Burn (Dragon Souls) (35 page)

In the centre of the room mounted on a stone pillar was the fulgurite she’d unearthed from the black sands.

It touched her he thought so much of the gift.

Remembering she was angry, she sat. “Why haven’t you sent them away? Why are you pretending anything they say will make us give Boy up?”

Silent, Koen regarded her, unblinking.

‘
Assassin
?’ Daniil boomed as he followed them into the room. In
dragonskin
, his voice lost none of its haughtiness. “
You adopted your assassin? Are you mad
?”

Annoyed at the interruption, Marina threw him a disgruntled look. “This is why I didn’t tell you.”

Tossing his head, Daniil glared at his King. ‘
And you let her do this thing
?’

Koen closed his eyes and snorted.

Jakob and Mikhail followed them into the room.

After checking she was okay, Jakob proclaimed the assembly a failure. Mikhail launched into a growling sermon applauding Koen’s stalling tactic then damned his hesitation in refusing their irrational demands. This Daniil took great insult to, revealing he counselled the King not to turn them down outright, as they could not afford a war campaign during Aver. Marina marched to stand in the middle of them all and yell at anyone who came close to suggesting Boy be handed over, which meant she spent most of her time shouting nose to snout with Daniil. Jakob once again mentioned the talks were doomed to failure, and the argument began all over again. The three Dragons and the livid female between them argued until the walls shook with the power of their voices. The heavy stomps of their claws and the occasional shrill screech from Marina as she futility kicked a thick sapphire hide was maddening.

‘
Enough
.’ Head aching, Koen joined the argument. ‘
If our people saw four of their most powerful leaders at this moment they would despair
.’ Luminous green eyes cracked open, truly exasperated.
‘We have time to think on what has been said here today and come to an agreement with the Eldernmoot. We must.’

‘Agreed,’
Mikhail rumbled loftily.

His tone and manner was smug, as if he hadn’t been reduced to yelling empty threats at his obstinate offspring, and had argued the power of debate over violence from the start.

Daniil gnashed his fangs. ‘
They have come for one reason and one reason alone – to reclaim their lost Prince. Exactly what is there to think about? Give them what is rightfully theirs.
’

Marina nearly bit her tongue in half repressing a string of profanities.

Koen watched his Treasure slowly exhale. Her beautiful eyes reflected the fires of her conviction.

Daniil
, he thought,
is a fool
.

“I can see why you’d think that was the answer.” Marina held up a beseeching palm that closed into a fist. It thumped her breast, an aggressive demand for appeasement that ended in defiance. “Under
no
circumstances will I willingly give up my son. I will fight anyone who tries to take him from me.” She speared Daniil with a look Koen never expected to see her direct at his Second. “Are you hearing me?”

‘
You are not Queen yet
,’ Daniil snarled.

“What exactly are you saying?” She rounded on him fully and threw up a hand to halt Jakob’s protective advance. “Watch my back. I don’t need coddling.”

Lowering his snout, eyes cool and distant, her Second moved aside. His tail thrashed. It was the sole indicator of his displeasure.

Koen Raad wasn’t sure if he was jealous or impressed how swiftly their relationship grew in strength.

Jakob intuitively understood Marina’s unconventional style of dealing with subordinates. She treated all as equals until the moment came when she demanded obedience.

Koen doubted she knew there were times refuting her was impossible. Because of her lack of arrogance, following her became a matter of great pride.

She would make a magnificent Queen.

Marina studied Daniil as if she’d never seen him before. Her expression clouded. “I want this cleared between us. Right now. The vibe I’m getting from you disturbs me.”

‘
You alone cannot fight this,’ Daniil said, not unkindly. ‘The Dragon Council will vote in favour of peace
.’

Jakob nudged her with his snout.
‘He is right. As Queen you would have the authority to oppose the Dragon Council. As Queen, only if the King sided with them could Boy legally be taken from you.’

