Chapter Thirty-Nine
The Caged
His eyes darken completely, his irises black as he stares off, the purplish glow spreading across his skin. The light ripples and I can feel heat radiating off him like a furnace. Like fire .
“Nithe?” I whisper, my voice weak and tired.
He exhales long and slow, smoke billowing out of his nose.
I take a hesitant step back and his hands drop from my face.
My hand hovers over the short sword I don’t know how to use, as fear replaces logic in my mind.
“Nithe?” I ask again. His arms shake and I take another step back.
The glow spreads and I scream as a dragon— wyvos —bursts out of the spot his body was.
Black scales and horns emerge, purple reflecting off his large, leathery wings.
His black eyes snap to mine, and I stumble backwards, my arm catching my fall as I land in the white sand.
I stare at the large body, the spikes covering his back in a long line of short to tall.
The tail that is whipping through the water that ends in an even larger spike.
A spike that could tear someone ’s head clean off their shoulders.
“Nithe!” I repeat for a third time. He lowers his head and then a loud roar echoes around us. I shut my eyes, slamming my hands over my ears as I feel the hot wind flying around me. The roar stops and a shadow falls over my eyelids. I hesitantly open them, blackness obscuring my vision.
Not blackness, Nithe .
He’s standing over me, his large body nearly swallowing me whole as he stares behind.
I scramble to my knees and see the crowd that has gathered.
Enzo, Kassius, and the king are standing at the edge of the sand.
Enzo has a bow in his hand, Kassius palming a dagger.
The king just stands, a smirk crossing his face.
I can see Scarlett and Erik up at the top of the hill.
Scarlett’s eyes are wide, her hand covering her mouth. Erik’s sword is out, ready.
I glance back down at Kassius as holds his hand out for me.
“Nora, come here.” He says slowly, waving me forward.
I crawl a few steps but stop when Nithe growls.
My hands cover my head, and a squeal escapes my throat as I am frozen with fear.
My hands and limbs are shaking, exhausted.
My heart is pounding rapidly in my chest as terror runs through my veins. I think I’m going to vomit.
Nithe roars again and I scream. Vomit.
I am definitely going to vomit.
“We aren’t going to hurt her.” Enzo says softly.
I look up as he slowly sheathes his arrow and throws his bow over his shoulder.
“I am not going to hurt her.” He steps forward, Kassius’s eyes glancing between them.
“Elaenor,” he says waving me forward, and I slowly pull myself to my feet.
The top of my head brushes Nithe’s underbelly and I crouch down.
My steps are quick as I escape Nithe’s reach, Enzo pulling me behind him.
I stare into Nithe’s eyes, the black reflecting the light from the palace. He looks scared, upset. He looks as if he’s terrified something is going to happen. He bares his teeth as he growls, the sound low and guttural.
“I don’t understand.” I whisper, my nose brushing Enzo’s shoulder blade as he presses me into his back.
“He’s territorial. Dragons are territorial over the things they love if they fear there is danger.
” Love? My breath catches and I glance over at Kassius and the king.
The king’s smirk is still present, a slight shake to his head.
Nithe roars and I slam my hands over my ears again before he shoots into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.
“It appears you have captivated my son in the few hours you have been conscious.” I spin around as the king’s laugh permeates through the air. “You must have a magical fucking pus—”
“Dav, enough.” Kassius snaps, cutting him off.
“I don’t understand what is going on.” I whisper. Enzo turns around, his hand palming my cheek. I jerk away from his touch and step back into Kassius. “I can’t be here. I can’t do what you are asking me to do.” I spin around, directing the last part to the king.
“What are you asking her to do?” Enzo seethes behind me.
“He wants my aether.” I respond and the king grits his teeth, his jaw hardening. “He wants you to take it from me.”
“I offered you freedom! I offered you a life.”
