Chapter 6 #2
“I do not seek immortality or the power of creation. I wish merely for our children to grow up without having to do safety drills in school.”
“They should know how to protect themselves.”
“They are children.”
“I was a child when I went to war. As were you.”
“Do you not wish for a better world for your daughter?”
She shrugs. “If I suffered and managed, why shouldn’t she? It made me stronger.”
“It made you weak, unable to see any other view but your own.”
Her eyes narrow. “What I can see, Your Majesty, is that you will kill everything that makes Raza great.”
“If suffering, fear, and hatred is greatness, then fuck it.”
Scowling, she moves away from me to talk to one of the other Dragons. I fight the urge to stab her in the back. I do not care for fighting “honourably” – especially when there’s any risk of my queen being caught in the middle.
“Is everything okay?” Arienna asks as she turns to face me. The excitement she’s carried all this time starts to slip, and I want to kill Coo just for taking that from her.
“Yes,” I say, forcing my nerves to calm as we move down the stalls. “We have another hour before our dinner with the ladies and lords, but until then, shop and enjoy yourself.”
“What if I want to eat now?” she says, nibbling on her lip teasingly.
Ducking my head, I murmur in her ear, “Then sit down and spread your legs for me, my queen. Have you noticed how these tables are the perfect height for me to kneel at?”
“Ah…” I can almost feel the shiver running across her skin. “There’s a lot of people here.”
“There are.”
She swallows. Then spins away from me, but her hand brushes across my cock as she does so. Grabbing her wrist, I spin her back around.
She squeaks.
“Shall we visit one of the brownie’s stalls and find a toy for you?”
“For later?” I shake my head. She blushes hard. “No?”
“So you’d like a different punishment then.” I nod.
She whines, “What? No! Why?”
“For being a brat.” Smiling, I peck her on the lips, then spin her around. “Now walk.”
Grumbling beneath her breath, she marches onwards.
“Oh! Those are so cute!” Arienna says a few minutes later, running towards a Vylian’s stall. She looks up at me, her pale-pink eyes, the colour of a cloudy sunset, lighting up more beautiful than any sky. “Can I have this absolute cutie too?” She holds up the plush toy of a godsawful creature.
A leffington rat, it has a squished, upturned nose, wide pale-yellow eyes that look more like large puss-filled sacs, and a mostly bald body with just the smallest tuffs of black fur patches.
The expression sewn into its ugly-ass face makes it look like it’s the unwanted offspring of two blood siblings.
That was thrown out of the window immediately after birth.
And managed to hit every branch face-first on its way down.
“Of course,” I say smoothly. Insulting the Vylian would do nothing to soothe over the pain between our kingdoms. Besides, at least I now know my queen will still love me if I become horribly disfigured. Things can’t get any uglier than that “absolute cutie”.
Hoping she doesn’t want to display it somewhere in our room, I gesture for one of her hands-in-waiting to pay for it and bag it.
As we continue to walk the market, my paranoia starts to ease.
Surely, if the Court was planning something, they would have done it already.
I glance at the Dragons beside us. None of them have tried talking to Arienna for a while, but they haven’t tried to move away from us either.
Some of them have even bought a few things, one of which was a notebook from a Vylian stall.
The guards roaming the crowds have quickly dealt with any squabbles, and though the tension is still thick in the air, it isn’t suffocating. Today has gone better than even I dreamed it would. Perhaps Raza will not be as slow to heal as I thought.
Grabbing Arienna’s hand, I pull her towards the castle. “We’re done for today,” I say. “It’s time to eat with the ladies and lords.”
She moans. “Thank gods. I’m absolutely starving.”
My eyes narrow as I pull her to a stop. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hungry?”
She waves a hand. “A good brownie never asks to be fed.”
Lifting her chin, making sure she damn well hears me, I growl, “A good queen always takes care of herself. The next time you’re hungry, get something to eat.” My grip tightens as I dip my head to hers. “Forget that, and I will fill your stomach myself.”
