34. Chapter 34

Chapter thirty-four

A fter Astrea left, Haven had taken a quick bath and promptly passed out. She was woken however many hours later by a heavy pounding on the door.

"WHAT?" She yelled, not bothering to disguise the annoyance in her voice.

"I'm coming in!" Called a voice she did not recognize.

Haven looked down at herself, finding nothing but skin. Apparently she'd been too exhausted after her bath to find some night clothes. Haven wrapped herself up in the blanket just as the door opened, reminding her to work on building a habit of locking the door before bed.

"Wake up princess, it is time to start your training"

Peering out from under the blanket, Haven surveyed the woman standing at the foot of her bed. She was tall and muscular, with deep brown skin almost as dark as the long braid trailing down her back.

"Who are you?" Haven asked

"My name is Tasha, I'll be in charge of most of your training"

"What kind of training?"

"We will begin with simple things like conditioning, wielding basic weapons, and of course learning to use your magic"

That caught Havens attention, "I get to learn to use my magic?"

"Of course! Do you think the council would hand over control of the entire kingdom to a girl that doesn't know how to use her magic or even the most basic of weapons?"

Tasha may have said the words kindly but they still gave Haven a headache. She'd been trying not to think about the fact that she was set to inherit two whole kingdoms since she'd found out about it. Dralia, which they were currently in, and Shaston, the neighboring kingdom once ruled by her father. She hadn't had much time to mull over the idea but whenever the thoughts occurred, a deep headache Haven often referred to as self doubt popped into her brain.

"By the time your coronation comes around, I will have whipped you into quite the young warrior. Someone worthy of the crown"

Haven gulped at the mention of her coronation. She knew it was something she'd likely have to endure but it was another one of those things Haven was choosing not to think about.

"When is that supposed to be?" She aske d

"Your coronation?" Tasha asked, Haven nodded. "In exactly a month"

"A MONTH?" Haven screeched, "But I've never even held a weapon in my life. I don't know all that much about Dralian customs and I definitely don't know how to rule one kingdom, much less two!" Haven could feel herself beginning to panic, her heart picked up speed and her chest tightened.

Tasha sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a calming hand on the top of Havens foot over the blanket,

"Haven, it'll be alright. In the mornings you will train with me and in the evenings someone will be teaching you all about what it takes to rule our kingdom. We have waited so long for something like this to happen. We aren't going to toss you in the deep end without first teaching you how to swim"

The calm and steady tone Tasha used washed over Haven, helping to calm her almost as much as her words themselves did. Taking a deep breath and battling back the nerves, Haven spoke the words she had only allowed herself to say in her mind,

"I really am going to become Queen?"

"Yes," Tasha nodded, "And you will make an amazing one"

It took Haven over an hour to dress in the training leathers Tasha told her to put on. It wasn't the clothes themselves, rather, what she had seen when she looked into the mirror.

When she first saw them, Haven almost fainted. Somewhere between when she was forced into the woods and when she woke up this morning, her ears had changed into full fae ears, long bodied with pointed tips.

When she first saw them, the gasp that escaped showed Haven that her ears weren't the only thing that changed. Now she also had two sharp fangs. Haven couldn't guess why Fae needed fangs but so far, everyone she'd seen had them. When Haven dragged Tasha back into her room from where she'd been waiting out in the hall, Tasha had simply smiled and said,

"You are a full Fae now Haven"

After taking more than a few minutes to adjust to her new appearance, Haven followed Tasha into the courtyard behind the castle by the lake. People stared, some even bowed. Haven ignored them.

Another new thing was her heightened senses. All along the walk to the courtyard, Haven picked up tidbits of conversations, smells coming from all over and even the warmth of the sunlight on her skin felt stronger. It was going to take some getting used to, but as Haven came to a stop next to Tasha, she took a deep breath and allowed these new feelings and senses to settle inside her. Her life was changing. Haven knew it would likely be uncomfortable for a while, as most change was, but she also knew that she had never felt more like she belonged in her entire life. Here, in this realm, experiencing these new feelings and changes was exactly where Haven was supposed to be. She just had to remember that next time the anxiety and doubt came creeping in.

"Alright," Tasha began, "Every morning we will meet here. First we will run two laps around the entirety of the castle grounds. After our run we will begin your weapons and combat training. We will work on weapons for a few hours before ending our sessions by working on your magic." Tasha paused briefly to make sure Haven was following along,

"Every single day you come out here, Fae will watch you and they will stare. You need to get used to the stares. You need to assure them that you are up to the challenge and that you are fit to take the throne. Not everyone is entirely happy about this new development. The crown regent has been ruling for quite some time and while not everyone likes him, our kingdom has mostly done well under his rule."

"Will people try to stop me from taking over?" Haven asked

"Honestly, I am not sure. I would expect some blowback, people will surely voice their opinions and test you but I don't think anyone would actually try to prevent you from ruling. Old magic binds the spell used to create our realm and I think most are too afraid of what might happen if they were to go against the rules by trying to prevent the last daughter from taking her place"

Haven thought over Tashas words while stretching in preparation for her run. A few specific words stuck out in her mind causing Haven to ask,

"Why did you call me the last daughter?"

Tasha smiled faintly,

"Because you could very well be the last. Besides Roman, no other fae children have made it into our realm in the last fifty years. You complete the circle, the last of the royal lines have officially been found. People have already come up with a title for you."

"What is it?" Haven asked nervously, she hoped it wasn't something stupid that she'd have to hear for the rest of her hopefully long life.

Tasha straightened up from her forward stretch, leaned in close to Haven as if she did not want others to hear and said,

"The Last Daughter of Smoke and Shadows"