Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“ That should’ve brought everyone together.” Katla watched the play of emotions on Merrill’s face. The revulsion, the disgust. The anger.
He grunted softly. “ We had learned by then that mortals couldna carry a bairn to full term. Many miscarried immediately. The few who managed it bore stillborn babes. It meant any King who took a human as a mate would never have children. Ulrik made his choice, and we respected it. Everything might have gone fine, but Ulrik’s uncle believed he should’ve been chosen as King .”
“ Chosen ?”
“ The magic of Earth picks each King ,” Merrill explained as he turned to her. “ It sees who we are. A King must be physically strong but also have mental strength. And his heart must be pure. Mikkel’s wasna. He turned Ulrik’s lover against his nephew, convincing her that she must kill Ulrik .”
Katla raised her brows as the story took a turn she hadn’t expected. “ Tell me she didn’t.”
“ She couldna if she wanted to. Few beings can take the life of a Dragon King , and humans are no’ one of them. But the damage had been done. Thankfully , Constantine overheard. He is King of Dragon Kings , but also Ulrik’s closest friend. Con shared with us what he had learned. We agreed to spare Ulrik the pain of hunting down his intended and did it for him.”
“ And by hunted down , you mean…?”
Merrill nodded. “ We took her life.”
Katla rubbed her hands over her arms, imagining what it might be like to have dragons pursuing her. The woman must have been petrified. But then again, she had been about to kill one of them.
And Katla had done much worse. Would the dragons eventually come after her like that?
“ We only told Ulrik after,” Merrill continued. “ His fury was immense. It was unlike anything I’ve seen. Yet he didna take it out on us as we anticipated. He directed it at the humans he had sheltered and protected. In that instant, the war began. The mortals were all too ready to stand against us. And we were all too ready to be rid of them. All of us except Con . Like many of the Kings , I had dealt with countless affronts. Decades of outrage and insult boiled over that day. We joined Ulrik in the effort to rid Earth of humans.”
“ You wiped them out?”
Merrill slowly ran a hand around the back of his neck and rubbed before letting his arm drop to his side. “ There’s a reason the magic chose Con as the King of Kings . He reminded each of us of our promise, slowly bringing us back to his side, one by one. Ulrik wouldna listen, though. Con demanded that he stand down and call off the Silvers , but Ulrik was too lost in his grief.”
“ I know something about that.” Their gazes met. She watched the moonlight shine upon his dirty blond locks, making them appear as if they were glowing.
“ You can no’ imagine how bad it was. For every King , there was at least one human settlement. Everyone rose up against the other. Nowhere on Earth wasn’t embroiled in conflict. Con didna allow his Golds to harm any mortals, but that didna stop the humans in his territory from attempting to hurt the Golds . By then, only Ulrik and the Silvers were fighting the humans, but they didna care. They wanted to be rid of us as much as we wanted them gone.”
Katla couldn’t look away from Merrill . His gaze stayed directed at the water as he spoke.
“ Some Kings ordered their dragons to protect the human settlements from the Silvers , but things had already progressed too far by then. I watched too many dragons slaughtered by mortals who had given into fear, and those dragons not defending themselves because they were ordered to guard the very ones taking their lives.”
Katla grimaced at the horror his words created. “ By the stars,” she whispered.
“ That’s when I knew we had lost the war. How do you come back from something like that? We had opened our lands to the humans. We could show our power and control them, but it would happen again. The mortals would never trust us, and we could never trust them again. But nothing could be decided until Ulrik and the Silvers were dealt with. Con took control of all but four of the largest Silvers who wouldna leave Ulrik’s side. It took all our combined magic to force those Silvers into a dragon sleep and cage them. Then , we had a decision to make.”
“ You mean what to do with the humans.”
Merrill blew out a long breath. “ We were divided. Half wanted to rid the realm of mortals and return our world to what it had been. The other half stood with Con after he reminded us that we had vowed to protect the very beings we were at war with.”
