Traitor's Crown (Stones of Terrene Book 3) Read online

  Traitor’s Crown

  Stones of Terrene Chronicles

  Book Three

  R. J. Metcalf

  Copyright © 2019 R. J. Metcalf

  Published in Santa Clarita, California by R. J. Metcalf

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either used fictitiously or are products of the author’s imagination. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Cover Design: Magpie Designs, Ltd

  Model credit: Eric Sasina photographed by Bryan Wark

  Texture Credit: Sascha Duensing

  Photo Credit: Pixabay

  eBook formatting: Sarah Delena White

  ISBN: 978-1-7328546-4-2

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Chapter Seventy

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  Epilogue

  Map

  Traitor’s Crown Register

  About the Author

  To those who’ve walked through shadows and came out shining all the brighter.

  Acknowledgements

  This book, y’all. This book.

  I couldn’t have gotten through this without the push of knowing that you, my readers, were waiting (some more patiently than others, lol) for this. Definitely my most draining book to write, and the one that I most excited to share.

  My beloved “framily”, thank you for everything. Words cannot describe how infinitely precious y’all are to me and what a gift from God each of you are. I love our daily chats, whether they be about serious topics, work stresses, sharing new things learned, discussing scripture, shooting the breeze, or laughing over last nights D&D shenanigans. (Here’s to hoping Strahd doesn’t kill us before Realm Makers…)

  Thank you to my production team! H.A. Titus, Jamie Foley, LoriAnn Weldon, Janeen Ippolito, Sarah Delena White, Julia Busko, Eric Sasina, C. W. Briar, Brian Wark, y’all have contributed so much into this, and Traitor’s Crown wouldn’t be what it is without you.

  S. D. Grimm, your editing skills have had quite the workout through the years with me, and I appreciate your never-ending patience and gracious calm when I come screeching into chat, panicking about “I forgot this!” and you don’t mind checking it for me. You are Wonder Woman.

  Dude, bro, Keanan, thank you for all the late nights working on Heichou. I haven’t even tried to calculate how many hours you’ve put into my computers and their issues, but there is no way we would’ve reached this point without your unfailing willingness to link up and figure out what I managed to do wrong this time. Thank you for being my Tech Wizard.

  Axel and Zack, I love the creations you bring to my desk while I work. The times you’ve snuck in here to give me a hug and a kiss while I work, and the times you come running in to tell me about your boss battle or the math homework you just figured out, or when you want to just sit on my bed to watch me work. My dear boys, may you grow up to be honorable men of God, with love and respect and your joy unending.

  Thank you to my army of babysitters.

  Mom and Dad––you have had the boys over countless times for me to work in peace here at home. Sometimes for the day, sometimes for the night, sometimes for the weekend. Your selflessness is appreciated beyond what you know. Thank you.

  Sharon, the boys have enjoyed every moment with their own personal ‘Ms Frizzle’. Thank you for coming over so frequently to teach them science and play while I’m working. Your enthusiasm and energy is a joy to behold.

  Lizzy, my beloved beta reader, my cookie accountability, my dear, sweet friend. You’ve watched the boys, you helped clean my house when I was too frazzled to think of such a thing, you’ve been there with me through thick and thin. Your friendship is a sweet blessing that I am so thankful for.

  A huge thank-you to my hubby, Mike, for putting up with all my emotional swings as I worked on this. So much funk to work through. And he supported me every step of the way. I love you, babe.

  God, this series is in your hands, and the themes are yours. Thank you for the privilege of writing it, and do with it as you will.

  Prologue

  Raine

  Raine’s boot caught on a plank of wood, and her shackles prevented her from catching herself, causing her to stumble down the airship ramp into an arid land. She’d visited it once as a child with her Papa—back in what felt like another life, and back when this desert didn’t hold the quiet horror of imprisonment.

  Dry heat rolled up off the dirt, despite the coming winter, and huge rocks stretched as far as the eye could see. Several sandy brown foothills reached their jagged fingers into the sky. A steady stream of dusty prisoners moved carts laden with rubble past a sprawling fortress-like building, which butted up against a craggy hillside. Guards hustled around it like ants at an anthill, keeping an eye on the workers. Just next to the structure gaped the mouth of the mountain. The Hollows.

  Raine’s stomach clenched.

  “Move, whale-scum.” The guard walking alongside Raine pushed her low back forcefully, and she hurried
forward as fast as she could while chained. A furtive glance to the left revealed a row of empty airship docks and what resembled a small city beyond. Her heart thumped. Where was Ben? He’d been captured at the same time as her, and one of the guards had revealed that they’d both be going to the Hollows. Why had they been split up? Was it truly just for the sake of lowering their morale? Were the Antians really that petty when it came to the Void Born?

