by Meara Platt
“Cadeyrn,” she softly repeated his name, hoping he would appear.
She clutched her stomach as it began to roil and painfully twist. In truth, she hadn’t felt quite herself all day, though she’d done her best to hide her growing discomfort from Cadeyrn. He had demons to worry about, and in any event, she had just chopped off a dragon’s tail … surely she could manage an upset stomach on her own.
But the ache that had started as a mild, gnawing discomfort shortly after the midday meal was now so pervasive she couldn’t shake the chill that ran deep within her bones. Her legs were also weak and shaking, so she leaned against the kitchen table for support. Not even the tea brewed by her mother earlier in the day and again after supper had helped. If anything, she now felt worse.
She withdrew a handkerchief from the lacy sleeve of her gown and used it to mop away beads of cold sweat that had formed across her brow. “Pull yourself together, Melody,” she chided.
That tea had left a bitter taste in her mouth, not a metallic sort of aftertaste as one might find when drinking a young tea, but the sickly sort of queasiness one experienced when eating rancid meat. She’d spilled out the rest of it and eaten a sweet bun to overpower the awful taste, but that hadn’t helped at all, nor had her attempts to summon her healing powers.
Some savior she was, unable to muster a single healing spell. Not a single one. Not even a glimmer of golden light. She wiped her hand once again across her damp brow. How could Cadeyrn believe she was capable of saving his realm?
Another pang shot through her, and with it came the realization that she may not be the one in actual distress. She gasped. Was Cadeyrn hurt? Bleeding? Was she feeling his pain?
She wanted to help him, but didn’t know how. She was Melody, a simple vicar’s daughter. The Fae called her The Melody, slayer of dragons. The Melody, who loved their Fae king beyond measure … a boundless love … a love strong enough to change their world.
Her world looked exactly as it always had.
As for Cadeyrn’s world, she didn’t know how to enter it without him. He’d always guided her through the faerie portals.
Worried, but knowing there was nothing she could do about it, she left the kitchen and slowly climbed the stairs to her bedchamber. Perhaps a portal would open up there … please, not a demon portal. The Dragon Lords and their minions, sensing ripples of change, had already made several attempts on her life.
Perhaps her physical unease was caused by the gnawing realization that she was about to meet her doom. Her head began to spin … she didn’t want to die.
She made her way to her bedchamber, quietly closed the door behind her, crossed to her bed, and quickly drew back the covers. She crawled into bed with a moan and drew the covers over her head, wanting to hide beneath them forever. Some fierce warrior she’d turned out to be!
A violent wave of nausea shot through her. “Cadeyrn, where are you?”
This time, she was really worried.
Cadeyrn was too brave for his own good. All those years of fighting had turned him into a warrior, a battle-hardened king, strong in body and mind. He was confident and fearless, engaging his enemies in battle and embracing each victory. The fiercer the battle, the better, and the coming battles would be fierce, for the Dragon Lords feared their reign of terror was at an end.
Wounded animals were dangerous when trapped. Everyone knew that. These Dragon Lords were trapped and desperate. Lord Bloodaxe had risked his life to catch a glimpse of her. Lord Necros had lost his dragon tail because of her. Lord Brihann, High King of the Dragon Lords, had tried and failed to kill her. What would they do next?
“You’re biting your lip again,” Cadeyrn said, drawing back her coverlet and tipping her face upward to meet his grin.
“You’re here! Let me look at you,” she said, instantly warmed by his presence. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
He shook his head and laughed. “Not a mark on me.” He gently nudged her hands away when she sat up and tried to lay them on his chest. “Rather a dull evening. Not a demon to be found anywhere in my realm.”
“That should make you wary. They’re desperate and—”
“I know,” he said with quiet assurance.
Melody let out a ragged sigh. “Cadeyrn, I … I don’t know what to say. I have all these feelings welling up inside of me and trying to spill out at once. What if this is our last moment together? We can’t—”
He put a finger to her lips. “It isn’t. Have faith in me, Melody.”
She nodded. “I do.”
