Chapter 21
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KATALENA
Irose from sleep as from the dead, my head groggy and feeling like I’d been chained under the surface for far too long. The sun shone bright through the windows of the small room, and the pounding sound wasn’t my head or my heart. It was the door.
Pounding was too strong a word for the knock. It was gentle but insistent. “One moment,” I said, trying to gather my bearings. Clearly, I had not rid myself of all the exhaustion during my night in the cell. I still wore the Heirs’ clothes, though I didn’t know what else I could wear. Even the plain dress they’d given me was still in that room.
Varíscrambled onto my shoulder as I stood, snuggling beneath my messy hair. I opened the door and found Erryn on the other side.
She sank into a curtsey. “Princess.”
“Please don’t,” I said. “I’m hardly that here. Call me Lena.”
Though she rose, she didn’t meet my eyes. “I must apologize to you regardless. When I summoned Soza to help you, I never imagined the actions she would take.”
“I appreciate that,” I said quietly. “Though even if you had, I wouldn’t blame you for it. Dragons have more than enough reason to hate my kind.”
She smiled, meeting my eyes for the first time. “That may be true, but as far as I know, we do not have a reason to hate you. It was Ellemar’s hoard you visited, and she would like the chance to apologize and get you some clothes that are not,” she glanced at Endre’s shirt, “borrowed, nor that send messages you aren’t privy to.”
“All right. Can Varí come?”
This time it was a true smile. “I think everyone would love that.”
Where he sat on my shoulder, I felt him start to purr, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn a deep crimson red. Nearly like a ruby. “I think he’d like that too.”
The path to the room was familiar, and my stomach twisted with nerves. But the atmosphere was entirely different. It was far more joyful than it had been yesterday.
Dragons were sitting around the room working on projects both magical and not, chattering much like the ladies of court would do as they worked on the same. Though there would have been a distinct lack of magic.
On that same large pillow, the elder female dragon lounged. I looked at her more closely than I had. Silver streaked her hair, which told me nothing about her age because that same silver touched her eyes. Even seated and lounging, she carried an air of power, and the easy smile on her face turned toward me. “There you are. I hoped you would come to us again.”
So she must be Ellemar. Yesterday she hadn’t been introduced.
“Thank you for having me. I did not know this was your hoard. I am honored.”
She snorted and sat up, reaching out to put the glass she held on a nearby table. “I would normally accept your honor, girl, because my hoard is indeed impressive. But given what has happened, I must apologize for how it was weaponized.”
Tightness clung to my chest. This was a landscape I didn’t know how to navigate. I opened my mouth and closed it, aware of how many eyes were on me and completely unsure of how many in this room felt the same.
Ellemar lifted her chin, and I saw understanding in her eyes. “Dragons value honesty above all else. We would rather hear a painful truth than a pretty lie. And further, none here share the sentiment. Or if they do, they can remove themselves.”
A command that held power. But no one moved.
I bowed my head. “Thank you. Nothing bad happened, and I did not ask for their punishment. I tried to stop it.”
“Yrre has said as much. Despite her pain and punishment, you might have changed her mind. Belleo,” she raised her voice and called.
The blonde dragon who accompanied her yesterday appeared from the back room, and her whole being lit up. “Oh, you’re here.”
Ellemar chuckled. “Take her and get her something that doesn’t have her walking all over Skalisméra in the Heirs’ scents, please.”
I flushed crimson.
Varí nuzzled my neck, and Ellemar caught the motion. “Who is that?”
“This is Varí. He came with me from Rensara.” All the dragon’s interest sharpened. I turned my head toward him. “Stay here with her while they make me clothes?”
He leapt from my shoulder, gliding over to Ellemar, already growling in greeting. I couldn’t help but smile. The older dragon seemed captivated by him, which wasn’t surprising. Everyone was captivated by him.
Belleo appeared at my side. “Come.”
I followed her into that secondary room, stuffed to the rafters with every kind of fabric in creation. Upon closer inspection I spied doors I hadn’t noticed before. No doubt this hoard was bigger than I imagined.
