Library
Search
Home / Fantasy / The One / A Future King

Share

A Future King

Author: Bella Moondragon
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-22 21:55:53

*River*

I can’t take the silence anymore. Grief fills every hallway, every breath, every conversation that ends before it begins. Akin’s death has carved a hollow space inside each of us, and even though no one says his name out loud, it echoes through the palace like a ghost.

It’s been two days since his death, and the silence threatens to crush me. It presses too close, sits too heavy on my shoulders. I need to move. I need to do something, anything, other than sit in that war room listening to generals argue over plans they can’t agree on. Outside of the room is no better, though.

Maerilee has completely shut down, unable to function since she erected the barrier around the castle. Grief has stolen more from her than anyone. Permiton is likewise pretending he isn’t unraveling, but something is wrong with him. He’s barely spoken since Akin’s death, but unlike Maerilee, he seems more agitated than anything. Brook is still recovering, barely able to stay upright, despite the Bright Wa
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The One   A Future King

    *River*I can’t take the silence anymore. Grief fills every hallway, every breath, every conversation that ends before it begins. Akin’s death has carved a hollow space inside each of us, and even though no one says his name out loud, it echoes through the palace like a ghost.It’s been two days since his death, and the silence threatens to crush me. It presses too close, sits too heavy on my shoulders. I need to move. I need to do something, anything, other than sit in that war room listening to generals argue over plans they can’t agree on. Outside of the room is no better, though.Maerilee has completely shut down, unable to function since she erected the barrier around the castle. Grief has stolen more from her than anyone. Permiton is likewise pretending he isn’t unraveling, but something is wrong with him. He’s barely spoken since Akin’s death, but unlike Maerilee, he seems more agitated than anything. Brook is still recovering, barely able to stay upright, despite the Bright Wa

  • The One   An Impossible Ask

    *Maerilee*Oceanan soldiers are sprawled in unnatural shapes across churned earth and stone, their limbs slack, faces limp with unconsciousness. None of them are dead. I can feel that, somewhere in the strange bond between my magic and the land. But they are incapacitated, stunned by the burst of power that tore out of me moments ago like it had been waiting all along to be freed. No one speaks. No one moves. It feels like the world is holding its breath.But all I can think is that Akin is gone.I stare at the space where he fell, where he reached for me, but it is empty. He was there. I know he was. I saw him. Permiton saw him. Permiton was going to go back for him so we could revive him. Yet now he is gone, and something inside me feels like it has been ripped away at the roots.Somehow, I end up in the courtyard of the palace. I don’t remember moving here, and I have no recollection of leaving my place behind the barrier. My gown is torn, my hands are scraped raw from the ground,

  • The One   Lost

    *Akin*I have never felt fear like this in my life. The Oceanans are everywhere, relentless, swarming us on all sides. I can barely see two feet in front of me through the wall of bodies and smoke and flaring magic.There’s no formation to our soldiers now, no real lines left. We are hardly an army at all now, just soldiers fighting for their lives, one man against five or more Oceanans at one time. The only thing keeping this army from swallowing us whole is the barrier still shimmering weakly at our backs. We will retreat if we must, but there’s the very real possibility that the barrier will not hold up against our enemies. We have to fight them back as long as we possibly can… which, I fear, isn’t much longer.I fight. That is all I know how to do. I swing and block and press forward, my sword a blur in my hands, my muscles screaming with every movement. My boots slide in the blood-slicked mud. My shoulder throbs from a blade I didn’t deflect fast enough. My lungs burn with smoke.

  • The One   The Spoils of Battle

    *Brook*The wind tastes like ash, carrying the smoke from the Ambrosian’s attack. They’re assembled behind the Oceanan soldiers, shooting their magic at us with wild abandon. I stand at the back of the Altinnian line, feet planted wide, arms raised, water already swirling at my fingertips. I never received the same training as River, was never taught to be as graceful or powerful as the Oceanan soldiers, but my magic listens to me, and that’s all I can ask of it for now.I pull from the well inside me, deeper than I’ve ever gone before, and send a blast of water arcing through the air. It catches two Oceanan soldiers before they reach the front line. One stumbles. The other skids across the mud, his blade slipping from frozen fingers.Another enemy charges forward. I draw the water back, wrap it around his ankles, and snap it upward into a spear of ice. He doesn’t rise again. I attack man after man, trying to protect as many Altinnian soldiers as I can from the onslaught of Oceanan wa

