Burn

by Penelope Fletcher

  The tension in the room eased.

  Marina stared at the window struggling to breathe. The words had been a slap in the face. Never had Daniil expressed anything but utter conviction that she’d be successful in her campaign.

  Why was he acting this way? Was it because she hadn’t told him about how she met Boy? Or was it because she’d replaced him with Jakob. Marina thought she’d made her reasoning behind that clear, but maybe he was feeling rejected?

  Koen’s warmth caressed her back.

  Her eyes closed as he rubbed against her. “I don’t care how, but this can’t be allowed to happen. What do I do?” She hugged as much of his blocky head as physically possible. “What do we do?”

  “Daniil is right.”

  Devastated, she gazed up at him.

  He nuzzled her tenderly, careful not to gouge her with his horns. “We do what we have been doing since you arrived. We make you mine.” Emerald eyes gleamed, cunning, witchy. “We make you Queen.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Awe was a sensation Marina expected when encountering the older Dragon Lords. In the presence of this ancient yet mighty Phoenix, her tongue knotted, and her heart pounded.

  She began to understand why the people of Tzion made such a deal about honour.

  She felt unworthy.

  “Do you remember me?” she asked quietly, eyes respectfully downcast.

  The purple Dragon’s eyes burned brightly, revealing a keen intelligence. A strong mind encased within a withering body. ‘So you have come. I remember an age when my human form sent maidens faint with pleasure. They would visit for the glory of my body alone, not for the thoughts my mind held.’ The old Dragon sighed wistfully. ‘They all wanted me. All desired me. None were worthy – only my Karina.’

  Marina didn’t have time for him to sink into the abyss of his memories. The third quest commenced in the morning, and she needed sleep.

  Koen’s idea to speed up the tournament was genius.

  As Queen, she could defy the Council if they tried to hand Boy over.

  For the first time, Marina gleaned what the Courts were up in arms about. She was treated differently from the other Chosen. The other two wouldn’t be able to command the Aver timeline altered. Nor did they have a King fighting in their corner. Her guilt was fleeting. She tried hard not to take advantage, and she wasn’t a bad person, merely a fortunate one.

  With the Eldernmoot sent back to where they came from, she could focus her energies on ensuring the Drackai Queen didn’t succeed in her Hunt of Koen Raad before she did. They would come to some other arrangement with the Eldernmoot if they refused to leave. She didn’t want war, but sacrificing a child was out of the question. They would have to fight to take her son into a society on the brink of civil war.

  The Dragon Kingdom was the safest place for him, and it was a strong enough argument not even the Eldermen could talk around it.

  “Council Mon Leonid, Karina had a daughter, didn’t she. The last High Princess. Kayla, Council Mon Kazimir’s Treasure had the first.”

  His amethyst eyes snapped into focus and fixed on her knowingly. ‘Solaria was a good daughter. She was so bright. Strong.’

  “She was special.”

  ‘Indeed. As was Kazimir’s offspring.’ He looked at her slyly. ‘As is Mikhail’s.’

  “If I may, how did she die? It’s been struck from the histories. Passages about them have been inked over.” She nervously rubbed her clammy hands on her thighs. “I understand why the idea of....” She struggled with it, and so rushed on. “The idea of a Dragon Lady is different, and different is almost always seen as scary, but why remove knowledge of it for future generations? I’ve been thinking I’m a freak. Now I find out I’m not as alone as I thought. There were others before me.”

  ‘The Dragon Council has a long memory. It was thought best if Tzion never knew of those females and the destruction they wrought. They were special. Damned because of it.’

  Her stomach clenched. “They were evil?”

  ‘Our males are trained from birth to control the beast within.’ His voice trailed off. Shifting, he turned his horned head to face her. ‘Solaria would have black outs. Time she could not remember as something else took control. She would return to her chamber at night covered in ash and blood, or wake up in strange places. In mountain passes and caves with no memory of how she travelled so far.’ His breathing turned reedy and he hacked a cough. Settling, he shook his body, stippled scales gleaming dully. ‘It was not so bad, nor frightening. Sickness of the mind is not so uncommon that we did not know to be patient with her.’ He quieted and she felt his grief. ‘Then came Lord Polvic.’

