by SJ West
"But you're my uncle," I said, instantly wondering why I bothered to feel surprised by this small bit of madness in his logic.
Ren shrugged. "Your people won't care. All they will see is safety in forging an alliance with Kamora, their saviors from the Fae. It's not unheard of, you know. Even brothers and sisters have married in royal families before to keep the power within a single dynasty."
I felt my mind begin to drift and found it difficult to concentrate on what Ren was telling me. It was almost like falling asleep, but I knew the consequences were far more dire. I thought about Aurora and tried to connect with her but found that impossible.
"Aurora," I heard myself whisper, but my voice sounded like it was coming from a great distance as it echoed within my mind.
"Oh, are you trying to communicate with your little pet dragon?" Ren asked me. "Yes, I had to break that particular connection. I’m sorry about the headaches, but I couldn't have her knowing where you were or what was happening to you. I laced the dresses Arisu made for you with a neurotoxin. After Arisu told me that wasn't enough to break your connection with the dragon, I had her inject you with a concentrated form of it this evening." I well remembered the pin that embedded itself in my shoulder while Arisu was helping me dress. "From what I understand, after you die, the dragon will die too. Quite fortunate really. I won't have to worry about her anymore either. It’s been a hassle keeping up the spell to shield the essence of my soul from her. I really couldn’t have her warning you to stay away from me, now could I?"
"But my friends will know I died if she does," I tried to reason.
"Easily enough explained," Ren said with a small shrug of his shoulders, obviously already having thought this part through. "I'll simply tell them that I found you just in time to restart your heart and bring you back to life. They won't care. As long as their beloved queen is still alive, they won't even question how such a miracle came about.”
"Monster," I whispered, closing my eyes for what I hoped wouldn't be the last time.
"I wouldn't call myself a monster," Ren said, having the audacity to sound offended. "A necromancer is what people generally term me as. I know what I want and have the power to make it happen. It seems as though I would be an idiot for not using my ambition and talent to further my own lot in life."
"Never...get....away..." I said, feeling my life force on the precipice of leaving my body, only to be controlled by a mad man.
"But I already have gotten away with it," Ren told me, leaning down over me to gently cup the top of my head with his right hand. "Now all you have to do is die to help me fulfill my destiny."
I heard a loud crash as the door to the cottage was blown inward, slamming against the opposite wall and clattering to the floor in what sounded like so much kindling.
I had just enough energy left to look at the now empty doorway and found Dracen standing there. A dark scowl marred his handsome face as he stared straight at Ren.
"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Dracen yelled, stretching out his arms and flinging his wrists toward Ren, propelling my murderer into the air.
Ren's body bounced off the ceiling and came crashing back down to the floor with a loud thud.
Arisu ran towards Dracen with the knife that was still in her hands, preparing to stab him with it, but Dracen was much faster. He flung one hand in her direction to cast a spell that slammed her back up against the far wall of the room. The force of the impact must have broken more than a few bones because I heard the distinct sound of multiple cracks.
Ren stood to his feet and held his hands out towards Dracen, presumably to use some magic of his own, but it was too little too late.
Dracen quickly knelt down on one knee to touch the floor. I instantly felt the earth beneath us begin to tremble violently, and I saw Ren lose his balance and concentration. The ground at Ren’s feet seemed to come alive as pillars of earth shot up to surround him. They twisted around his body like ribbons of a maypole, trapping his arms against his sides. They held him firmly in place as they pulled his body down. The earth swallowed him whole with only a scream to mark his passing.
Dracen ran over to me and untied my wrists.
"I have to stop this bleeding," he said in a panicked voice.
I watched as he looked around the room for some sort of aid in his quest to save my life. His search seemed to come to an abrupt halt when his gaze spied something in the fireplace. He ran over to it while removing his jacket and tearing off one of its sleeves. He wrapped the cloth around his right hand and reached into the fire.
When he came back to the table I was lying on, he said, "Please forgive me for what I'm about to do, but you've lost too much blood. You can't afford to lose anymore."
He leaned down and tenderly kissed me on the forehead.
“I’m so sorry,” he said as he brought up his wrapped hand, which was now holding the metal crossbar of the spit. Before I could even consider making a protest, he ran its tip along the slash on my arm closest to him to cauterize the wound.
Mercy pulled me into her arms and severed my connection to reality so I wouldn't have to endure Dracen closing the laceration on my other arm. I welcomed her sweet embrace and passed into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The weeping of a lost soul invaded my mind. I knew I was still asleep, but the cry was more real than anything I've ever experienced in a simple dream or even a buried memory from one of my predecessors. With each heart wrenching weep of this unknown figment, I could feel my chest tighten, as if each cry was turning the wheel of a vise around my heart. Flashes of light entered my dream-world, like distorted stars on a moving black canvas. Finally, I saw a figure floating among the pinpoints of light, but it's something I never could have prepared myself to see. A little girl with long blonde hair was partially submerged in the dark starry substance, drifting by with the help of an unseen force. I audibly heard my own deep intake of breath as I realized how much the figure resembled Dena.
