Free Taliesin Ascendant (The Children and the Blood) by Skye Malone, Megan Joel Peterson

or your sister being part of this, because you were his children more than just heirs to his throne. He was protecting you, not out of disrespect, but love. So yes, he used what happened to you, but he believed that more than being to his advantage, it was to yours.
    “His plan had always been to end the war, and then restore your magic to you. He wanted to introduce you to our world at peace, and teach you what you needed to know to rule. But until that could happen, his goal was to give you the best life possible, far from violence and bloodshed, even if he could not be there to share it with you.”
    She looked away, remembering. Stress from his job had carved new lines on his face whenever he came home, and most nights found him pacing his room while clutching the phone.
    Work calls, she thought distantly. Right.
    “I don’t believe this,” she whispered. Her gaze darted around the room as though to encompass everything. “Any of it. It’s crazy. Crazier than wizards and cripples and I just… I don’t… ”
    He paused. “You do not have a choice.”
    She closed her eyes, wanting to tell him she did. She could leave. Run right now and just forget any of this ever happened.
    Even though she knew it wasn’t really true.
    “So what am I supposed to do?” she asked softly.
    “Become the leader your father would have wanted you to be.”
    A scoff escaped her.
    “I mean it, Ashe.”
    She looked up at him, seeing the quiet insistence in his eyes.
    And she turned away, wishing more than anything for it to be the day before yesterday, when the world had still sucked, but not like this.
    “You are not alone here,” Cornelius said. “You have the council. Almost as much as the royal family, we have guided our people through the past five hundred years. We are your allies. We can teach you what you need to know.”
    She didn’t answer, knowing he wouldn’t understand anything she wanted to say. The whole mess of their world was psychotic, and acknowledging even a fraction of it just meant agreeing on some level that any of it was sane.
    And that’d never been why she’d come here.
    She took a breath, focusing back on the one measure of stability left in the world. “I’m still telling them about the Blood.”
    “Your majesty–”
    “Carter told me to,” she interrupted. “And yes, they’re real. They’re out there right now and you have to let me tell people the truth.” She paused. “They killed my dad, Cornelius.”
    He closed his eyes. “It will not go well.”
    She watched him. “But will you try to stop me?”
    A heartbeat passed. “No.”
    She hesitated at the reluctance in his voice. “Then when can I meet with them?”
    Cornelius sighed. “Most of the council will continue to participate in the festivities for a few more hours,” he allowed. “If you would like, I can arrange for them to meet you after that time.”
    She nodded.
    “As you wish, your majesty,” he said, rising to his feet.
    At the title, she grimaced.
    He glanced back when he reached the door, catching sight of the expression. “It is who you are, Ashe,” he repeated.
    The door closed as he left the room.
    She shook her head. “No,” she whispered assuredly. “It’s not.”
     

Chapter Four
     
    With an arm curled beneath her head and her body propped up by a pile of pillows, she waited. The gun lay behind her, and through the walls, the distant noises of revelry filtered, the sounds occasionally drowned beneath a faint hum every time the air conditioner kicked on.
    And finally, a knock came.
    She pushed to her feet, and tucked the weapon into the back of her jeans as she crossed to the door. Cornelius stood outside.
    “They are ready.”
    She followed him down the hall.
    Guards bowed as she passed, their murmured ‘your majesties’ trailing her. Partiers still filled the factory floor, and scattered cheers rose as she emerged onto the walkway. With her eyes locked on Cornelius’ back, she forced herself to