  Her guard—she’d never caught his name—marched her straight up to the prison entrance in the mountainside. They entered the wide-mouthed tunnel, and she shivered as the sunlight fell away, staying behind as they continued into the darkness. Spots of sunlight impaired her vision at first, then the guards that stood by the open rust-speckled iron gate at the entrance of the Hollows became clear. A shudder worked its way down her spine. It was said that prisoners who entered here only left as corpses. No one had made the catacomb-like salt mines of the Hollows inhabitable. Why bother when it made an effective prison?

  The guards at the gate looked her over, and she couldn’t suppress her grimace or hide the flash of fear that made her palms clammy. The flimsy blue gown she’d worn while meeting with Emperor Ezran had been replaced with loose fitting pants and an equally baggy and threadbare shirt. They hadn’t provided any sort of vest or corset or securing garment, leaving her feeling even more exposed than she’d thought possible in her already catastrophic situation. The guards exchanged a few short words with her escort, her name and reason for imprisonment, and just like that, she was handed off, no longer of any concern to the Antian guard who’d all but dragged her thus far.

  Desert beige tones clothed the Hollows guard she’d been handed to, and he held the chain securing her wrists as if she were about to make a break for it. His lips twitched, and he used his long legs to his advantage, trying to stay ahead of her as he led her into the cavern. The gate closed behind them with an ominous bang. “Say good-bye to the sunlight,” he growled.

  She tensed, skin prickling as the faint light of the sun faded behind her. A lone luminary crystal in the ground shone in the darkness every six steps or so, barely enough to illuminate the rough-hewn tunnel and the travel-smoothed floor. Goosebumps covered her arms as the temperature noticeably dropped the further in they walked, and she forced her hands to her sides as much as she could despite the chain, not wanting to show more weakness to this stranger.

  The walkway opened into a well-lit cavern, and the guard slowed his steps just enough to let her stare. A tall ceiling stretched overhead, and two desks nestled against the far wall, a shadowy tunnel on either side of them.

  Metal clanked and screeched to her right, and a cage barely big enough to fit three grown men slowly poked up from a hole in the floor, where a ring of similarly beige-garbed Hollow guards waited. It clanked to a stop, and two filthy prisoners stepped out and cut across the room diagonally; they slowed to appraise her before continuing into the tunnel.

  She flushed, debating if it was better to meet their eyes and stare them down, or act disinterested and uncaring of their scrutiny.

  “Time for you to meet Peter.” The guard led her to the desk, where two men stood waiting. And she tried not to look as if she was taking stock of everything as she followed. Every other prisoner probably did the same thing upon arrival. Had Ben already gone through this? Maybe he’d somehow beaten her here?

  “Name?” A bald guard with pale skin drawled as he reached for a ledger. He yawned. “And what’re you here for?”

  “Raine DoPonce.” She hesitated. What was going to happen when she admitted she was here solely because she was a Void Born? Could she lie and say it was something different? She rocked on her toes and tried to read the book upside down. Was Ben’s name there? Could she hope to find him somewhere in this hole of shehalla? What crimes would his name be listed under?

  “She’s a Void Born, Peter.” The blond gave a slight shake of her chains and held out his hand to the second man behind the desk. The desk man handed a key over, and her blond escort held it loosely in his hand, not letting go of her cuffs.

  “Hmm.” Peter didn’t even blink.

  Her guard gripped her shackles. “She helped take down the barrier.”

  Horror made her skin flush as every eye on the room snapped to her. Raine held out her hands, forcing her body to stay loose and non-threatening. “No, no. I didn’t.” Anger built in Peter’s eyes, and she scrambled over her words. “My group and I were trying to prevent it from going down, we—”

  “I don’t want to hear your lies, scum.” Peter snarled. He wrote her name in the ledger with a cursive penmanship that in other circumstances Raine would envy. He jotted “VB” in the margin and closed the book, giving her a once over. “We’ll see how long you last in here, once news of what you’ve done gets around. Most people here have families on the outside. And they won’t be happy to hear what you’ve done.” He spat to the side of the desk. “Take her to Artemis.”

  Her nameless guard unshackled her and tossed the key and manacles on the desk. He gripped her upper arm hard enough that it was sure to leave bruises, but she didn’t make any noise as he steered her to the cage. She slowed and he pushed her in. The entire contraption creaked and swayed, and she grasped the honeycombed metal with white knuckles. Never before had she been underground. The guard slid a door-like bit of woven metal over the opening they’d walked in, then rapped the cage. It started down with a jolt.