‘But she is not Queen,’
Daniil pointed out. ‘
And will not be for a fortnight at least. Koen Raad alone cannot oppose the Council in this. He needs another monarch to support his case
.’

Marina gritted her teeth.

She knew Daniil fought for all the right reasons, but his determination to do the right thing had him disregarding the mitigating circumstances that made the suggestion of handing a child over to negligent guardians unthinkably cruel.

“I’m weeks away from becoming Queen. Until then the Regent–”

‘Myron cannot stand for you,’
Daniil interrupted.
‘He is the Regent of the Fire Kingdom.’

“So?”

‘
You have declared yourself for the Wreath
.’

‘
You need Gavriil
,’ Jakob said giving her the answer she sought. ‘
He administers the Ice Realm
.’

‘
He cannot leave the land under his stewardship to pander to the whims of a woman who may not even be Queen
.’

Tensing, Jakob rumbled uneasily.

Eyes narrowing, Mikhail stared with biting contempt.

Lifting his snout, Koen bared his teeth. Smoke poured from his throat and flames of anger slicked across his tongue.

For his Second to speak so callously of her failing was inexcusable.

‘
Leave this room
,’ he commanded.

Daniil snapped his jaws and spun. His tail lashed the wall as he climbed out the window and took to the sky. He climbed in altitude until he was lost to sight in the low clouds.

The tension in the room eased.

Marina stared at the window struggling to breathe. The words had been a slap in the face. Never had Daniil expressed anything but utter conviction that she’d be successful in her campaign.

Why was he acting this way? Was it because she hadn’t told him about how she met Boy? Or was it because she’d replaced him with Jakob. Marina thought she’d made her reasoning behind that clear, but maybe he was feeling rejected?

Koen’s warmth caressed her back.

Her eyes closed as he rubbed against her. “I don’t care how, but this can’t be allowed to happen. What do I do?” She hugged as much of his blocky head as physically possible. “What do
we
do?”

“Daniil is right.”

Devastated, she gazed up at him.

He nuzzled her tenderly, careful not to gouge her with his horns. “We do what we have been doing since you arrived. We make you mine.” Emerald eyes gleamed, cunning, witchy. “We make you Queen.”

A
we was a sensation Marina expected when encountering the older Dragon Lords. In the presence of this ancient yet mighty Phoenix, her tongue knotted, and her heart pounded.

She began to understand why the people of Tzion made such a deal about honour.

She felt
unworthy.

“Do you remember me?” she asked quietly, eyes respectfully downcast.

The purple Dragon’s eyes burned brightly, revealing a keen intelligence. A strong mind encased within a withering body.
‘So you have come. I remember an age when my human form sent maidens faint with pleasure
.
They would visit for the glory of my body alone, not for the thoughts my mind held
.’ The old Dragon sighed wistfully. ‘
They all wanted me. All desired me. None were worthy – only my Karina
.’

Marina didn’t have time for him to sink into the abyss of his memories. The third quest commenced in the morning, and she needed sleep.

Koen’s idea to speed up the tournament was genius.

As Queen, she could defy the Council if they tried to hand Boy over.

For the first time, Marina gleaned what the Courts were up in arms about. She was treated differently from the other Chosen. The other two wouldn’t be able to command the Aver timeline altered. Nor did they have a King fighting in their corner. Her guilt was fleeting. She tried hard not to take advantage, and she wasn’t a bad person, merely a fortunate one.

With the Eldernmoot sent back to where they came from, she could focus her energies on ensuring the Drackai Queen didn’t succeed in her Hunt of Koen Raad before she did. They would come to some other arrangement with the Eldernmoot if they refused to leave. She didn’t want war, but sacrificing a child was out of the question. They would have to fight to take her son into a society on the brink of civil war.

The Dragon Kingdom was the safest place for him, and it was a strong enough argument not even the Eldermen could talk around it.

“Council Mon Leonid, Karina had a daughter, didn’t she. The last High Princess. Kayla, Council Mon Kazimir’s Treasure had the first.”

