“Pardon?”
“You. You’re very pretty for a sacrifice.”
Thalia blushed. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
The maid laughed. “It’s just that I would not expect Tristan to give over such a pretty maiden to a hideous creature. In ancient times Sheakhol was really just a means to get rid of the poisoned lines. The deformed, prisoners, the mad. Of course, the Dragon Lords of old didn’t care much. They only meant to devour them. The meat of a lunatic was just as tasty.” Thalia felt her stomach turn. It didn’t surprise her that Tristan would throw away those he deemed unworthy. She could sense an inherent evil in the boy who was so hungry for power over Osghast. What others might mistake for nobility, Thalia had known instantly was twisted avarice.
“So I am to be devoured?”
The maid chuckled again. “Heavens no, child. Malik would sooner destroy the spires of Heaven than hurt you, my lady.”
“Malik?”
“The Dragon Lord. It is his name. Malik. Of course, he has a longer, Draconic name, but it would not be pleasing to your tongue, I’m afraid. At any rate, he will not harm you.”
“Then why am I here?”
The maid did not answer but went back to her work. Thalia decided she’d probably rather not have that question answered just yet anyway. She wandered over to the window just uncovered by the chambermaid. It looked down over an overgrown courtyard that had once been a vast garden. The skeletal remains of rose vines and ivy crept over the stonework crumbles. An enormous oak tree bowed under the weight of a wisteria vine and its own branches that bent toward the ground. Thalia leaned against the frame and stared down at this secret wonderland that lay far below.
Thalia closed her eyes, and for a moment, she could see what it had been like before. Flowers bursting in a spectacular show of color, golden leaves of autumn trees that hung overhead and were strewn along the ground like a magnificent carpet. She could see herself there, reclining on a soft bed of heather with the warm breeze against her cheeks. And laughter. She could hear the infectious laughter of children carried on that breeze. And another an octave below. Then she could see them: a boy and girl, twins with hair like a raven’s feather and eyes like fire and ice. It was a merry chase that ended when they saw her lying there. “Mummy!” they cried. “Come save us from the dragon!” Then another burst forth from the hedgegrow. A dark prince with cool eyes and a laugh that both taunted and comforted. He caught the girl child and swung her into his arms, kissing her cheeks until she could scarcely breathe.
“Oh my darling one,” he said. “There is no escape!”
“This place was beautiful once, wasn’t it?” Thalia said, snapping back to reality. The vision had left her breathless. She could still feel the soft heather in her hands.
“There is beauty in decay, don’t you think?”
“Well, yes. That’s not what I mean… this castle. It was beautiful, wasn’t it?”
The chambermaid shrugged. “I suppose it was in its day. But that was long ago, mistress. Only the shell remains.” The maid clapped her hands. “There. That’s much better now.”
Thalia turned to see that the room had been completely transformed. The silken coverlet and drapes were no longer charred but looked as good as new. A roaring fire burned in the hearth, and a vase of fresh roses and lilies had appeared on the dressing table by the bed. It was as if the room had suddenly been brought back to life. “How… what did you do?” she breathed.
The chambermaid smiled. “Funny how the light changes things.”
“The light?” Thalia shook her head as if trying to clear it. Clearly the excitement of the day was wearing on her. It simply was not possible for a ruin to become a queenly bedchamber in a few minutes’ time. There was very definitely something strange going on. “I think…”
“Here now,” the girl said, taking her arm and leading her over to an armchair by the fire. “Just sit down and relax a bit. We’ll need to get you out of that ragged gown and into something warm. I’ll make you a cup of tea and then draw you a hot bath.”
“I don’t understand… this castle. These ruins. They were abandoned when the first of the Laurenz line was betrayed by the Dragon Lord of Gwynfir. How is it that this room is untouched?” She sat down in the offered chair and stared into the fire. “What sort of witchcraft is at play?”
