by G. Bailey
“I met you and Elias right here, didn’t I?” I ask Dagan, and he nods, making me walk past it and over to a row of small, blue-stone houses like he can’t stand for me to stare at where we met for too long. “What’s the rush?”
“We need to get inside, but yes,” Dagan says, but he doesn’t seem to want to linger here for long. Not that I can blame him. Dagan walks us to the house on the very end, with a white door and a dragon-shaped silver knocker, which he knocks a few times. We all wait for what seems like a long time, but is likely only seconds, before the door is pulled open, and an old man stands in front of us. The man has long grey hair plaited in one long plait, and brown trousers, with a brown cloak covering his white shirt underneath. The cloak has a silver dragon crest, my father’s crest. My family’s crest. It almost hurts to see it, a reminder of how that crest doesn’t symbolise the throne anymore. He looks between us all slowly, before scrutinizing me, pausing at Thorne, and his eyes landing on Dagan with a long suffering sigh.
“You bring trouble to my door, boy,” the old man states tightly, tipping his head at me.
“Darth, I wouldn’t come unless I had nowhere else. Korbin is dying, we need help,” Dagan tells him, and he looks over at Korbin, pausing.
“Is that Janiya and Phelan’s kid?” Darth asks, seeming curious as he squints his eyes. “They have been looking for him. There’s a big reward for his safe return.”
“Yes, and you can have the reward, if you help us,” Elias says firmly, and Darth steps back, holding the door open.
“You best get him in here then, boy, and the princess, too. We don’t allow royalty to stand outside in the cold in this house. My wife would be turning in her grave if I allowed that,” Darth mutters, ushering us into his house. I walk in after Dagan, and Melody follows.
“Take him to a bed upstairs,” Darth says. We wait as Thorne and Elias carry Korbin into the house and take him straight up the stairs. Darth closes the door behind them, mumbling something under his breath that I don’t quite manage to catch. The house is all one massive room downstairs as I look around. The back of the room is the kitchen, with a large fireplace, and then there is the lounge, with two ratty brown sofas and a worn-down rug. There are hole-filled curtains on the windows, which Dagan goes around and closes, so the only light is from the fireplace.
“Now, kid, you’d best start telling me the story of what happened while I find my medicine box,” Darth grouses, heading for the kitchen.
“You’re a healer?” I ask as he opens a cupboard and starts pulling random pieces of paper, old unrecognizable junk, and some saucepans out. I watch as he chucks them on the floor one by one, making a huge mess. I briefly look at Dagan and Melody, who are watching Darth like I am, wondering why he has so much junk as Darth finally answers me.
“Back in the old days, yes. I worked for your father as a royal healer, until I got too old,” he deeply chuckles.
“That’s how you knew who I am?” I ponder.
“No, I saw your eyes. They are the mirror image of your mother’s, that’s how I knew. That’s how anyone would recognise you. You should hide those eyes, princess Isola. Then again, it’s much like how I knew one of your guards is the son of the current queen. He has her eyes also, well, before the darkness spread into them,” he tells us, never pausing as he moves to another cupboard and starts chucking things out of that one, too.
“You knew my mother when she was younger?” Thorne asks, walking down the stairs having clearly overheard our conversation.
“I knew both of your mothers as children, when they were friends, before jealousy got involved and darkness entered Tatarina’s heart. We all watched as your father chose your mother over Tatarina, which was the start of her heart being destroyed with darkness,” he pauses to look back at us, noticing our shock. “Such a shame, she was so young for darkness to take its hold, but then she was weak.”
“Lies! My mother didn’t know the queen, they weren’t friends!” Thorne exclaims, and I place my hand on his shoulder on instinct; a need to comfort him, and his eyes flash to my hand before he looks up.
“It makes sense. They were the last ice princesses, and there was only my father they could marry. They would have made them all grow up together, like my father did with me and Jace. That’s where he must have gotten the idea from in the first place,” I say gently, and Thorne nods, anger in his eyes as he stares down at me.