His amethyst eyes snapped into focus and fixed on her knowingly. ‘
Solaria was a good daughter. She was so bright. Strong
.’

“She was special.”

‘
Indeed. As was Kazimir’s offspring
.’ He looked at her slyly. ‘
As is Mikhail’s
.’

“If I may, how did she die? It’s been struck from the histories. Passages about them have been inked over.” She nervously rubbed her clammy hands on her thighs. “I understand why the idea of....” She struggled with it, and so rushed on. “The idea of a Dragon Lady is different, and different is almost always seen as scary, but why remove knowledge of it for future generations? I’ve been thinking I’m a freak. Now I find out I’m not as alone as I thought. There were others before me.”

‘
The Dragon Council has a long memory. It was thought best if Tzion never knew of those females and the destruction they wrought
.
They were special. Damned because of it
.’

Her stomach clenched. “They were evil?”

‘
Our males are trained from birth to control the beast within.’
His voice trailed off. Shifting, he turned his horned head to face her.
‘Solaria would have black outs. Time she could not remember as something else took control. She would return to her chamber at night covered in ash and blood, or wake up in strange places. In mountain passes and caves with no memory of how she travelled so far
.’ His breathing turned reedy and he hacked a cough. Settling, he shook his body, stippled scales gleaming dully. ‘
It was not so bad, nor frightening. Sickness of the mind is not so uncommon that we did not know to be patient with her
.’ He quieted and she felt his grief. ‘
Then came Lord Polvic
.’

“What happened?”

‘
Solaria took an immediate dislike to how he watched her, vied for her affection
.
She was highly desired as a bride
.’ He sighed sadly. ‘
We found him disembowelled. A purple dragoness drenched in his blood shifted back into the unconscious form of my offspring
.’ The Council Mon blinked back tears. ‘
We kept it a secret, kept her safe.’

“Surely people would understand what happened? He must’ve done something ... tried to....” She refrained from saying the word ‘rape’ aloud.

There was no need to beleaguer this old male further, and he was no fool.

‘
We decided to give her time to adjust. It was hard because when she shifted there was no memory of who she truly was. They were not one. Males learn how to be one with the otherness. Solaria’s beast had no deeper connection with humanity. It was a creature of pure instinct
.’ His snout lowered. ‘
So I kept her hidden. I worked with my offspring when she was herself trying to bring them together
,
so they may find peace
.’

“
Then why erase her as if she never existed?
”
Marina felt her own insecurities plaguing her. Would her family lock her away like some dirty secret if she grew too wild trying to come to terms with her creature side? “She was a miracle.”

‘
Solaria shifted one night and slaughtered her guards. I tried to reach her before she wrought irreparable damage.’
Pain roughened his gravely voice.
‘She was taken down by a Dragon Lord who came across her terrorizing a peasant family
.
She had already killed the Sire. The Dragon Lord was able to save the younglings. I believe Solaria’s Dragon saw them as a territorial threat since they travelled our lands
.’ He shifted uneasily. ‘
Prior to her existence there was another who met a similar tragic end. The Council decided it was best if they were forgotten but in the memory of a select few. A Dragon Lady is not even a myth. The people simply believe it is not possible and since offspring of a Phoenix is so rare the secret has diminished into the deepest darkest memories of us ancients
.’ His blocky head tilted. ‘
Then you came
.’

“If you knew this would happen why didn’t you tell me? I stood before you, all of you, and you said
nothing
.” It angered her they kept something so important from her. This was her
life
they messed with. Fury shot through her. “Mikahil–”

‘
Does not know. Kazimir and I were Emperors of the earliest dynasties. The younger Council Mon are not aware. We saw no reason to tell them until we faded. None had offspring,’
his eyes cut to her, ‘
that we knew about
.’

Marina wandered in a daze. What the hell do I do? If she told Koen there will be no reasoning with him. The whole mess with Daniil made her set against going to him for help.
My Second
? Marina hesitated. Jakob was sworn to her, but if she told him would he feel beholden to tell his King because she threatened to go feral?