Chapter 4 Lily #3
“But you’re a kingdom guarded by dragons.
My ships and my soldiers are nothing to you.
Unless there is more to this story than you’re telling.
” He was older and less formidable than I was.
Even without Wrath’s strength, I could easily best him in a fight.
But he definitely had experience in a royal capacity and the wisdom of his age, both things I lacked.
“He needs to understand the seriousness of your plight and how it will affect the Empire Colonies, but not in a way that hints at your vulnerability.” Wrath appeared before me again, standing to the side between King Ithaca and me, sizing up my political adversary.
“The blades they wield are different from the ones any of us possesses,” I said simply.
“They inflict wounds that do not heal. They’re savage and relentless and ambitious, and if they come for the Southern Isles, they’ll come for you next.
It’s imperative that our allies converge together to stop them before they become a serious threat. ”
He took in this information without reaction, even though the news should have been disturbing. “But you defeated them once before. How?”
“Tell him the truth.” Wrath stared at him before he turned back to me. “That you command the dead. The world needs to know that the Death Queen sits upon the throne—and they should be afraid.”
Hawk didn’t know yet. Khazmuda didn’t mention it to my mother, so it was never shared with him.
And Zehemoth hadn’t witnessed it because he’d been outside the forest when it happened.
This wasn’t how I wanted him to realize my capabilities, but Wrath was right.
I needed to be feared just the way my father was.
“Because I command two armies—one of the living and the other the dead.”
Hawk turned his head slightly toward me but didn’t speak a word.
“But dragons and the dead may not be enough against foes who can mortally wound you with a single scratch of their blade. Arrogance is the same as complacency, and I’d rather humbly ask for aid than pridefully lose a war against an enemy I underestimated. Will you answer this call?”
He was quiet again, considering all of this information with practiced stoicism. “How is it possible that the cuts of their blades prevent their opponents from healing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is there an antidote to this?”
“I’m sure there is, but I haven’t found it yet.”
“What is the material of their blades?”
“Gold,” I said. “But I suspect they’re cursed in some way. Gold is an abundant substance, and I’ve never heard of it possessing such destructive properties. Either the gold is different where they come from or they’ve cursed it with some kind of magic.”
A heavy moment passed during which he processed all this. “The unsuspecting illness that struck your father… Was it impalement on one of these cursed blades?”
I wanted to shift my gaze to Wrath, to silently ask how to answer the question because I truly didn’t know what response to give.
To admit my father was mortally wounded with a possibility that he would never heal…
or to lie. And if my lie was ever discovered, I would lose whatever respect I had to bust my ass to earn.
“He wouldn’t ask if he didn’t already assume,” Wrath said quietly. “Whatever his intention is, it won’t change based on your answer. But a lie will make you appear afraid and vulnerable.”
I hadn’t blinked since King Ithaca had asked the dreadful question. “Yes. But my father will return to his powerhouse strength momentarily because we search for the antidote as we speak.”
When he gave no reaction, I knew Wrath was right, that the suspicion had already grown in his head since the start of this conversation. “If he can’t heal from this wound, then how does he stay alive?”
“Because the love of a dragon is powerful—and the love of all dragons is the most powerful force in the known world. Their conjoined energy heals his body at the same rate it depletes, pausing his energy as we search for a solution to this problem.”
A glaze moved over his eyes, his mind seeming to travel elsewhere momentarily. “Not only does he possess immortality because of his fuse with Khazmuda, but now he also has invincibility because of the army of dragons he commands.”
“He commands no dragon. Only a fool could believe such a fallacy. My father earned their affection and loyalty when he reclaimed the Southern Isles in the name of his father and freed them from their mental imprisonment.” I took a step closer to him, invading his personal space the way my father taught me to intimidate a foe.
“Will you answer our call for aid, King Ithaca? Will you deploy your armada and your soldiers for the preservation of our kingdoms?”
His eyes shifted back and forth between mine, holding his ground and refusing to take a step back.
