But they would do anything to protect their hatchling. The idea of what the fairies might demand of them in exchange for Aventurine’s life filled me with dread. If they were tricked into trying to negotiate our safety, only for the fairies to ambush them in some way …
The fairy king’s earlier words rang in my ears. ‘She’s going to give us exactly what we need to destroy the dragons.’
‘Don’t do this,’ I said hoarsely to the crown princess.
I didn’t have any cleverness left. Only desperation.
Don’t let me be responsible for destroying Aventurine’s family.
‘Please!’ I said. ‘You signed a treaty with the dragons. You can’t break it now.’
‘Oh, really?’ Clothilde smirked. ‘What do bargains mean to humans?’ She waved one hand in impatient dismissal. ‘Now –’
‘Katrin?’ An unexpected voice spoke from the doorway. It was Princess Sofia, bundled up in a satin dressing gown and holding a candle. For once, she was alone, without a single lady-in-waiting in sight. Her expression brimmed with panic as she looked, wide-eyed, from the destruction of the back wall to me and Aventurine, to the fairy queen and her cloud of golden lights … and finally to her older sister. ‘What’s been happening here?’
‘Go back to bed, Sofia.’ Katrin snapped out the words without looking away from the fairy royals for an instant. ‘You don’t belong here.’
‘Nonsense.’ King Casimir gave Sofia a smile that made goosebumps run up and down my arms. ‘Why shouldn’t our future daughter-in-law be included in this conversation? After all, this may well be her dowry we’re negotiating.’
‘What?’ Sofia gasped.
The crown princess winced. ‘Sofia …’
‘Quite right,’ said Queen Clothilde. ‘In fact, we may as well bring her back with us tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ Katrin asked sharply. ‘But –’
‘Why not?’ The fairy queen shrugged. ‘There’s no need for us to remain above ground any longer, is there? I believe we have everything we need now. Give us twenty minutes to round up our children and the more lag-abed attendants, and we’ll be safely home within an hour.’
An hour? To get all the way to Elfenwald?
One of the crown princess’s guards let out a startled cough.
The awareness of fairy magic seemed to fill the room until I was choking on it. Could even battle mages win against it? They might be able to do magic, but these fairies were magic, and I was finally beginning to understand that difference.
‘No one’s taking me anywhere!’ Sofia snapped. She was breathing hard, and she might have been trying to look haughty, but panic was written all across her face. ‘Katrin, tell her!’
‘Do tell her,’ King Casimir invited the crown princess. ‘With tonight’s agreement, your sister will unite both of our ancient kingdoms and bring untold wealth to your little nation through our generous trade agreements … just as we discussed this afternoon.’
Sofia’s mouth dropped open. The expression on her face, as she stared at her sister, wasn’t disbelief.
It was terror.
‘You can’t,’ she whispered. ‘You can’t send me underground with them. Please.’
‘What we discussed,’ Katrin said tightly, ‘was a preliminary betrothal, with the wedding intended to take place years from now, after Sofia has finished all of her training and education. Her departure tonight, with no warning and no time to say her farewells, was never mentioned or agreed –’
‘Oh, but it is essential that she be trained by us.’ Queen Clothilde sniffed. ‘Trust me, it will be difficult enough for our court to accept a mere human princess as Ludolph’s match. We’ve wasted far too much time already – really, we should have had her handed over when she was first born, if we’d only realised how useful this connection could be.’
Sofia let out a wordless moan. Her free hand clutched her opposite arm, as if to hold herself in place. Her wide brown eyes never left her sister’s face. ‘You promised me,’ she whispered. ‘You promised Mother. Katrin –’
‘Your sister,’ the fairy king said softly, ‘knows as well as we do that we could never trust any alliance without the surety of your presence in our own court. Otherwise, what would keep her from breaking her agreement with us, just as she’s turning her back on the dragons now?’
‘Humans,’ said Queen Clothilde, ‘can never be trusted unless they’re forced.’