“No!” I cried out, instantly waking up and sitting upright.
At first, I was disoriented by my surroundings but soon realized that I was somewhere safe. I found myself in my bedroom on the airship.
“Sarah!” I heard Aurora cry out, our mental connection with one another apparently restored. I looked down on my lap and found her looking up at me. “Oh Sarah, I thought I'd lost you.”
Aurora leaned her little body up against my abdomen as though she were giving me a hug.
I lifted my right hand to cradle her back, hoping it brought her some much needed comfort. The anguish she felt over almost losing me coursed through my veins as if it were my own. While I tried to comfort her, I noticed a white bandage tightly wound around the wrist of the hand I was using. A malodorous aroma came from the area of the bandage, which made me wonder if my skin was rotting off underneath it.
Fallon and Inara hastily entered the bedroom from the outer sitting room, apparently having heard my outcry. Inara immediately came to me and sat on my bedside, pulling me into her arms for an embrace but being careful not to smother Aurora between us. Fallon stood behind her and looked at me with a relieved expression on his face.
“Em,” Inara said to me as she pulled back to look me in my eyes, “you should lay back down and get some more rest. Did you shout because you’re hurting somewhere? Is there anything I can get you?”
I tried to swallow and answer but found it an almost impossible task because my mouth was so dry.
“Water.” I was finally able to say.
Inara immediately stood up and left the room, presumably to get me the elixir of life my body was crying out for.
Fallon walked over and took Inara’s spot on the bed by my side. He lifted a hand and gently pushed strands of hair away from my face, which had been matted into place by sweat.
“We thought for sure we would end up finding you dead somewhere after you flew out of the banquet hall like that,” he said. “And from what we were told, that's exac
tly what would have happened if Dracen hadn't found you when he did.”
“Where?” I rasped, looking past the open doorway hoping Fallon understood what I was truly asking.
“Dracen's fine. I'm sure he'll be in here as soon as he hears you're awake. I think what happened took a lot out of him. He told us he needed some time to rest.”
Inara reentered the room with a glass of water. She brought the glass over to me and lifted it to my lips so I could comfortably sip from it.
“Thank you,” I told her, finding strength in my voice again.
I lifted both my wrist up to look at them and found that each was bound by white bandages.
“Sora had her healers make some sort of poultice and put it on your wounds,” Fallon told me. “Sorry about the smell, but they said it would diminish the scarring.”
“How was Dracen able to find me?” I asked them.
I saw Inara look at Fallon with uncertainty, like maybe she wasn't sure I needed to know the answer to my question just yet.
“Tell me,” I demanded, needing to know now more than ever.
“While we were searching the grounds to make sure you hadn't just been taken somewhere nearby,” Fallon said, “Dracen went to your room in the palace and tore it apart until he turned up what he needed to cast a locating spell to find you.”
“What was in my room that helped him do that?” I asked.
“It was a needle with some of your blood on it,” Fallon replied, as if this small fact bothered him.
An image of Arisu helping me into my dress for the feast flits through my mind, and I remember the straight pin that embedded itself in my shoulder. According to my Uncle, it was meant to give me a large dose of the neurotoxin he used to sever my mental ties with Aurora.
“How did he use that to find me?”
“That...was the weird part,” Inara said. “After he found the pin, he poked his own finger with it like he was mixing his blood with yours. Then, he cast some kind of spell that showed us exactly where to find you.”
“Dracen forced a guard to fly him to Sora’s sanctuary on one of the queen’s mechanical dragons,” Fallon told me. “Inara and I followed as soon as we could in the airship, but by the time we got there, Dracen had already killed your uncle and Arisu. We brought you back in the airship and have kept you here ever since. I think we all feel more at ease with you here instead of in the palace, considering what happened.”
“Did Dracen tell you what my uncle was?”
Fallon nodded. “Yes, a necromancer. Apparently, as soon as Dracen killed your uncle, his spell over your grandfather was broken. The emperor is now officially dead. May he rest in a peace that was denied him for far too long.”
“How many people know the truth about what happened?”
“Sora is keeping it quiet,” Fallon said. “With the emperor and your uncle dead, she officially has full control over Kamora now. I think she wants to keep it that way.”
“How has she explained what happened to my uncle to her people?”
“She basically told everyone the truth. She just omitted the necromancy part of the tale.”
I laid back on my pillows feeling tired all of a sudden.
“We should leave you alone so you can get some more rest,” Fallon said, preparing to stand up.
I reached out and gently grabbed his arm to stop him.
“I would feel better if you stayed,” I said, not wanting him to leave my side just yet.
I heard Inara clear her throat, drawing our attention.
“I’ll go find Dracen,” she told us, giving me a conspiratorial wink as she looked between Fallon and me. “He’ll want to know that you’re awake.”
After Inara left the room, Fallon covered the hand I had on his arm with one of his own.
“How are you really feeling?” He asked with worry in his voice.
“Considering the fact that I almost died, I think I’m holding up fairly well.”