  “What happened?”

  ‘Solaria took an immediate dislike to how he watched her, vied for her affection. She was highly desired as a bride.’ He sighed sadly. ‘We found him disembowelled. A purple dragoness drenched in his blood shifted back into the unconscious form of my offspring.’ The Council Mon blinked back tears. ‘We kept it a secret, kept her safe.’

  “Surely people would understand what happened? He must’ve done something ... tried to....” She refrained from saying the word ‘rape’ aloud.

  There was no need to beleaguer this old male further, and he was no fool.

  ‘We decided to give her time to adjust. It was hard because when she shifted there was no memory of who she truly was. They were not one. Males learn how to be one with the otherness. Solaria’s beast had no deeper connection with humanity. It was a creature of pure instinct.’ His snout lowered. ‘So I kept her hidden. I worked with my offspring when she was herself trying to bring them together, so they may find peace.’

  “Then why erase her as if she never existed?” Marina felt her own insecurities plaguing her. Would her family lock her away like some dirty secret if she grew too wild trying to come to terms with her creature side? “She was a miracle.”

  ‘Solaria shifted one night and slaughtered her guards. I tried to reach her before she wrought irreparable damage.’ Pain roughened his gravely voice. ‘She was taken down by a Dragon Lord who came across her terrorizing a peasant family. She had already killed the Sire. The Dragon Lord was able to save the younglings. I believe Solaria’s Dragon saw them as a territorial threat since they travelled our lands.’ He shifted uneasily. ‘Prior to her existence there was another who met a similar tragic end. The Council decided it was best if they were forgotten but in the memory of a select few. A Dragon Lady is not even a myth. The people simply believe it is not possible and since offspring of a Phoenix is so rare the secret has diminished into the deepest darkest memories of us ancients.’ His blocky head tilted. ‘Then you came.’

  “If you knew this would happen why didn’t you tell me? I stood before you, all of you, and you said nothing.” It angered her they kept something so important from her. This was her life they messed with. Fury shot through her. “Mikahil–”

  ‘Does not know. Kazimir and I were Emperors of the earliest dynasties. The younger Council Mon are not aware. We saw no reason to tell them until we faded. None had offspring,’ his eyes cut to her, ‘that we knew about.’

  Marina wandered in a daze. What the hell do I do? If she told Koen there will be no reasoning with him. The whole mess with Daniil made her set against going to him for help. My Second? Marina hesitated. Jakob was sworn to her, but if she told him would he feel beholden to tell his King because she threatened to go feral?

  She had to finish Aver. Nothing could stand in the way of that.

  She’d keep it a secret a little longer. The otherness wasn’t making her black out to control her like those other women. There was a day of rest between quests instead of a week. She’d gather her family and tell them after the forth quest was done.

  They’d get through it together.

  She ended up in the Courtyard and glanced about blindly.

  “You look lost.” Anastasia waved her over. She sat on a grassy hummock sharpening her sword. The customarily unapproacha
ble woman was dressed in a flowing robe the colour of rich wine. The artfully wrapped fabric accentuated her statuesque figure. Sun-coloured hair cascaded to her shapely waist making her look breathtakingly feminine, her features delicate, and her expression peaceful.

  It was so unlike the angry warrior Marina expected, she stood rooted, astonished.

  “Come,” Anastasia insisted. “Sit by me.”

  Marina folded next to her in disorientated silence.

  “You should be resting.” Anastasia admonished her without looking up from her task. She stopped, laughing prettily. “Are you tired of hearing that yet? Aleksandr says nothing else.” Her smile, blatantly mischievous, was filled with sisterly affection. “I admit I came here to aggravate him. Big brothers make it so easy. He was appointed my guardian when I was a girl, as Lord Nikolai is yours. I would hide from him for days. He would track me in dragonskin, but by then I had begun training. I would lay false trails into the mountains ending in lava pools and treacherous gullies, as if I’d had an accident. How he cursed me when I appeared hale during his panicked flight back to our territory.” Tittering, she returned to dotingly tending the arc of steel across her lap.