“You’re far too young to lead men and dragons.
Far too young to lead a war against his enemy that incapacitated your father.
I think it would be best for us all if I lead the attack against the Barbarians. ”
Pompous dirtbag. “No. And that’s a complete fucking sentence.” I took another step toward him, nearly eye level because I’d inherited my father’s height. Now our faces were close together because he refused to yield.
“I will not risk my ships and my men to fight under the banner of a child—”
“Does a child command the army of the dead? Can a child kick your ass where you stand?” I stepped back and unsheathed my blade from the scabbard across my back, a heavy two-handed weapon that I could handle with a single grip.
All the soldiers who guarded the king immediately withdrew their blades but didn’t converge around King Ithaca.
“Lily.” That was all Hawk said, a warning in his tone.
I acted exactly as my father would, and I refused to be treated any differently because of it. “Give me the honor to humble you where you stand, Your Highness.” My blade hung at my side, but it would only take a flick of my wrist to block an incoming attack.
“I lead this battle, or there will be no alliance.”
“Or perhaps there will be no alliance because I will conquer your kingdom with dragons and men and the corpses of your loved ones—and then I will force you to serve me.”
This time, Hawk reached for my wrist and tried to squeeze reason into my flesh. “Lily.”
“My father is the most powerful king in the known world. He could easily conquer you and everyone else in his vicinity on a whim. But he’s allowed neighboring kingdoms to maintain their autonomy despite the fact that you didn’t help him regain the Southern Isles over twenty years ago.
Lucky for you, he’s neither greedy nor combative.
I, however, am deeply combative and deeply spiteful. ”
“And unnecessarily hostile.”
“You’ve treated me as a resentment rather than an ally from the moment I arrived here.
You’ve continued to pry for information for your own gains rather than offer aid in this delicate time.
Not once have you extended condolences for my father’s injuries, as if you’re secretly gleeful that it is I who visits you instead of him.
And because I have tits and an ass, you assume I’m inferior to you both physically and intellectually, and you can take advantage of this opportunity to wrest power from my hands when I have an iron fucking grip.
That doesn’t sound like an ally to me—but an opportunist. So my hostility is very much necessary. ”
Instead of staring at King Ithaca, Wrath stared at me, dark eyes glued to my face with an intensity that I could feel without having to see.
Hawk dropped his hand from my arm.
“So if you’re finished trying to undermine me, will you answer my call for aid or not?” The blood of my ancestors, generations of kings, burned white-hot in my veins. I felt like they were all in the room with me. Felt like my father was there, the thump in my heart with every beat.
King Ithaca finally took a step back, his hands coming together at his front. “Yes, Queen Rothschild. The Empire Colonies will answer your call for aid.”
I took a step back as well, dousing the flames of my hostility once I’d secured what I’d come here for.
“Thank you, King Ithaca.” I turned away, feeling my cape gently lift when it got a rush of air in the spin.
“A messenger will deliver your instructions imminently.” I felt Hawk beside me a second later, his footfalls in tune with mine, our boots tapping against the tile floor in perfect unison.
When we made it out the double doors, raindrops struck the cobblestone courtyard in a heavy deluge.
It splashed down the windows, soaked the uniforms of the guards who kept their stations.
The sound of a million little rivers filled my ears as we walked to our dragons, their scales shiny from the downpour.
“I’ve never seen this side of you, Lily,” Hawk said as we approached our dragons.
“Get used to it, because you’re going to be seeing a lot more of this side.
” I climbed onto Zehemoth’s back with ease despite the falling rain, knowing King Ithaca watched our departure from one of his windows.
I needed to command the courtyard and the castle with my physical presence until I was gone from his sight.
Our dragons launched from the ground and opened their powerful wings as they caught the air.
They quickly left the ground, and as if Zehemoth could sense my anger because it was so potent he could feel it without a fuse, he released a mighty roar, a reminder of the power of the Southern Isles—and the Rothschilds who would always rule it.