The Golden Symbol (37 page)

All Eachan asked for in return was to work for the king—the
true
king of Gevkan. Dad accepted him at once by making him head butler. The grin on Eachan’s face was enough to show he hadn’t expected
that
much forgiveness.

Myler just wanted to be left alone so he could start a new life.

Jacob picked up his shoes and sat on the bench at the foot of his bed, still thinking over the events of the past couple of weeks. Someone knocked on his door, jolting him from his thoughts, and he jogged across the huge room to open it up, untied shoelaces flapping. It was Matt.

“So,
Your Highness
,” Matt said, strolling into the room. “Are you going to wear a crown from now on?”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Only when Mom and Dad make me.”

“What about when school starts?” Matt snorted. “I could totally see you bringing one there, you know.”

Jacob punched his older brother in the shoulder. “Whatever. I already get plenty of attention. I don’t need a crown to get me more.” He snickered. “But if
you
ever need it, I’d be happy to let you borrow it.”

Matt flopped onto Jacob’s four-poster bed. “Whatever.”

Someone else knocked on the door, and without waiting for an answer, they walked in. It was Sweet Pea and Akeno.

Matt laughed when he saw Akeno. “You’re wearing your top hat again? Why?”

Akeno sniffed, pretending to be offended. “A coronation is the perfect event for a top hat. And I think you’re jealous that you can’t pull it off yourself.”

“Ha. No, I’m not.”

Akeno didn’t respond. He approached Jacob and handed him a pin. “From my mom—she says to put it on your sleeve below your right shoulder.”

Sweet Pea snickered. “I think she wants you to look more important or something. Because being the son of the king obviously isn’t important enough.”

Akeno shook his head. “No, it’s a token of our gratitude. For everything you’ve done to help the Makalos.”

Jacob added the pin to the collection already on his suit. “Tell her thanks.”

Akeno grinned. “I will.” The colors for happiness and peace surrounded him, and Jacob released a deep breath in relief—he’d been worried about his friend. Akeno had been so upset about the huge number of people he’d had to kill. He couldn’t even enter the forest near Mendon without getting emotional. But Jacob had witnessed a change in his friend over the last few days as he looked forward to going with his parents to get the new Makalos. The sadness left, replaced with excitement and joy.

Jacob put his hand on Akeno’s shoulder. “I owe
you
thanks. For everything. You’re the greatest hero I know—and I’m serious.”

Akeno blushed and looked at his feet. But the colors in the air around him showed he was pleased with the compliment.

Sweet Pea stood in front of the mirror. “This thing is broken—it makes me look shorter than I am.”

Matt leaned up on the bed. “You’re just gonna have to get over it. You’ll never be as tall as me.”

Sweet Pea glared at Matt through the mirror. “At least I can grow a full beard.”

“Ouch. That was low.” Matt rubbed his cheeks, frowning. Then he laughed, joined by Sweet Pea, and flopped back on the bed again. He pulled a ball from his pocket and tried to throw it through the hole in the stone ceiling.

Jacob grinned. He’d insisted on having this room—
he’d
made that hole a year ago while trying to get away from the Lorkon. It led to a closet where he and Akeno had been trapped until Jacob found a way out.

Now he had to keep the closet locked. Matt had already once dumped water through the hole in the middle of the night while Jacob was sleeping. What a fun way to wake up.

“We’d better get going,” Akeno said.

Sweet Pea turned from flexing his arms in the mirror. “Yeah—Ebony said something about us getting murdered if we were late.”

“And you have to take her seriously,” Jacob said. “She wouldn’t joke about that.”

The Makalos chuckled and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Matt started bouncing the ball off the ceiling. “That was a pretty intense argument between Dad and Azuriah, wasn’t it?”

Jacob sat back on his bench and finished tying his shoes. “I can’t believe you’re still talking about that. It happened two weeks ago.”

“But it was cool!”

“What I saw of it, yeah. I didn’t hear the whole thing, and honestly, I still have no clue what they argued about.” Jacob had spent most of his time ignoring Matt after the water-through-the-ceiling incident.