He gazed at her a long moment, his grin fading into a frown. “You look pale. What’s happened?”
“Nothing. I was just worried about you.”
“That’s all?”
She nodded and forced a smile. “I’m much better now that I know you’re unharmed.”
“Good. Come, take a look at this.” He drew her to the window and glanced up at the moon. “By tomorrow night we shall have a full moon unlike any you’ve ever seen before. It will be bigger and brighter than any that ever came before it and rather than shine silver, it will shine a dark, ruby red. A blood red,” he said with an unmistakable aura of gloom to his voice. “That moon will mark the onset of the Fae time of reckoning. Melody, you have to make your decision. Will you help me lead my subjects out of our dark years? You know that without you, we shall be conquered by the Dragon Lords and lose our souls.”
The cursed tea chose that moment to roil violently within Melody’s stomach, but she managed to suppress it before Cadeyrn noticed. Goodness! She couldn’t even hold down food or drink. How could she protect him or his Fae subjects from eternal darkness?
“I believe in you, Melody. All Fae do. The only one who doubts is you.” He drew her against his chest and closed his arms around her. His soothing, masculine heat enveloped and warmed her. She melted against him, making no protest when he ran his fingers gently through her hair. “Believe in yourself.”
He was asking too much.
The words of the Draloch Prophecy were clear, no matter how much Cadeyrn tried to deny it, and only by sacrificing her life would he be free of the Fae curse.
“I’m scared, Cadeyrn. I’m not ready for this.”
“Nor were you ready for Necros, but you defeated him.”
“You distracted him. You can’t distract an entire army of demons.”
“I won’t have to. We only need to defeat the Dragon Lords. Without them, their armies will surrender to us. Five Dragon Lords, that’s it. And one of them,” he said, referring to Bloodaxe, “will likely remain neutral and not engage us in battle. See? Now we’re down to four.”
She shook her head, her cheek rubbing against his lightly thumping heart. “Four fire-breathing dragons. Four immensely powerful creatures of the dark. You want me to be brave and face them, but I’m a coward. You’re The One, the knight in shining armor meant to rescue the Fae. It isn’t me. I’m just the sacrificial log to be thrown into the Dragon Lords’ fire. I don’t want to die that way.”
Cadeyrn gripped her by the shoulders when she tried to push away from him. “Melody, you have to trust me.”
“I do, but I’m still afraid to die.”
“You won’t be alone. I’ve pledged to protect you.”
“By binding your fate to mine at the Stone of Draloch? I don’t want either of us to die. Isn’t there something more that you can tell me? Something to make me braver or give me hope?”
He glanced at the moon and then returned his gaze to her. “No.”
“Perhaps another clue buried in the prophecy?”
“No, Melody.” He abruptly released her and drew away. Now frowning at her, he crossed his arms over his chest as though to close off further conversation at the very moment she needed him to open up to her. She was overwhelmed and needed his help to do the right thing. “It’s up to you and me. Don’t falter now. We’re so close.”
“This is about you, not me. This is your fate. Your prophecy. I have a way out.
Lord Babcock intends to propose to me and I’ve decided to accept him.”
The words, as they left her lips, were as shocking to her as they obviously were to Cadeyrn. Until this moment, she had never seriously considered marrying Lord Babcock.
Cadeyrn said nothing for a long moment, just stared at her as though she’d plunged a knife into his heart. Finally, he spoke with unexpected calmness. “Melody, don’t. He isn’t right for you.”
“And you are? Cadeyrn, this is me. The true me. Cowardly, hysterical, and shaking so badly I can hardly stand. I don’t want to face any more demons. I want a normal life. Any woman would think herself fortunate to receive an offer from Lord Babcock. He’s handsome, he’s kind, and he can offer me a safe life. Right now, the prospect of marriage to him is awfully tempting.”
“So, that’s it? You’ll just run away?”
“Can you blame me?”
“No,” he said, but his Fae eyes blazed a fiery blue as intense as the battles he’d fought over the thousands of years of his life. “He hasn’t offered for you yet. For your sake, I hope he never will.”