Sofia’s face drained of colour until she looked nearly grey beneath her light brown skin. ‘Katrin,’ she whispered, her voice broken.
For the first time since Sofia had arrived, the crown princess looked at her younger sister, her expression as calm and impenetrable as always. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘What could please me more than to hand my own sister over to such a safe and loving new home, where she will be valued so highly? I’m sure I can trust your new parents to look after you properly, Sofia, after tonight’s fine showing. What better allies could I hope for indeed?’
Wait. What? I had to stop my eyebrows from shooting up. The fairy royals were nodding and smiling, but there was something in the crown princess’s tone …
Princess Katrin tilted her head, stepping sideways until she stood between the open door and the fairy royals’ view. ‘Sofia? Go and join our cousin now.’
‘Our … ?’ Sofia’s eyes looked glassy with shock as she stared at her sister. Tears slipped silently from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t even try to wipe them off.
‘Well?’ Imperiously, the crown princess pointed towards me. ‘Don’t you think you ought to prepare yourself for your journey?’
Ohhh.
My hands clenched round Aventurine’s neck. The heat from her scales burned against my bruised fingers. ‘Get ready,’ I whispered.
Sofia moved towards us with slow, dragging footsteps, her gaze turned inwards. ‘But … Father …’ Her voice came out as a bare thread of sound.
‘We’ll summon him now,’ said her older sister. ‘You know he always takes my lead on such matters. I’m sure your new family won’t mind you taking the time to say farewell before you leave.’
‘Of course not.’ Queen Clothilde smiled triumphantly. ‘But you needn’t bother to have any of your ugly clothes collected while you wait. We’ll supply you with real fashion once we’re safely underground. Oh yes, we’ll have all the time in the world to teach you the ways of a proper court over the next few years before your marriage.’
‘Sofia has always been an excellent student.’ The crown princess shifted, drawing both the king and queen’s gazes with her, as a flicker of black showed just beyond the open door, like a shadow made of cloth … or a battle mage’s robe. ‘In the meantime, we have agreements of our own to seal before you leave. My guards will keep the captives under control for you while we negotiate, I assure you.’ She gave a rapid, fluid signal with one hand to the captain of her personal guard, who nodded with military precision.
As the three adult royals huddled together, human guards in blue-and-silver uniforms marched up in a line behind Sofia, spreading out until they separated her – and us – from everyone else in the wreckage of the room. Sofia didn’t even seem to notice them behind her as she trudged across the floor, her shoulders slumping more and more with every step.
Holding my breath, I looked above Sofia’s bowed head and met the eyes of the captain of the guard. Her pale, freckled face was tight with tension, but the smile she gave me was fierce.
‘Your Highness,’ she said to Sofia, ‘allow me to assist you.’
‘Wha–?’ Sofia’s voice cut off in a startled grunt as the captain scooped her up. ‘How dare you – oof!’
She landed with a thud on Aventurine’s broad, scaly back, just behind me.
I yanked Sofia’s arms around my waist. ‘Now!’ I hissed.
Aventurine’s powerful hindquarters gathered underneath me. Her wings snapped out. With a triumphant roar, she lunged forward, straight towards the nearby win
dows.
Fairy voices rose in sudden outrage behind our wall of guards. Metal clanged through the air as our defenders drew their swords. Half a dozen black-cloaked battle mages burst into the room through the open door, chanting with all their might. As the room descended into utter chaos, one voice rose above all the rest: the fairy queen, letting out a vengeful shriek.
‘You stupid little girls! You will regret this!’
The fairy lights by my ears keened in unmistakeable panic. Magic shivered through the air behind me.
Aventurine’s big body crashed through the windows and the wall around them, sending glass and rubble flying in our wake. Shards of glass showered around me.
Sofia’s scream of terror filled my ears. Her arms squeezed painfully tightly round my stomach.
Blood-curdling yells sounded from fairies and humans alike …
And I let out a whoop of pure relief as we sailed out into the cold, dark night air, leaving the ruined royal palace behind us.
