Fire Queen: The Crystal Kingdom: Clean and Sweet Read online

  Fire Queen

  The Crystal Kingdom: Clean and Sweet

  Milly Taiden

  M. Taiden

  Latin Goddess Press, Inc.

  Contents

  Fire Queen

  A Note From Milly

  Attention Readers

  About the Book

  1. Chelsea

  2. Chelsea

  3. Chelsea

  4. Zaos

  5. Chelsea

  6. Chelsea

  7. Zaos

  8. Chelsea

  9. Zaos

  10. Chelsea

  11. Zaos

  12. Chelsea

  13. Zaos

  14. Chelsea

  15. Zaos

  16. Chelsea

  17. Zaos

  18. Chelsea

  19. Chelsea

  20. Zaos

  21. Chelsea

  22. Chelsea

  23. Zaos

  24. Chelsea

  25. Zaos

  26. Chelsea

  27. Zaos

  28. Chelsea

  29. Chelsea

  30. Zaos

  31. Chelsea

  32. Zaos

  Epilogue

  The Crystal Kingdom Series

  About the Author

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Also by Milly Taiden

  Fire Queen

  THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM

  NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  MILLY TAIDEN

  Writing as

  M. TAIDEN

  A Note From Milly

  This is a CLEAN and SWEET version of The Crystal Kingdom Series.

  If you’ve read the adult versions (Fae King, Elf King, Dark King and Fire King) then you don’t need to read this.

  This version is for younger audiences that would enjoy a clean and sweet fantasy series.

  You might be asking yourself why I did that and the answer is simple. I have a teen boy who would like to read my books and share them with his friends. He likes fantasy and I decided to have a young adult version of the Crystal Kingdom for them.

  If you have read the adult version, there is no need to read this one. I appreciate your support, but I don’t want you to feel I’m putting out the same book twice.

  Thank you for your understanding.

  Milly

  Attention Readers

  If this is your first time picking up one of my books and are a clean and sweet reader, please know I am working diligently to have more of my books available to you.

  For now, I ask that you stick to the Crystal Kingdom and sign up for my newsletter to know when new books are out.

  Look for the Clean and Sweet sticker on my covers for these types of books.

  Thank you!

  Milly

  About the Book

  Zaos Firefoot

  I'm the right hand man to King Gorwin. I know my people are fading out and I wish our leader would listen to reason, but he's old school and hardheaded. So I'm forced to do what I'm told until the day he tells me to kill a light elf. That's the day I meet the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. My mate. She's feisty, funny and she's definitely not going to die. I'll protect her with my last breath if necessary, but she's pretty stubborn and wants to be the one who's protecting herself. She might be a strong independent female, but I'm the man who's going to make sure she lives to be mine.

  Chelsea Golby

  Running is my escape. It helps me get away from the rejection of my boyfriend afterI asked him to marry me. I can't believe he had the nerve to say no. If one more person tells me they feel bad for me, I might go postal. Now I need to get away from this world and find myself. As much as I'd love to wallow in self-pity, or a pint of Ben and Jerry's, I don't. I'm going to hang out with my sister Avery, the new Elf Queen. But Avery's busy being royal and I'm antsy to check out the kingdom. Who knows, maybe grandmom is right and I have magic in my blood too.

  Meeting the very cute Zaos isn't the only surprise I'm in for. This world is full of secrets and magic. And even Zaos is in for some crazy news. He's the son of two different mortal enemy species. The drama explodes until the realm is at risk and everyone's life is at stake. But I'm not one to sit idly by and watch. Saving a world can get a girl killed and if that happens, Zaos will be destroyed. This is my call. Live or die, I'm going to save the my family and their kingdom.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Published By

  Latin Goddess Press

  Winter Springs, FL 32708

  http://millytaiden.com

  Fire Queen

  Copyright © 2020 by Milly Taiden

  Edited by: Tina Winograd

  Cover: Jacqueline Sweet

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Property of Milly Taiden

  November 2019

  Created with Vellum

  —For my son, Aiden

  Let’s finish off strong, baby bear. Enjoy!

  1

  Chelsea

  My heart-rate barely registered above my normal resting beats, my breathing was the same. And the longer I ran, the calmer my body became. I thought it was funny that it baffled the heck out of my high school and college coaches.

  I wasn’t sure how my vital signs remained so calm when I pushed my body to the edge. In school and secondary education, I ran long-distance on the track team. That was a miracle worker helping me through my teenage years. When the snobbiest clique picked on me or when a boy I liked ignored me, I went for a run and the solution became evident.