  Marina was staggered to see the woman so relaxed. Trusting her with obviously precious memories from her past. “May I ask you something?”

  “Ask.”

  “Koen doesn’t like you because of how you behave during the Hunt.”

  Lips compressing, Anastasia paused her labours. A voice forced even replied. “You seek to judge me?” The warrior emerged to protect the vulnerable woman within.

  “I want to understand. Daniil told me the Hunt is brutal, but I never thought about it that way until now. Was it arrogance to assume it would be otherwise for me? The longer I’m here the more I find myself changing. I want to know how far I’ll go.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Who would I destroy to make Koen mine?”

  Anastasia sighed. She saw to the heart of what Marina feared. Her rhythmic motions ceased. “Tatiana.”

  The last remaining female Raad was one of the Fallen, kidnapped by Anastasia during the last tournament to lure to the Dragon King into a trap. The young woman now lay unmoving, dying, as her body withered.

  A gentle breeze rustled the leaves above them, infusing the air with a hint of earthy freshness.

  Flowers twirled and danced in the golden rays of sunlight, floating around them in playful spirals then blanketed the mossy grass.

  “Not just that,” Marina said finally, breaking the respectful silence. “I found Koen after he crossed dimensions. Watched him plummet from the fiery clouds like some primeval god.” Marina turned accusing at the memory of his ravaged scales and bloodied side. House Vor caused monumental pain to the people she loved. That she would never forget. “You hurt them so badly. You hurt him.”

  “He is King.” Anastasia didn’t flinch under the blame. “He was born to survive us, I promise you.” Her gaze took on a speculative slant, chin hitching up. “So you seek to avenge her? Bloody me as I did him?”

  “I thought about it. I hated you.”

  “You feared I loved him.” Anastasia tossed her head, as if the mention was ludicrous.

  “Oh, no, I know you are all about being Empress.”

  “Katya was the fool who thought she could win his love.” Derision filled chilly blue eyes. “Some females are irrational that way. They think they simply have to be more attractive than their rivals. They overlook the intangible bond between true mates. They do not see past their own desire to the heart of the male.”

  “You still plan to Hunt Koen, knowing what’s between me and him is real. That’s another kind of denial.”

  “Ah, but I would not care if he took you as his mistress.”

  “So you could take your own lover?”

  “Do not be stupid. No female claimed by the Dragon King could take another.” Anastasia did not react to Marina’s shocked look. “All Katya had to do was follow the rules for her chance.”

  Marina hissed.

  Her indignation had Anastasia clucking. “It is not wise to ignore the truth. While Koen Raad the man is dedicated to you the inner beast is attracted to power. Like draws like, Princess. If you were not naturally strong enough to beat Katya it might not have been as easy to hold the Dragon’s heart. It is foolish to assume otherwise.”

  Marina’s features pinched tight. She sat on her hands, dug them into the bristly sward to keep from lashing out. Possessive rage warred in her heart at a vision of Koen choosing the treacherously beautiful Lady Ja.

  The otherness crouched. Plotted a murder with cold-blooded calculation. Hunt, bite, and burn her.

  “I don’t agree,” Marina grated at length.

  She avoided the fellow Chosen’s eyes. The truth of her savage reaction glared too brightly there.

  Sensing she pushed too far, Anastasia let it drop. “We must appear barbaric to you.” She stared pensively into the distance. Her features twisted and became perturbed. “I must seem so callous. Bah, you did not grow up with the lessons of legendary women as we did. Strength is revered in the Dragon Lands as a woman’s true beauty, not the symmetry of her face, or the bounce of her breasts. The only thing the males demand is we keep our hair long.” She rubbed an errant strand curling up from Marina’s crown. Her sigh was wistful. “I would have shorn mine long ago if it were more accepted. It annoys me when they call you deformed. All I see is the practicality of it.” She ran a hand through her tresses then dismissively flicked the heavy mass over her shoulder, deeply tanned by the sun. Her eyes met Marina’s longing ones. She smirked at the appreciation of her physical beauty. “You wish to conform now?”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then why do you grow it?”