CHAPTER 20
My relief lasted for less than five seconds. Then I realised that we were falling through the darkness.
‘Aventurine!’ I shrieked. ‘Use your wings!’
‘I’m trying!’ Aventurine bellowed back.
‘Aaaahhhhhhh!’ Sofia screamed into my ear as we plummeted.
The ground zoomed towards us as Aventurine’s massive wings flapped wildly, sending wind buffeting across her back. I pressed the side of my face against her neck and clung on for dear life. Candlelight flared in the windows of the palace around us. Shocked faces appeared at the glass, but they were much too far away to save us as the paving stones rushed closer and closer and –
Whoosh! We were suddenly rising through the air in wavering dips and bobs that sent us careening through the stone courtyard, this way and that, as people flooded out of the building on to the ground below, shouting and pointing up at us and at the massive hole in the wall above us where the battle was still taking place.
At least Sofia had finally stopped screaming. Instead, she said in a voice shredded by fury, ‘Take me back!’
‘Not for all the gold in a dragon’s hoard,’ I told her. ‘We – oof!’ We had just knocked into an unbroken part of the palace wall with a thump that nearly shook me off my perch. ‘Careful!’ I gasped as I scrambled for balance.
‘Trying!’ Aventurine snarled. ‘I’ve never done this before.’
Uh-oh. I tightened my arms around her broad neck as Sofia’s arms tightened convulsively around my waist.
‘You’ve never flown before?’ the princess screamed. ‘But you’re a dragon!’
‘She’s a young dragon,’ I yelled back as we veered dangerously close to the next wall. ‘It’s – oof! – not her fault if no one’s taught her how to do it yet. Oof!’ I gritted my teeth as we took another stomach-mangling swerve and sudden drop.
‘Argh!’ Sofia wailed. ‘I cannot believe my sister ever hired you two!’
‘There you are!’ A cold, triumphant voice filled the courtyard.
The fairy queen stood in the opening in the broken palace wall, with light flaring behind her and multicoloured sparks flying off her tall figure in all directions. Her pale, glowing face creased into a smile as she drew back both hands with clear intent.
‘Aventurine!’ I said. ‘The web!’
‘Grr!’ Aventurine flipped to one side and shot upwards so fast my stomach felt as if it were dropping out of my body.
Even as I clung to her neck for safety, I craned my own neck to peer downwards. The wicked magical web shot towards us in a stream of glittering white light … that landed in the darkness just below the end of Aventurine’s tail. It fell harmlessly to the ground.
Phew.
As the queen let out a jagged scream of fury, my two personal golden lights pulled away from my neck with a high, keening sound of protest. They flew back towards their queen like homing pigeons …
But the rest of us were free. Aventurine’s wings beat strongly through the air, carrying us high over the palace roof and leaving the courtyard far below. I laid my head against her thick, strong neck and let out a long, shuddering breath, letting the comforting heat of her scales pour through me and ward against the cold night air.
For the first time since we’d exploded out of the palace, I could hear a steady, rhythmic beat in the pattern of my best friend’s flight. We weren’t wavering or wobbling any more. She’d finally worked out how to use her wings properly.
We were safe.
Aventurine must have come to the same conclusion. Her whole body tilted forward, trading her fierce, nearly vertical push upwards for a smooth, horizontal path high above the palace. As we flew over the long sweep of the south-east wing, I shifted upright into a sitting position and shook out the tight muscles in my shoulders.
Stars sparkled serenely above us. We were a part of the night sky now, too, high above all the lights and battles and dangers below. No one could reach us any more. We were flying! I threw my arms out to my sides, balancing on Aventurine’s broad back, and I let out a laugh of sheer delight as the long, loose sleeves of my white nightgown billowed in the wind.
If only Dieter could see me now!
Then Sofia spoke behind me. ‘What are they going to do to my sister?’ Her voice wasn’t high and furious any more. It sounded small and tight and breakable.
Oh, mud. My arms sank back down to my sides as I let myself think through everything I’d seen.