  Grandmother told me to find something I liked to do and focus all my energy on it to become the best. That advice certainly worked for my half-sister, Avery. She was freaky incredible at playing video games. The girl had even made money playing. If only I was paid to run.

  Maybe one day. I was in training for my first full marathon. Sixty miles a week was the goal at this point. The natural high from the rush of endorphins always elevated my mood when feeling lonely, especially now after the most embarrassing breakup of my entire life.

  I always understood my boyfriend of two years was hesitant when it came to spending a lot of money. His family wasn’t as well off as mine and he worked for every cent he had. Though I never worried about it, I figured he hadn’t asked me to marry him because he couldn’t afford a ring.

  So when I thought it was time to move our relationship to the next level, I planned on popping the question to him. Boy, was that the biggest mistake of my life.

  He’d been a little stressed recently, worried about the stability of his job. I decided I was going to make him happy again by buying us both engagement rings so he wouldn’t have to worry about finding a way to pay for them.

  I’d made a date at our favorite bistro and set up ahead of time for the waiters to bring out balloons and start up the mariachi band when he said yes. I was so excited, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face the whole day.
>
  When he arrived at the restaurant, he seemed nervous and kept glancing at his watch. I didn’t know what was up, but I didn’t want to ruin the night, so I kept the conversation light, talking about the things we could do over the weekend.

  When we had nearly finished our meals, I finally asked if everything was okay. He said he had a question and I said I had one, too, starting to get excited after the strange dinner. He told me to go first. I excused myself to the restroom then searched for the waiter and the band to stand by.

  I thought about getting down on one knee, but that wasn’t my style. Instead, I stood by the table with the entire dining room looking on, took his hand in mine and laid it over my heart.

  “Dylan, you are the love of my life. We were friends for the longest time who grew to care more for each other. I want the entire world to know how much I love you.” The waiter stepped up and presented a tray with origami-folded napkins that had our rings displayed. “Will you marry me, Dylan?”

  He stared at me with terror in his eyes. It was cute and a little funny how off guard I’d caught him. The mariachi trio started in before he answered.

  But when he didn’t break into a smile, and his ex-girlfriend walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, my insides twisted.

  Dylan opened his mouth. “Uh,” then the chicken poop looked up at his ex. The woman rolled her eyes.

  “What he wants to tell you,” the witch hollered over the band, “is that we’re getting back together.”

  My world zoomed down to Dylan’s red face. How long had they been planning this? How long had they been sleeping together before now?

  Now I understood why he always wanted to come to my place and seldom went to his. What had he been hiding all this time?

  I dropped his hand and stared at him. “Two years? It took you two years to figure out you wanted to go back to the witch who bossed you around and told you to suck her toes or she wouldn’t make you happy?”

  Yeah, when Dylan told me that story, I nearly fell over laughing. That was one reason he broke up with the witch. With that public reveal, the girlfriend scowled at him. Whatever. I didn’t care.

  I grabbed the ring display and my purse and walked out while the Mexican music blared behind me. Let the jerk pay for the meal.

  That was the last time I ate there. And hadn’t seen Dylan since. To this day, I didn’t understand why it took so long for him to let me in on his secret. Had I acted too quickly concerning our relationship? Was I not observant enough to catch the signs? Was he ever really into me?

  One thing was for certain, I’d never let that happen to me again. If the guy didn’t try to win me over, then I wasn’t giving him a second look. Could be why I was approaching the big three-O and not had a date in six months. My heart pinged with the thought.

  The transition back to a single existence was hard after a couple years of always having someone at my side. Always cooking for someone else. Always cleaning up after somebody.

  At the stoplight, jogging in place, I thought about my sister who had the perfect love connection. Even though we had different fathers, we were a lot alike in personality. Our grandmother kept us in check when it came to being grounded and having common sense, not letting our trust fund accounts be taken for granted.

  But what the heck did money mean to a freaking fairy princess?

  Well, Grandmom was more of an elf princess. But whatever. Learning that explained a lot in my own life. Why my ears were tilted at a weird angle and sort of pointy, but not as much as my sister’s. My favorite movie was the Lord of the Rings, as was Avery’s. I could spend hours in my grandmother’s special room where she collected everything elven. Even growing up, my Halloween costumes had always been a species of elves.