Matt jumped up on the bed, his eyes glinting with excitement. “First, Azuriah is burning all of the infected forests. That got Dad mad until Akeno told him the trees couldn’t be healed. So Azuriah won that fight. And he won the next one, too, which can’t be good for Dad’s ego.”

“What was the next fight?”

Matt’s eyes gleamed. “The stone waterfall is going to be—”

“Turned into an arch?”

“Yeah! How’d you know?”

“Azuriah told me a while ago.”

Matt pocketed the ball and sat next to Jacob on the bench. A sly grin crossed his face and he elbowed Jacob. “How are you and Aloren doing?”

Jacob felt his cheeks redden. “Fine. We don’t really do a lot together—trying not to break any family rules. But she’s positive she’ll still like me when I turn sixteen next year.”

Matt chuckled. “By the way she looks at you, she’ll like you after a hundred years.”

Jacob ignored his brother’s comment and pulled out his watch, checking the time. “Crap. The coronation starts in five minutes. We gotta go.”

They jumped up and dashed through the door, veering right, heading toward the throne room. Jacob barely noticed the gleaming walls as he and Matt raced past them. Keitus’s anti-Shiengol potion was gone now, and so were all the stuffy old curtains. The inside of the castle had been scrubbed top to bottom, and light shone in through hundreds of windows that had been covered for years.

“There you are!” the Fat Lady said, huffing her way toward them. “Your mother sent me to find you. You’re supposed to be in place right now.”

She turned and led them down a couple of staircases and halls and into what used to be a very dingy room—the same one where Jacob had found the Key of Kilenya. Now that all the curtains were gone, he’d been surprised to see how majestic it was. Lined with pillars and stained-glass windows, it was the best-looking place in the castle.

Jacob and Matt took their seats on the front row. Jacob waved at Mom, who shook her head at him, smiling. She wasn’t too upset about them arriving late, thank goodness. She and Dad held hands, sitting on chairs that faced the audience.

Moments later, Aldo stepped in front of everyone, and the chatter and whispering died down. His voice echoed through the large room as he directed the ceremony, which ended up being pretty much what Jacob expected—long and boring.

After Mom and Dad had been crowned, the audience jumped to its feet, applauding, cheering, several people even crying.

Jacob’s heart swelled as he looked around him at his friends and loved ones. Aloren took one of his hands and Amberly the other. Akeno saw him watching and waved. Kenji was clapping. Ebony was crying, and so was the Fat Lady. Matt and Sweet Pea were snickering about something, and Jacob was pretty sure neither had paid attention. Gallus had his arms around his wife, who was sobbing into his shoulder.

Jacob knew the tears being shed weren’t tears of sadness. In fact, he was nearly blinded by the colors that flowed around him.

Joy. Peace. Happiness.

Epilogue

Jacob tossed the ball through the net right as the buzzer sounded. He spun, watching the numbers on the board go from 82 – 82 to 82 – 84. Cheers erupted around him. His teammates flooded the gym floor, running to his side. Jacob couldn’t hear anything anyone said, but he high-fived everyone, laughing, being jostled around as the group pounded into each other, trying to get closer to their star.

The final game of his high school basketball career should have been difficult, especially since there were officials from colleges in attendance, wanting to watch him play. But it ended up being the best game ever, and definitely the most rewarding.

After what he’d gone through to get rid of Keitus, anything would be easy.

A moment later, a hand entered his own and he looked over to see Aloren smiling at him. He pulled her away from everyone, picked her up, and spun around, then planted a kiss squarely on her lips.

He didn’t release her, even when she started squirming. She pushed back, laughing, and he set her down. The moment her feet hit the floor, she gently pushed him, nearly knocking him into Kevin and Tani. Jacob avoided looking at his best friend—even though they hung out all the time at the house in Mendon, it was still weird that she and Kevin had hooked up. So weird.

Someone tapped Jacob on the shoulder and he turned. Two men, one in a suit, the other in jeans and a polo shirt, wanted to talk to him.

