Chapter 15
VALANCE
It wasn’t long before I surfaced from the frozen state of magical exhaustion. A fleeting moment, less than an hour to be restored. No haziness, simply a switch from one state to another as swiftly as clicking my fingers.
I blinked up at a thatched ceiling, sat up in a bed of straw and furs, this room incredibly warm. I’d been aware of being moved, though not quite sure of where to.
Now I had my answer.
Sliding off the bed, I stretched my limbs. A hut with dry mud walls and full of little trinkets—ornaments carved from stone and wood. An earthy scent tickled my senses, along with the heady smell of cooking meat.
Another room joined this one through a doorway to my left. I peered inside to see a cauldron bubbling on an open fire, some kind of stew cooking within.
A human woman swathed in furs protected by an apron stirred it with a wooden spoon.
“Smells delicious,” I said.
She startled, almost dropping the spoon. “Oh!” She smoothed down her apron, taking a bow. “Your Majesty. You’re awake.”
“I am. I—”
I heard a rumble outside.
Her head snapped to the closed wooden door, her throat bobbing. “Dragon.”
Ah, yes. I’d brought a dragon back to life.
“If you would excuse me,” I told the woman. “I must see the fruits of my labor.” It wasn’t funny, but I found myself chuckling as if a jester had said it with a hilarious spin.
I missed the court jesters from my childhood. My father had put a stop to them after the last one told a particularly salacious joke that scandalized the Summer court.
My brother Daire and I found it hilarious even if no one else did.
I hated thoughts of my brother, the evil scum.
He had no right to encroach on my mind, to be anywhere near my heart like days of old.
My love for him wasn’t welcome anymore after hearing of the monster he’d been.
I might be many things, but even I harbored strong morals when it came to certain actions.
He had crossed a terrible line, and he deserved the death he’d faced.
Crushing memories of a life so far removed from me now, I stepped outside into the shadow of the dragon.
I looked up, sunshine glowing around her marvelous edges, her wings resting on the ground as wide as many ship sails.
Her long neck curved downward, positioning her jaws and pretty eyes close to me.
A low rumble emitted from her colossal body.
Lord Cullen and Lady Fia stood beside her, a few feet away, their eyes on me.
“Good to see you back on your feet, Your Majesty,” Lord Cullen said. “How are you?”
“I feel like myself again,” I answered. “How is our latest addition?”
The dragon lifted her head, tilting it slightly to the side inquisitively.
“All of our new additions are confused, happy, ready to fall in line behind you,” Cullen answered.
I faced the lord of the giants. “Is that so?”
“You have performed a miracle, King Valance.”
“I suppose I have.”
“We will march with you.”
A nice, sudden surprise. There was no other choice for him, though, when such a display of power unfolded before his eyes.
“Thank you, My Lord,” I said.
He glanced at the dragon, her nostrils flaring. “There is no other choice.”
“There are always choices.”
“Yes, there are. But you gave us back so much from so long ago. That both frightens me enough to follow you and equally marvels me.”
“I don’t want you to be frightened,” I answered. “I want us to fight together. To change the world. Give Winter back what it has lost, send ripples of fear across Faerie before our enemies choke us. Because they will, and they are our enemies. Make no mistake about that.”
A heavy sigh from the giant. “I only wish there was another way.”
Wish. There could be one wish…
“So do I, Lord Cullen. So do I.”
The end of all things with one wish…
The dragon growled as her head reached the ground, her head its own kind of mountain to me. I reached a tentative hand toward her. A rumble tremored through her body, her eyes narrowing into contented slits.
My hand connected with her rough, warm scales. She released what could only be described as a purr wrapped in a rumble, closing her eyes fully, pushing ever so gently into my touch. That tenderness surprised me for such a huge beast.
Are you mine? I asked her.
One eye opened, a penetrating stare diving deep into my soul. Ancient heat and understanding between us. She lowered her whole body to the ground, presenting the ridges of her spine to me.
We can fly?
More purring.
She was mine. She was grateful for another chance at life in a different time.
Giants and humans and the creatures of these mountains gathered around us. Lord Cullen came the closest. My work, the force of my power on display.
I looked up, waiting for him to speak.
“We’re yours, Your Majesty.” He went down on bended knee, his subjects following. The ground tremored from all the giants kneeling before their king.
“Thank you,” I said.
“We will march to Winter Keep. We will spread the word through every corner of the lands our feet touch. They will know our new king is for us, is for a new dawn. Winter will be behind you, Your Majesty. You will know the hearts of the dark fae, of every creature who breathes the cold air.”
“And the rebels?”
“They have no power.”
“I will fly the skies of Winter with this dragon, show the dark fae the one and only path.”
He nodded, getting up. “Before you know it, your army will be ready.”
This filled me with wicked hope. With my magic, a dragon, and an army, a tide of fury was about to be unleashed upon Faerie.
I smiled up at the giant. “Thank you, My Lord. I—”
A disturbance in the skies, something alarming my magic. Winter whispered to me that something was coming, something from beyond, not of this world.
What is it?
A jolt, a landing. This thing landed in snow, a thing of flesh. I staggered backward, a painful twinge in my heart.
A thing…
A human…
A human from the stars.
Kormac?
Grabbing hold of the dragon, I used her thick scales as rungs on a ladder, making my way up to her spines. I threw a leg over the bone closest to her neck, taking hold of the curved triangular shape. Its rough surface allowed for good purchase.
“Fly,” I commanded, sharing with her the direction of this fallen human.
My heart pounded in my chest like a dozen Spring blacksmith hammers, my skin flush with a nervous energy
Is it you?
“March now!” I called down to my new subjects. “We will meet again at Winter Keep!”
“Your Majesty!” Orla cried.
“Go with them! I will see you soon!”
“What’s happened?” Brigid asked, floating up beside me.
“Go!” I snapped at her.
“But—”
“I have something to take care of. Alone. Meet me at the keep. Do not question my order.”
She didn’t, floating away.
The dragon roared, stretching her wings. With two heavy beats of that thick bone and skin, she took to the air, carrying us above the mountains within seconds.
I glanced down at the retreating ground, at the bodies.
Is it you?