“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I said.
Her gaze sharpened. “A clear example of what I’m talking about. You should be.”
I removed myself from her presence, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to keep her smug expression for long. Her schemes would be revealed soon.
In front of her granddaughter.
Rylan smiled at me, and I returned an empty one to him. I sat in my usual position in the throne room, watching the officials shuffle in. A blue carpet trailed from me toward the steps in front of us. It led to the members of the court and split the two councils in the middle. Draerin guards perched above us, armed and serving as protection to Rylan.
Micah, Kael, and Gaius took their places beside us. Even Anatolia was here today, sitting on Kael’s lap.
“Why does Mother never come to these meetings anymore?” the princess asked Gaius.
“She’s in mourning,” Gaius replied.
Anatolia glowered at me. “Is it because of her?”
Gaius smoothed his hand over his sister’s snowy hair. “No.”
“Is she why Father isn’t here anymore?”
“No.”
“Then where is Father?”
“He’s in the heavens. I’ve told you this, remember?”
“Will I see him again?”
“Maybe.”
The princess was still a child, asking such innocent questions, but she held so much power for someone so young.
I turned my gaze from Anatolia and returned it to the conglomeration of dragon-kind. I tried to still the niggling of doubt pooling in my chest.
Tindyll thanked me?
Why now, of all times? To make what we were about to do harder? This event was supposed to be a celebration of sorts, but it made me feel like the devil. I tried to recall the terrible things she’d said and done to me. How she’d wished for my banishment; how she wouldn’t stop chastising me just for my existence.
But eventually, she found it in her heart to be grateful.
Regardless, she wanted to undermine Rylan’s power and wedge distrust between the princes. She committed a treacherous crime. It was nice to be able to rely on the law now because I could use it as a crutch for decisions. It took morality out of the equation and made things black and white.
Tindyll broke the law, and so she had to be punished.
Rylan placed his hand over mine. He always bore a predatory air, reminding me of a big cat at times. Today, his eyes were sharper, almost mimicking Gisiroth—hawkish and calculating.
“What do you have planned?” I asked.
“Something to expose the dissenting officials. We will weed out the flies and send them on their way.”
“Is that the only punishment?”
“Why, would you prefer me to behead them? I had considered it.”
“Beheading?” My brows shot up. I might have agreed to it, but then I remembered Tindyll’s granddaughter. “No, nothing of the sort. Sending them away is a good idea.” I could not let my conscience get in the way of righteousness.
Rylan patted my hand. His touch was comforting.
Micah shifted in his seat next to me, and he, too, gave me a reassuring smile. “Our plans will be successful. We’ll make sure of it. There’s nothing to worry about. Kael and Gaius worked over this with us, so remove that frown off your forehead.”
I forced a smile. “Yep. No frowns for me.”
“The elders won’t even know what hit them,” Rylan said, standing up.
Rylan clapped his hands, and the entire congregation dropped into silence. All eyes fell on us, mainly on Rylan, who had adopted Gisiroth’s imposing nature. When he was like this, in public, I could easily forget how gentle and loving he could be by my side, and all I saw was a king.
A brutal king.
“May the meeting commence,” Rylan projected loudly across the throne room. “I want reports on our Beyestiryan military relations and the effectiveness of the new measures to counter the highland rebels. And more importantly, today will be an opportunity for you to discuss your concerns.”
My gaze shifted to Tindyll. She primped her hair, which looked more frazzled than usual, but she’d managed to rid herself of her granddaughter. I searched the room for the little girl and saw her sitting next to the servants at a far corner.
An elder immediately raised his hand.
Rylan nodded, giving him permission to speak.
“What of the portal to Gaia? We have sent letters to petition against it, and yet you ignore our concerns.”
“I’m not here to listen to your every demand,” Rylan said. “I take them into consideration.”
Elder Salvar wore scorn on his face. He stood up and shook a finger at my king. “The only person you’re keeping into consideration is your queen!”
