Chapter 32
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ZOVAI
Lena climbed onto my back, and we took to the skies. We were back in our chambers in minutes.
Endre drooped from the sheer power he’d extended. I didn’t think Lena fully understood what he’d done, nor did we have time to explain. As soon as we touched the ground I placed my hand on the floor, extending my voice beyond the enchantments that protected our rooms. “Idroal. Our chambers. Now.”
Chewing on her lower lip, Lena wrapped her arms around herself. I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and comfort her, but it would have to come later.
Sirrus pulled her to him again, rubbing his palms up and down her spine before he also touched his hand to the stone of the mountain. “Send a runner for Belleo and Mesene. Tell them to come. Bring whatever clothes they’ve constructed for Lena and bring Varí here.”
I went and retrieved pants for us and tossed them to the others. Sirrus barely let go of Lena as he donned them, like he couldn’t bear to not be touching her. I felt the same, but for the fact that if I held her, I might take her and run to the ends of the continent, which wouldn’t make anything better for any of us.
The doors to our chambers opened as I strode into the central room, Idroal coming to a stop from a full run. They were out of breath, looking at all of us with fear. Endre collapsed to his knees, still spent, and braced his fists on the floor. “Where is Soza?”
“What, my lord?”
“WHERE IS SOZA?”
Idroal shook their head. “I do not know.”
“Find her,” I said. “Now. Or someone who knows.”
“What happened?”
Sirrus snarled. “They know. And Siolli is the one who told them.”
The curse which fell from Idroal’s lips almost made me smile because it was so foul. If it had been anything else, I might have laughed. “I’ll find her.”
“Who is Siolli?” Lena asked for the second time.
After the doors closed behind Ideal, I turned to her. “Siolli is Soza’s savan. Her mother.”
Lena’s eyes widened. “How… would she know about me?”
“That’s a good fucking question, isn’t it?” Sirrus snarled.
Endre was still on the ground. Lena went to him and knelt. Touched him on the shoulder. He heaved himself upward and clutched her to his chest, fingers tangled in her hair. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Her hands trembled as she laid them on his back. “Are they going to kill me?”
“I won’t let that happen,” I said, resisting the urge to go to her too. The thought of her dying was unthinkable. Moreso now that Lena was not resigned to her fate. She wanted to live, and she wanted to live with us.
Taking her face in his hands, Endre merely looked at her. There was a world of grief in his gaze, and more than she ever knew. I had to close my eyes.
The magic protecting our chambers shuddered, and I let the requesters through. Belleo and Mesene appeared as we’d asked. The former looked flushed and carried a pile of fabric.
Varílaunched himself off Mesene’s shoulder and aimed straight for Lena, curling around her neck and settling under her hair like he knew something was desperately wrong.
“Belleo,” Sirrus said. “Lena will need something for warmth. We fly to Doro Eche as soon as we are able.”
“So soon?”
Idroal appeared, face grim. “Soza is not in the city. She left two days ago, according to Yrre. Your proclamation did not prevent her from leaving, and if Siolli genuinely believed she meant Lena no harm, Soza could have spoken freely.”
Shock and horror rolled over the other dragon’s faces, and Mesene hardened. “What will they do?”
“Nothing.” Sirrus said. “They will do nothing.”
We hoped it was true, but we couldn’t be certain.
I went to Idroal. “Why? Why do they continue on this path when they know what peace has been?” It wasn’t the first time I’d asked such a question, but it was the first time I felt so desperate for any kind of understanding. And until now, Idroal had avoided the questions. Not that we’d been here in Skalisméra to ask them when it truly mattered.
“The human lands are dying,” they said.
Sirrus growled. “That’s not a secret. Nor is it an answer.”
“Isn’t it?” Their face was hard. There was no mirth or sarcasm there. “The humans do not understand, and they did not listen. It cannot be turned back by their hands. Their lands will die, and they will follow, be it a hundred years or a thousand. What does it matter to dragons?”
Their eyes met mine, daring me to step into the shoes of the Elders and view the world through their view. Ancient and cold, with no care for anyone other than dragonkind.
It all came together so quickly I lost my breath, and at once I felt like a fool for not having seen it sooner. And yet, I never would have, because I would never be so callous.
“They would wait,” Endre said. “Until the humans have so little strength even their weapons are not a deterrent. Then all of Viria will belong to dragonkind, the land will be healed, and they will have no more regret.”
Every moment of the last three hundred years now made sense. Endre’s betrayal now cast in an entirely different light. My stomach hollowed out. He’d known. Who knew how long he’d understood the true poison that lived in our sire’s veins, and not once had he been able to fight back.
And even now, he’d understood what sparing Lena’s life would mean when I chose it. Had chosen it too. It would lead us here to this moment, praying to the Fallen we could bring some fire back to hearts and hearths that had long been nothing but blackened ash.
“What do you mean?” Lena asked quietly. Her face had gone pale. “What can’t be turned back? What would the Elders regret?”
“They regret giving humans any knowledge of dragons,” Mesene said. “It was that action that allowed the war to happen. Humans took the gifted knowledge and turned it against us.” She held out a hand. “Though many of us understand it is not all humans who would have taken such an action. The consequences remain. The Elders cannot see past that betrayal.”
Idroal folded their arms in the folds of their robe. “And the dying land is not merely a famine, Lena. It can be healed, but not by humans. And until we can approach your kind without fear of violence, we cannot help them. Nor would many wish to.”
Lena straightened her shoulders, and I witnessed the mask of a princess fall over her face. Only the slightest tremble of her mouth and hands told me what she truly felt. “I understand.”
I resisted no longer, taking her in my arms. What was spoken was both a condemnation and a death sentence for her entire race, and yet she faced it with grace.
Belleo looked more subdued than I’d ever seen the dragon. “I’ll fetch something warm, and something to carry the clothes.”
“Mesene,” Endre said, finally standing. “Do you have something to fortify my strength?”
She inclined her head. “Yes, my lord.”
Idroal observed us all before nodding. “I shall return. I am coming with you.”
“That’s not necessary, Idroal,” Sirrus held out a hand. “We know you do not like the capital, nor is this your battle.”
A grim smile. “Will you command me not to?”
“No.”
“Then it may not be necessary, but I shall do so all the same.”
They disappeared, and I held Lena tighter. She looked up at me, face still pale. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were dull—a shadow of the beauty I’d already fallen for. “I suppose this was always going to happen, wasn’t it.”
Not a question.
“We will keep you safe.”
Again, I saw the mask of royalty. “That’s not what I asked, Zovai.”
“Yes,” Endre answered for me. “Yes. As much as we wished to remain here forever, it would have happened eventually. We hoped to delay them longer.”
Lena swallowed and reached upward, allowing Varí’s tail to wrap around her finger. “If this is inevitable, I would rather face it sooner than pretend it does not exist.”
I tilted her face up to mine and kissed her, longing to wipe the despair from her voice. “Do not be afraid, Princess,” I whispered. “You’re ours now. Remember that.”
She melted further into my arms, and I locked eyes with my brothers, my fear mirrored in their own. For years we had nothing to fight for and nothing to truly live for. Now, inexplicably, we did.
I only hoped we had the power to save her.