Emerald Rose

by Emma Hamm

  He tried to clear his mind enough to think of the place. “I know the name.”

  “It’s where your brother ruled. I know you don’t remember him, but you fought side by side for many years.”

  A brother? He’d seen two twins in his memories before, but they were not who the alchemist spoke of. Those two were made of light and happiness, not darkness and blood.

  This brother must have been one who shared the same soul as Raphael, two creatures who were never meant to see the sun.

  He snarled, “I remember nothing. But you know that.”

  The leader inclined his head. “If I could give you back your memories, I would. Perhaps then you would understand why we did what we did. Little Marsh has fallen.”

  “Fallen?” What games were the alchemists playing?

  “A woman, much like the one you now keep within your kingdom, destroyed all that the Dread have done. She came into the home of your brother. She tried to kill him, and then cast a spell upon him. We tried to stop her and to warn him, but all was lost.” The leader lifted his hands in defeat, the skeletal bones stark in the dim light. “She killed the first of our leaders. A powerful woman indeed.”

  “If she could kill him, then why didn’t she kill the Dread?”

  “She wanted to use your kind, Emperor. She took the King of the Dread in Little Marsh and made him her slave. Then, she turned the others.” A few of the alchemists behind their leader murmured their agreement. “We had to flee the kingdom. Thus, we sought you here to prevent whatever darkness might attack you.”

  The idea was laughable. They’d never been concerned with the wellbeing of the Dread. He understood very well that he was only a pawn in their game. Just as he’d told them Danielle was in his.

  The difference was that he lied. Danielle was far more than just a pawn, she was the queen behind everything. The strongest piece on the board.

  And perhaps they understood. Perhaps that was why they made up a story about how a woman had destroyed Little Marsh.

  The alchemist could see right through him. Their leader stepped closer, a brave move when an angered Dread shook with fury.

  “Listen to me, Emperor,” their leader said. “I know you don’t believe us. You don’t trust us and wish nothing more than to sever our heads from our bodies. But we gave you so much of our power to turn you into the monster you are now. This woman will be the end of you.”

  “She’s expressed no interest in harming a single hair on any Dread.”

  “Of course she hasn’t. Neither did the witch of Little Marsh! They don’t want to harm the Dread. They want to use the Dread, don’t you see?” The leader swept his arms around him, clearly trying to hide the fact that many of the alchemists were spreading out around the cave, trying to encircle him as they always did.

  He couldn’t imagine Danielle using the Dread for anything other than friendship. She had seen them and her expression was one only of awe and admiration.

  The leader began again, his tone coaxing and quiet. “Didn’t she ask you for something when you first met? Perhaps asked you to help her?”

  The words slipped off his tongue before he could catch them. “She wanted me to teach her to fight.”

  “Why?”

  “Because her father is the real monster in Hollow Hill.”

  The leader snapped his fingers, the sound harsh in the cavern. “You see? She wanted an army to fight her father. And you have an army. Once she changes you, curses you, beckons you to her side, then she can control the kingdom. Just as the witch in Little Marsh has done.”

  Raphael snapped out a wing and caught an alchemist trying to sneak behind him. He bared his teeth again and flexed his wing, launching the creature back into the caverns where the alchemist landed hard on its side. “Don’t play games with me.”

  “We’re not,” the leader snapped. “We’re trying to help you.”

  “As you’ve helped me for so many years? You play games, alchemist. That’s all you do. Threaten magic and pain, but you never do either. I don’t think you can even conjure the weakest of spells.”

  Some darkness warped deep in the folds of the alchemist’s robes. Flames burst into life all around the man. He was a walking inferno, advancing toward Raphael, inspiring fear.

  “Is this weakness, Emperor?” the leader asked.

  But there was a warbling tone to the man’s voice. Something which didn’t say he was confident, instead, that he was afraid.

  Raphael reached out and wrapped a hand around the alchemist’s throat. He squeezed hard and harder still until the false flames disappeared. Only then did he drag the leader of the alchemists close to him.

  He stared into the depths of the robes and whispered, “Parlor tricks, alchemist. Nothing more.”

  “We are all powerful,” the man croaked.

  “You are weak and afraid.” Raphael tossed him aside as he’d done so many of the others.

  The alchemist fell onto his side, coughing as he tried to catch his breath. A few others rushed forward to help him sit up, rubbing his back and murmuring soft words in his ear.

  Raphael didn’t give them time to think. “That’s how she felt, alchemist. When the man you sent sat upon her and tried to choke the life out of her. She felt the same way you feel now, and that is something I cannot forgive.”

  “We are trying to save you,” the alchemist groaned. Three others echoed his words.

  “You’re not trying to save me,” he replied. He tucked his wings to his side and lowered his hands. “But I believe you’re trying to save yourselves. You are no longer welcome in the Hollows, alchemists.”

  The leader leaned forward until he was on hands and knees. He glared up at Raphael with so much hatred it was a wonder he didn’t burst into flames again. “You cannot banish us from this place. We created it.”

