This Is My Kingdom Come by Megan Rees (red white and royal blue hardcover txt) 📕

“Come on in, my Prince. There is some news you should take heed of.”

As the young man entered, an elderly woman with curly silver hair lifted her weary head off the counter and blinked at him through her glasses. “Welcome to the cafe once again, sire.”

“Thank you, Matilda,” the Prince responded politely. “How has your day been?”

“Just the usual. That granddaughter of mine doesn’t stop talking while I’ve been trying to read my paper, so I haven’t even got to politics yet.” Matilda grumbled, her stormy blue eyes annoyed.

“That’s Evelyn for you, I’m afraid,” he chuckled in amusement. “Where is she, anyway? I was hoping that she’d go out hunting with me today in the woods.”

A young girl about the same age with ginger hair sticking out everywhere and cheeky blue eyes poked her head around a door. “Just here, Oscar. Let me clean up this mess Rosie made – there’s spag bol all over the floor and it’s really not looking great at all.”

Matilda gave her the death glare. “Don’t call our Prince by his first name! Be respectful, Evelyn!”

Oscar shook his head quickly. “No, it’s fine Matilda. I have no problem with you or Evelyn calling me Oscar. You have been wonderfully kind to me for all the years that I’ve known you both and I don’t see any reason for you to address me by my title.”

“I’m still addressing you formally,” Matilda sniffed, flicking through the newspaper before stopping quite abruptly on the politics page. “Hey. Looks like Nighthollow have had quite a hectic month.”

“I already knew about the Phoenix’s Treasure being stolen. Most of the kingdoms in the Pureblood world knew. We also know that the teenagers who returned it back are being mistreated and harassed: especially that kid who’s supposedly responsible for the death of that young girl,” Oscar responded a little coldly. “I don’t see how it can get worse for them now.”

“Look at this article then. Appears two of the four survivors have been elected to the Council.” Matilda explained, waving the newspaper in the Prince’s face until he took it from her hands and stared at it, carefully reading the article and looking at the picture. It showed a young man probably in his late twenties or early thirties putting on a very cheesy smile, his hands on the shoulders of two teenagers who didn’t look particularly thrilled on this exciting opportunity. The tallest was an awkward looking boy with a lithe frame, thick black hair, emerald green eyes and a shy look about him. The other was a young girl who looked quite muscular for a girl admittedly; accompanied with wavy blonde hair, pastel blue eyes and a determined face.

“They’re very young to be elected, even if they’re just young spokespeople,” Matilda remarked. “Especially the little girl. She’s only fourteen – two years younger than you. Interesting choices too – the boy is the brother of the girl who died and the girl’s boyfriend is the boy who is currently serving reputation as a criminal.”

Oscar narrowed his brown eyes suspiciously. “What makes you so interested in Nighthollow, Matilda? Do you have relatives there or something?”

“They’ll be your only hope soon, my Prince,” the elderly woman murmured. “Are you unaware of the threat to the kingdom?”

“For goodness sake, this cousin of mine won’t be the end of me. Boy or girl, I’m still heir to the throne.”

“Yes, but the King may decide that his child will take over. If he makes that choice, you’ll be executed.”

“There’s a one in four chance of that happening. If the child is a daughter, then she can’t take the crown. If the child is a son, then it’s down to my uncle and his advisors to decide who the heir is: which should be me. I’m the oldest.”

“Your future is hanging by a fine thread right now, my Prince. You must prepare for the worse in case the King decides otherwise.”

Evelyn eventually appeared before Oscar could reply. He noticed her usual soft white hands dripping with soapy water and blue eyes tired but bright. “Let’s go then. Should I bring Flack?”

“We’ll walk, if you like.” Oscar offered.

His friend grinned at him. “You’re good.”

“I put the interests of my people at heart.”

~

Oscar sat up on one of the branches of the apple tree, his bow poised and ready to strike whatever unfortunate prey happened to stroll by. Though it was a tense sport, he’d always felt calm and peaceful out hunting in the woods.

Evelyn was scaling the elderly tree, grasping onto branches and hauling herself up like a little monkey. She’d always stop by to collect some apples – both to eat and to cook with. Her grandmother’s business was good, but the family were quite poor in comparison to several other families in the High Kingdom.

The High Kingdom was the Kingdom of Kingdoms – the big deal. They were at the top of the pecking order in the Pureblood world and were the richest despite certain residents like Evelyn being slightly worse off. Oscar was the Prince of the budding Kingdom, while his uncle Stefan was King. Sure, he didn’t like his nephew all that much, but he was a decent enough man. He probably had to because of Oscar’s status within the Kingdom. His wife Queen Rosalind was heavily pregnant with a child who would be Oscar’s cousin.

