stated.

"Well, I'm not the, but I am a King," Liam drawls from where he lays a few feet away from me, arm propped under his head so he can look at me while I ask questions.

"Cause that's not cryptic or anything," I rolled my eyes.

"Would you stop being a smart ass for five seconds and let me explain?"

I huffed in response.

"Thank you," he dipped his chin.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted, I was trying to explain how I am just one of the rulers of the Zodiac Kingdom." He holds up a finger.

"You mean there is more than one King here?"

"Solistium is divided into twelve zodiac courts, each with their own ruler."

"So twelve Kings."

"No."

"No?"

"Both House Taurus and House Aquarius are ruled by Females."

"So ten kings and two queens."

"Still wrong."

"No I'm not. I may not be royalty like you princess, but I know how to do basic math." I sneered.

"And you should be very proud of yourself," he coo'd, "But that doesn't change the fact that you are still wrong. There are only seven courts with true kings in all of Solistium."

"What about the other three courts?"

"House Sagittarius is sort of... in-between rulers at the moment. The last king died during the Battle of Solis and his only son has refused to ascend the throne. However, many still consider him to be the King. House Cancer on the other hand, was once ruled by the Goddess of the Moon herself."

"You said once... what happened?" I turned on my side to face him.

He shrugged, "No one really knows. The legends say that shortly after the Zodiac Gods created Solistium, there was an uprising. God turned on God and things got messy. Based on the Kingdom archives, the Goddess Celena did not have any children, therefore her line ended with her, along with House Cancer."

"That's incredibly sad."

"It is," he agreed.

"And the third house?"

"Scorpius," he said darkly.

"Sounds ominous," I teased, "Think they're compensating for something?"

"Don't let the Angel of Death hear you say that, Little lion. He is a ruthless leader that would not think twice about disemboweling you then wearing your entrails as a new belt if he felt like it."

"Angel of Death?" I shuddered.

He nodded, "The direct descendant of Kek, the God of Death himself."

"After his father died, many of the other courts turned their backs on him, refusing to acknowledge him as the true ruler of House Scorpius, the Court of Death."

"But if he is the rightful heir, doesn't that technically make him king?

Liam ground his teeth, "He is no king. He's a monster. One that needs to be put down."

"What did he do that was so bad that all of Solistium turned their back on him?"

Liam stared into the fire as he spoke, "He started a war."

~

A woman calling out in the distance pulls my attention away from the half melted pendant I'd been staring at for the last ten minutes. Careful not to further disturb the corpses laying at my feet, I made my way towards the source of the wailing. 

I continued to walk through the haze until a giant shimmering wall loomed before me, blocking my path. The wall vibrated with so much power that it hummed. The sound had become so loud that it drowned out the woman's cries. Movement in the distance caught my eye, but I struggled to see clearly through the haze of smoke.  

Ice floods my veins as a shadowy figure slowly saunters towards me on the other side of the wall. My mind screams to run, but my legs won't move. Closer and closer it stalks, until it stands directly across from me. I can't see his face under the hood of the cloak he wears, but I know somehow it is the same man from the last dream.

A hand strikes out through the wall, grasping my throat and lifting my body off the ground. I kicked and clawed, trying to free myself, but it is no use. My vision clouds as I start to lose consciousness.

"I told you I would be seeing you soon," sneered the shadow man.

A roar sounded somewhere in the distance. Or was it close? I couldn't tell as my eyes rolled to the back of my head as the last of my oxygen was cut off.

Then, just as quickly as he appeared, the shadow man vanished. 

Laying on the ground, my lungs sucked in as much air as they could, though still struggling through the smoke. I couldn't stop coughing. My eyes fluttered closed, not being able to keep them open any longer.

The shuffling of boots in the dirt told my senses that someone was near, but I couldn't open my eyes to see if they were friend or foe. When the shuffling stopped at my head, I wanted to get up and run, but I couldn't.

Fear gripped by gut and I turned towards the glowing wall, squeezing my eyes tight, waiting for my inevitable death, but when nothing happened, I opened them. 

In the distance, I  could make out two figures standing at the tree-line of the forest. A man and a woman, smiling sadly at me. I blinked hard, forcing my eyes to adjust. But just as my eyes begin to focus on their blurry forms, a warm hand touches my cheek and turns my head away from the shinning wall, bringing my attention back to the male who crouched over me.

I tried to look up into his face, but am unable to see his features clearly. All I can make out are fractured images. A glimpse of soft lips, the hard edge of a jaw, a wisp of dark hair and a giant shadow looming behind him. Not a shadow I realized, but wings. 

He had wings, which meant...He was Fae.

Shock flooded me as it finally dawned on me that my nightmares didn't take place in just some random fairytale kingdom, I was in Solistium.

My eyes snap open and I bolt upright next to the campfire, gasping for air.

"Holy Shit," I panted.