  • The One   The First Wave

    *Akin*The sun sets behind the trees, turning the sky the color of blood. I shudder to think what this battlefield will look like when the sun reemerges. How many of us will still be standing?I’m at the front line, shoulder to shoulder with the generals, watching the tree line just beyond the barrier. The wind rustles the leaves like a sinister whisper, the promise of death. My fingers tighten around the hilt of my sword, ready to strike any target at a moment’s notice. As much as we’ve trained for years, this is the first time many of us will ever face direct conflict with another kingdom. The burden of that knowledge settles on all of us as we wait with anticipation for the coming armies.Behind us is the barrier. We are the last defense to keep the Oceanans and Ambrosians from destroying it. If it falls now, all will be lost. We’ve got all of our strongest men ready to sacrifice their lives to keep the opposing soldiers back. And still, I don’t know if it will be enough.River sta

  • The One   The Moments Before

    *​​River*After the revelation that Queen Kimalissa’s magic is gone, everyone disperses to deal with the implications. Brook and Permiton have disappeared to the library to see if they can find any precedent for what’s happening. Akin has disappeared to the barracks to be of service to the other soldiers in any way he can. Once again, I’m left without any real purpose.So, I stand on the balcony of the palace, stone cold beneath my hands, and watch as the enemy armies spread across the distant hills. The blue and silver streamers of the Oceana flags catch the wind, their metallic edges reflecting the sun like blades. They aren’t alone. Direken’s forces from Ambrosia march at their flank, cloaked in crimson.The barrier hums weakly in the distance, stretched thin and ready to break at any moment. It’s holding for now, but barely. One bad blow, and the whole thing could collapse. Maerilee doesn’t think she’s strong enough to fix it. She doesn’t trust herself, and maybe she doesn’t trust

  • The One   The World Turned Upside Down

    *Seraphira*Thick smoke coils through the air, darkening the skies with its power. It burns my nostrils and lungs as I breathe in, leaving behind the unpleasant feeling of choking. My people are suffocating under its weight, and I am the only one left with the power to save them.I look across the fields where the ground is littered with the dead, both ours and our enemy’s. Blood slicks the soil in muddy rivers, soaking into the roots of this land I’ve inherited to lead. We are now a nation that will be built on blood and bone, if we even survive this war. It’s gone on for too long. Enough is enough.I walk to the center of the battlefield, where soldiers have become too weak and sick to really put their hearts into the fight. My people are exhausted, starving, likely days away from death. If I do not put an end to this war, all will be lost. Altinna will have no future beyond me, and that is not a weight I am willing to bear.Behind me, my Four wait in silence, ready to protect or a

  • The One   The End of the Road

    *Maerilee*My barrier hums around us, seemingly unnoticed by everyone but Permiton. His hand squeezes mine and the tension in my chest eases as I realize the barrier may not even be necessary. Permiton hasn’t led us wrong yet, and I know that he’s seen something in the future that makes him confident the rebel’s aren’t hear to harm us.I drop the barrier as a measure of good faith, my fears easing as Caelan steps forward, his sword sheathed, and drops to one knee. The other rebels follow suit, their heads bowed in reverence, their arms crossed over their chest in a sign of Altinnian allegiance. Tears spring to my eyes as I realize that Caelan didn’t come to attack us. He’s here to help us.Caelan looks up at me, his expression steady and filled with deep respect.“Princess Maerilee,” he starts, his voice carrying a weight that quiets even the rustling trees around us. “I apologize for the

  • The One   Unwelcome Guests

    *Maerilee*The morning light filters through the canopy of trees, casting soft golden rays over our little shelter. Through the leaves, I can see the waters shimmer, still and peaceful, as though they’ve forgotten the chaos of the day before. River is still sleeping soundly, his arm draped around me as his chest slowly rises and falls. There’s nothing left on his skin but a faint silver line from where his wound healed.I carefully extract myself from his arms, surprised at how reluctant I feel to leave him. His face is peaceful, an innocent smile playing on his lips as he dreams. I place a gentle, chaste kiss on his forehead before I dress.Once I’m decent, I go to stand at the edge of the river, the sound of the waterfall a soothing backdrop, but my mind is anything but calm. Something inside of me has irrevocably changed since this journey began. It isn’t just my relationships with my Four, but there’s a growi

You may also like

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status