The Return of the Dragon Queen

by Farah Oomerbhoy

  “I know,” she answered, completely stone-faced.

  “But I’m still a descendent of the house of Eos-Eirendil,” I argued. “I am the rightful Queen of Elfi and your heir.”

  Izadora nodded and her eyes softened, ever so slightly. “Yes, but on matters of war, the Elder Council rules and has decreed they will not send the fae army to follow you into battle until you retrieve the Dagger of Dragath and shut down the mines.”

  This was unbelievable. After everything I had done for the High Fae, they were going to abandon me to my fate.

  “I didn’t expect it to go so far,” my grandmother continued. “Now with Silverthorne gone—” her gaze flicked to Serena, who flinched at the sound of her father’s name, “—it is up to us to make sure the mages of Eldoren follow you, and not Morgana.”

  Tristan spoke up. “What about Andromeda and the book?”

  “I have dispatched Aiden to retrieve the book. He will liaise with Cade, and together they will track Andromeda.”

  Tristan nodded and so did I. I did not like Aiden, but he was one of the most powerful High Fae. If anyone could take on Andromeda, it was the insufferable Prince of the Day Court, her own son. He was unwaveringly loyal to his queen, even if it meant stopping his own mother from going ahead with her plans.

  My grandmother’s golden gaze turned on me. “You concentrate on growing your army and retrieving the Dagger.” Izadora waved her hand and closed the mirror portal.

  Penelope clasped her hands together and turned to face us. “We will portal into the closest town, but we will not be able to portal into Caeleron Castle itself. Lilith can detect that kind of spirit magic, and the castle will be warded with powerful spells. If Andromeda is tracking our portals, she will think we have lost her trail. She may let down her guard and slip up. It will be easier for Cade and Aiden to pick up her tracks.”

  Tristan raised an eyebrow and glared pointedly at Penelope. “You can create a portal over such a distance?”

  “I can’t,” Penelope clarified. “But Aurora can.”

  “No one but the queen of the fae can do that.” Tristan’s tone was low and serious.

  “The queen of the fae and the Dawnstar.” Penelope’s eyes were pure steel. “Or have you forgotten who she really is and what she is capable of?”

  I nodded eagerly. This was my one chance to help Rafe and those children. I could do this.

  “You don’t know how much of her magic it will drain,” Tristan argued. “You know as well as I do, Penelope, when her spirit magic depletes past a certain threshold, it affects her other fae powers as well. She will not be able to defend herself should you encounter one of the Drakaar or their minions.”

  “That’s why we have you, Tristan.” I smiled sweetly.

  Tristan was not amused, which was glaringly apparent from the scowl on his face.

  Penelope shook her head. “I know the risks, Tristan. But we will have some time for Aurora’s magic to recover while I figure out a way to get the children clear and stop Delacourt from crowning himself king.”

  “And how are you going to manage this grand feat of espionage?”

  Penelope’s mouth twitched slightly. “Leave that to me.”

  She turned to the pirate prince, who was standing quietly, his keen mind absorbing everything. “But if we leave right now, my other concern is what to do about the council with the emirs. We need this alliance, Santino. And we must make sure Morgana doesn’t get her hands on all the blackened iron.”

  “I will handle it.” Santino’s shrewd eyes flashed. “Soon the streets of Sanria will be a battlefield, and it is better if you are all far away from here when it happens. Once I have brought the council to its knees, they will do as they are told. I have waited too long for this day to come. Varian has given me an opportunity. If I don’t use it now, the Detori family will have its chance to take over Brandor. I will send word once it is done.”

  Penelope nodded and looked at Tristan. “Did you find out anything else about Andromeda and her whereabouts?”

  “Yes, we heard she was in Sanria a few days ago and was seen boarding a ship to Orion.”

  Penelope looked at Marcus. “Orion is near Mist Falls, is it not?”

  Marcus nodded. “It is also the simplest route into Illiador. You bypass the Cascade Mountains and take the main caravan route to Nerenor.”

