by Emma Hamm
“Well, I suppose I’ve never met a single one.” Beauty shrugged. “Unless they were in hiding and I didn’t know what they were, of course.”
“As someone who has met many magical creatures and spent a large portion of my life among them, I can tell you with utmost certainty that they are not terrifying.” She lifted her arm and reached for the bottle of soap Beauty had placed next to her. “Most of them want to be left alone to their own devices. Unfortunately, as mortals grow in numbers, that means a lot of their lands are lost.”
“Oh. That’s quite sad.”
“It is.” She dunked her head under the water before Beauty could see her expression. Lore was too tired to hide her real feelings right now. She didn’t want the young woman to see just how impacted she was by their conversation.
But, as she came up for air and slicked her hair back from her face, she noticed that Beauty’s eyes had widened and her mouth had dropped open.
Lore hadn’t ever let her guard down so easily. Maybe it was the couple of days in the dungeon that had made her so lax. Or perhaps she liked Beauty so much that she’d forgotten to hide. Whatever it was, she had moved her hair away from her ears and that was it. The gig was up.
Beauty reached out a shaking hand and touched the tip of Lorelei’s ear. “So that’s why you feel for them more than the others.”
She had never been so terrified in her entire life. This young woman, this young mortal woman, now held her life in her hands. All Beauty had to do was tell a single Umbral Knight and everything would crumble around Lorelei’s shoulders.
“I can’t have anyone know,” she whispered. “I’m not even a full elf.”
“I don’t think anyone would mind.” Beauty paused, then sighed. “I suppose that’s a lie, isn’t it? They would mind, and they’d use it to their advantage. You’ve got the King’s attention now. Even when he met with me, all he talked about was the woman who’d saved him. I don’t think he remembered he put you in the dungeon, though.”
That sounded like the King. Lore wouldn’t be surprised if he had changed the story in his head so that she’d saved his life because she loved him, and he’d put her in a rose-filled room rather than a dirty dungeon.
“I really can’t have anyone knowing, Beauty. He’ll feed me to the dragon and then everything will be over.” She couldn’t tell the other woman about the murderous reason she was here. Even though she had started to trust Beauty, it was too much for her to know. She was too young to handle that kind of knowledge.
Besides, she’d already told one person. That was enough.
“Well,” Beauty tilted her head to the side and chuckled. “At least you know there’s one person here who isn’t going to automatically give up any magical creature she finds.”
Much to Lore’s surprise, Beauty reached into her pocket and pulled out the tiny, glowing pixie. The little one chirped in happiness, then sat down on the edge of the bath and dangled her legs over the edge. Even though she didn’t reach the water.
“You knew about the pixie?” she asked in awe.
“No, I didn’t. But when I first came to your room after the Umbral Knights dragged you away, this one crawled out from under the bed before she realized who I was.” Beauty smiled down at the small pixie, and that was the moment Lore realized.
This woman had the kindest heart. She wasn’t faking it or lying. There was so much kindness in her being that it overflowed and overwhelmed sometimes. But it was real.
How many people had Lore met who were actually real?
“You’re too kind for this place,” she muttered, then sank down until the water touched her chin. “They’re going to eat you alive.”
“Maybe. But then I never would have met you.” Beauty crossed her hands in her lap and bit her lip. “Do you know who I was before all this? My father was just a dressmaker. He worked on fabric and outfits, but he didn’t make a lot of money. I was slated to become a ladies’ maid and never have a family of my own. Which suited me well enough because I… well… Men…” She cleared her throat. “This is my chance to be something. Or someone. Or... know someone important.”
“You’re important all on your own.”
“Oh, don’t try to make me feel better about all of it. I know the King won’t pick me, and I don’t know why I stepped in front of the arrow. It wasn’t for attention or anything like that. Honestly, I don’t think I like him enough to sacrifice myself for him, or any man.” Beauty shrugged. “It was the right thing to do. Regardless of the person. But anyway, he’s not going to pick me looking like this. You, however, I think you could become the new Queen of Umbra.”
“So that’s why you’re friends with me?” Lorelei asked, her lips twitching.
“Hush.” Beauty leaned down and flicked water into her face. “I’m friends with you because I owe you my life. You saved me, remember? A couple times now.”
“Ah, of course. That’s the only reason.” Lorelei shook her head and tried to let go of the remaining tension in her chest. “Are you staying the night, then?”
“I thought the three of us could have a slumber party. And after everything you’ve been through, I thought you might not want to be alone tonight.”
She didn’t. Because tomorrow would be even harder. But tonight she would wrap herself in the laughter of newfound friends.
Tomorrow, she would set about making a plan to kill the King.
Chapter 19
Abraxas
She was an elf.
Abraxas couldn’t stop thinking about that. She was a damned elf, and he hadn’t even noticed it.
Of course she was. He hadn’t thought to check her ears when Zander had chosen her to be one of his brides, but that wasn’t something any of them had thought of. No magical creature would be quite so courageous as to walk into the castle without at least trying to hide what they were.