  “Then I will see you again someday. But for now, you are not welcome. If you do not leave, then the rest of you will meet the same end as your friend.” He pointed to the dead body.

  “You’re not strong enough to defeat us all,” the leader snapped.

  Raphael looked over their ranks and he thought perhaps he was. They were dying, so it seemed. And this was their desperate attempt to sway him to their side.

  Raphael crouched in front of the leader. “If you think words will convince a Dread to turn away from the woman he loves, then you are wrong. Your lies have no place here, alchemist. They are unwanted and we will forget them.”

  “We will find her and kill her,” the alchemist spat. “For all our sakes.”

  Raphael almost snapped the man’s neck for the threat. Instead, he stood and shrugged as though the words didn’t send a cold chill through his entire body. “You may try, alchemist. But you have created a monster most difficult to defeat.”

  Chapter 28

  “They what?” Danielle asked, trying to make sense of everything Raphael was telling her.

  He had filled her in word for word, but none of it made sense. The alchemists claimed she was a witch. That she was only there because she wanted to use the Dread as some kind of army to defeat her father.

  But she’d never wanted to use the Dread to fight. She’d even said hundreds of times to Raphael she wanted to learn how to fight so she could stand on her own two feet. So the Dread never had to get involved again.

  She’d seen the destruction her father had wrought on these people. The shorn off horn atop Raphael’s head was symbolism enough, but she’d also met the ancients in the abyss.

  Danielle wasn’t so blind or so cruel as to ask them to do this again. They couldn’t fight her father and expect to continue on with their lives in the same way.

  She couldn’t ask them to do those things for her. It wouldn’t feel right.

  The stories the alchemists told were fear mongering and she wouldn’t allow their words to taint any Dread’s opinion of her. She paced in front of Raphael in Blacksmith’s private quarters. She held her hands behind her back and counted every ste
p as though the numbers would help calm her down.

  “They think I’m a witch,” she repeated, not pausing in her meandering steps. “And that I came here because I want to destroy your kingdom? Or use your kingdom to destroy my father’s?”

  “That’s what they said.” Raphael leaned against the stone wall, arms crossed over his chest, yellow eyes following her every movement. “Are you a witch?”

  “I wouldn’t know the first thing about magic. And don’t you think my father would be a little angry to have a daughter practicing black magic?”

  He shrugged. “You could have practiced in hiding. You were planning to train with me away from the eyes of the palace.”

  “That’s not the same thing.”

  “Is it not?”

  How dare he even suggest such a thing! She had spent such a long time trying to garner his trust and now he wanted to side with monsters who had tried to kill her?

  Danielle spun on her heel toward him, ready to tear him apart with her words. Except, a smirk spread across his lips and he watched her with knowing eyes.

  “That’s not funny,” she said, jabbing a finger at him. “These are serious accusations.”

  “And ones I don’t believe.”

  “If the other Dread heard what the alchemists said, would they believe it?”

  Again, he shrugged. “If they believe it, they won’t have much say. I’m the Emperor.”

  “But that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own opinions. What if they think I am a witch here to destroy your people? I don’t think I could stand it if they thought ill of me.”

  “You didn’t care if your own people thought ill of you.”

  Danielle’s jaw dropped open, and she blinked for a few moments before stammering, “Yes, yes I did. I do. I very much worry about my own people. Besides, the Dread are as much my people as the humans now.”

  “What changed to make you say so?” He pushed off the wall and stepped up to her side. Raphael reached out and cupped her jaw in his hand, the movement familiar now and tender. “You were saying only days ago you needed time. You needed to understand and process your loss. Then you were a spoiled princess wanting to be Empress. Now you just accept them?”

  She stared up into his yellow eyes and realized she didn’t have an answer for him.

  The Dread had always fascinated her. From the first moment she dropped out of the tunnel and saw them soaring through the caverns. They were beautiful and strange, a completely different species from herself and her people.

  Then she’d met a few of them and realized they were also kind. They wanted to ensure she was happy and well taken care of while she was within their walls. That meant something. They were thinking, breathing, intelligent creatures who were not monsters like she’d thought.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what changed.”

  “Perhaps you were the one to change, princess,” he murmured. “Unlike any other human I’ve ever met.”

  “We’re all capable of changing. Human. Dread. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Do you believe that?”

  She answered without question. “I do.”

  A deep hum reverberated through his chest. He searched her gaze for a few moments longer before he finally nodded and released his hold on her jaw. “So be it then. I’m sending you home, princess.”

  Her heart stopped beating in her chest. Her lungs stopped their inhalations, and all thoughts ceased.

  Danielle stood in front of him, suspended in time as the words repeated in her mind.

  I’m sending you home.

  “What?” she whispered. “Why would you do that?”

  “It’s the safest place for you now that the alchemists know you’re here. I won’t put my people in danger while I’m gone, and your father won’t let anyone touch you once you’re back in his grasp.”

  Danielle struggled to keep up with his logic. “I have so many questions, I don’t know where to start.”

  He folded his arms across his chest and nodded. “I expected you would. Start from the beginning.”

