Father waved a hand towards a door at the far side of the balcony and two of the palace guards dragged a terrified looking Fae out to kneel before my father. His hair was ice white and his skin the colour of paper, his features slightly pinched like a rodent's and his grey suit dishevelled. I would have guessed he was a few years older than me, but the cut of his suit looked expensive and despite his clearly terrified expression, something about the way he was put together told me he was important.
"I present to you, Eugene Dipper, High Buck of the Solarian Mischief of Tiberian Rats," Father called. "And the instigator behind this treachery to our nation."
"I'm not!" Eugene squeaked. "I didn't steal anything, I swear. I'm a collector - I paid for all of my stones and I made no attempt to conceal my ownership of-"
"So you admit that we found a hoard of over eight hundred of these rare and valuable stones in your possession?" Father demanded and my gut fell as I saw this for what it was. He was turning everyone against this man and every one of his kind. And surprise, surprise, Eugene Dipper just happened to be the leader of one of the Orders my father hated the most.
"L-like I said, I didn't steal anything," Eugene stammered, casting a terrified look between my father and to my disgust, myself and Xavier too like we were complicit in this.
"Well, we will soon get to the bottom of that," Father replied, his lip curling back in distaste as he flicked his fingers and Eugene was dragged away again.
The crowd booed and catcalled after the Tiberian Rat Shifter, their minds already made up about him despite the fact that he didn't seem to have done anything wrong as far as I could tell. There was no law against buying multiple rare items even if they did hold a sway over luck or good fortune. But my father had made him out to be some kind of thief, stealing those things from other Fae. And the assholes in the crowd were dumb enough to lap it up.
My stomach churned as Eugene screamed while he was dragged out of sight and my arm twitched where it hung beside Roxy's. The back of her hand slid against mine, causing heat to prickle across my skin and for the briefest moment, her little finger hooked around mine, making my heart leap as I looked down at her.
She didn't look back, didn't blink or react in anyway as our hands stayed joined for just a few seconds before she released me again. But it had happened. I just didn't know if that was proof that some part of the girl I loved was in there fighting to get out or if I was just kidding myself because I needed to believe that so desperately.
"I propose we start up an inquisition into the matter of the theft of luck from the Solarian people!" Father bellowed, gaining screams of support from the crowd as he looked down over them. "Every Tiberian Rat in the kingdom is formally requested to come to the new Nebular Inquisition Centre that I have opened up in outer Caronis. It is a holding facility where you will be questioned by a Cyclops who will get to the bottom of these accusations. If you are innocent, then there is no need for you to refuse this request and you will of course be released. But if you are guilty then the people of Solaria will have their answer - and I will demand payment for this theft in blood!"
The crowd roared even louder as my father stood there, lording it over them and smirking in that fucking way I'd always known proceeded violence in him and it fucking terrified me.
That wasn't going to be an inquisition. There would be no Tiberian Rats found innocent. I wasn't a fucking fool. And once he'd proclaimed the lot of them to be guilty of stealing everyone's goddamn luck, he’d come calling for that blood payment.
It would be genocide. And I knew in my soul that the Rats would just be the beginning.
***
King’s Hollow was full with all of us here, Geraldine bustling about like a mother hen while Darcy sat in the armchair opposite mine beside the fire. The others had plenty to say but I just gazed into the flames with my brow furrowed and my heart aching.
"It will work," Darcy insisted and I glanced up to find her looking at me. Or more like glaring at the doubts which were clearly written across my features.
"I know," I agreed. "She won't be able to escape the cage or cast the shadows beyond the confines of it. But..."
"But?" she demanded and I knew she was just worked up on behalf of her sister, and if she needed to use me as I punching bag she could.
"I just know my father. He's not one to do things by halves. Yeah, he got her to give herself up to the shadows and he bonded her to him to make her feel loyalty to him even when the shadows are numbing everything else. But I don't think that would be iron clad enough for him. He would know that the moment she was away from him we'd be trying everything we could to bring her back to us and yet he still sent her here alone. There's more to this that we aren't seeing, and I'm just concerned that releasing her Phoenix isn't going to be enough to bring her back to us."