  “For Koen.” Marina blushed. “He likes to rub his snout over it. I think it feels good on his scales.”

  Anastasia laughed delightedly. “Well, that is your choice and a sweet one. Aside from their fixation with our hair, Tzioni men know better than to treat their females poorly. Thinking so little of our capabilities would mean their death.” Her expression turned fierce. She used the hilt of her sword to jab the air and ram her point home. “I would cut a male gizzard to gut if he dared insinuate my beauty was greater than my warskill.” She sniffed. “And I am very beautiful.” Satisfied Marina comprehended, she lightened up. “I hear tales of how females are treated in the human dimension. It disgusts me. Why they put up with it I cannot understand.” Shrugging, Anastasia sheathed her weapon to set it carefully aside. She turned and faced Marina fully. “I do not regret who I am. There are times I wonder how different my life would be had I chosen another path, but no, I do not regret. That would be weak.” Her face was hauntingly sincere. The sinewy cords in her neck tensed into stark relief as she laid herself bare. “I have harmed good people during Aver. I killed during the Hunt, mercilessly, used emotional bait to lure the Dragon King to me, and attempted to gain any and all advantage against my competitors – you included. I am destined to lead.” It was said simply without pride. “Other women look to me for strength. My House needs me to defend it. It is my duty and my honour to be their sword. I am ruthless because I must be.” Her gaze drilled into Marina’s, holding it captive with unwavering certainty. “I do not regret nor would I take anything back.” Closing her eyes, Anastasia enjoyed the breeze on her skin. A single tear streaked down her cheek. “Do not be afraid to become who you were meant to be. No matter what they think. No matter they say.”

  Humbled by the purity of this wisdom, Marina respectfully inclined her head.

  Anastasia didn’t try to justify her past deeds. She owned up to them – claimed them. Lady Vor made no apologies for who and what she was. She was a Queen, and refused to act with anything less than the whole of her warrior soul.

  Something she said stuck out.

  Marina knew it revealed more than the Chosen intended. Leaning closer, puckish, her lips curved. “He still loves you, you know. And I think you care mu
ch more than you let on.”

  Eyes popping open the woman blushed vivid crimson. Chuckled throatily. “I had wondered.” Quieting, her gaze turned playful. She breathed a hopeless little sigh. “I like you, Marina. But I vowed to kill you for coveting my Crown.” She directed her a look of wide-eyed challenge.

  Marina snorted. Tipping her head back, she looked down her nose, imperious. “Keep it. Stay the hell away from my Wreath.” They locked gazes. “Glad that’s sorted.”

  “Poor Galina.” Anastasia said it in a tone that left Marina in no doubt the woman reserved no true pity for the absent First Chosen.

  Enjoying the easygoing camaraderie, Marina thought of Cathryn. Her arrival had been awesome for all of a day. Their argument dragged up some deep shit, and upset the harmony of their bond. It had left Marina wary of forming another female friendship. She missed having her girlfriend to bitch to. It was made worse by the fact Cathryn wasn’t a dimension away, but just seven fortifications up.

  Anastasia of House Vor was vicious, committed terrible deeds in the name of honour, but there was a softer side nice to be around.

  Sensing a softening within, Marina cut the tender feelings dead. The other Chosen would exploit them in a heartbeat if it guaranteed her the ultimate victory.

  After Aver they could be friends. Until then....

  “Touch Koen again and I’ll kill you.”

  Quick as a flash Anastasia grabbed her around the neck to yank her closer. She knocked their foreheads together, and gave her haughtiest warrior glare.

  Both women blinked.

  Stifled giggles.

  Anastasia’s grin was warm, gaze weighted with respect. “I expected nothing less.”

  “Good. I’d hate for you to be shocked after I was done thrashing your ass.” Marina held up her hand. “Hit me.”

  Anastasia eyed her curiously then grinned, catching on.

  They bumped fists.

  “Ah, my sister-Queen.” The Chosen stood, dusted off her hands then clasped Marina’s forearm to pull her onto her feet. “Let us see who stands after this so called thrashing.”