“She lied to me then. My mother said she never met the queen, not once,” he growls.
“You mother lied about a lot of things, you silly boy,” Darth chuckles, and Thorne pulls away from me, storming out the door as Darth still laughs. “So much anger, if he doesn’t control it, he will end up as bitter as his mother.”
“No, he won’t,” I snap.
“Ah, I see. He belongs to you . . . well, you should tell him the truth. Lies do not make a relationship, they only destroy it,” Darth tells me. “Ah, here it is.” I watch as he pulls a big box out of the back of the cupboard, holding it up just as Elias runs down the stairs.
“Something’s wrong, Korbin needs help! Now!” Elias shouts out, and we all run up the stairs with Darth following. My heart pounds, feeling like it could be destroyed at any second if I lose Korbin.
Chapter Five
Isola
“Move,” Darth pushes Elias out of the way in the hallway, opening the first door to the right and entering the dimly lit room. I follow Elias in, seeing Darth holding Korbin down on the bed by his shoulders as his whole body shakes. Korbin’s eyes are rolled back, blood drips from the corner of his mouth, and when I hear him cry my name in pain, I nearly fall to my knees with panic.
“Oh god,” I whisper, not feeling attached to my own body as I mentally pray Korbin will make it through this. I can’t lose him. I just can’t. I don’t notice the ice spreading under my feet until Elias nearly slips on it as he rushes into the room. Darth opens the big box he placed on the floor, pulling out a small blue bottle that has white liquid inside. He gets a needle, extracting the liquid. I feel two hands on my shoulders, one is Dagan and the other is Melody, I instinctively know from the way my dragon relaxes a tad at their touch. Darth rubs his face, looking over at us and back at Korbin after a moment.
“Show me where he was poisoned, girl. Elias, hold him down,” he orders.
“Can we do anything?” Dagan asks.
“You and the seer girl, go and get hot water from the middle of town. There is gold on the fireplace in the pot, you can pay me back later,” Darth tells us, and I rush forward at the same time Elias does. I hear the others rush down the stairs in the background, but I can’t focus on them as I watch Elias get closer to Korbin. I know they aren’t as close as Dagan is to Kor, but I can see the worry flash across Elias’s eyes when he briefly glances at me. Elias holds his shoulders firmly, as I lift Korbin’s shirt up and try not to feel sick at the awful smell coming from the now black cut on his stomach. The lines are crawling from the cut, all over his chest and spreading in every direction. Some are massive purple lines and others are tiny little ones.
“Oh mighty. We have work to do,” Darth almost chuckles, like a crazy person, before slamming the needle straight into the cut without pausing once. Korbin calls out my name several times, and I grasp his hand, not knowing what else I can do. Korbin gradually stops shaking, settling down but still out of it as Darth pulls the needle out and places it on the side.
“He needs blood and a bond made, or he dies,” Darth says simply, looking straight towards me.
“We have shared blood before and have a bond, he can have mine,” I reply, knowing that I don’t care about sharing blood with Korbin. Even if we weren’t bonded already, I would still happily give him my blood.
“It will make you weak, and with the amount of blood he will need, it will create a permanent bond,” Darth warns me, and my eyes flash to Elias, who simply nods. I know he will support me no matter what I choose. I look down at Korbin and squeeze his hand tighter.
“I know you’re not awake to make this decision, but I will save you,” I tell him and look up to Darth who is watching us with a sad smile.
“We are permanent, anyway. I will not lose him,” I say, keeping my eyes locked on Darth’s, and he nods, a small smile on his lips.
“Let’s get you all set up in the other room then. I will take as much blood as I can without hurting you, every two hours. Our dragons speed up blood loss, and that should be okay for Korbin. This isn’t a fix for the poison, but it will give me time to examine and figure out what he needs to heal him,” Darth explains to me and Elias.
“Take what you need,” I reply.
“Your dragon needs to be okay with this, is she?” Darth enquires, “I don’t want an angry dragon bursting out in my room and freezing me.”