  “The mines around Mist Falls are the largest in Brandor,” said Santino.

  “Andromeda must be involved with moving the shipments to Morgana,” said Penelope. “That’s why she has been in Brandor for so long. She must be in league with the Detoris. If we find Andromeda, we find the rest of the blackened iron.”

  Tristan crossed his arms. “And we destroy it.”

  “Exactly,” Penelope confirmed. “If Cade leaves now and meets Aiden, we may have a chance to catch her before she reaches Illiador.”

  “Why do I have to track Andromeda while you go and have all the fun?” Cade grumbled.

  Penelope’s azure eyes turned stormy. I had seen that look before.

  I took a step back, glad her anger was not directed at me for once.

  She marched up to Cade and poked a finger at his chest. “Let’s get one thing straight, Cade Windchaser. This is not fun! In fact, it is the farthest from fun I have ever seen. Do you think I enjoy running around the countryside?” She jerked her chin in his general direction. “The whole of Avalonia is on the brink of destruction, and we cannot afford any mistakes.” Her words were terse, clipped, and brooked no argument from anyone. “Is that understood?” She looked around, her gaze boring into us.

  Everyone nodded quickly, including me.

  Although I didn’t like to admit it, I was relieved Tristan and Penelope were coming with me. I had made so many mistakes along the way; I had a lot to learn, and I was still unsure of myself at times. I needed to make things right. I knew now not everything that happened was my fault. But I had been gifted with all these powers, and I had to use them to help people, otherwise what was the point of having them in the first place? I was the only one who could do this, and whether I succeeded or not, I had to try my best.

  Caeleron Castle

  We gathered our belongings and congregated in Santino’s vast reception room. It was almost dawn, and the golden glow of the morning sun was starting to announce itself.

  “Now,” said Penelope, “since you have never been to the town of Caeleron, you must portal to the nearest place you have been before—in the woods outside the town of Roth.”

  “Near Brandon Delacourt’s castle?”

  Penelope nodded. “From there we will journey on foot to Caeleron. We cannot portal directly into the castle as it is heavily warded. As you know, portal magic cannot be shielded by the Amulet of Auraken, but it will shield your glamour.”

  Tristan stood beside me, his swords strapped on, looking very skeptical about this whole mission. “And then what?”

  “I know someone who will be able to get us into the castle.” She turned to me. “You have to rest after you do this. Do not try to use your magic until you are ready.”

  “How long will it take to recover?”

  “That depends on you,” Penelope answered. “You have never created a portal outside of Elfi before. Everyone has a different reaction to using great amounts of spirit magic. It must only be used when we really need it. Try to remember that.”

  I pressed my lips together. “I will.”

  “Be careful,” said Aunt Serena. “And look after Erien.”

  I hugged Serena, Santino, and Cade and nodded farewell.

  I gathered my magic and projected it outward, imagining the small glade in Eldoren where Rafe, Kalen, and I had camped when we ran away from the palace. It seemed like a lifetime ago. It took less of an effort for the spark of a portal to form this time, but it was much harder to grow it into one we could pass through because of the distance. I kept drawing on my magic until the portal was open.

  “Good,” said Penelope
, “your concentration has improved considerably. Now regulate your magic to hold it. You need more magic to hold the portal than you needed to create it.”

  “I will go first and make sure it is safe.” Tristan stepped forward and disappeared into the portal.

  Penelope glanced sidelong at Santino. “Be careful. And send word once you have spoken to the council. I don’t need to remind you how important it is that Brandor stands with us and not with Morgana.”

  “I will take care of it.” He gave her a slash of a smile.

  Penelope nodded and stepped into the portal.

  It took a lot of power to hold the portal open. I could feel a bead of sweat form on my brow and trickle down my cheek. My magic was weakening, and I wouldn’t be able to hold it open for much longer. I had to go.

  I stepped forward into the void and felt the familiar rush of timelessness as I crossed through space in the blink of an eye. Landing on my feet, I closed the portal behind me. Lightheadedness hit, and I fell to my knees as my magic started to fade.