“No, you offered me chains!” I yell back, my fists tightening. “You want to take the one thing that belongs to me and then force me to marry your son. You want my bloodline and my power; you don’t care about anything else.”
“Dav.” Kassius says a hint of warning in his tone. “You can’t take it. Don’t you understand how Amaya got her gifts? How her parents got theirs? Balance. If you take her aether by force, you will be encouraging the fates to do something much worse.”
“I want to win a war. I want to decimate the child sitting on the Noterran throne and I will do so by any means.” He snaps.
“No, you won’t. Did you think we would all standby while you ripped away her magic? Do you think we would all standby and watch you destroy her?”
“What does she matter. She is a child—”
“She is our queen !” Kass responds. Davenport’s eyes widen. “She is our queen, not some child or princess. She is the reason the armies are gathering. Not you.” My heart is pounding in my chest, my eyes glazing over.
This is too much. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be their queen or their reason for fighting.
I don’t want any of this.
“I am the reason you are all here. I am the reason this so-called rebellion is still standing. My money, my men, my country. It’s all mine .”
“My country is gone.” I whisper, my voice cracking.
“My people. My friends. My parents. Everyone I ever knew and loved is gone. I have no desire to start a war with Tobias. Do you understand what he is going to do if he finds out what is really happening over here? Do you know what he is probably doing to my uncle right now? We will not win. Not against him.”
Quiet spreads as the three of them stare at me. A snort leaves Davenport’s throat as he shakes his head.
“That is the person you are rallying for. She will lead you into ruin.” He turns, heading back up the beach.
“Elaenor, we can win.”
“No, we can’t.” I turn and look at Enzo.
“Before you got there, before you saved me, I stabbed him. I shoved a scalpel through his throat, and do you know what happened? His skin knit itself back together and reabsorbed the blood as if it was never shed. The blood that was black . He told me that I couldn’t kill what was already gone.
He cannot be killed. What do you expect to happen if we destroy his armies?
Do you think we will just walk up and end him?
No. We won’t. He will burn us to the ground, and I won’t let you all die in my name. ”
“Where were you going?” Kassius responds, ignoring everything I just said.
“Home.” I whisper before following the king back to the palace.
I don’t sleep. I consider the sleeping draft sitting in the medical bag by the door. I consider a lot of things, but my eyes are fixed on the open windows. The sun rises, but I still sit here, watching it grow higher and higher.
My stomach cramps, my hand resting on it.
Hunger settles deep in my belly, but I ignore it.
I ignore the wave of nausea and the pain that follows.
Weak. That’s what I am. The king knows it.
He’s right, and he’s correct in saying they are rallying behind the wrong person.
Maybe he would be better suited for this, better suited to take over.
I can leave, go to Labisa. A country I never believed I would see. He could handle the war and the armies and Tobias.
I could be free, or as close as I can be.
But what is the cost? Giving him the starlight that burns through my veins? Giving him the only defense I have ever had? That is the cost? Would I even miss it? It may have always been there, but it has only been present for days.
I could go back to normal. I could be normal for once.
I take a slow deep breath, putting the pain radiating in my pelvis behind. I lift my hand, staring at my palm. It only takes a second before a spark appears. Then another.
It forms a ball in my hand, and I finally take the chance to inspect it. It sparkles as if it’s filled with glitter, but the more I look, the more I see the individual stars. Each streak of lightning, each spark, is just a tight-knit line of stars.
My free hand lifts and I thread my fingers in between the lines of light. It tingles as it brushes my skin, and a smile passes over my lips.
It’s beautiful. So damn beautiful.
Can I give this up?
I watch the stars dance around my palm, tears lining my eyes.
I jump when it sputters. The light winks out before coming back. I sit up, my eyes widening. It sputters again and I flinch .
I see it then.
A shadow seeps from my palm, swallowing the light whole.
The shadows are gone within a blink. I focus, begging the starlight to reappear, but it doesn’t.
I don’t feel it.
But I have my answer.