“Hah! For my sake? Don’t you mean for yours? That’s a cruel thing to say to me.”
“Not cruel, just honest. And what of my offer? I’m willing to make you my queen, to honor you above all others and respect our wedding vows.”
“But marriage to you also means my death,” she said with an insistent shake of her head. “If I were to accept you, how long would we have together? An hour? A day? And then I die.”
“Not if I can help it.” He eased his stance and sighed. “Marriage to Lord Bad Cock would be a living death for you. I know you, Melody. I know you love me and cannot give your precious heart to another. Admit it to yourself, if not to me.”
She stuck her chin into the air. “One needn’t be in love to marry. Most marriages are those of convenience. My parents had a rare love marriage, but my mother has since moved on and lives quite amicably with Vicar Axwell.”
“And you believe you can do the same? As I said, I know you, Melody. You’ll never give your body to a man you don’t love, though it will be your duty to do so as his wife. What do you think will happen between you and Lord Bad Cock on your wedding night?”
“His name is Babcock,” she retorted, angry at Cadeyrn and his demon world, but mostly angry at herself, for this discussion was bringing out her true nature. She wasn’t proud of the young woman she saw, a coward who thought only of herself.
“What will you do when he comes to your bed and seeks his husbandly rights?”
Her head began to throb. “I don’t know. I’ll think of something.”
She felt trapped, not only by Cadeyrn but also by her desire to deny all feelings she had for him. She wanted to run away.
Cadeyrn wouldn’t let her.
“Melody, he’ll expect the marriage to be consummated. Think before you do something foolish. Your English laws do not permit you to get out of a bad marriage. How will you manage for the rest of your days?”
“Stop it! I’ll think of something.”
“What if he demands his husbandly rights every night?”
“He won’t! Marriages of convenience don’t work that way.”
“The marriage may be of convenience to you, but will be quite inconvenient for him if he truly loves you.”
“But you don’t believe he does. You’re twisting everything because you want the dark years to end, you want those horrid nightly battles to end, and you’re willing to sacrifice me for it,” she accused, trying to hold back the tears that were already streaming down her cheeks. “The stupid tragedy of it is that I—”
She was about to admit she would die for him … if he loved her. But he didn’t love her. All he ever spoke about was her love for him. “What you really want is for the prophecy to come true so you can reign happily ever after with Edain.”
He seemed genuinely surprised. “What?”
Not even she believed the words that had just sprung from her lips, but she was scared and unsettled, and the tea tasted unbearably bitter in her mouth, and even her tears tasted bitter as they slid onto her lips.
“Come with me, Melody. There’s a place I wish to show you.”
She resisted when he took her hand. “Is this another of your Fae tricks?”
Before she could utter a protest, he drew her tightly into his arms and whirled her through one of his Fae portals. They ended up in an open meadow, standing beneath a nighttime sky, the sort of crisp, black sky one might find in winter when the glittering stars resemble snowflakes, when the cold north wind feels thin and fragile and one can almost hear grass crackle like icicles beneath one’s feet.
She didn’t feel a bit cold, for Cadeyrn still held her in his arms.
She never felt cold when in his arms.
Cadeyrn eased his hold on her, but did not let go. Instead, he turned her so that her back leaned against his solid chest and his arms were a blanket of warmth around her shoulders. She let out a breath and saw its chill trail vanish into the air.
“What is this place?” she asked, staring into the darkness and making out a shadowy circle of large stones that jutted upward toward the sky, shimmering stones that appeared to dance under the silver strands of moonlight that reflected off them.
“It’s called Dragon’s Hearth.”
Melody gasped and her heart began to pound with a deep thud, thud. Her fingers curled into clenched fists. Hearth … fire … dragon … her own fiery death. “Why have you brought me here?”
“To talk.”
She felt an inexplicable sense of betrayal, as though Cadeyrn had plotted to bring her here all along, intending to sacrifice her to Brihann and his Dragon Lords. She, trusting fool that she was, had put up no resistance. “Why here? Oh, Cadeyrn! How could you do this to me?”
