The Rise of the Dawnstar (The Avalonia Chronicles Book 2)

ruler in need.”
“She is a ruler of nothing,” said the emir, his voice turning cold. “She commands no army, she has no throne, no crown, no kingdom to go to.” He turned his gaze upon me, and his eyes narrowed. “Take my advice, child, go to your grandmother in Elfi where the queen cannot touch you. Disappear forever and give up this fight. It is one you cannot win. Morgana and the archmage are too strong. Now backed by the Drakaar, they are deadlier still. We have received reports from the northern frontiers—Queen Morgana’s army is amassing in the Silverspike Mountains and terrorizing the plains. The dwarves have shut themselves up in Stonegate and will not stop her army from moving south. With Silverthorne in the dungeons and the Blackwaters running Eldoren, there is no one capable of standing in her way and stopping her from taking over the seven kingdoms.”
“We cannot sit back and permit Morgana to conquer the whole world,” argued Santino. “Since when has Brandor backed away from a battle?”
“Since Queen Morgana,” said Emir Valasis, lowering his voice. “I have spoken to the other members of the council and we are in agreement. We will accept Morgana as high queen, and in return she will not attack Brandor.”
“Not attack!” Santino paced the floor in front of his father’s throne. “That is what she says. But what’s to stop her from coming into our kingdom and doing as she pleases?”
“It won’t come to that,” said the emir. “Once we swear allegiance to her, she will let us live in peace.”
Santino shook his head and stopped pacing. “As long as Morgana is high queen there will never be peace in the seven kingdoms. And what about Aurora, are you going to give her up to Morgana too?”
I paled.
“I will not go so far as to hand over a child to that monster,” said Roderigo Valasis, an indignant tone to his voice. “But I will not endanger my own kingdom for an untrained, inexperienced princess who may or may not take back her kingdom one day. Queen Morgana is real, and she has an army. In fact, she has more than one army, and she is coming for Aurora. The girl must be on her way before anyone finds out she is here.”
Santino bowed stiffly to his father. “We will leave for Elfi as soon as I can prepare. I promised to make sure Aurora reaches her grandmother safely, and I am going to keep that promise. We will ride out tomorrow.”
I hung my head and followed Santino out of the room. No one wanted to help me anymore, and no one believed I would be able to win back my throne. The worst part was the emir was right—I was no queen. I had no army, no backing, and no training or experience. My granduncle had tried to help me, but I’d been too stubborn to listen to reason. And now I was alone in a foreign kingdom, running for my life.
But I had to finish what I came here for. I had to meet Constantine Redgrave, the ex-archmage of my grandfather’s kingdom. He was the only one who would have some answers about the Dagger of Dragath and my mother.

The Legend of the Dawnstar
“I will see you in a few hours,” said Santino as he escorted me to the royal library, which was housed within the citadel and therefore part of the massive fortress complex of the Emir of Sanria. “I have some work to attend to, but the mastermage will see you now.”
“Thank you, Santino, you are a true friend. I appreciate all you have done for me. But I don’t want you to go against your father’s wishes to help me.”
“Don’t worry about that. Get what information you need from the mastermage, and I will prepare for our journey to Elfi.” He left two guards outside the library to escort me to my room once I finished.
I entered the royal library and was immediately spellbound by what lay before me. Gold-trimmed mahogany bookshelves lined the walls and stretched all the way to the magnificent domed ceiling, carved with intricate designs in white, blue, and gold.
The mastermage of the library was a small, frail man with frizzy white hair and a short, trimmed beard. He looked over a hundred years old, but his deep brown eyes were sharp and focused beneath bushy eyebrows. He bowed briefly when he saw me.
“I have been expecting you.” He turned, gesturing for me to follow him as he shuffled deeper into the enormous library.
“You know who I am?” I trailed behind him, passing huge arched windows with ornate stained glass that flashed in the sunlight and lined the gallery skirting the first floor of the massive room.
He didn’t stop or look back. “Did you meet with the emir?”
“Yes, and he wants me gone as soon as possible.”
“Then we have little time.” His hand lit up as he opened a small wooden door at the very end of the great library.
I followed him down the spiral steps to a smaller room. Stacks of books were strewn on the floor, and a variety of maps were pinned to one wall. The mastermage was a strange little man. How did he know who I was? Had Santino or the emir told him I was here already?
“There is still so much you do not know about our world. And it is imperative you understand these things before you go to Elfi,” the mastermage said. “We never expected the Blackwaters to turn face so quickly. And neither did we expect the king to support them. Now that Dekela is dead and his key has been taken, we have bigger problems on our hands.”
I froze. “But how do you know about the keys?”
“Because,” said the mastermage, looking pointedly at me, “I am the fourth guardian of the keys.”
“Oh!” I shut the heavy wooden door behind me.
“Your granduncle and I have been in contact since you came