“I didn’t know dragons allowed their hoards to be used.”
She laughed. “Ellemar is very particular about who and what for. No doubt she will be even more so now.”
“I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. If it hadn’t been this, it would have been something else. Soza has been daring fate to bite her in the ass for over a century. Most of us were not even surprised.”
I blinked, unsure of how to react.
“Once upon a time, the Elders presented her as a potential mate for the Heirs. They said no, and she’s never stopped trying. She went to them herself in the manner she sent you more than once and was rejected every time. If I’d been present last night I would have put an end to it.”
“Thank you.”
“Now.” She stared at me. “Let me think. You have unusual hair for a human.”
The tension broke, and I laughed. “I know. I’m sure my father would have much preferred if I had your hair color. The only reason he did not think me some kind of demon was because my grandmother’s hair was the same.”
“And mine is plain in comparison to most dragons.”
I hadn’t really seen that many dragons yet. But yes, I had seen some beautiful and unusual colors. Even Erryn’s golden hair was more than a simple blonde.
Belleo took my measurements and began to look through the hoard, even disappearing into the further rooms. She returned with a pile of softly shimmering gray fabric. “Here. At the very least these will suffice until I can make more.”
The clothes were like nothing I’d worn, but I liked them immediately. The thinnest of trousers, sheer fabric that clung to my skin beneath a skirt that flowed. A break in the skirt allowed freedom of movement in a way human clothes did not.
Thin straps held up the bodice, baring my shoulders, but not in the same way. This was comfortable. I braided my hair quickly, feeling more myself than I had since before I put on that horrible wedding dress.
“Much better,” Belleo said. Her arms were filled with fabric once more, but of various colors. Greens and golds and even reds darker than my hair. “I think these will do nicely, but those are comfortable?”
“I love them,” I told her honestly. “How did you know they would fit?”
Lifting a hand from beneath the fabric, she wiggled her fingers. “Magic.” A laugh. “I found something close and adjusted them.”
What I wouldn’t give to have power like that at my disposal. It would make things so much easier.
The thought froze me in my tracks. It was that thought that drove the humans to attack the dragons in the first place, convinced they were hoarding more than glittering jewels and piles of gold, but magic.
Belleo didn’t notice that I’d frozen.
“I’ll have more for you later, but at least you’re not walking around in their clothes.” Then she winked. “Or maybe it’s a pity you’re not.”
My whole body flushed again. “I don’t?—”
Belleo moved past me toward the main room, dismissing my denial. “Anyone can take pleasure with whom they like here,” she said. “No one will judge you for it. Well, in your case, that might not be true, but they’ll know better than to show a sign of it. The Heirs won’t tolerate it.”
“I don’t want everyone here living in fear of me.”
She grinned. “Trust me, they’re not. It’s entirely them.”
I didn’t blame anyone. They were deadly. I wasn’t afraid of them nearly as much as I should be, but they were lethal.
Varí chased a ball of string across the floor, batting it around chair legs and between feet, tumbling over himself and coming to a stop in front of Ellemar. “Serves you right, little one.” She flicked her fingers and the ball wound itself up so he could attack it again.
“Those suit you,” Ellemar said. “With that hair, you could almost be a dragon.”
“It would be an honor, but I know I’m not.”
I wasn’t anything anymore. What was a princess when not a part of her kingdom? Not that I would miss the title or the responsibility.
Princess.
Prisoner.
Bargaining chip.
Bound for death.
In a world beyond court and politics, I had no skills and no knowledge of value. Except for one thing.
They told me I could go most places. Maybe…
“Before I came here,” I didn’t know what they knew of those circumstances, and it wasn’t my place to share them. “I studied to become a potion master. Is there some place here I might continue that? Or merely tinker?”
To my left, a dragon with bright blue hair and orange eyes laughed. “There is. And I think Belleo will know exactly where to take you.”
This time the dragon next to me was the one to flush with pleasure and excitement. She dropped the fabric next to Ellemar, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out the door. Varí fluttered after us, chased by the sound of laughter.