The Queen of Darkness (Crystalline #4) - Audiobook

I could hardly believe we'd finally made it to Inahan. After pirates, monsters, and a surprise visit from Tiernan, the capital city was a wonderful sight to behold.

But even in this safe harbor there are secrets that can tear the three of us apart.

Queen Lobelia has us arrested and before I know it, I'm summoned to her throne to complete a task for her. One I can't refuse if I ever want to see my friends alive again.

There's something hidden below the castle... something the Queen doesn't want the world to see.

One
Dusk watched as Lex's blue eyes lost their luster and his gaze fell away, his head tilting to the floor in shame. His mind was reeling. What Rafael had said couldn't be true, right? Lex wasn't a noble of the de Ronja family. It wasn't possible. Lex had known from day one where Dusk had come from, and he would’ve told him. After all, Lex had claimed to be in love with him. But if Lex had hidden the truth, what else was he hiding? Was he another manipulator like Yarick? Did he actually love Dusk at all, or was it some strange ploy to use him and the crystal? Lex had told him not to use the crystal, though. Was that a lie, too? Dusk felt his head begin to throb as the endless questions stormed his brain. He didn't know what to do.
"Time to go," Rafael sneered, his silver circlet catching the torchlight. "Make your choice. Give up and your friends live. Cast a wisp of magic, and we'll kill them before you can blink."
Dusk glanced up at Tara, who shook her head vigorously at him while she fought her bonds. He thought for a brief moment before holding his hands out, wrists pressed together with his fingers curled in. He sighed heavily, letting his shoulders fall, giving a defeated nod.
Two soldiers stepped forward, forcing metal manacles around his wrists, connected by a heavy chain. Dusk didn’t resist. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he felt as if all the life had been sucked out of him suddenly. Finding out Lex had been lying to him for months and keeping secrets made him feel like a fool. It was like Yarick’s betrayal all over again. Even though he knew Lex wasn’t selling him off to a maniac, he might as well have for how hurt and betrayed Dusk felt in his heart.
“Well, this was easier than I expected,” Rafael quipped, heading towards the door, his straight, dark hair swaying as he walked. “They said you three were dangerous, but I guess that’s not the case after all.”
He went to step through the door when another soldier in a dark blue tunic raced around the corner and collided with him head-on. The pair of them crashed to the floor in a heap. There was much swearing and apologizing as they both got back to their feet. Rafael looked as if he was about to explode.
“What’s the meaning of this!?” the commander roared, throwing his arms up at his subordinate.
“Sir! It--It’s K-Kingraven!” He paused, glancing from side to side nervously. “S-she’s escaped!” the man stuttered, wincing as he delivered the message.
“You fucking fools!” Rafael pushed the man out of the way, throwing him to the ground once again before he darted around the corner and down the hall, his footsteps fading away.
The men turned about, looking at one another as if waiting for someone to give an order. When none came, they stayed where they were. Dusk kept his eyes trained on the floor. He knew better than to look the soldiers in the eyes. It was just like back at the mines. Knowing they were war criminals now, he didn’t want to take any chances of being beaten before they were most likely executed. He couldn’t imagine that the queen would allow Tara to live at the very least. The more he thought about it, the choice Rafael had given him hadn’t been much of a choice at all. It was either die now or die later. But for the moment, he couldn’t find the will to care with thoughts of Lex filling his head.
A few minutes later, the commander came back, out of breath and thoroughly annoyed. “Get these prisoners to my ship and be sure not to damage them for now.” He glanced at Dusk. “The queen wants them alive. We’ll come back for Kingraven later.”
Dusk met his gaze, confused as to why they weren’t being taken to a chopping block immediately. What could the queen possibly want with them? However, his curiosity faded quickly as they were marched out of the room, down the stairs, and out into the abandoned streets. There was still an hour or two before dawn and all the lanterns had been doused. The roads stood silent and bereft of life. Soldiers’ footsteps were the only noise as the three of them were marched southwest towards the docks at the far end of the port. It wasn’t a long journey and Dusk was too lost in his thoughts to notice much of it. Before he knew it, he was being forced up a gangplank onto a large and well-decorated ship. He didn’t get much of a chance to look around as he was ushered belowdecks and taken to a small room. Just before he was pushed inside, he saw Tara and Lex being taken to another part of the ship entirely.
Rafael turned to him with a malicious grin. “Can’t have you planning anything now, can I?” He spat on the ground in front of Dusk, a vulgar gesture from a man dressed in such rich armor. “Don’t get any funny ideas. The moment you try anything, your friends are done for. Understood?”
Dusk nodded weakly and took a step back, his hands still bound tightly in front of him, the cold metal digging into his skin. It was a familiar feeling that came with a sense of hopeless comfort.
“Good. Now stay here and keep quiet.”
Rafael slammed the door shut and Dusk heard the lock loudly click shut. The commander began barking orders and soon heavy boots came hurrying to stand just outside the door. Dusk glanced around the small room. There was nothing but an empty crate, a chamberpot, and dust strewn across the floor. The room was bereft of any decoration as if it had been an old storage closet. If his hands hadn’t been bound, he could have touched the walls with his outspread arms. Instead, he walked to the wall and leaned his back against it, sliding down to the floor and letting his head fall between his knees. It didn’t really matter where he was anymore. He knew that no matter what he did, his friends would die, and he didn’t have the will to rescue them. Not after finding out that Lex had lied to him. He felt defeated, and this time, he wasn’t sure if he was going to pull out of it.
It wasn’t long before a commotion topside signaled the ship’s departure from Greencoast Port. A moment later, it began to rock back and forth gently as it headed out into the open ocean. Dusk wasn’t sure how far Calendia was from the port, but the way the others had talked about it, he figured it couldn’t be too far. Time passed quietly as he sat on the cold floor, wondering what was coming next. More than once, he removed the dragon scale with the thought of trying to get himself out of the cabin but quickly replaced it after hearing the feet shifting outside the door. A moment later, a small peephole in the center of the door slid open, showing a set of eyes on the other side peering down at him. Dusk kept his head hung low and did his best not to move. After a few seconds, the wood flicked back into place.
It continued on like that for some time until finally, there were shouts heard above, and the boat thunked against something hard on the port side. Within moments, footsteps were coming down the hall and the door was unlocked and opened. Instead of Rafael, it was another soldier of the Sapphire Knights dressed in the same dark blue cloak. A smaller and more plain silver circlet rested on his short-cropped hair. He seemed young despite a clear air of leadership over the other knights.
“Bring him up. He’s to be taken to the tower cells,” the young man ordered to the others. “The other two are to go to the dungeon and wait there until further notice.”
One of the knights walked over and yanked Dusk up roughly by his manacles, causing him to yelp in pain.
“Be careful!” the commander cried. “Queen Lobelia wants him undamaged! See to it that he gets a meal and a washbasin. We don’t want him to offend Her Majesty’s delicate sensibilities.”
The last line seemed to come with the tiniest hint of sarcasm, but the knights nodded before leading Dusk out of the room with a little less force. The younger man followed them above but stayed on deck to shout orders at the crew that was rolling up the sails and readying the ship to stay docked.