She had, he supposed. She’d kept her hair over her ears and no one had been any wiser.
How had he missed it?
He twisted his serpentine body around the pile of gold that he’d gathered around himself and mulled over what to do next. He knew she was trying to kill the King. She’d told him that much. And she was part of the rebellion, a group he hadn’t heard of until lately and yet now he wanted to know more about. How long had they been working to kill the King? Longer than he’d been protecting Zander? That seemed unlikely.
But maybe this had all been happening under his nose. Maybe the great Abraxas, the crimson dragon, had missed key details that a group of people were trying to kill the man he protected.
He wouldn’t let her kill the King until he knew how to take those eggs away from Zander. Her speech in the dungeons had wiggled underneath his skin and, yes, he’d fallen for it. But in the days that passed, he knew he couldn’t let her do anything until the Umbral Kingdom at least had an heir.
Now, there were plenty of women around to beget an heir. Mortal women were fragile, however, and a pregnant woman didn’t mean that she or the child would survive. If the King died without a wife, however, then the throne would likely go to his first bastard son. The Umbral Knights were bound to a bloodline, not to the throne. They’d help the child take over the kingdom if no one called them off.
Which stood to reason that all he needed was to convince Zander to take one of the women to bed, perhaps multiple of them, to ensure a child was actually born. Then he had to convince Lorelei and the rebellion to wait at least nine months, and then the eggs were safe. He could take them and disappear to rebuild the kingdom that the dragons had once controlled.
It was a shaky plan at best. He knew that.
“Are you even listening to me?” Zander snapped. “Abraxas, it’s like your head is elsewhere and I really need you to focus.”
He didn’t want to focus on a king who rambled about nothing. Still, he shifted his long neck so he could stare blankly at the mortal man pacing on the cliff. “Another plan, Zander? The last one didn’t work out so well.”
> “The last one worked perfectly. We know who the young woman is that’s most likely to save me in the event of an attack. And that woman is quite beautiful, if I do say so myself.” Zander kicked a pile of gold coins beside him. “The problem is that she was too good at fighting. Her reflexes rival that of the Umbral Knights, and I want to know how.”
“I already told you. She trained with her father, who used to be a knight in your father’s army. He was a renowned warrior who had no sons. She had an unusual upbringing, that much is certain, but she does not work for the rebellion.”
Abraxas was quite pleased with the lie he’d cooked up. After all, it was the most believable story that he had managed yet. A young woman, down on her luck. A father who had served the previous king with more dedication and luck than any other. The story would tear at the hearts of most, but the King cared little for others.
“Yes, yes,” Zander muttered. “That’s right. You said that she had trained with the best. And you’re certain you got the truth out of her?”
For effect, he opened his mouth so his shining teeth were on blunt display. Smoke coiled up from his chest and erupted from his nostrils and between his teeth. “Yes, I’m certain.”
“Oh, enough with that.” Zander waved a hand in front of his face as though the smoke smelled. “If you’re so certain she can be trusted, then I suppose there’s no reason to assume she cannot. Then the only other option is to continue the plan as I have suggested.”
“I fail to see how a hunt will prove anything about any young woman on it.” Abraxas hated it when Zander hunted, anyway. It was always such fanfare that no one ever caught a single thing. They made too much noise, and Abraxas hated to hunt without capturing his prey.
“Because I need to know my bride will not be boring, Abraxas. Who wants to be married to a woman who sits and embroiders all day? I want to take her on adventures! I want a woman who can hunt by my side!” He jabbed his fists in the air like he fought off an invisible foe. “Don’t you agree?”
“I do not know what kind of bride you want, sire.”
Zander sighed. “Yes, you’re horribly boring like that. Would you just agree with what I’m saying? The ladies are going to love it. I will remain safe and sound under your watchful eye, and the rest of us will do our best not to be gored by a boar. How does that sound?”
“Fitting enough.”
“Good.” Zander shook his head, then rolled his eyes for good measure. “You have to make everything difficult, Abraxas! Can’t you just enjoy the fun we’re all going to have? Everything has to be such a chore with you.”
He watched the King leave with no small amount of distaste burning in his mouth. Abraxas didn’t want to hunt. He wanted to speak with a certain young woman who had consumed his thoughts.
Why couldn’t he do both?
He slithered over the gold, ignoring the sound of clinking metal, and allowed the powers inside him to drift back into a mortal form. Crouching with his hands in the gold, he watched the last lingering scales disappear from the smooth skin of his hand.
He’d never get used to that. No matter how many times he changed from dragon to man, it always felt like he was losing a part of himself. As though he had to give something up to become mortal again.
Straightening, he left the dragon’s cavern and hoped that Zander didn’t have more to say to him. At least the King had left the cavern stairwell and wasn’t lingering in the shadows to spy on his greatest pet.
The hallways were strangely silent. No women filled the corridors, giggling as he walked past them. No servants, even.
Had the King forgotten to tell him that they were all meeting? Or was something happening that he hadn’t been invited to?