The chambermaid smiled and brushed Thalia’s hair back from her face. “All in good time, my lady. For now, just accept what is and rest yourself. My master would not like it if I let you get yourself worked up.” Thalia wanted to say more, but suddenly she was so tired she couldn’t think. A gentle ache settled behind her eyes, and she closed them. “That’s it, my dear,” the maid said. “Rest yourself now. I’ll fetch you a nice cup of tea. Everything is made better with a good cup of tea.”
“It’s kind of ugly isn’t it?”
“Malik!” Bella exclaimed, jerking the baby away from him. “Don’t be rude!”
“Well it is! Look at its scrunched-up face. And it smells!” As if to emphasize his point, he pinched the end of his nose.
“She. Not it,” Bella explained for the thousandth time. “You should never call a little girl ‘it.’”
“It doesn’t understand me,” the boy grumbled, throwing a stone into the rushing brook. He was obviously bored of sitting here in The Veil looking at the baby. Bella could tell. Malik longed to be a child like the ones he watched from afar, loved and beautiful, but he was an angry child. He often let his dragon side take over, and his temper was ferocious. Here in the moonlight, Bella could offer him the illusion of beauty but nothing more. Consequently, he hated it. “What did you bring it… her here for anyway?”
“The poor thing was abandoned. Her mother died in childbirth, and her father cast her out.” Bella cast a sideways glance in his direction, noting the boy’s remorse that was evident in the slump of his shoulders. He’d been cast out by his own father. “You wouldn’t have me leave her in the forest to die, would you?” Malik shrugged and stalked back to where his fairy guardian sat by the stream. He peered over her shoulder and down at the tiny girl child. “Perhaps one day she’ll make a merry playmate for you.”
“She’s human, Bella. She’ll be afraid. You know she will.”
“Not here.” Malik stuck his tongue out at the baby, making a silly face and growling playfully. To his surprise, she giggled and reached out for him. “See. I think she likes you.”
“Maybe.” The little one laughed at his voice again and reached out to touch him, but he shied away. “No, baby,” he scolded. “Don’t you know that humans can’t touch dragons?”
She squealed and reached for him again. This time her movement was so violent that Bella stumbled, losing her grip on the baby. Malik was quick, grabbing the child’s arm to keep her from falling. Bella gasped, bracing herself for the screams that would surely come. Dragonkin were hot. The fire boiling beneath their skin would blister delicate human flesh. But it never came. In fact, the only sound was the child’s cooing.
When he jerked his hand away, Bella examined the spot. “Unbelievable,” she whispered. There was no blistering, but a small brown mark that looked like flames curled around the baby’s wrist.
“Did I hurt her?” Malik croaked. “Is she all right?”
Bella nodded. “Yes… I’m not sure how…” Evidently Bella’s bewildered expression was wildly amusing for the child, and she began to laugh in earnest, tiny tears spilling over her cheeks. Soon Bella and Malik were laughing with her. The baby reached for Malik again, and this time Bella handed her over, carefully setting the infant in his arms.
At first he seemed almost afraid of the child, but soon he was holding her close and staring down at her. Almost spellbound by her beauty.
“It’s all right. I won’t tell anyone how the terrible dragon fell in love with a human baby,” Bella teased.
Malik paid her no mind. He was too mesmerized by her eyes and the round bow of her mouth when she yawned sleepily.
“I think I’ll call you Thalia,” he whispered. “It means fearless.”
Belladonna started down the staircase, making sure that the door to Thalia’s room was closed behind her. It would do no good to get lost in her memories today. There was work to be done and not much time to do it. As she continued down, the decay melted away like a wax candle in the sun. As she passed through corridors, the worn tapestries and faded drapes shimmered and repaired themselves. The sconces along the walls breathed to life, illuminating the castle and chasing away the gloom. The crumbling stones and mortar began to slowly heal, blocking out the light that shone through the broken chinks. It was as if she were breathing new life into the place with a brush of her fingertips.
