The Dragon's Pledge

by K.N. Lee

  She stepped out, and was dressed in a pewter gown that brought out the blue in her eyes. An indigo sash was tied around her small waist and she stepped into soft, slippers that matched the sash. She stared down at the gold embroidery on the toe, noticing how it made the outline of a wolf’s head.

  Once she was prepared for her day, her hair braided and hanging over her shoulders with golden threads, she left her private quarters and started down the hallway toward the dining hall.

  The palace was a dark, and damp place that always felt cold. The stone walls were covered in tapestries and torches that only lit the area just above it.

  As she walked, her stomach began to curl into knots. She knew she had to say something.

  His family had exterminated hers, and she was only alive because her mother and father had fled.

  Once she reached the dining hall, Alexi met her outside, a serious look on his lovely face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He scratched the back of his neck. “We will have to dine a little later.”

  “Why?”

  “We have things to do this morning, it seems,” he said, taking her by the hand.

  “Like what?”

  “Mother wants to see you,” he said.

  Her shoulders slumped, and she felt deflated.

  “Oh yes,” she said, under her breath.

  The fact still remained; she was in the den of the enemy—a beautiful enemy who she was growing to love.

  14

  Her hair was red, like the fiery sunset over their little home in the mountains.

  Elle remembered her eyes, the same shade of blue as her own, and a soft voice that still soothed her to sleep whenever she allowed herself to think of it. Singing had been her favorite thing to do, and as she walked her up to her grandparent’s cottage, she’d sang Elle’s favorite song.

  Mum had left her, never to return.

  As Elle stood outside the dowager queen, Emrie’s private quarters, her hands balled into fists. They were so tight that the blood drained, and she looked down to see how pale her fists were.

  The woman behind those doors was the reason her mother never came back for her.

  She’d killed her.

  And, now, she was desperate for Elle’s healing ability to live.

  Her eyes flickered up to the door, and she gave Alexi a nod.

  “I’m ready,” she said, her voice even, not betraying the heated anger rising up her neck.

  Alexi opened the door, and the heat wafted outward, warming her face. She beheld Emrie on her four-post bed, her straw-colored hair hanging over one shoulder.

  She was already sitting up in bed, and smiled when she saw Elle standing in her doorway. She reached her hands out, beckoning.

  “Come, my sweet,” she said.

  My sweet?

  Elle stepped inside, her hands at her sides, her long gown trailing along the stone floor. Just moments ago, Alexi had been within her skirts, pleasuring her with his gifted tongue. Now, all feelings of joy were gone.

  The enemy awaited.

  She met Emrie’s eyes, and held her head high.

  “Morning,” she said, as sweetly as she could muster. All she wanted to do was strangle the woman.

  The Serpent Sisters and their people all believed this frail woman could destroy the entire Enchanted Kingdom, just like her ancestors had destroyed Elle’s kingdom.

  “You look lovely today,” she said, and Elle forced a small smile.

  “Thank you.”

  I know I wasn’t brought her for pleasantries.

  She clasped her hands on her lap, and tilted her head.

  “It is time,” she said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Don’t you think?”

  Elle knew exactly what she meant, and tilted her head in the same manner.

  “Time for what, might I ask?”

  Emrie brought a tight smile to her lips, one absent of joy or charm. It was the first glimpse into her true soul that Elle had seen. The coldness in her eyes was unmistakable.

  She could not heal that wolf.

  She would not.

  “To heal me, child,” she said.

  Elle nearly grimaced at being called a child. Instead, she kept her composure and played the dangerous game at hand with a blank face. Unreadable—unpredictable—that’s what she needed to be if she wanted to win.

  “I do not know how,” Elle said, simply.

  A gasp came from the attendants standing at the sides of the room.

  Emrie dropped the false smile and shot a look to Alexi. The air in the room went cold, tense, almost too heavy to handle.

  “Alexi, what does she mean?”

  Elle stepped forward, and spoke her herself. “I do not know the magic needed to cure you or this curse.”

  “But, you cured Etian,” she said, sitting up taller in her bed. Her face was drained of color, pale and nearly lifeless.

  “I healed him of a dragon’s claws, not a curse put on you by the Serpent Sisters.”

  Alexi came to her side, and took her by the hand. “Surely, we will find a way,” he said, and Elle glanced at him.

  “Surely,” she agreed, and flickered a look back to Emrie.

  The cursed dowager queen lowered her eyes, staring at her frail hands.

  For a moment, Elle almost felt pity for her.

  But, this was the woman who destroyed her family. She should rot where she lay.

  “Leave me,” Emrie said, and Elle didn’t hesitate.

  She turned on her heels and left the hot, stale room that smelled of sickness. She gasped once she was outside in the cool air of the hallway, and clutched her chest. Simply being in that woman’s presence shook her spirit and cast a dark shadow on her.

  How could her sons not feel it?

  Instead of joining her outside, Alexi closed the door on her.

  She stiffened, staring at the stone door.

  Now, what would she do?

  15

  Elle left the room, leaving Alexi and his mother to look to each other in dismay.

