The Queen's Consorts (37 page)
Read The Queen's Consorts Online
Authors: Kele Moon
“Happy?” Calder asked as he pushed his hood back and gave her a smile.
Sari took one more deep breath and then nodded. “I’m happy, and I’m ready now.”
“Then let’s start this parade.” Macro lifted his hand and shouted in his booming commander voice. “Open the doors!”
When the doors were open, the sound was deafening once more, even with the invisible wards up. It was hard for Sari to see at first, because a large wave of soldiers marched in front of them. Their boots clicked rhythmically. Once outside the palace each set of two soldiers would stop, unsheathe their swords, and then cross them, creating a bridge to march under.
They formed the line extremely fast.
Then all of a sudden Macro was marching in his handsome captain robes at the front of their procession.
Kayla and Aria followed after him.
Calder and Taryen each grabbed one of Sari’s hands, and somehow her feet started to move despite her heart beating so hard against her chest she thought she might black out.
Swords were still unsheathing, the sound of one dangerous piece of metal after another sliding out of its holster sounding almost musical, making it obvious these soldiers had practiced this procession a lot.
Then the last two weapons were unsheathed as Calder and Taryen crossed their swords in front of Sari, protecting her from the world. The sound of the crowd was a raw haze of noise now, but she couldn’t see them because she’d closed her eyes in apprehension.
This was all too much.
Calder leaned in and reminded her. “You’re supposed to smile now.”
Sari plastered an unenthusiastic smile on her face, and it must have been good enough, because Calder and Taryen pulled their swords back, sheathing them once more, and revealing the new queen to the world.
“Now wave.” Taryen’s voice was strong and firm. “Make their trip worthwhile.”
Then Sari remembered this festival wasn’t for her.
She opened her eyes, looking at the sea of people who were cheering and shouting. The wards glowed, making everything seem to sparkle like magic.
If only the sun were shining.
Kayla and Aria did it first, waving to the revelers and encouraging their shouts for the new queen. Their enthusiasm was so fun and pure, Sari couldn’t help but follow suit.
It wasn’t until she lifted both her hands to the thousands of people who had come to see the parade that the flowers started falling.
The wards crackled as they fell, letting the delicate blossoms pass when nothing else could. There were so many, in such a vast variety, they came down like multicolored rain.
Sari gaped at the phenomenon.
This wasn’t the world she’d left behind when she came into the Sacred City as a broken street-kid. People were so full of enthusiasm now. It pulsed off the crowd in waves. As she stood there the energy grew and grew to the point that Sari felt it down to the core of her being.
Rather than be shocked by exposing the consorts for the first time in history, Sari saw the hoods on the robes of all the males who had come to see the parade fall back as well, and it filled her with such a sense of optimism, tears of joy stung her eyes.
“I love when you do that,” Calder said over the roar of the crowd. “I will never get tired of those rainbows.”
“Hope never gets old,” Taryen agreed.
Together they started their journey to the Ralatian Palace, with new rules and ideas that would reshape their world. It was the first step in many that kept the sun shining on Auroria and brought prosperity to their people for longer than any of them could have ever wished for.
Packing Heat
Starfish and Coffee
The Queen’s Consorts
* * * *
The BATTERED HEARTS Series
Defying the Odds
Star-Crossed
A freckle-faced redhead born and raised in Hawaii, Kele Moon has always been a bit of a sore thumb and has come to enjoy the novelty of it. She thrives on pushing the envelope and finding ways to make the impossible work in her storytelling. With a mad passion for romance, she adores the art of falling in love. The only rule she believes in is that, in love, there are no rules and true love knows no bounds.
So obsessed is she with the beauty of romance and the novelty of creating it, she’s lost in her own wonder world most of the time. Thankfully she married her own dark, handsome, brooding hero who has infinite patience for her airy ways, and attempts to keep her grounded. When she leaves her keys in the refrigerator or her cell phone in the oven, he’s usually there to save her from herself. The two of them now reside in Florida with their three beautiful children, who make their lives both fun and challenging in equal parts—they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Read more about Kele and her books at
http://www.kelemoon.com
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