Bella shivered as she entered a vast hall. The rugs on the floor were moldy and so distorted with dust that their patterns were obscured. The walls were crumbling, and the coals in the fire pit were almost nothing. There was also a very noticeable hole through which the dragon was able to enter and exit. He’d obviously been here; she could still smell the sooty scent of his scales. She continued out of the castle and onto the rocky cliff face into which this part of the castle had been carved. Looking down she could see his long, glistening form sunning himself on the rocks below the waterfall.
“A dragon caught off his guard is often a dead dragon,” she called as she wandered down the stone steps to the stream below.
“I’m not worried,” Malik growled, rolling over in the grass and tumbling into the stream. He disappeared beneath the surface for a few moments and then popped up again, blowing a spume of water from his nostrils and shaking his head. “Why are you here?”
“No reason, really. I just came to check on our new charge.” She sat down on the grass and dangled her feet in the cool water.
“Our new charge?”
“Well, of course. I didn’t want to refer to Thalia as your prisoner.”
“She’s not my prisoner,” Malik replied, striding through the water. “I’m only keeping her here until it is safe for her to return to her home in Tarkin.”
“And how long will that be?”
Malik growled, tiring of the fairy’s endless questioning. “Until the people of Osghast are no longer under obligation to feed her to any traveling firebreathers.”
“That could be decades, Malik.”
Malik rose out of the water once more and heaved his great body up onto the shore. He stretched his wings and fluttered them until they were dry, spraying the fairy. “Was there some purpose in coming out here to bother me?” He raised his head, narrowing his massive eyes to stare at the ruined castle that seemed to be slowly repairing itself. “What have you done, Belladonna?”
She followed his gaze and shrugged. “Just tidying up a bit.”
“I don’t want it tidied up a bit,” he snarled.
“Funny, I didn’t ask you,” Bella replied. “But you’re welcome.” She watched as the dragon moved with a grace reminiscent of the man underneath. “I actually came to thank you, Malik.”
He chuckled. “Thank me? Whatever for?”
“For bringing Thalia here. For not letting her fall into Tristan’s clutches.”
“You knew I wouldn’t,” he replied, his voice gruff and bordering on dangerous. “You knew that I couldn’t.”
“We are all ruled by destiny. Even creatures like us.” Belladonna rose and went to him. He bowed his head and allowed her to stroke his rough, scaled skin. “Her being chosen was not just coincidence. The Fates have more in store for you yet.”
Malik laughed heartily this time. “I would rather those fickle bitches just be through with me, if it’s all the same.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I? What difference does it make if this woman has been brought here on purpose? Tristan wishes her to kill me in my sleep in exchange for being his queen. Humans are hungry for power. Even with all the magic in your arsenal, Bella, could you sway her from this path? And even if you could, look at me. What would she want with a grotesque and foul creature like me?”
“She can see your true face, Malik. I believe that.”
“Even in Faerie she is afraid. Always, my human form fades with her touch, falling into ash before her. She is not of the Fae; therefore, your illusion is thin.” His expression was so full of despair that Bella’s heart felt heavy at seeing it. “She thinks it is only a dream. Why not just let her keep that?”
“There is more to Thalia than meets the eye, you know. She has a magic all her own.”
“Whatever you say,” he sighed, clearly tiring of their conversation.
“You doubt me?” She chuckled to herself and began to pace. “Remember when you first saw her? She was able to touch you.”
“So?”
“So, don’t you think that’s a bit of a coincidence? Perhaps there’s something more to her. Maybe she’s the key to breaking Mab’s curse! Magic, even Fae magic, is all about balance. If Mab can turn you into this creature, then there has to be a way to reverse it. Aren’t you even the least bit curious?”
He turned away and rose up on his back legs, spreading his wings. “She is human. She cannot dwell in our world, Bella. And in this world, I am a monster. I could be her pet at best. She thinks I’m just an animal.”
“She doesn’t know what to think.”
“No! I won’t get my hopes up for something that cannot be. And all of your illusions and hopeful magic tricks aren’t going to fix it.”