And then Tindyll rose, too. She had the same nasty expression on her face without a hint of the gratitude she’d shown earlier. “You are a blasphemous king. You go against all that is our beliefs and religion. And when an opportunity arises to defy old traditions or what the gods wish, you do your best to take it.”
“And you, Tindyll,” Rylan said, “take everything at a surface value. You listen to the falsehoods and always look for the easy answer. Sera was not a curse, but our blessing, as is common knowledge now, and yet you were so adamant in sending her away.”
“The tome said—”
“And now you are doing the same with the Gaian expedition.” Rylan tipped his gaze to the rest of the court. His voice, although not booming, rang loud and clear over the raucous they created. “Are the rest of you as shallow and foolish as Tindyll?”
Hushed whispers flooded the room.
“What did you do?” I asked Micah. “Why are they revealing themselves now?”
Arguments erupted in favor of Tindyll. Counterarguments, calling for the expedition and Rylan’s support, came too. It was chaos, and rebels enjoyed stirring chaos. It was the essence of the overthrowing of a regime.
Micah clutched my hand tightly. “Trust me.”
“Does this mean you oppose my rule, Tindyll?” Rylan asked, ticking up the volume of his voice. He folded his arms and straightened his posture. The darkened expression on his face could scare anybody—even me, who knew Rylan would never hurt me.
“Yes,” Tindyll proclaimed proudly, even though Rylan’s gaze pinned her down. For a fraction of a second, she reconsidered her proclamation, uncertainty flickering over her expression. Her voice, shaky, projected over the noise. “Many of us do. And that is why you will no longer be reigning like a tyrant.”
As if on cue, Micah stood. He drew his sword and pointed it at Rylan’s neck. My eyes widened and I almost summoned my souls from my beads to erect a barrier between the both of them, wishing to stop the two brothers from fighting. And then I remembered what Micah had said to me—trust me. What other option could there be?
The rebels relied on Micah’s support. They, too, drew swords and lengthened their talons. Wings spread from their backs, and they took to the sky. I counted forty . . . no fifty of them? This many people opposed Rylan? I was surprised to not see Mei there. Everyone knew she hated Rylan for foiling Vancel’s plans and casting him away.
The most muscled one, who stripped his robe in favor of battle gear, flung himself toward Rylan. Micah lifted his sword. It looked like he was about to strike his own brother, but he pivoted to his left and sliced the arm of the attacking elder before his weapon landed.
The place fell into silence, waiting for a larger altercation.
I waited for soldiers to burst in through the doors.
But nothing happened.
Salvar’s face flared into a hot red. “You promised us support!”
Micah dropped his sword and sheathed it. It was bloody. “Did I? Maybe that is why you shouldn’t look at things so simply. Sheep are herded, then slaughtered.”
“Arrest them,” Rylan said.
The soldiers came flooded in from all sides of the throne room,
their wings a multitude of colors. Some were equipped with bows, others with swords. The metal of their armors made a rough noise as they trod forward.
“Pack your things,” Gaius said, wearing a smile. He was always one to upload the law, and he was glad to see it served well today. “We are going to Gaia after this.”
Tindyll was the first of the elders to fight back. She shrieked, dropping her sword. A yellowish, pinkish glow spread from her body, and she shifted into a beast half the size of the princes’ dragon forms. She snapped her jaws at the attacking soldiers and almost caught a drerkyn between her jaws, but he avoided her just in time.
Salvar apparently couldn’t shift and was only a drerkyn, but horns grew from the top of his head and curved backward. He unclasped his bow from his bodice and managed to hit two soldiers between their eyebrows before the overwhelming numbers subdued him.
The carnage made disgust crawl over my skin.
“You didn’t warn me it’d be this bloody,” I said to Micah.
Micah tilted his head. “It’s bloody when you mix our kind and politics.”