“I think we should leave Kamora as soon as possible,” Fallon said in disgust. “They couldn’t even keep their own emperor safe from his son. I sure as hell don’t trust them to keep you safe anymore. We got what we came for here. I don’t see any reason to stay.”
“I agree with Fallon,” Aurora said, taking a seat on my lap and looking up at me beseechingly. “We should leave before someone actually does succeed in killing us.”
“Could you feel me dying?” I asked her.
“Yes,” Aurora admitted. “I wasn’t sure what was happening at first, but when my heart began to beat at a slower rate, I knew you were on the brink of death. I just don’t understand how he fooled me. I’m usually a better judge of character.”
“He said he used a spell to keep his true nature hidden from you,” I told her, not wanting her to feel guilt over something she couldn’t have prevented. “It wasn’t your fault, Aurora. He fooled all of us.”
“But I should have known better,” Aurora said, sounding disappointed in herself.
“Well, he’s dead now,” I reasoned. “It really doesn’t matter anymore. Please, stop blaming yourself. It wasn't anyone's fault.”
I return my full attention to Fallon.
“I agree,” I said. “There’s no reason for us to stay here any longer. We should head for the dragon island as soon as we can. There’s no chance of victory in this war without their help in containing Nuala's dragon corp. How much time have we lost? How long have I been asleep?”
“It’s only been about 12 hours since we found you,” Fallon reassures me. “We haven't lost much time at all.”
“Good,” I said, feeling relieved by this news. “We need to get back to Iron City as soon as we can. I need to see Dena.”
Fallon lowers his eyebrows at hearing my strident insistence to see my daughter again.
“Why? Do you feel like she's in some sort of danger there?”
“I'm not sure,” I admitted. “I had the strangest dream though. Honestly, I would just feel better if I was able to see her.”
“Then we'll leave as soon as the others get back,” Fallon said. “You've done your duty here. There's no reason to prolong our stay.”
Less than ten minutes passed before Inara returned with Dracen by her side. His reaction at seeing me awake was one of relief.
“It's good to see you conscious,” Dracen said, coming to stand at the foot of my bed.
“Thank you for saving me,” I told him. I looked at Fallon. “Would you and Inara mind giving us a moment of privacy?”
Fallon stood up, but didn't leave my side before leaning forward and kissing me on middle of the forehead.
“After your talk, get some rest,” he instructs me. “It'll take at least a couple of days to get to the dragon islands. I have a feeling you'll need all the strength you can muster before we reach them.”
I nodded, letting him know I heard his words.
After Inara and Fallon left, I turned my full attention to Dracen.
“How were you able to use my blood to find me, Dracen?” I asked, watching his reaction to my question carefully.
“I'm a sorcerer,” he said with a shrug. “It's one of my many talents.”
“Inara said you mixed your blood with mine to cast the locating spell. Why?”
“My blood contains certain properties which can amplify my magic. I knew we needed to locate you as soon as possible. So, I used everything at my disposal to find you.”
“He speaks the truth,” Aurora said hesitantly, “but I sense he still isn't telling you all he knows.”
“Why do you continue to hide things from me?” I asked.
Dracen lowered his gaze from mine for a fraction of a second, adding fuel to my speculation that all was not as he would lead me to believe between the two of us. Earlier in the trip, when I asked him how I could have buried memories of him, he simply dismissed them as being manifestations of the stressful circumstances I found myself in. Yet, I knew in my heart that he was holding the truth back from me.
“Sometimes people have to do what they believe to be right,” Dracen finally answered. “Trust me when I tell you that I only have your best interest in mind. There are things that should never be discussed. You know that old adage about 'some things are better left alone'?”
I nodded, having heard it before.
“Stop asking so many questions,” Dracen said, his voice holding a warning. “Sometimes nothing good can come from trying to dig deeper into something that is simply better left alone.”
“Are you ever going to tell me the whole truth?” I asked.
Dracen raised an eyebrow at me. “Not if I can help it.”
Dracen shifted his weight from one leg to the other and looked out the open doorway, most likely watching Inara and Fallon.
“Your relationship with Fallon has grown I see,” he said with a tinge of worry before looking back at me. “Are you falling in love with him?”
“I'm not quite sure what business that is of yours.”
Dracen's lips stretched into a tight-lipped grin. “You're right. It's not any of my business. I just wonder if you've thought this relationship through. You're the Queen of Vankara. You don't have the luxury of marrying just anyone.”
“I think after this war is won the people of Vankara won't care who stands by my side. Besides, things are new between us. I have no way of knowing if they will progress to marriage. However, even if it did, I think Fallon would be a wise choice for a husband. As Queen's Marshal, he exemplifies strength. I think the people of Vankara will appreciate that, especially after this war. They'll want to know that their leaders will do whatever it takes to protect them from another invasion.”
“Your parliament might not agree with you.”
“I may not give them a choice.”
Dracen grinned more easily. “I have to say, I think you might be the most stubborn monarch it's been my pleasure to know.”