“Save minnnee,” my dragon hisses in response, and I watch Darth almost smile as he sees my eyes change.
“She will do anything to save him. We have always been in agreement about my guards,” I reply, and I feel Elias gently stroke my arm with his fingers.
“Right then, let’s get started,” Darth says, picking up a bundle of things from a box and walking out of the room. I move closer to Korbin, leaning down and kissing his sweaty, boiling hot forehead and hearing him mumble my name.
“I’m here. I’m always here for you, Kor,” I tell him gently, seeing him slowly relax and his breathing even out before I straighten up. I don’t want to leave him, but I know I have to. Elias waits for me by the door, holding it open with his back. I slip past him, and he stops me, grabbing my hip with his one hand and using the other to place a finger under my chin, making me look up into his swirling blue eyes. I raise my hand, moving a stray piece of black hair out of his eyes and trailing my finger down his face as he carefully watches me.
“He will survive this, for you. Don’t look so scared, I hate seeing it in your eyes,” Elias admits in a whisper.
“I’ve never felt like this, not for anyone until I met you three. I thought losing Jace devastated me, but I know if I lose any of you, I would be completely ruined,” I say gently, placing my hand on Elias’s chest. He closes his eyes, leaning forward to rest his forehead against mine. The little contact soothes me, reminds me that I have them and that they are not going anywhere.
“Neither have I ever felt like I do for you, and it scares the fuck out of me, princess. You know, I thought I was brave and fearless, but I’m nothing compared to you. You make me so proud with how brave you are. You are my inspiration to keep fighting, to push through, even though I've fought my whole life for nothing but survival,” he whispers, as I watch him so closely, taking in every part of his complexion, his handsome features as he makes my heart flutter in my chest.
“Eli,” I sigh, my emotions leaking out into that one word, and he moves a tiny inch closer as he opens his eyes.
“Excuse me. Now, I don’t need to see you two kissing when I have things I need to be doing, like saving your friend’s life,” Darth’s slightly amused voice comes over to us, and Elias backs away, letting me pass through the door. Darth is standing in the open doorway of the room opposite, and nods his head towards me, inviting me in.
“I’m going to keep an eye out downstairs,” Elias tells me as I look back at him, seeing desire and longing swirling in his eyes but knowing there isn’t anything we can do about it right now. Something always seems to come between us, every time we start to get close. It’s like fate is finding it fun to keep us apart, with only brushes of stolen kisses to keep us going. Elias turns, walking down the stairs as I go into the small bedroom where Darth is waiting for me. There isn’t much in here, but it’s cosy. There is a double bed, with torn blue sheets covering it and matching blue curtains on the window. In the window is a vase of flowers, but they are all dead and look like they have been there for years.
“Sit on the bed, girl,” Darth says distractedly as he looks through his box that he has placed on the floor. I watch him searching through the box, taking things out and putting others back, so focused on the job at hand, and all I can think about is how he knew my mother once. There aren’t that many people alive who knew her and a deep part of me wants to know as much as I can about her. I guess I could ask about my father at the same time, but I don’t. Every time I think about him, I just remember Melody. How my father betrayed my mother, had a child with another woman, and couldn’t even man up enough to tell me about her.
“What was my mother like? If you don’t mind me asking. It’s only, I don’t remember much, and there is no one alive to tell me more things about her,” I ask.
“Tatarina is alive and knew your mother more than anyone, well, before she married your father at least. After the marriage, they never spoke because of your father,” he says, with a slight chuckle as he carries a handful of things over to the bed, placing them next to me and sitting next to them. “Take your cloak off and pull your right arm sleeve up.” I do what he asks and place the cloak on the pillow. Darth taps the inside of my arm a few times before sliding a needle inside and taping it down. The needle has a long tube connected to it, that goes into a jar.
“Are all these clean?” I ask, seeing that the jar isn’t a great colour and doubt the needle is.