“But Malik…”
“Keep her safe,” he said and took wing, streaking across the sky to disappear in a wisp of cloud and smoke.
Chapter Fifteen
Strangely, the chambermaid had been absolutely right about the tea. As soon as Thalia drank it, a calm had descended. Her eyelids felt heavy as she made her way across the room. She was almost afraid to touch anything. Surely the furnishings were ancient and moldy. They would crumble in her hands, but the bed looked so inviting with its soft coverlet and piles of cushions. She pushed back the drape and lay down across it, sinking into the comfort of the feather mattress.
Thalia wanted to sleep. More than she ever had before. Not really because she was tired, but because she wanted to shut out all that had happened. The chambermaid had offered some comfort that the dragon would not harm her, but he had said himself that she could not leave. Was she to live in this strange fortress forever? She longed to go back to the warm hearth in Esa’s modest cottage. She could make herself content to live forever in the tiny village of Isling, a midwife or healer. Perhaps even find a suitable mate and raise a passel of children. It was a safe and ridiculous fantasy that she knew would never satisfy her. One thing was certain: she could not go home now and probably never would. She would be trapped like a princess in a tower like in those horrible fairy stories she had loved as a child.
She closed her eyes, and Tristan’s face swam into view. It wasn’t an unpleasant face, and in another time and place, she might even have found him handsome. He had promised to make her his queen if she could bring down the dragon. Would he come to rescue her? Did she even want him to? There was something about him. His eyes were so cold and hollow. There was a greedy sort of evil lurking behind them that was dangerous. He was obviously desperate for power, but to what end? Thalia slapped her hands over her eyes as if she might chase the vision of the spoiled brat prince away. Suddenly his eyes were distorted, morphing into the gaze of her prince. He stared intently back through Tristan’s eyes until finally the image shattered in a plume of smoke and fire that made Thalia gasp. “None of this is real,” she whispered to herself as she surrendered to sleep.
“I thought I told you to stay away.” Thalia opened her eyes and found herself in the familiar grove where she’d met him so many times before. The dark prince stood at the edge of the trees, a dour and ominous expression casting shadows over his countenance.
“How could I?” she asked. She stepped closer, and he dissolved in smoke, reappearing behind her on the other side of
the circle. “You are so much a part of who I am. I would sooner pull my beating heart through a jagged maw than stay away from you.”
He laughed at her words, and the sound cut straight through her soul. “Pretty words, but they are meaningless, little one. Do as I say, and do not stray to this place again.”
“But why, my lord? Why do you send me away?” This time when she approached, he was still. She was able to stand before him close enough to feel the heat that radiated from his body. “I have never been anything but a slave to your will. I have loved you—”
“No,” he snarled. “You have loved an illusion. Thalia, you are a child, treading on dangerous dreams and unrealized lust. I will not trap you in my world of darkness.”
Thalia stared around them. The lush green of the forest floor and the inky blue dark overhead. The stars that shone above cast their light through the trees and illuminated the ground with a thousand tiny sparks. “I don’t understand. This world is the only place… the only place I’ve ever felt love. Warmth.”
“It is an illusion!” he roared. She cowered, falling to her knees before him. “You were a child, and I was lonely and looking for a playmate. I never meant…” He knelt in front of her, their eyes meeting. His sadness was evident, and Thalia wanted to reach for him. She dared not. The last time she had tried to touch him, he had left her. “I never meant to let you stay. I never meant to love you.”
“I don’t understand…”
“If you could see me, Thalia… really see me, then you would understand. Perhaps I should show myself, and that would turn you away.”
“I could never turn away from you. Please… I need you. Just as I always have.” She took his hand, and this time he let her. It was warm, then running hot until it was burning in her palm. Thalia stared down at it, watching as the skin blackened and fell away to reveal scales of burnished scarlet beneath. His hand grew and elongated, a birdlike talon emerging from the wrist.
Huntress: A Paranormal Romance Page 13