  “Come,” she said, motioning for him to sit beside her.

  Alexi rubbed his chin with his knuckles, brows furrowed as he went over in his head what had just happened. He crossed the room, his boots creaking on the wooden floor, and sat in the chair at her bedside.

  Once he was seated, she eyed him.

  Her lips were pursed, brows knitted together in consternation.

  He considered going after Elle, but running from the issue at hand wouldn’t solve anything. By the looks of it, his mother was not pleased. And, if she wasn’t pleased, there would be no peace.

  “Has she not been trained? What were those idiotic monks teaching her at the academy? Embroidery? Gardening?”

  Simple enough questions, but the answer was complicated.

  Alexi sighed, raking his hands through his hair. The morning had taken a devastating turn—one that might ruin everything.

  “Nothing, bloody useful,” she said in a huff. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Alexi. “Was she telling the truth about knowing how to cure me?”

  “How could she know? She’d never been taught such complicated magic,” Alexi answered.

  “I don’t trust her,” she said, and Alexi lifted a brow.

  “She wouldn’t lie,” he answered, certain of his words. “We will have to find someone who can teach her how to use that side of her magic. Someone of fae origin.”

  He almost told her about the faeries he’d seen in the forest, but something stopped him. Perhaps it was the tone of her voice, or the hate in her eyes.

  To not trust one’s mother was an unnatural thing.

  Shaking her head, her shoulders slumped and she leaned back against her propped up pillows.

  “Did you bring her here to tease me? Are you and the others laughing at my disappointment?”

  Alexi’s jaw clenched, and he looked away.

  “Of course not.”

  “When you first brought her here, I thou
ght she was perfect,” she said, in a soft voice. “Beautiful, kind, soft-spoken. I was pleased with how everything turned out. Proud of you and the boys.”

  Closing his eyes, he felt his mouth twitch. “And now?”

  There was a brief moment of silence between them, and he heard her exhale.

  “Now, it has just been proven that you and your brothers are just as useless as you’ve ever been.”

  Alexi stood, tears burning his eyes. He fought them. What was the use? Tears were the surest sign of weakness. But, only his mother had ever made him shed any. It had been years since he’d remembered what they’d felt like.

  Now, as she expressed her disappointment, memories of the childhood he and his brothers endured came rolling back all at once.

  Father’s death had been a dark day.

  Their protector had succumbed to the call of the spirit world, and left he and his brothers alone with the one woman who should have loved them above all others.

  But, as the years went on, it became more and more clear.

  The dowager queen only loved herself.

  He nodded, if only their father could have met Elle, he would have treated her like the daughter he never had, not merely a tool.

  “Useless,” he repeated, under his breath.

  Tensing, he cast a gaze out the open window that let in a cold breeze.

  “Utterly,” his mother added, twisting the blade she’d plunged into his heart.

  He didn’t say the truth, what he knew of Elle. The truth was, she didn’t know the true potential of her power—the sheer magnitude. Her teachers only brushed the surface of what was locked inside. Alexi had seen only a glimpse of it when he’d come to save her from Shiran.

  In the wrong hands, great suffering could be cast on their world.

  As he glanced over his shoulder at his mother’s dark gaze, he began to wonder if he had brought her to those very hands.

  To evil.

  Maybe Elle had sensed as much.

  Maybe she was the wisest of them all.

  16

  As Elle headed away from the dowager queen’s quarters, Etian met her in the hallway. He took her by the hand and instant comfort flooded her.

  She’d just looked evil in the eyes, and now her son held Elle’s hand and all was right with the world.

  “How did it go up there, with my mother?” Etian asked, his voice soft, eyes laden with concern. “Was it too much too soon?”

  She nodded, forcing a smile despite the heavy weight of weariness and uncertainty.

  “I’m just a bit scattered,” she said, leaning her back against the wall. Light came in through the window to her left, highlighting Etian’s brown eyes. “Everything is happening so fast. Sometimes, I don’t know if I truly belong here.”

  “Of course,” he said. “I understand. But, you belong here, Elle. That much I’m certain of.”

  Is it certain?

  She forced a smile despite the warnings in her belly. “You’re too kind, Etian. Thank you.”

  Etian tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Why don’t you join me on a trip into the city?”

  The city? She’d love any excuse to get far from the dowager queen.

  She perked up. “That would be brilliant.”

  “Good,” he said. “It’ll be a day’s journey, but I think it will do you some good.”

  “Fantastic,” Elle said, eager to leave that palace as fast as possible. Putting some distance between her and the dowager queen was all that she needed in that moment. “How soon can we leave?”

  He chuckled. “Tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”

  She’d wished it was at that moment, but she nodded, nonetheless.

  “Perfect,” she said.

  “Have you eaten?”

  She shook her head and he motioned for her to follow. “Then, join me.”

  Eagerly, she walked at his side and they headed down to the dining area. Matthias and Drevah were already seated.

  “Good of you to join us,” Matthias said, and resumed sipping whatever was inside his chalice.