  Penelope came over and crouched down beside me. “Are you okay?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded as she gave me her hand to pull me up. I slowly got to my feet, a little unsteadily at first, but it was only momentary. Once I got my bearings, I felt better and looked around. The clearing was just as I remembered it, although this time the leaves were sparkling emerald-green, lush with the colors of spring. A carpet of bluebells bloomed beneath our feet as we made our way through the woods to the main road that led to the market town situated at the base of the hill on which Caeleron Castle was built.

  I tried reaching for my magic, but it made me feel unsteady, and I had to sit down again. I started to panic, even though I had been warned this was likely to happen. I had never considered how vulnerable I would feel without my magic. It wasn’t gone completely, I could still feel it, but it still felt strange not to be able to call on it at will.

  Penelope came over and put her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t try to access your magic so soon after opening the portal, Aurora. It needs to replenish. It will return, but give it time.”

  “Okay, give me a moment.” I gathered myself and adjusted the straps that held my sword in place. I now understood what Penelope and Tristan were so worried about. This was the first portal I’d had to create over such a distance, and I hoped I didn’t have to do it again.

  “For now I will glamour all of us, but to get into the castle you must be able to work your own glamour. Only the amulet you wear will be able to mask your presence from someone as powerfully magical as the Dark Queen.” Penelope wove her magic around us, so anyone who noticed us would only see three weary travelers en route to the bustling market town of Caeleron.

  The surrounding country gradually got loftier and greener as we passed an abandoned monastery on the hillside and derelict farms that dotted the area. It took half a day of walking, skirting the woods and mountains to get to the king’s road that led to the town of Caeleron.

  As the day wore on, we hitched a ride with a farmer on his wagon. “This was once a small village,” said Penelope as we bumped our way down the dirt road on the back of the wagon piled high with sacks of turnips. “But when Dorian the First—more commonly known now as Dorian the Great—built Caeleron Castle almost a thousand years ago, slowly the village below grew to service the needs of the castle whenever the king or queen were in residence.” Penelope lowered her voice. “We must be very careful—no one must know we are here. It is our one and only chance of getting into the castle.”

  What started as a beautiful spring day turned dark and foggy as we approached the town. Above us, rising on a rocky hilltop, lay the great fortress of Caeleron Castle, the ancestral seat of the Ravenswood dynasty, which dominated the valley beyond. Caeleron was located at a crossing of trade routes and situated at the base of the hill. I peered up through the mist that had settled on the massive fortress looming over the walled town as we crossed a narrow stone bridge and passed over the river.

  We thanked the farmer as we got off the wagon and entered the town through the western gate into the outer section, where the workers, shopkeepers, and artisans lived.

  Caeleron bustled with life as traders and travelers from all over Avalonia traversed the four town gates. Guards were everywhere, dressed in black uniforms with the symbol of the black rose rimmed in gold, milling about the town gates and checking everyone’s papers as they entered the town. It was distressing to see so many of Morgana’s soldiers here in Eldoren. Delacourt must have called for assistance; his soldiers were also there in dark blue uniforms, eyes ravenous with the promise of riches now that they had the run of the land.

  “Name?” said one guard, glancing at the papers Penelope held out to him.

  “Lady Sonia Lockhart,” said Penelope without hesitation, dropping a few coins into the guard’s hands. I knew this was the way things always worked. A little money passed over and the guards wouldn’t ask many questions. Of course, it helped that because of our glamour we looked nothing like the wanted posters plastered throughout the town. “We have traveled all the way from Fenth to see the coronation.”

  The guards looked at Tristan and me. “And these two?”

  “My daughter and our guard,” said Penelope imperiously.

  The guard handed the papers back to Penelope and ushered us along, counting his coins unashamedly before slipping them into his pocket. The greedy guard had no idea he had allowed a Firedrake to walk through the front door.