A draerin, one I didn’t recognize, smashed into a row of officials who quickly scampered away, making way for the giant body. Many robed figures stood by and watched, too stunned to lift a finger.
And then I saw her—Tindyll’s granddaughter.
She had escaped the hands of her servants and had two little wings poking from her back. She was trying to get to her grandmother and stumbled into the violence as a result.
“Sera?” Micah asked. “Sera, where are you going?”
“The little girl . . .” I ran down the steps and casted a quick barrier spell so the princes couldn’t follow me. There was no time to explain. As soon as I lowered myself from the steps into the fighting, two beady-eyed draerins from the opposing side casted their glances at me. They lunged toward me, but I put a barrier over myself so one was repelled by it and sprawled backward into his companion.
I cut my way through the violence and scooped the little girl into my arms. “Don’t go running into battles,” I said to the little spitfire. Tears streaked across her cheeks but determination to find her grandmother flared from her.
Another dragon lunged at me. I casted a glacilis at his face. The white mist zipped toward it and froze it temporarily.
“This is pointless!” Rylan shouted, his voice booming once more. “Let down your arms, and you will leave with your lives.”
“I want Grandmama,” the girl said.
“She’s , , ,” I spotted Tindyll’s dragon form getting pinned down by two guards.
“Stop this now!” Rylan shouted.
A guard tore off the head of the draerin I’d frozen. The sight sent a chill through me.
The girl stiffened, like I did, and then she was shocked into speechlessness. The rebels calmed after seeing the death of their companion and silence blanketed the entire throne room.
Tindyll shifted back into her human form. The drerkyn surrounding her held their blades over her neck in a crisscross pattern.
“Get your hands off my granddaughter!” she screamed at me. The shrill sound of her words pierced the tense atmosphere.
I dropped the girl, now that the danger was gone, and quiet descended over the place. If she accidentally touched me, she would feel terrible pain she didn’t deserve.
“I’m a man of my word,” Rylan said. “Most of you will be unharmed. But there must be punishment for such a great crime. And one of you must die.”
I gaped at Rylan. He had not told me this.
“Elder Salvar. You were the one who approached my brother. You started this all, and so we’ll have your head.”
Horns still poked out of the elder’s head. Two guards dragged him forward and positioned him beneath the steps Rylan had perched on. Salvar screamed and beg for his life the entire time, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Was this right? Some part of me told me it was, but the gruesomeness of the display made my gut churn.
Rylan climbed down the steps, hands behind his back, with not a hint of forgiveness in his eyes.
I had never seen my king in this menacing light.
He drew his sword from its scabbard and balanced it in both hands. “I’m sorry this has to happen.”
“Please, my king, I—”
The sword dropped, and Elder Salvar’s head rolled.
Chapter Sixteen
I stared out of the front balcony of my new room over the city of Raynea. The front gates of the city, although tall and grand when someone stood right before it, seemed small from this distance. The gates slid open, and a sliver of light shone through the small gap between them. Two enormous dragons flanked their sides—the first queen and king, there to judge the entirety of Constanria’s capital.
The rebels were being sent there now. Every guard in Raynea would be told to memorize their faces, names, and should they dare re-enter, Rylan would have them beheaded before all citizens as a warning. Just like he did Salvar.
Were we becoming the bad guys?
“You’re filled with unease,” Gaius said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He was the largest of his brothers and being next to him always made me think of myself as small. I enjoyed the sensation of being protected by a grumpy giant. “We have the problem solved. You will never have to worry about Tindyll’s scowling face again.”
I snorted. “Still have to look at yours.” I laughed sheepishly, then dropped my gaze back at the gate. I should be feeling better about this. We ought to open bottles of wine and drink and joke around because we’d finally gotten rid of a problem. It would be a pitiful number of glasses before I wouldn’t be able to hold my head up but that was what the guys liked teasing me about.
We’d triumphed over our enemies—should that not make us feel better?
I could not get the image of Tindyll’s granddaughter crying and Salvar’s bloody head out of my mind.