“Clean as we can get when we are poor and not in the castle. Your dragon blood will keep you alive, do not worry. You aren’t human after all,” he says, watching my blood pour into the jar. I decide to leave it for now. It doesn’t much matter, like he said, and I have to stop thinking like a human. I remember his comment about Tatarina and decide to answer it.
“Tatarina would sooner kill me than tell me anything about my mother. Not that I could trust a word she speaks, anyway,” I say, still not fully processing the fact that mine and Thorne’s mothers were so close.
“There isn’t much to tell, not much you do not already know. Vivian was kind and gentle . . . and honestly, not built to be a queen. She couldn’t make the hard decisions, and a simple life would have been better for her, but she was oh, so beautiful. No man could resist her, much like her daughter seems to have caught the hearts of many also,” he says, not looking at me as he stares out of the window, lost in his thoughts and likely his memories. I instantly feel jealous that I can’t see his memories of my mother.
“Do you think someone kind and gentle shouldn’t have the throne?” I ask.
“No, someone who is brave, selfless, strict, and kind should have the throne. They would be best to make the decisions they will face. Yet, we cannot get all those things in one person,” he muses.
“I have to take the throne back from Tatarina,” I whisper into the now silent room.
“Yes, but it will not be easy. Tatarina was one of the selected before she became queen, and her son later killed the king.” I go to correct him, that Tatarina killed my father, but decide not to as I don’t want to interrupt him. “She has always been in power and knows Dragca better than anyone else. Well, perhaps not as well as her son, but he is not strong enough to rule and kill his mother.” I don’t directly reply, but when he looks over at me, I know he feels my agreement to his statement in my eyes. Thorne is smart, but he cares too much for his mother to do what is right in the end. He is blinded when it comes to her, and I’m anxious about telling him what I know of his mother, worried he won’t believe me.
“Why is she like this?” I have to ask, because I want to understand what happened to make her so cruel. She sent someone to kill my mother, a childhood friend, and then she mated to the husband left behind. Only someone truly evil could do something like that. Only someone with no soul.
“Some say a dark spirit came to her on the day of the royal mating between your father and mother. Her jealousy, hate, and anger called out to the dark spirit, and since then her heart has been darkened. I truly believe it. I saw Tatarina a few years back, and even her appearance is darker than it’s ever been. Her blonde hair is a mustard colour, and her light-blue eyes are now a dark-blue.”
> “So, the dark spirit, the darkness has changed her?” I ask.
“Yes, and I believe when you start using your light powers, you will change, too,” he says, and I wonder if he is right. I guess I will know soon, when I finally get the time to start using the light. I may be scared of its unpredictability, but I’m not stupid enough not to recognize that I can’t beat Tatarina without it.
“Can any part of her be saved?” I ask, thinking only of Thorne. She is still his mother, and I know what it’s like to lose one. Thorne has already lost his birth father, his adoptive parents, and his aunt. Even if most of them deserved their deaths, he doesn’t deserve to lose another relative if it can be avoided.
“He is better off without her alive. The world is. Child, I know little of light and dark spirits, but where there is one, there must be another,” he smiles, looking down at the jar that is half full.
“The darkness must be destroyed,” I whisper, and he flashes me a sad smile.
“You cannot destroy something that has existed before Dragca, before life, before even time, itself. Darkness and light are equally needed and equally cursed by one another,” he tells me, but still seems sad to do so. I don’t reply as I look out the window he was looking out of, seeing the two suns high in the sky and how bright they look. Sun comes before the night, and light comes with darkness. God, my life is starting to sound like a movie, and I won’t be surprised if something else goes wrong at this point.
Chapter Six
Isola
“How is Korbin doing?” I ask groggily, lifting my head from the pillow as Melody steps into the room with a small tray full of food. I rub my arm as Bee flies out of her bag, coming over to me and landing on my hip. She sits down as Melody puts the food on the dresser. I’m not really hungry because the blood loss is making me feel sick, but I will try to eat later.