"You're wrong," Darcy growled angrily, getting to her feet. "I know my sister and I know she is still in there fighting for us. I'm not giving up on her and once her Phoenix is released, I just know it will be enough to pull her back from the shadows. He could have placed a thousand Dark Coercions on her, but it won’t matter because they’ll all be burned away the moment she can use her Order form again. Once the shadows’ grip on her loosens we’ll be able to figure the rest of it out."
"There still isn't any way to sever the Guardian bond though," I muttered bitterly, knowing I was only riling her up, but I couldn’t help it. All the time that I was parted from Lance while he was in prison, I’d felt the ache to be close to him so desperately that it cut me open. And even though I could visit him more frequently, it still wasn't enough. I'd been going back there almost daily and yet I still yearned for him, worried about him, cared for him. We couldn’t do anything to stop Roxy from feeling that way about my father too. And it would be even worse for her because the Guardian felt it all five times over. As the Ward, I got the easy ride, only really feeling that way because he’d been gone for so long.
"Well, there is one way to sever the bond," Darcy growled. "We just have to cut Lionel's head off."
"Assuming that won't kill her too," Seth piped up helpfully. "Because my mom once told me that Guardians can't survive the death of their Ward. She said they’ll throw themselves between them and death or follow them into it if they fail, so-"
"Shut the fuck up, Seth, that's bullshit," I snapped.
I got to my feet and glared at him and he stepped up to me instantly, bumping his chest against mine as he growled in response to the challenge I was offering him.
"Back off, man," Max demanded, moving to grab my arm as he tried to force me back and the Dragon in me stirred with rage.
Caleb caught Seth by the shoulder and drew him back too and Seth muttered something about reptiles being fucking crazy as he tore his gaze from mine. I blew out a mouthful of smoke as I strode away to the kitchenette, shaking Max off as he tried to push his gifts over me to help calm me down.
"Stop that," I snapped, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and pouring myself a way too healthy measure before sinking it in one and enjoying the burn of the liquor on the way down.
"She should be leaving The Orb soon," Darcy pointed out, getting to her feet. "Maybe we should get into position."
"Yeah," I agreed, tugging my shirt over my head and rolling my shoulders back as the urge to shift rippled across my skin. We were about to herd the girl I loved into a fucking cage like a sheep being herded by a wolf pack and the thought had me more than a little on edge.
"Oh magical muscles, look at the size of that six pack!" Geraldine gasped as she looked at me. "You truly are one beastly specimen of a man, Darius Acrux. No wonder my lady Tory is so enamoured with your swollen banana. I did sometimes wonder if she'd been drinking at the moose juice when she kept falling under your spell, but getting a close up look at your man-parcel really has me all of a dither-"
"Stop looking at his fucking man-parcel," Max snarled, moving up behind her and slapping a hand over her eyes as I snorted a surprised laugh. That
girl was seriously off her fucking bagels but there was something about her that was growing on me. The beastly specimen comment probably helped.
"Do not tell a goose where to gander, you overgrown seahorse!" Geraldine cried, scrambling to get out of Max's arms as he glared at me like this was somehow my fault.
"Put your fucking shirt back on, man," he snapped at me.
"I'm about to shift," I replied, shaking my head as Caleb laughed his ass off and Seth looked like he was a popcorn bucket shy of settling in for a show.
"Unhand me you slippery sea urchin!" Geraldine shouted, throwing a hand into Max's stomach and knocking him off of her with a slap of water magic.
"Well stop staring at Darius's dick then," he growled.
"Excuse you, sir, but I am doing no such thing! For one, the delicious Dragon has not revealed his man ham for the room to peruse at leisure, so I was only appreciating the powerful physique which he uses to please my lady! And for two, I would never lay so much as a chin whisker upon the flesh of the man my lady is destined to love by all the stars in the sky! I am merely expressing my approval for his ability to pleasure her physically, even if his personality has left a lot to be desired-"
"Hey," I growled as Darcy muttered, "She's got a point." But neither Max nor Geraldine were paying any attention to either of us anymore.