Gaius’s grip tightened over me. “The enemies are gone, so you should be smiling more than this. Are you worried about the expedition?” He brushed my hair away from my neck and blew a soft breath at the back of my ear. He knew I liked that sensation.
“Nothing is black and white,” I said. “I wish it were.” I told him about what Tindyll did to me right before her capture. About how I worried about her granddaughter. And what of the families of the elders? They all had their own agendas, but also their own loved ones. I wished hating could be an easier activity.
Gaius nodded. He put his arms around me and pressed me more tightly against him, soothing me with his presence. “That’s why I stick to a code. When everything around you sends doubts, you set your sights on what is important, and then it all makes sense.”
“And what is yours?”
“To protect what I love,” Gaius said. “To protect Rylan. To protect you. As long as my actions are for that single goal, then all is good in the world and my sacrifices, my choices, are worth it to me.”
I latched onto Gaius’s words. We’d gotten rid of the rebels. We were safer. This allowed me to brush away the less significant thoughts to focus on what was important. I turned around and pushed myself deeper into Gaius’s embrace. He cupped my head before planting a kiss on my forehead.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what? Saying what’s second nature to me?”
“For being here.” I smiled up at him, and his features softened, making him look more endearing than he already was.
“Now don’t smile up at me like that,” he said. “You’ll stir the dragon in me.”
I chuckled. “I’m still sore from two days ago.” It was a challenge to keep up with four dragon men, but I thought I did a pretty decent job of rising to it.
“I’d imagine. I’m surprised you lasted through the whole thing.” He placed another kiss on my nose before parting from me to stride toward my bed to look at my new backpack. My satchel wasn’t big enough to fit all I wanted for the expedition. Micah had finished deciphe
ring the spell last night, and now we could head to Gaia.
“A spare change of clothes?” Gaius said. “You know there will be servants coming with us, right? You can pass this to them.”
“I like keeping my things close to me.” It came from a childhood of not having lasting possessions.
“What’s this?” Gaius asked, taking out a string of colorful beads.
“Oh, nothing.” It was strange, but because it managed to stop the surgitia in the temple, I saw the bracelet Bianca gave me as a good luck charm. “Just put it back in the bag.”
“Sure,” Gaius said, clipping my sack closed. “Have I mentioned the new findings?”
“New findings?”
“About soul magic. I don’t think I’ve told my brothers or you yet. Maybe I should wait for them—”
“You can tell me,” I said, fiddling with my cosmetics. Would it be silly to bring moisturizer to Gaia? I stared at the bottle for a long moment, weighing it in my hand. It might be too much of a drag. Perhaps I should partition the lotion into a smaller bottle.
Of course I needed moisturizer—everybody needed to keep their skin in healthy condition, regardless of where they were. I didn’t know what to expect on the other side of the portal, and it was best to be safe.
Gaius sat on my bed and propped his feet onto the mattress. He hadn’t even taken off his boots. I shot annoyance at him, but his clueless self didn’t notice it. “Guess there’s no harm repeating it. I took some of Micah’s scribblings to see if we could learn more on soul magic. Mostly, it was about the portal. What to do, what not to do. But there was a snippet about the mate bond, and then I wondered whether it had anything to do with what we have.”
“What we have?” I asked. I snatched a shirt from underneath Gaius’s heavy frame. He lay on my clothes without any care for my packing. He could be a lovable goof but was still be insensitive at times. I didn’t mind. He was my Gaius.
He held my wrist before I could pull away. He pressed hard on my skin, letting the hum I’d gotten so used to simmer through my being. “This. And why our dragons get a strong urge to mate with you every time we shift back.” His eyes flickered into a sharp yellow. “The mate bond disappeared after the Dragon Mother died, but the pull never really did. At least not among humans. The witches continued to experience it, even if dragon-kind lost the ability to form bonds.”
Fall of Dragons (Sera's Curse Book 3) Page 14