  “Do you not want me here anymore?” Even voicing the words made her chest ache. That he might not want her in the way she wanted him, it destroyed everything she was. His answer was more important than breathing.

  Raphael shook his head. “I very much want you here, princess. If I could have you by my side for all eternity, I would.”

  The knot inside her chest eased. He didn’t want her to disappear, he didn’t want her to be gone. And he hadn’t tired of her.

  She could breathe again. Which meant all the other questions were now even more pressing. “You said I’ll be safer with my father while you’re gone. Where are you going?”

  He hesitated before responding. “The alchemists said my brother was in Little Marsh.”

  “I thought you said you weren’t allowed to speak with your siblings?”

  Raphael made a face. “If my brother has answers, then I wish to know them. I don’t believe there’s a witch controlling him, but I feel the truth is most important.”

  She suspected he was right. If there was someone who knew what was going on with the alchemists, or even who had dealt with them before, then he should seek them out. It was important to understand the enemy they were dealing with.

  “Take me with you,” she replied. “I can meet your brother as well.”

  “I can’t risk taking you on this journey. Little Marsh is a long way, and I don’t intend on stopping.”

  Danielle mimicked his posture and crossed her arms over her chest. “What you’re saying is the human is too weak to make the journey.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” He grinned at her as though the statement wasn’t insulting. “The Dread need not eat like humans. We don’t feel the cold or tire. You will only slow me down.”

  “So your thought is to send me to my father. The man who banished me?” She couldn’t believe this was the only plan he’d come up with. Her father would kill her, nay, send her away from the kingdom and she’d never return. “He’ll make sure you never see me again.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second.” His wings shifted on his back, opening and closing as they did when he was emotional. “Your father will jump at any chance to hurt me. If he finds you again, I think he’ll keep you right under his thumb. Thus, he will ensure I’ll return.”

  “He doesn’t think you like me.”

  “I wouldn’t have come to the palace for your hand if I didn’t like you, Princess. Even your father isn’t that dim-witted.”

  Raphael must have tired of the conversation, because he reached forward and snagged her waist. He tugged her against his chest, holding her in his arms.

  The heat from his heart melted her. She settled her head against the beating heart in his chest and listened intently. Sighing, she let the tension ease from her shoulders. “I don’t want to go,” she whispered.

  “And I don’t want to let you go. But I want you to be safe far more than I care to risk your life. The alchemists are tricksters. If they want to kill you, then they will stop at nothing to ensure your death.”

  She’d rather have gone to Little Marsh with him. Her father... She shivered. “I don’t want to see him again.”

  “Are you frightened of your father?” Raphael asked. “Or are you afraid of being alone?”

  She mulled over the question. There were many layers to her answer. She was afraid of her father. The King of Hollow Hill could do whatever he wanted, and his rage was the one thing she’d been afraid of since she was a child.

  Yet, she wasn’t hesitating to leave this place entirely because of the King. She was afraid of leaving Raphael alone. And what would happen to the Dread if they both weren’t here.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I’m worried about what will happen to everyone while we’re gone.”

  “The Dread have ruled their ranks before without me. They don’t need an Emperor. They just enjoy having one.”
>
  “And here I am, not even stepping into the role of Empress before I leave.”

  He stroked a hand down her back, soothing and comforting. “You are so concerned about being a good Empress, and yet, you’ve never had a chance to be one.”

  “I was born to rule. I have focused every moment of my life on learning how to be queen. Ruling people is in my blood.”

  Raphael pried her out of his arms. “I have unfinished business with my brother in Little Marsh. And you have unfinished business with your people in Hollow Hill. Before we can start a life together, princess, we need to set our histories on the right path.”

  Danielle sighed, nodded, and then opened her arms wide for him to pick her up. “Then we need to go to the surface, don’t we?”

  “We do.”

  Together, they made their way out of the Hollows. Raphael stopped for a moment to advise Blacksmith where he was going. And though the Dread’s eyes opened wide in shock, he didn’t stop them or argue. He nodded and promised he and Soldier would look out for the others.

  Danielle remained quiet as they dug through the tunnels and out into the open air. She didn’t say a word when roots tangled in her hair or when she could smell the sweet scent of clean, summer air.

  Sunlight blinded her the moment she looked up to the sky. She raised a hand to cover her eyes and wondered how long it would take until she didn’t like the light at all. A few months? A few years?

  “Don’t cover your face, princess,” Raphael grumbled.

  “Why not? The light hurts my eyes now that I’ve lived in the dark.”

  He reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled it down. “Because I enjoy counting the freckles on your cheeks.”

  Said cheeks burned. She opened her mouth to repay the compliment with one of her own. That she loved the way his arms were so strong he didn’t even twitch holding her. Or how the light filtered through the membranes of his wings. Or...

  But she was interrupted by a familiar, warped voice. “I’ll take her to the palace.”

  Soldier landed on the ground beside them, her wings folded around her shoulders. Though she seemed out of place in the beautiful meadow, her features weren’t as startling as they used to be.