  We hurried through the narrow, cobbled streets and closely packed stone houses, while flickering light from candles and hearths streamed onto the streets, partly illuminating some areas and reducing others to shadow. We passed street vendors who had started packing up their wares and heading out of the town, while shop owners closed wooden shutters and locked up. I spotted numerous black-uniformed guards carrying oil lamps, inspecting the streets, and calling out a curfew. The town was crawling with them. Delacourt really wasn’t taking any chances. I pulled my hood closer around me and hurried on past them.

  I clasped the medallion around my neck and made sure it was hidden. It was safer to keep the Amulet of Auraken on when surrounded by so many magic users. At least now, no one would be able to detect my magical presence, not even the Drakaar.

  Penelope ducked into a small street, and we followed quickly, our cloaks and hoods pulled tightly around us. It was a much darker part of the town, where hooded figures traversed the arched pathways, and the stench of rotting garbage and clogged sewers made me feel nauseous. Narrow alleys wound around an unplanned maze of houses, crammed together in close proximity. We made our way to a small wooden door at the back of an alleyway, and Penelope knocked once. Tristan stayed in the shadows, scouring the dark streets for any sign of trouble.

  The door opened and a squat old lady in an old brown dress, scanty gray hair tied in a bun, stepped outside. “Yes,” she said, furrowing her brow. “What do you want?” Her tone was sharp.

  Penelope removed her glamour, but only from her face, so that the old lady could see clearly who she was.

  “Elsa, it’s me,” Penelope whispered. The old lady’s eyes grew wider, and she ushered us in immediately, glancing down the darkening street quickly and shutting the door.

  Penelope clasped the old lady’s hand. “Is he here?”

  Elsa nodded. “He came for the coronation.”

  “I thought he would.”

  “Who’s here?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

  Penelope removed the veil of glamour from all of us. “Someone who can help us get into the castle.”

  “And how are we going to manage that?” Tristan said. “Even with glamour, we need a reason to go into the castle. It is crawling with soldiers.”

  “You will simply have to walk through the front door,” a deep male voice drawled from the doorway. “With my help, of course.”

  The speaker stepped forward and removed his hood.

  I alrea
dy knew who it was, and my heartbeat sped up. “Rafe!”

  Tristan moved closer to me.

  Rafe leaned against the doorframe, his gray eyes indecipherable as he studied me from a distance. “You shouldn’t have come here, Aurora.”

  I took a step forward. “We are here to help, Rafe.”

  His gaze flicked to Tristan. “I don’t need your help. You have done enough already.” His tone was stiff, his voice gruff.

  I froze.

  I hadn’t expected to see him so soon. And I thought when we finally met, he would be at least a little happy to see me. But I had not anticipated the way he spoke to me now and the coldness in his eyes. Maybe I had caused irrevocable damage to our relationship and there was nothing left to repair. Maybe he had already moved on.

  “I told you this was a waste of time,” said Tristan, scowling. “We should go.”

  “No!” I held up my hand, then turned to Rafe. “If you don’t want our help, Rafe, that’s fine. But I came here to help those children, and that is what I am going to do. With or without you.”

  “Why do you insist on interfering in my kingdom?”

  I held his stare. “Are you saying that I am not welcome here anymore, Prince Rafael?” I said, using his title for the first time.

  Rafe crossed his arms and gave me a wary glare. “That’s not what I mean, Aurora.”

  “Then what do you mean, Rafe?” I said tartly.

  Penelope stepped between us. “I asked Rafe to meet us because if we are going to do this, we need to work together.”

  “Aurora! You’re back.” I heard a sudden soft shout before Kalen came racing out from the room behind Rafe and hugged me so hard I nearly fell over.

  I laughed for the first time in months and hugged my friend back. “Kalen! I missed you.”

  Penelope cleared her throat and Kalen looked up. “Sorry, Mother,” he said sheepishly, letting go of me and going over to hug his mom. “It’s good to see you too.”

  She hugged him fiercely and patted him on his back. “I’m glad you are all right,” she said softly.