"Well if you don't want him, then don't fucking look," Max demanded. "I don't like it."
"And why should I care what a villainous cad such as yourself thinks? You don't even believe I am capable of making decisions about my own life correctly."
"That's because you're prone to making terrible fucking decisions!" he yelled and my brows went up as I realised this fight was clearly about something way bigger than her checking me out, but I had no fucking idea what.
"Guys, let's just take it down a notch, yeah?" Seth suggested with a little whimper to show how much he didn't like this arguing, but Max and Geraldine didn't seem to give a shit about that.
"I am not the one who got my tail in a knot over a little arranged marriage!" Geraldine cried. "You seem to be under the misguided impression that I belong to you just because I tangled with your tentacles once or twice, but you are very much mistaken in that belief! I made myself clear to you when I said that I had made my choice and you are the one who refuses to listen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a princess to rescue!"
Geraldine turned and fled the room, disappearing down the stairs and leaving all of us feeling seriously awkward as Max ran his hands down his face and groaned.
"Fuck. My. Life," he said and I glanced between Seth and Cal, wondering if they had any idea what was going on.
"Did she say arranged marriage?" Darcy asked in a soft tone as she stepped forward and tugged Max's hand from his face.
"Yeah," he sighed. "She told me about it a while back, but they've been keeping it secret so that they can fool around with other people for a while. I was hoping to get her to pick me instead. And the other night after I saved her from Highspell, we went back to mine and she kissed me. I guess I stupidly thought that meant she was changing her mind."
He looked so fucking defeated that I didn't even know what to say as Darcy glanced back over her shoulder in the direction Geraldine had taken. "Let me go and make sure she's okay to go ahead with the plan." She took a few steps towards the door then paused, shooting Max a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, Max."
The moment she was gone, Seth stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Max, howling for him as he looked so damn hopeless that it cut into me.
"Who is she marrying?" I asked, hating seeing him in pain like that. I swear it seemed like none of us could catch a fucking break at the moment.
"Justin Masters," he spat, his lip curling back in disgust. "He’s a great big Royal ass licker and I guess that’s all she gives a shit about."
"You want me to accidentally barbecue him the next time I see him in my Dragon form?" I offered and Max laughed.
"I heard he's got a hot sister who graduated before we came here," Caleb added. "I could bang her and make a sex tape. His family wouldn't seem like such amazing Royalists if everyone knew she'd been sucking Heir cock."
"Let's not do anything too hasty," Seth laughed kinda aggressively as he slapped Cal on the shoulder harder than necessary. "No need to go whoring yourself out, Cal, let's just fuck the guy up and threaten his balls until he agrees to break it off. No cock sucking required."
"Sure," Caleb agreed, blowing out a laugh as he glanced at Seth then looked to me quickly. "Not by the Masters chick anyway."
Seth smirked at him and Max groaned loudly. "Stop flirting, you two, you're just making me feel worse about my shit."
"Flirting?" I balked, glancing at Seth as he shrugged innocently.
"I can't help it if all of my friends are stupidly hot and I like to suck the odd dick from time to time," he said innocently. “But if you guys ever wanna ditch the girl drama and build a sausage heavy harem then I wouldn't take a whole lot of convincing," he said, his gaze falling to my bare chest for a moment before he looked at Cal again and winked.
"Right. Well, as much as I like brunettes, I'm currently hooked on one who needs us to chase her into a cage and drug her, so shall we get on with that?" I suggested and they all agreed.
"I'll go check that Darcy and Geraldine are in position," Cal said before shooting away and I nodded to the others as I hoisted myself up and out of the hatch set into the roof.
I stripped out of my shoes and jeans, tossing everything down into the treehouse before taking a running jump off of the roof and shifting into my enormous Dragon form, my golden scales catching the light of the setting sun.