“ But it was your world first.”
Dark blue eyes met hers. “ That may be, but if we’d killed to end the war, none of us would be Kings any longer. We would be murderers. Not the pure of heart the magic demanded.”
She swallowed as she leaned closer, needing to hear the rest. “ What did you do?”
“ We stood by our promise, but even as we did, we recognized that the war would continue. Neither dragons nor humans could live together any longer. Since we couldna send the humans to a new world, we created a bridge with our magic and sent our clans to find a new home.”
Katla had more questions but she didn’t ask. She couldn’t, not with the anguish cutting across Merrill’s face. His voice had dropped to barely a whisper, as if speaking the words had cost him everything he had.
At that moment, she understood that if anyone could appreciate how she felt about losing everything, it was him.
The silence stretched out for so long she thought he’d finished the story. She was about to leave when he sucked in a breath.
“ We had no idea where the dragons would go,” Merrill continued. “ We could only hope they found a home. They didna want to leave. Some balked. We didna want them to leave, but someone had to. Otherwise , the war would have continued indefinitely. Our beautiful world was gone. The stench of blood and death hung in the air. The wails of both dragons and humans were unimaginable. We promised to protect the innocent, and we stood by that. I hated the mortals for putting us in that position. I hated myself for making the oath. I still hate myself for it,” he said, his lip curled in disgust. “ It was our world. We should’ve protected the dragons, no’ the mortals. I would’ve gladly given my life to ensure my clan had a home. I should have. We all should have. Even though we had convinced ourselves that we could bring the dragons back, we all knew it would never happen.”
His torment was so powerful that it swarmed her, forcing her to take a step back. He looked away, putting his face in profile. His hands were clenched at his sides, showing white knuckles, and his body was rigid. Katla thought about reaching out to offer him comfort, but it had been so long since she had done such a thing. She wasn’t sure she remembered how.
“ That was the beginning of the end,” Merrill told her. “ The Kings , as a collective, bound Ulrik’s magic so he was forced to remain in human form and banished him from Dreagan .” Merrill looked at her and grunted. “ It sounds harsh—and it was—but he wouldna stop attacking the humans. He left us no choice.”
She refrained from giving her opinion. It was easy to look back at someone’s decisions and judge. She didn’t want hers weighed, so she wisely kept silent.
He shoved his hair from his face with both hands before dropping his arms to his sides. “ We left Ulrik to his fate and hid away on Dreagan . Each King went into their mountain and remained, sleeping through time until the day humans forgot dragons were real. Only two Kings remained awake during that time— Con and Ulrik . Con visited each of us every ten years and updated us on what was happening in the world. Eventually , we began to wake and live among the mortals. But the Kings had a difficult time controlling their loathing.”
“ You didn’t?” she asked.
He shrugged one shoulder. “ My brethren needed me. It started with Varek . I saw that he couldna manage his wrath. If he saw a mortal, he would’ve killed them immediately. So , I helped him through it. Then I helped others.”
“ What about you?”
His lips twisted. “ I shoved my feelings down. Ignored them. I always intended to deal with my resentment eventually, but it was easier to keep bottling it up. And I locked it away in the deepest, darkest part of my mind, then forgot about it. Millennia passed as we tried to locate the dragons, hoping against hope that they’d survived. It turned out a verra powerful friend of ours had seen everything unfolding on Earth . Erith created Zora in Earth’s image and directed the dragons here. She kept the information from us. She claims to have had her reasons, but I still have issues with it. Eventually , she told us everything. Without her, I’m not sure what would’ve happened.”
“ Villette would’ve found the dragons.”
He nodded irritably and looked away. “ Most likely.
“ You were reunited with your clans. That should be cause for celebration.”
“ It was. Definitely . But things have changed. The dragons are no longer in clans. Nor are they ruled by Dragon Kings . They’re governed by Con and Rhi’s twins, Eurwen and Brandr . In fact, the dragons despise the Kings . The story of how we sent their ancestors away has traveled through generations. Am I glad the dragons survived? Aye . Am I happy I saw them? I think it would’ve been better had I stayed on Earth .”