The man in the suit spoke. “When you get the chance, we’d like to discuss the idea of you playing for our university this fall. We have some fantastic scholarship options, and our school is . . .”

Jacob smiled, nodding, listening. The men gave him some brochures, promised to get in touch, then disappeared into the crowd.

He was approached by six people, all wanting him to play for their university.

Jacob didn’t care where he ended up, so long as it was a good college. After all, he had the Key of Kilenya and could visit home, Aloren, and anyone or anywhere else he wanted, whenever he wanted.

Life was good.

THE END

Note from the author:

Wow! I really can’t believe the series is over! What a fun, awesome journey it has been. I hope you enjoyed these books as much as I loved writing them.

If you haven’t already, please consider telling the whole world about the Kilenya Series. :-) I’d appreciate an honest review on Amazon, and a mention on Facebook or Twitter wouldn’t hurt either. ;-) Feel free to send me an email, letting me know what you thought of the series! [email protected]

And join my newsletter list
here
, if you haven’t already. :-)

Thank you! :-)

Books by Andrea Pearson:

The Kilenya Series:

The Key of Kilenya

The Ember Gods, Kilenya Series Book Two

August Fortress, Kilenya Series Book Three

Rise of Keitus, Kilenya Series Book Four

Eyes of the Sun, Kilenya Series Book Five

The Golden Symbol, Kilenya Series Book Six

The Key of Kilenya: Special Edition with Illustrations

Grail Bestiary Volume I: Creatures of Grail and Kilenya

Kilenya Romances:

Samara, A Kilenya Romance

Midian, A Kilenya Romance

Katon University:

Discern, Katon University Book One

The Focus (A Katon University First Year Novella)

The Manor (A Katon University First Year Novella)

The Angel (A Katon University First Year Novella)

Praxis Bundle One: The Focus, The Manor, The Angel

Perceive, Katon University Book Two (coming early 2015)

Ranch City Academy:

Bezza’s Book of Enchantments (coming mid 2015)

For information on the above books, click
here
. (http://www.andreapearsonbooks.com/p/my-books.html)

About the Author

Andrea Pearson, author of the Kilenya Series, Kilenya Romances, and Katon University series, lives with her husband and daughter in a small valley framed with hills. She is the executive director of the Indie Author Hub group and creator of the writing application, Writer’s Progress Bar. She is an editor for the website Gather.com.

Andrea spends as much time with her husband and daughter as possible. Favorite activities include painting, watching movies, collecting and listening to music, and discussing books and authors.

Her mother says they can’t possibly be related because Andrea isn’t a huge fan of chocolate and tomatoes, though she’ll eat either if forced to do it. (But not together.) She would much rather snack on toasted English muffins with lots of butter or nearly anything with cheese.

Connect with her Online:

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Facebook Fan Page

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Blog

Website

Join her email mailing list for news on upcoming releases

(She doesn’t sell or misuse email addresses or send long, frequent emails)

Acknowledgments

My biggest thanks and hugs go to my wonderful readers. I love your enthusiasm and excitement for these books! The Kilenya Series may have ended, but don’t worry—I’ve got some fantastic stories coming out soon. Don’t forget to join my mailing list to hear about new releases (I also frequently look for beta readers there) and please keep in contact, if you can. This journey would not have been possible without you—I owe you a lot.

Thanks, James, for another great cover. And Tristi—you know I appreciate you and your editing skills! BJ, my print books are beautiful. Thank you so much for your hard work. Thousands of hugs to the three of you for offering friendship, love, and support, and for being involved with this series before it was even named.

My beta and proofreaders are the best ever: Mom, Dad, Lon Pearson, Millie Brady, Ralph and Tami Hall (and family), Robert Taylor, Helen Allred, Martha Taylor, Rosann Havey, Lori Koerper, and Victoria McArthur. Your countless hours poring over the pages of my manuscript won’t be forgotten. I really appreciate your talented eyes!

Last, my husband, daughter, and family deserve a huge hug. I love you all! Thanks especially to my parents and husband for their support, for uplifting me and encouraging me, and for always being there when I need a shoulder to lean on.