  Her heart squeezed, and her breath came in short puffs. The air grew colder as they descended, and with each clack of the chain, she could imagine herself getting squeezed to death in the rock. The elevator jerked to a stop, and she widened her stance to keep from losing her balance.

  The guard opened the door, revealing a large chamber of empty tables and chairs with a bright yellow “2” painted on the wall. He pointed to the hand-span wide gap in the floor. “You don’t want to miss your step. If you manage to fall between, you’ll either get crushed when this moves, or you’ll drop straight down to the pit.” A mirthless smile stretched his lips. “Which may be the most painless way for you to leave here.”

  She shuddered, took a deep breath, and leapt out of the cage, nearly knocking into a chair. The cage swayed with a clank of metal, and the guard stepped out with a snort. “No need to be so dramatic, Raine.”

  He rapped on the cage, and it started up again, leaving a gaping hole in the floor that she flinched away from. He shook his head and tugged her close, forcing her to look over the edge and down into the darkness.

  His breath heated her ear, and she tried not to let her fear and disgust show in her shiver as he spoke. “See that? That’s where your new home is going to be,” he sneered. “Whether it be one day or until you’re our oldest resident—who is currently fifty-three, for the record—this is where you live now. And it’s better than you deserve.”

  She didn’t say anything. His nails dug into her arm through her thin shirt, and she breathed through the pain, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was hurting her. His grip tightened, but she kept her face as neutral as possible.

  He grunted and gestured to the dimly lit room. “The mess. You get two meals a day. Be grateful you get that much.” He pointed to a conspicuous doorway where buttery warm light spilled out into the dusty room. “For now, you get to meet Artemis.”

  The place he brought her to resembled everything else—hollowed out of stone with short ceilings that made her instinctively want to duck. Her panic ebbed at the sight of the leather-covered medical table, charts on the walls, and rows of medicinal herbs. Two chairs with a small armrest between them and a short-but-wide side table sat against the wall.

  “A Void Born for you, Artemis,” Raine’s guard called out.

  A slender woman with unnaturally red hair and two full sleeves of tattoos glanced up from a book she’d been reading, and her lips curved in a bizarrely welcoming smile. She set the book aside and stood eye-level with Raine. She held out her hand, and Raine hes
itantly shook it.

  Artemis studied her up and down with a practiced eye. “Healthy, mid-twenties.” She tapped Raine’s bicep. “Strong.” She beamed. “You’ll do well here.”

  Raine licked her lips, off-kilter. She hadn’t had time to envision what Artemis would be like, if Artemis was even male or female, but this definitely wouldn’t fit any of her possible visions.

  Artemis glared around Raine. “Are you still hovering here, Kevin? Shoo. I can tag her and drop her without you.”

  Kevin huffed. “Put her in the starter block.”

  Artemis raised her eyebrow, giving Kevin an arched look. “So she can be alone up here? Surely there’s an opening below.”

  “Fine. Lower block.”

  “No problem.” Artemis flicked her wrist at Raine and pointed to the chairs. “Sit.”

  Raine moved away from the guard with a measure of relief, taking refuge in whatever friendliness she could find in such a forsaken place. A small handheld contraption hooked to a boiler tank hung on the wall next to pigments in jars lined on a shelf on the far side of the room, and just beyond was a smaller hollowed out room, the edges of a privacy curtain barely visible.

  Artemis waited at the doorway of the medical suite, watching for the metal elevator to return and clank away with Kevin before turning her attention to Raine. She clapped her hands together and bustled past, busying herself with the needles and a jar of dark ink. “So. What name do you go by? What are you in here for? Wait.” Artemis narrowed her eyes over her shoulder at Raine. “You’re Void Born, yes? Did you get caught somewhere? It seems most our Void Born lately are from catch-and-release cities.”

  Raine pressed her legs together and hugged herself, unsuccessfully trying to ward off the chill in the air. “Raine. And I was captured in Antius for something I didn’t do.”

  Artemis paused, measuring out the black ink. “You’re not a Void Born?”

  Raine bowed her head, letting her hair hide her face. She shrugged. “I am.”

  “Well then.” Artemis moved the small jar onto a tray by Raine’s bed. “It doesn’t matter if what you did was real or imagined; that’s all that’s needed to get here.” She walked to the back and appeared a moment later with a thick blanket. She tossed it at Raine. “You’ll get your uniform downstairs, but this’ll help in the meantime.”