She suddenly wanted to lift one of those massive stones and smash it against Cadeyrn’s head.
“Melody, stop it!” he ordered, giving her a little shake that did nothing to quiet her rising panic. “I’ll never betray you. I’ve pledged my life to you. How can you believe I would ever harm you? Look at me.” He turned her to face him, cupping her chin in his palm when she tried to avert her gaze. “Look at me!”
“Very well, but I still can’t see you. It’s too dark out here.”
“You’ll see me in the light of truth if you look within your heart. Close your eyes.”
“No!”
“What’s wrong with you? I sense so much doubt in you … and suddenly such violence in your thoughts. If you hate me so much, then go ahead. Lift that stone and smash it over my arrogant Fae head. You have the power to do it. I won’t stop you.”
“Don’t tempt me. I just might.”
“Then go ahead.” He glanced at the circle of stones, and then looked back at her and frowned. “You needn’t be ashamed of what you’re thinking. Do it. Pick one up and drop it on me.” He pointed to his brow. “Right here.”
“Is that a dare? Because I will!” She jerked out of his grasp and turned toward the largest stone, gasping as it was suddenly bathed in a golden light. She held out her hand. The stone lifted slightly off its foundation and began to spin in a circle. She raised her arm. The stone flew upward into the air.
Melody quickly lowered her arm and thrust it behind her back.
The stone dropped back into its foundation.
“What trick is this?” she asked, barely able to hear the words she spoke above the thunderous beat of her heart.
“No trick. Love gives you power. Boundless love … boundless power.”
“I don’t love you!” she cried, but offered no resistance when Cadeyrn took her hands into his and began to gently stroke them with his thumbs. “I don’t want to love you, Cadeyrn. I don’t. I don’t. Why did you bring me here, if not to sacrifice me to the Dragon Lords?”
“To help you better understand your powers and theirs. Melody, I saw you clutching your stomach earlier. Does it still pain you?”
&n
bsp; She nodded.
“The Dragon Lords have weapons at their disposal besides demons, soul catchers, and fire. I think they’ve fed you a poison to harden your heart toward me. You weren’t speaking out of fear or anger just now. That tea I saw your mother give you earlier, did it taste bitter?”
She nodded again. “Very.”
“No doubt it contained ash from here, Dragon’s Hearth.”
Was he suggesting that her mother had poisoned her tea? She felt a burning anger surge once more from deep within her. “My mother loves me. She’d never do such a thing.”
“I know, Melody. The vicar must have placed some ash in the tea your mother used. Perhaps it is the reason for her recent dizzy spells. Now you’ve both taken this tainted brew and suffered its ill effects.”
Melody’s eyes rounded in surprise. “Take me back home. I must warn her.”
“No. She’s in no immediate danger, I promise you. She’ll recover once she stops taking the tea. But you’re different. You won’t recover so easily. What I must show you here and now is important. Listen and learn, for this is how you’ll heal from a demon’s poison.” He led her into the circle of stones and knelt beside a small cluster of ash and rocks that appeared no more than remnants of a campfire. He reached in and picked up a fistful of ashes. “This is where the Dragon Lords stood in that ancient time and pledged to destroy the Fae. The poison is made here, in the scorched earth of this fire.”
She tried not to breathe deeply. Indeed, she tried not to breathe at all, but the pungent scent of burnt wood and traces of burnt flesh filled her nostrils. “Is there a cure for it?”
“None to speak of.”
“Then why show me this place?”
“To help you conquer the poison you’ve ingested. It is only as strong as you allow it to be.”
“Me? How can I cure myself?”
“Simply by willing it.”
She shook her head in disbelief.
“Why do you still doubt? These stones were placed here by the Dragon Lords five thousand years ago, embedded so deep into the surrounding earth that they’ve remained immovable and untouched by weather, time, or the destructive hand of man. Yet, you just moved that stone with the mere wave of your hand.” He drew her close, his breath warm as he whispered against her ear. “You’re strong, Melody. Stronger than any of your kind, stronger than any Fae or demon. Nothing can harm you, so long as you believe in yourself.”