The dragon’s tongue flicked out, tasting the air. Isa flinched at the sight of its teeth, and I urged the dragon to pull its lips back into a terrifying smile. Isa took a steady breath then knelt before the beast on one knee, her gaze never leaving the dragon’s. The beast watched her for a moment before it drew its head up, coming to its full height to stare down at the petite girl whom Asher would have made king.
The dragon raised its head skyward and let out an earsplitting roar that shook the barren ground beneath them. A stream of fire followed the sound, but it fell to nothing more than heat before it scorched the earth. It looked at Isa one last time with a warning before its gaze traveled her line of golden-haired sentries and the humans cowering in the trees.
Isa understood the power the elves possessed. She understood, more than that, the power I held on my own.
She knew what the dragon meant. She understood she would be under our rule. I urged the beast to turn, its massive wings going wide to nearly brush the ground, and with a single thrust, it launched again into the air to circle once over the settlement before heading back toward home.
I met the dragon on the platform atop the keep, standing to greet him after his leisurely flight and a hasty meal. The beast did not seem reticent to share its desires, but when left alone to its devices, it had returned each day to the keep. I wasn’t certain whether it was the ready supply of food and lack of anyone trying to kill it that called for its return or the companionship offered by those who resided within the castle. Ruby, I’d noticed, had left the creature quite a supply of energy-laden gems and jewels, not to mention a fragrant plant I’d not yet identified. It wouldn’t be long, I supposed, before I caught her napping in its roost.
The dragon landed gracefully on the platform, shuffling nearer with care to see what I might have brought it. I laughed softly, opening my palm to show that it was empty of anything other than the offer of touch. It didn’t seem to mind, lowering its snout toward me so that I could scratch between its scaly ridges. We stood so for a long while as the sun rose and shadows shifted, and then the beast sighed and turned, heading back for a mid-morning doze in its newly constructed nest.
A warm breeze brushed across my skin as I murmured my goodbye to the dragon and turned to make my way down the castle steps. I froze as a shadow shifted behind a column, because it was not one cast by the morning sun. It was Veil, watching me.
He moved from behind the column, where he’d been apparently contemplating me with the dragon. The outline of the fey lord’s wings was a bit off-kilter since the changeling’s attack. As I approached him, his face came from the shadows and into view, the small quirk at the edge of his mouth comment enough on my cooing attentions toward the beast.
“I thought you never wanted to see me again.” My voice was even, but I couldn’t hold back the hint of a smirk.
“I stand by my words.” His arms were crossed gingerly over his chest, a silken-paneled shirt covering what would certainly be a well-bandaged wound. It would be Liana’s handiwork—Liana, who had yet to return.
“And yet, here you are.” I stopped before him, a fair distance away, given that we had recently been near war.
“A fool to the end,” he said, though Veil was too much of a fey lord to pull off self-deprecation. Even with the injuries he’d received from the changelings, he was glorious in the early sun. Yet he stood there, calling himself a fool.
I crossed my own arms, mirroring his posture. “At least it is an endeavor you will not face alone.”
He chuckled, shifting uncomfortably at the move. I was surprised he’d managed to fly so far, but not entirely so, given that he had repeatedly made clear that he was eager to put the entire mess behind him and return his court to order. “I bring you a gift, Lord Freya of the Dark Elves’ Kingdom and healer of the land.”
I felt my expression slip in my surprise, though Veil’s gifts had not always been pleasant.
“Payment,” he said, “for a bargain well made.” At the shift in my brow, he shook his head. “Distrust, after everything.” He drew a small square of parchment from the pocket at his waist. “May you not need this for centuries more.” He inclined his head as he handed it to me, coming straight again to flash me a smile. “And may I not see you or that cursed dragon on my lands for at least as long.”
A laugh bubbled up before I could stop it, and at that, Veil dropped off the edge of the roof, his wings popping wide to catch the warm summer air.
I watched him fade into the distance before I unfolded the square of parchment. My gasp echoed through the haze, bouncing off ancient stone and block put in place ages before I’d been born. My fingers trembled as my eyes roamed the page, over the fine lines and worn ink that seemed entirely unreal but were in my hands regardless of how impossible that seemed.
Behind me, the dragon let out a contented groan.
30
Epilogue
The folded parchment rested inside my vest pocket for a season, close to my chest and carefully hidden. I had not told Chevelle of what the page held. I had not told anyone. I would make a copy soon and send it to Junnie.
Liana had not returned from fey lands, though we’d had word that Veil’s court was well in order, with the changeling woman at his side. My only contact with the fey had been through court liaisons, those who’d brought missives or dragonstones or whatever minor business in which correspondence might be required. I couldn’t say I missed it, even a little bit.