A stag deer trotted by, his head lifted proudly as he stared round at the bountiful forest. Oscar lifted his bow to aim for the handsome animal, his oak brown eyes focused on shooting him. He didn’t like the thought of killing such a magnificent and innocent creature, but the antlers and meat were worth a lot.

He finally released the arrow and managed to hit the stag in the stomach, making him cry out in pain as he staggered to the ground, blood trickling out like a small stream.

“Nice catch!” Evelyn shouted down to him. “Stefan will be proud of what a great hunter you are!”

Before Oscar could jump down to retrieve his kill, he spotted a large black dog lurking near the dying stag, odd red eyes intrigued. Evelyn went rigid with horror as the creature got closer. “Don’t shoot!” she hissed to her friend. “That’s a Demon!”

“But they don’t usually come here. What’s this one doing here?” the Prince asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“He could be an exile from the Land Of The Lost. Or he spun up here when the Phoenix’s Treasure was reunited,” Evelyn suggested. “Regardless, he shouldn’t be trying to steal prey unless he’s desperate. He would have attacked the High Kingdom first.”

“He’s limping,” Oscar observed, pointing out that the Demon’s back left leg was badly wounded and bleeding black blood. “He’s too weak to attack a Pureblood. Besides, if he comes anywhere near us, I’ll shoot him.”

“So you’re going to let him take that stag you spent ages waiting for?” the ginger haired girl inquired.

“I’ll shoot him if he tries any sneaky tricks,” Oscar assured her. “He’s a little lame if he is trying to steal fresh-kills made by Purebloods. He’s stooping ridiculously low indeed.”

The Demon lifted his head and growled at the two Purebloods in the tree. “Fools. Hard life I have had. Weak runt.”

He then sauntered off with a snort, leaving Oscar to ponder for a while. How did he get here in the first place and what happened to him?

“Look at me, Luna! Look!”

Turning her head, Luna saw Cody pointing at the target with a huge grin plastered to his little face. He’d managed to throw a wet paintbrush and hit it on the left edge of the target, leaving a green splotch of paint.

“Well done,” Luna praised him, giving her little brother a pat on the head. “You’re really coming on with this. Thorn will have quite a little fighter on his hands when you eventually start training!”

Cody’s face drooped at the prospect of training. “But Ash won’t be there, will he? He said he’d teach me all his moves.”

Luna remained silent for a while on the thought of her friend. He’d been convicted guilty of murder a month ago and was supposed to be released from prison today, but he’d been kicked off the training program until he could redeem himself. Luna herself had been arrested on the same day for assaulting an officer and back chatting Councillor Airing, who was in charge of Nighthollow. She had been let off extremely lightly despite her actions and was now a young spokesperson for the Council along with her friend Atlas following a vote. Their friends had thrown a party in celebration, but neither newly elected councillors felt right.

Atlas was still in the depths of grief for his foster sister Rune, whom he blamed Ash for killing. The young girl had died retrieving the final part of the Phoenix’s Treasure, but her older foster brother had pinned the entirety of the blame on Ash. He was completely insane after loosing her that horrendous day.

Luna, on the other hand, had enough on her shoulders before the election. She had sworn to look after her newfound brother Cody after their mother chose to stay in the Normal world, which angered her beyond belief. She also felt she couldn’t enjoy herself knowing Ash was in prison still: though her time there was brief, the two had taken a step forward in their relationship after much turmoil on the quest and were now officially dating. Cody was the only person to know of the shift in relationship status, yet Luna intended to announce it soon rather than leaving it to fester for longer.

“He’ll be released today,” she eventually reassured her brother. “You can come with me, if you like. He might have time to show you some tricks before Thorn puts you onto the training program.”

Cody lit up at that, his dark blue eyes excited. “Great!”

On the quest, Ash had developed an unlikely bond with the seven year old boy after he had shown Luna to the dungeons in the Land Of The Lost where he had been held captive. The brown haired teenager had been a little shifty and hostile towards him at first, but after finding out that Cody was actually Mia’s son and thus Luna’s little brother, he softened up considerably. Sure, he and Atlas went from close friends to deadly enemies, but he had shown a different side.

The wavy haired girl led Cody across to the prison, where two stone-faced guards stood at the entrance. The younger-looking one stared at the two in puzzlement. “What brings you here, Councillor Wilde?”

Luna curled her lip. “I believe my friend is supposed to be released today, correct?”

“The grumpy kid who murdered the little girl? Yeah, he’ll be led out shortly. Councillor Chase is with him now.” the older guard explained.

What is Robert’s interest in Ash? They aren’t related so closely anymore – they’re just uncle and nephew after we found Cassie and Will at The Lodge. What could Robert possibly want? Luna pondered, ignoring