The fairy queen could never have reached that opening in the wall if she and her husband hadn’t defeated all of the crown princess’s guards and battle mages first. Which meant …
‘They won’t kill her,’ I said as confidently as I could. ‘Royals never kill other royals, you know. They have rules about that.’
Although when it came to everyone else in the room …
I remembered the fierce smile on the face of the captain of the guard as she’d thrown Sofia to safety. My stomach clenched.
Maybe the guards and the battle mages were fine, too. After all, the fairy queen didn’t need to kill them, did she? She could just wrap them up in her magic web to keep them still. That was definitely what must have happened.
Probably.
But I couldn’t let myself think about that any more. So I said as brightly as I could, ‘I’m sure your sister will have the situation under control soon enough. She’ll hold them off while we go and get Aventurine’s family. Now that we have you safe –’
‘Safe?’ Sofia let out a laugh like broken glass. ‘First, you two smashed in the walls doing who-knows-what, and then you kidnapped me before I could even agree to what the fairies wanted! You’re the whole reason everyone’s in danger right now!’
‘You think we kidnapped you?’ I twisted around, peering through the darkness in disbelief. ‘We just saved you! Remember?’
If I’d ever expected gratitude from a princess, I’d been mistaken.
‘You fool!’ Sofia yanked her arms free from my waist. ‘If you hadn’t panicked and flown away with me, Katrin could have used me as her bargaining chip! Once she’d arranged all the details of my betrothal, they would have forgiven her for the disaster you two caused, even if you did run away afterwards. Then –’
‘Your sister wanted us to take you with us,’ I said. ‘Didn’t you even notice any of her signals? You asked her not to let them take you, remember? She was protecting you, just like you wanted.’
And I could still barely believe it. I’d never even imagined the crown princess choosing anyone else’s happiness above the good of her kingdom. Whatever promise to their mother Sofia had referred to, it must have been a powerful one – or else there was far more to the sisters’ relationship than I’d realised.
Either way, Sofia could at least try to be grateful!
But I bit down hard on my tongue to hold that thought back. Diplomacy. Courtesy. Remember them? Those skills were essential for mingling with royals, even on dragon-back.
‘You know nothing
about me or my sister,’ Sofia hissed. ‘What would you know about families? You don’t even have a real home.’
That did it.
I’d spent the last four days keeping my hands folded and my opinions to myself, until I’d nearly suffocated under the weight of blending in. Now I’d failed in my mission after all that preparation, I’d lost my final chance to save my parents, I’d seen my best friend attacked and nearly captured by fairies, and I’d – mostly accidentally – destroyed the royal palace.
Every single one of my dreams was as broken as the wall we’d left behind us … and, apparently, my tact had just shattered, too.
‘I’m not the one who doesn’t understand your sister!’
Sofia gasped. ‘How dare you?’
‘No,’ I told her grimly. ‘How dare you? You’ve done nothing but make my life difficult for days, all because you were jealous that your sister gave me a job you weren’t even remotely suited for! You’re so desperate to impress her, but you never go about it in the right way. And now that she’s finally chosen you over everyone else in the kingdom, you’re shouting at me like a toddler having a temper tantrum!’
‘I … wha– what?’ Sofia’s mouth gaped open. ‘You’re not allowed to talk to me that way! No one is!’
‘Oh, forget court rules,’ I snapped. ‘We’re not in the palace any more. We broke the palace, remember? And now we’re your sister’s only hope of rescue, so maybe – just possibly! – you should learn to be polite to other people yourself, Your Highness, no matter how worthless and lowly you think we all are.’
Sofia stared at me for a long, fraught moment as the cold air rushed past us and Aventurine flew over the roofs of the city, her wings beating steadily on either side of us.
Then the princess finally muttered, ‘I don’t think you’re worthless.’ She sniffed loudly, and finished in a miserable undertone, ‘I think I am.’
What?
Muffled, snorting noises emerged from behind me.
The Girl with the Dragon Heart Page 14