Late one evening, Ruby fetched us from dinner to the stables, where Steed had been watching over the mares Veil had sent. The horses subsided on fey energy, and like everything fey, they did not follow the rules of life outside the boundary. Summers were long on fey lands, and the horses could foal twice a year. We had not expected to see results so soon, not when the animals had been displaced. But the fey were resilient, and Steed was the best at what he did.
So my Seven gathered around the courtyard walls with myself, Thea, and Willa, who’d apparently taken my offhand comment to help Steed as order, to watch the first foal from the herd come into the world. Chevelle stood beside me, his palm warm on the small of my back. Ruby was at my other side, her fingers twined with Grey’s. Thea stood on tiptoe, though she was tall enough to see over the wall, her hands pressed hard against the stone. She’d fallen into her duties as caretaker with far more ease than any of us expected, though I’d watched her at first to be certain she would be safe. The dragon had taken to her, no doubt in part to the herbs Ruby had urged Thea to tuck into her braids, and the two had seemed to work out any disagreements with little to no blood.
Steed had never seemed happier. I regarded him in the short grass of the courtyard, crouched low as he watched the mare take a final, groaning roll. Her wings were tucked tightly against her back, the lines of her body taut with pain. There was a distressed call from inside the stable, where the stallion was locked away, and then the tingle of magic rolled over the clearing as the mare screamed a reply.
The foal was born only minutes later, and in mere minutes more, it stood on wobbly legs. Its wings were wet and matted, its body an ungainly bundle of twigs. The foal was a mare, as black as night. It would take time for white hairs to sprout, for its gray coloring to come in, and more time for the babe to learn flight. But it was alive and hale, and it took two jaunty hops before crashing awkwardly to the ground.
Ruby covered her grin with a palm, and Anvil snorted a laugh. I glanced at my companions, my heart pressing hard against my chest, emotion swelling so that it felt as if I might not be able to contain it. The way Grey smiled at Ruby, the way Anvil bumped his elbow against young Willa, the way Thea stared in awe of Steed and that foal... I had never been happier. I had never felt safer or less alone.
I had never expected anything of the sort.
“I have to tell you something,” I whispered to Chevelle. I glanced up to find his eyes already on me—not on the foal, not on the others. I didn’t have to ask what he’d seen there. I
could feel it in every part of my being.
I pressed a hand to my heart then slid my fingers inside my vest. The parchment came free, and my lips crawled into a nervous smile as I passed the small square to Chevelle. His brow drew together, but he stayed close as he unfolded it carefully between us. No one was watching his face as he read. No one saw the understanding pass over his features but me.
I felt the breath rush out of him as his head came up. He stared in shock. Whether he was waiting for confirmation or explanation of where I’d gotten it, I didn’t know. It didn’t matter.
Veil had gifted us the missing page, which contained the key a powerful elf might need to shift, like the ancients Finn and Keaton, into a beast after their time on Earth was done. The key could allow us to carry on forever.
I looked at Chevelle, at what might have been tears welling in his deep blue eyes, and lifted a shoulder in a shrug. It was nothing I had ever expected.
I had never been happier.
Thank you for reading The Frey Saga. Check out a new epic fantasy adventure from Melissa Wright: Seven Ways to Kill a King.
* * *
She was born a princess. They made her an assassin.
* * *
One was an accident. Two a coincidence. By three, they would know. It would be harder, but I would avenge my mother’s death. These kings would pay that price.
* * *
Seven cities make up the Storm Queen’s Realm, each of their self-crowned, murderous kings are one of Princess Myrina’s marks. The treasonous curs may have banded together to share a stolen throne, but soon they will fall.
* * *
They thought her dead, killed in the massacre. They thought their rule secure, but Myrina of Stormskeep has awoken. With the help of her loyal bloodsworn, the shadow princess will have her revenge.
* * *
For fans of The Witcher and Game of Thrones—a new princess set on vengeance is here to steal your heart.
Find it Now
Also by Melissa Wright
THE FREY SAGA
Frey
Pieces of Eight
Molly (a short story)
Rise of the Seven
Venom and Steel
Shadow and Stone
Feather and Bone
* * *
SEVEN WAYS TO KILL A KING
Seven Ways to Kill a King
* * *
DESCENDANTS SERIES
Bound by Prophecy
Shifting Fate
Reign of Shadows
* * *
SHATTERED REALMS
King of Ash and Bone
Queen of Iron and Blood
* * *
HAVENWOOD FALLS
Toil and Trouble
* * *
BAD MEDICINE
Blood & Brute & Ginger Root
Visit the author on the web at
www.melissa-wright.com
About the Author
Melissa is the author of twelve YA and fantasy novels and countless to-do lists. She is currently working on the next book, but when not writing can be spotted collecting the things she loves at Goodreads and Pinterest. Contact her through the web at www.melissa-wright.com
* * *
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The Frey Saga Book VI Page 15