  Drevah grunted, and shoved a spoonful of porridge into his mouth.

  She frowned at him. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he didn’t want her there at all.

  Elle sat in her chair at Etian’s side, and looked to Alexi’s empty seat.

  She wondered if he’d join them, or if his mother would keep him much longer.

  With the way she left things with the dowager queen, she doubted he’d be in the mood to be around her at all. She sighed, looking down at her hands folded on her lap.

  Once she was seated, a palace servant placed a steaming, hot bowl of porridge before her. She perked up at the sweet scent of cinnamon and honey. There were bright, red berries piled on top.

  She eyed them, and took her spoon to ladle them on her napkin at the side of her plate.

  Etian lifted a brow. “You do not like raspberries?”

  She grinned, remembering how Claire would eat them back in the monastery. She missed Claire and Magda, more than she thought she would. They had been her best friends for her entire time amongst the monks.

  She wondered what they were up to. Magda, out there somewhere unknown, and Claire with a mate, perhaps.

  She shook her head. “Not really,” she replied. “I never cared for the seeds.”

  Nodding, he held his bowl over to her. “Pass them over,” Etian said, and her smile widened.

  “My friend used to say the same thing.”

  He took a spoonful and nodded. “Wise girl,” he said. “I can already see we will be great friends, Elle. Raspberries happen to be my favorite too.”

  “Oh,” Drevah asked, sitting back in his chair. He wore light armor as well, but looked more of a soldier than Etian.

  Big.

  Strong.

  Intimidating.

  “I thought lamb was your favorite,” Drevah remarked.

  Etian tilted his head. “A man can have more than one favorite? Can’t he?”

  Drevah’s gaze locked with Elle’s. “Aye. And, apparently so can a woman.”

  Her face paled and she looked away.

  “What news of mother?” Matthias asked.

  “No luck as of yet,” Etian said, giving Elle a sidelong glance.

  She sighed. “I cannot cure her,” she said.

  Drevah sat up in his seat, and leaned forward. He narrowed his eyes. “What good are you to us then?”

  Her blood rushed to her cheeks, making them hot. Eyes widened, she stared at him.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Elle asked, standing from her seat. “Is that all your blasted family wanted me for? To cure your mom?”

  He shrugged, and clenched his jaw.

  “What is wrong with you?” Etian asked, disgusted. “How could you say such a thing?”

  Drevah lifted his arms. “I’m only stating the truth. How long are the rest of you going to pretend like she’s so special? We brought her here to heal our mother.”

  “Alexi chose her out of all of the women in the world, because of their soul connection,” Matthias said, and everyone looked to him. His voice was calm, but firm. The tension in the room reached an uncomfortable level.

  “Aye,” Drevah said, standing. “Maybe he did. But, you all can leave me out of it. I won’t bow to a bloody fae-blood.”

  As he left the dining room, silence fell around them.

  Though Etian reached over and gave her thigh a gentle squeeze, her stomach churned with dread. She looked after Drevah as he vanished outside of the archway.

  Why did his opinion matter so much? Why did his words hurt her? She suspected it was because a deep-seeded fear that Alexi thought of her as a simple fae blood existed.

  Annoyed, she stood and left the dining room to go after him. After the morning she’d had, she would no longer tolerate his dismissiveness.

  She stormed down the hall, hands balled into fists.

  She found him in the outer corrid
or, just before heading outside the side doors that led to the pond.

  “Drevah,” she called, and he paused, glancing over his shoulder.

  He turned to her, folding his arms over his chest. “What?”

  She threw her hands up. “Do you have a problem with me?”

  An amused smile came to his full lips, and he stroked his beard. “Fundamentally? No,” he replied. “But, I do question if having you here is for the good of the kingdom.”

  She frowned. “Your brother brought me here, Drevah. I didn’t ask for this.”

  He nodded. “True, and so far you’ve been kidnapped by the dragons, and are currently being hunted by the elves and faeries. Guess who will have to risk their life for you. Me. My brothers. My people.”

  She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Though he was more than a foot taller, she glared up at him, utterly frustrated with what he thought of her.

  “I am not weak,” she said, and his eyes widened. Her eyes began to glow, heat trailed up her arms and into the palms of her hands. “I can take care of myself. I do not need you to protect me, like a helpless child.”

  His eyes met hers, and his amused smile faded. For a moment, she thought she saw respect flickering in his eyes.

  “Very well,” he said. “Prove it. Let me train you in how to use a sword. Magic can only get you so far.”

  To her surprise, she nodded without hesitation.

  “Yes,” she said. “Say where and when, and I’ll be there.”

  He removed her hand from his collar, and clasped his hands together. “Fine. Meet me outside in the back of the palace, where the open field faces the mountains. Meet me there in an hour.”

  Her face flushed, but she turned to head to her room to prepare.

  “I’ll be there,” she said, over her shoulder.

  17

  After she was ready, Elle marched outside where Drevah waited.

  From afar, he was startling giant of a man. Tall, muscularly built, and with an air of confidence and authority that made her almost turn around and head back inside the palace.