  And I was so jealous—in a loving way—that my sister was matched up with an elf king. A freaking king, not to mention he was from another dimension or plane or something like that. I hadn’t quite understood all that when Grandmom told us about the Crystal Kingdom a few months ago.

  I missed my sister. We hadn’t been as close as I wanted since I lived with my father. When my mom remarried and Avery was born, I was starting grade school, making new friends and figuring out how to navigate a scary world. A baby sister wasn't always at the top of the list for things to see.

  Crossing the lanes of traffic with a few others awake at this early hour, I wondered if there was a way to see my sister, now that the girl was in the Twilight Zone. Avery’s birthday was coming up and it would be cool to have a surprise party, or maybe just surprise guests intruding on her bliss.

  I bounced up the steps to my building’s front entrance and stepped inside. I cooled down with a brisk walk to the mailboxes, then up the stairs to my floor. When I opened the apartment door, I heard the phone ringing.

  Dread filled me. Calls like this carried bad news. Something happened during the night and now my life would be void of someone I loved, or something would change in the least.

  2

  Chelsea

  I stared at the portable phone charging on its base in my kitchen. Dust covered it enough that I swiped a finger across the handset, leaving a well-defined trail. I lifted it and answered with a shaky hello.

  “Good morning, Chelsea. This is your grandmom calling. Don’t worry, I don’t have bad news. In fact, it’s quite good, hopefully.”

  I blew out a breath and fell onto a breakfast settee chair. “Grandmom,” I replied, “you scared the you know what out of me.”

  “Sorry, dear, but I knew you’d be up.”

  And my elder just happened to call the second I stepped through my apartment door? Right. Grandmom didn’t have magical powers. No, not at all. I rolled my eyes. Those in the family who thought the older woman was suffering dementia were off their own rockers. Grandmom was the real thing.

  “I had a thought,” Grandmom said. “You know Avery’s birthday is coming up and I thought it would be nice for you and a few of the cousins to pop in and visit.”

  Pop in? Just pop into a different dimension? Sure.

  “That would be a great idea, Grandmom.” Not that I hadn’t thought that myself five minutes ago. The woman was scary magical. Elf princess? More like read-your-mind-teleport-to-the-impossible-conjure-up-anything elf witch princess. But I couldn’t love anyone more.

  “When were you thinking?” I asked. I could take a couple days off work next week. When one went to a magical place, you stayed longer than a few hours, right? What was the point of going if there wasn’t enough time to see all the sights? Did an elven forest even have sights? How different could a tree be? It’s not like it moved on its own or anything.

  “I thought maybe this afternoon you could corral your cousins and come over.”

  Well, thanks for the advance warning, Grandmom. Good thing it’s Saturday. “Okay. I can do that, I guess. I don’t have any errands to run today.”

  “Wonderful,” the elder said. “Be sure to wear your running shoes, and dress comfortably in sturdy clothes. See you soon.” With that, she hung up.

  Sturdy clothes? What the heck? I laid the handset back onto the base. Grandmom was up to something. The woman was horrible at keeping secrets. But what could it be? Maybe it was just the surprise for Avery she was excited about.

  After a shower and breakfast, it was still too early on a Saturday to call my cousins. I’d learned long ago to not call anyone before eight in the morning on the weekends. Which meant I got most of my stuff done before making contact with the outside world. And a lot of the time that included work I’d brought home.

  Being a divorce mediator meant I took a lot of time studying the divorce case and issues that brought about the problems that seemed unfixable. A lot of times, being creative was the only way to find solutions. Some of the things I thought of could only come from the mind of a demented human—like cutting off his balls, slice by slice. I didn’t share those, of course.

  Several hours later, a little after one in the afternoon, I met
up with my three cousins at Grandmom’s home. Wren, Daphne, and Lilah were the ones always going to all the family functions, keeping the peace, and making sure gossip didn’t split the family apart. Without their efforts, I wasn’t sure where the clan would be. Probably not talking to each other, if not in prison for killing each other.

  After hugs were exchanged, Grandmom sat us on the sofa and turned serious. “Now, ladies,” she started, “you are going to a place where they think humans are make-believe and are horrible creatures by how we’ve taken care of our planet.”

  I understood what grandmother meant. Humans’ history of destroying the Earth was well known by everyone who lived on the globe. Why not other places, too?

  “So,” Grandmom continued, “keep to yourselves who you are. Each of you have a touch of fae blood, but elf blood runs true through your veins with human blood. If someone asks, tell them you are guests of the elf king. They should leave you alone if they mean you harm.”