Katla nibbled on the side of her lip. “ If you hadn’t come, Villette might have succeeded in annihilating the dragons. I would still be helping her. Your reunion might not have been what you imagined, but it has changed a great many things.”
“ If I had remained on Earth , I would still be the man I used to be.” He paused. “ Instead , I’m filled with rage.”
“ Against the humans?”
Merrill swung his head to her. “ Against myself for not making another choice. Against Villette for everything. Against every Star Person who knew what she did and didn’t stop her. The Druids she brought to Earth were puppets. What happened on our realm might have been avoided. When her plan didna work out there, she focused it here. Once again, she brought in humans to mix with dragons. And this time, she made sure the mortals feared and hated the dragons right from the beginning.”
“ She’s trying to get things to play out just as they did on Earth .”
“ I think so.”
Katla shivered in the night air. “ Then don’t let her.”
“ Killing her willna stop what she began.”
“ Maybe not, but if she isn’t around to stir things up, there’s a chance people can change.”
Merrill ran a hand over his face. “ You have more faith than I do.”
“ Hope . Not faith. I was a good person before. I have much to make up for.”
“ You already began that journey,” he said, motioning toward the sleeping children.
She looked at them. It warmed her heart to have children with her once more. She’d had an ache in her heart the whole time she believed her daughter had died, only made worse by the knowledge that she had lived a long, full life. Katla could’ve been a part of that, but she had chosen vengeance instead.
“ Other bairns have been saved from the priests,” Merrill said, breaking into her thoughts.
Her gaze slid back to him. “ How do you know that?”
“ A friend of mine named Tamlyn . She is a Banshee and knows when a child with magic is about to die near her. She and her friends were drawn to this area because of what was happening at Stonemore . She has saved many from the priests.”
Katla was surprised and pleased to learn that. “ Really ?”
“ She has taken in several bairns. They are safe and loved. She would be delighted to have three more.”
There was a catch. There had to be. “ And what would she want in exchange?”
“ Nothing ,” Merrill replied. “ However , you should know she’s mated to a Dragon King .”
Katla probably should’ve seen that coming, especially when Merrill said she was a friend. She looked at the children once more. It would be better if they had a stable, protected home. What could be safer than having a Dragon King as a protector? It was the right thing to do. Yet Katla didn’t want the children to leave. She knew it was selfish, but she wanted to keep them with her. Their presence made her remember the mother she had once been.
“ Iron Hall isna far,” Merrill added.
Under her care, the children had gone hungry. All because she had feared using her magic to kill an animal. She might not have killed the dragons, but they died because she’d trapped them. It was close enough.
Merrill moved a step closer. “ You can visit them anytime you wish.”
And it would be harder to leave each time. She couldn’t do that. But she had wished for a safe place for the children. And Merrill offered one. She should be excited to know they had a place to go. And she would be. One day. Just as soon as her heart stopped aching.
“ They’ll be treated well?” Katla asked.
“ They’ll be loved and cherished beyond measure. The Kings and their mates live there, and, as I said, there are other bairns.”
Could she trust a dragon? Did she dare? She had made so many wrong decisions. This had to be the right one.
“ I’ll take you to Iron Hall . You can see for yourself.”
Katla jerked her head to him. Was this the trap, then? Would he use the children to get her to the Kings instead of chasing her? “ So I can be locked away?”
He sighed, his lips flattening. “ If we wanted to punish you, we would have already.”
She couldn’t argue that point. Merrill had found her. If he wanted, he could bring down all the Kings upon her. He hadn’t. As much as she wanted to make a home with the kids, she couldn’t. She wanted redemption, and the only way to get that was to hunt down Villette . She couldn’t do that with the children in tow.
If this was a trick, and the Kings locked her away, then so be it. At least the children would never have to worry about the priests again. “ All right.”