Abraxas tried to control the anger that bubbled in his chest. Yes, he understood that Zander might want to entertain without his personal guard looming over him. But the entire point of having a personal guard was that he would be there to protect the King. At all times.
Giggles floated down the hall and he heard Zander’s voice calling out, “I’m going to find you, my flowers!”
What in the world was going on in this castle today?
A finger tapped his shoulder, and he turned with an arched brow. Whoever touched him was daring. But the lightning that sizzled down his back already warned him who it was.
Lorelei stood behind him, her dress a mass of pale, opal flowers that cascaded over her shoulders and down her hips. She was so lovely, like an elf who had wandered out of the forest in a dream.
He opened his mouth, then froze when she put her finger to her lips.
She slipped down the opposite hall and he followed her like she was a siren and he was a sailor. He couldn’t deny her anything at this moment when the scent of mint and mulberry floated through the air behind her. She was a lovely nymph in a forest of boring creatures who had never once piqued his interest.
Until her. Until this wonderful creature had walked into his life and he refused to let her out of his sight today.
Abraxas waited until they were at the servant’s exit before he whispered, “Why are we being so quiet?”
“The King wanted to play a game of hide and seek,” she breathed, her hand on the door. “All the potential brides are hiding. I didn’t want another bride to find us, or worse, have the King catch us and think we were... Having a moment together.”
Weren’t they? Having a moment, that was.
He didn’t think she meant a tryst in the shadows, but at the mischievous look in her eyes, perhaps she had meant just that. The King would turn green with envy if he caught Abraxas and the prettiest potential bride.
She slipped out of the door with a laugh bubbling after her. Abraxas raced out of the castle with a single thought in his mind.
He’d never heard someone sound so happy.
He’d never been so happy.
Together, they snuck away from the King’s games and the other women she was competing against. Instead, they had the afternoon with each other. An afternoon where he didn’t have to worry about Zander’s foolish plans or opinions.
Lorelei led him all the way to a small grove of birches on the very edge of the gardens. He thought it very likely that the gardeners had simply forgotten these existed. They were a lingering memory of the grand forest that used to be here for everyone to hunt and fish in. Until the King had come and decided this was where he wanted to build his giant castle.
He hummed low under his breath as she wrapped her arms around one of the trees, breathing hard from their flight. “Just where do you think you’re going? The King will find you if you try to run.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to run. You know I have work to do here.” She grinned and the wild tangle of her hair fell across her face.
He couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t stop himself. Abraxas reached forward and tucked the strands of hair behind her ears. The movement revealed delicate points, a clear sign of what she was. A sign she struggled to hide every day of her life.
“There you are,” he murmured. “I hardly slept at night wondering if you had pointed ears and I had just never noticed them.”
“Very few do. I’ve gotten rather good at hiding them.” She was obviously uncomfortable with his staring at said ears, but he couldn’t stop. Not now that he had seen her for what she really was.
“An elf,” Abraxas said with a laugh. “I never thought someone would be so brave that they would walk into the castle as a magical creature. Did you know I was consumed with fear for you all night?”
“No one knows what I am but you. I put my hair over my ears.” She stared up at him with those giant, seascape eyes, and he didn’t know what overcame him.
For the very first time in his life, someone looked at him. Just him. This woman didn’t want to know what the dragon wanted. She didn’t want to use his brute strength. Even though she’d been sent to the castle with murderous intent, she never asked for his help other than his silence.
The honor that took…
the courage…
One moment, he felt this overwhelming sensation of happiness. And the next, he had swooped down and pressed his lips to hers.
She was soft. Softer than anything he’d ever felt in his life. Lorelei froze underneath him for a moment before she suddenly turned into a spark that leapt from a flame. She launched into his arms and her kiss threatened to brand his very soul.
Abraxas wrapped an arm around her waist and the other around her back. He drew her against his chest, his soul weakening as she melted against him. He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t thought to kiss her or distract her from her purpose.
But she’d stood in that birch grove like the elves he remembered. She was something like a memory that stepped in front of him, or a ghost from an age he desperately missed.
Abraxas wrenched his lips from hers, breathing hard and shaking his head in denial. “I was not supposed to... You have distracted me so much. There are things I have to do as well. Duties. Responsibilities.”
She pressed her hand to his mouth and shook her head. “Not today, Abraxas. Today, let us be two people who found each other in the woods. Let us hide from the thoughts that lurk in the back of our mind. For an afternoon, that’s all I’m begging of you.”
And so he spent the afternoon with her. Kissing, certainly, but also laughing. She told him stories that the elves used to tell children, and she luxuriated in the sound of his mirth.
It was a facade. An afternoon of fictitious happiness and hope. But he enjoyed it while he could.
Chapter 20
Lore
She shouldn’t have kissed him. It complicated things.
But as Lore tightened the leather bindings over her chest, she knew it was the right thing to do. The personal guard of the King was a liability. He had only agreed to help her under tenuous circumstances, and she knew a reluctant man when she saw one.