I refused to focus on all the things that could go wrong with this plan and instead set my mind on the small pinprick of hope that it was going to go right. That I might just be about to get my girl back and we were finally going to strike a blow against my father that could really make a difference.
Because if this went to hell, I was out of fucking ideas. And I didn’t even want to consider what that might mean for Roxy.
I stepped out of The Orb after dinner with Mildred at my left and Marguerite on my right as the two of them prattled on about wedding dresses and I tried not to feel sorry for myself because it was a Sunday. Five whole days before I could return to my king. I knew it had to be this way, but five days had never felt so damn long.
"I am more concerned about practicality than flamboyance," Mildred scoffed at some comment Marguerite had made. "The main thing that matters is that it comes off easily for our wedding night so that I can produce a fine Dragon Heir for the next generation of Acruxes-"
My fist snapped out so suddenly that I wasn't even certain when I'd decided to strike her, but as my knuckles collided with her bristly jaw, a dark smile pulled at my lips and the shadows in me stirred with hunger.
"What the-" Mildred began, rolling her shoulders back and bunching her muscles as the Dragon behind her eyes glared at me like it wanted to bite my head off.
"Go blather about weddings somewhere else," I growled, shadows slicking down my arms and pooling around my fingertips. "The shadows are hungry. And if you don't fuck off, I'll let them feed on Dragon tonight."
"Catch you guys later," Marguerite gasped before scurrying away, but Mildred wasn't so smart.
"You might be important to the King, but I am going to be an Acrux before long, so you'd do well to remember that I-"
With a flick of my fingers, I sent her sprawling back away from me, driving the shadows into her chest as she squealed like a stuck pig.
"I'll be telling the King about this!" she gasped.
"The King doesn't care about you," I growled, advancing on her with my eyes full of shadows and pleasure tracing patterns down my spine. "You're just a walking womb with Dragon blood in your veins. And guess what? You don't need legs to give birth. So I suggest you listen to me when I tell you to run from me or you'll be finding yourself without the necessary limbs to comply.
"
Mildred shrieked in pain as I drove the shadows deeper into her but before they could get a true hold on her, she shifted, tearing through her clothes and expanding in size so rapidly that all I could do was watch.
She roared at me in her mud brown Dragon form, swinging her head around to glare down at me with beady eyes set deep in the scales of her head.
The shadows rolled over me as I stood my ground, my heart pumping furiously as I felt fully awake for the first time in a long time and Mildred released a blast of Dragon fire right at me.
The shadows rose up in a cloud to meet her flames and my eyes lit with hunger as I fought to control them, their power almost overwhelming me.
An enormous roar broke through the air, drawing my gaze skyward as a golden Dragon five times the size of Mildred dove from the sky and collided with her.
I sucked in a breath of fright as my gaze fell on Darius and the echoes of a thousand tortures bit into my flesh. Memories of pain and suffering surfaced in me at the sight of him and the fight went out of me as I pulled the shadows close defensively.
As the Dragons tumbled across the path, a torrent of students appeared from The Orb to watch and scream in shock so I took off.
I strode away with the shadows curling through my fingers as I took the path into The Wailing Wood and left Mildred and the other Dragon behind. Though I tossed more than a few glances over my shoulder as my brow furrowed with concern over something I couldn’t quite place.
I tugged my Atlas from my pocket so that I could just look at the screensaver of my king for a few moments, but a notification flashed up on it which I’d been tagged in.
Tyler Corbin: Looks like love’s young dream isn’t so sweet after all. @DariusAcrux was just seen swooping in to give his fiancé @MildredCanopus a beat down Dragon style in the name of love for his true mate @ToryVega. This young Pegasus saw it all going down and I swear, Mildred still has that moustache in Dragon form as well as that pig snout. Anyone else think she might have some pig grandparents hiding somewhere? For all that the great and honourable King Asscrux has to say about pure bloodlines, you’d think he might have noticed that the Canopus family have been boning farm animals…
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 24