Her breaths skitter out, swirling in the small amount of air between our lips. Heat electrifying my skin, I press my lips to hers –
“Down!” Jace shouts as he shoves me away from the Vylian stall. Wrapping my arms around her, I tackle her to the ground. Arienna gasps against my chest – a noise lost beneath the sudden explosion.
Something sharp pierces my right calf. I concentrate on the pain, trying to discern if the projectile has gone through me and into her.
“Arienna!” I shout, but she doesn’t respond.
Calloused hands pull me to my feet. Looking down at my leg, I’m relieved to see nothing on this side. Screams ring in my ears as our people scatter, running away and taking to the air.
“Put out the fire!” Jace orders. The witches in our guard twist their hands in the air. Water is pulled from the leaves of our tree and poured onto the blue flames roaring from the Vylian’s stall.
Metal rings on metal. Screams mix with the grunts of my soldiers. Snipers hover overhead, taking shots where they can, shouting warnings when they can’t.
Spreading my wings, I take to the air with my queen.
A second explosion goes off.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Arienna scrambles to get down, bucking against me and pulling at my hands.
Squeezing her tight, I lock her to me. My guards clear a path through the air, shoving through anyone in our way.
“They need help! We have to –” Her gasp shatters on a cry as her head swivels left and right, her eyes taking in all the chaos.
The fire is raging along the branch, forcing our witches to stay out of the fight.
The people who’ve attacked the market are ganging up on my guards.
It’s a small force, but they’re moving quickly, having no doubt fought together before.
My women are good, but they can’t fight five against one, and they have the disadvantage of not knowing who’s an enemy until they get attacked – the bombers are dressed like everyone else.
Cupping the back of her head, I press her face into my shoulder. “Close your eyes.”
She shakes her head, but I hold her down, and soon she’s still beneath my palm, nothing but broken laughter moving her. Knives are flung in our direction, but a shimmery light-blue shield is erected around us. The blades bounce off and fall to the ground.
As we near the castle, my eyes find Marrabel. Saragese is one of the women who got left behind. I watched her get cut down right before I launched into the air. And yet, here Marrabel is, bound by duty while her little sister lies heavily wounded, maybe even dying.
Her face a mask of professionalism, her gold eyes hard and serious, Marrabel nods at me. We enter the castle, going through the balcony on the Royal Floor. We don’t set down until we make it to the Queen’s Chambers.
Arienna stumbles, her legs shaking, when I lower her to the floor. So I pull her flush against me again, half-holding her up as I follow Jace inside. Marrabel and Irin, Saragese’s replacement, enter after us. The rest of the six guards stand sentry outside the door.
When Jace clears the bedroom, I usher Arienna to the bed and force her onto it despite her protests. “Stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“No.” Her broken laughter sounds too full of pain. “Wait.” She reaches for me, but I dodge her hand. Turning on my heels, I head for the door.
“You’re staying,” I say to Jace when he makes to follow me.
“Richard, you know you’re the target. She’s not even crowned yet.”
Stopping, I glare at him. “You leave her side, and I will kill you myself.”
He stops under the archway of the room, his jaw tight. “Irin –”
“No,” I cut in, wanting my three best guards with my wife. “I’ll take those in the hall.”
Jace shakes his head on a curse, but he doesn’t fight me.
Stepping out of the Queen’s Chambers, I glance at Claris, a green-haired guard. “Find Fabia and bring her here. She’ll be at the training field.”
As she runs off, I stride towards the balcony. The rest of the guards flank me. Megan and Raychel move to the front; the three others stay at my back. Looking at one of the three when we reach the balcony, I order, “Find your queen some food. Prepare it yourself.”
She nods and dives straight down, heading for the floor with the staff kitchens while the rest of us fly back to the market.
Smoke lingers in the air, but the flames are gone. As are the shrieks and shouts of fear. Now they’ve been replaced by roars of rage.
The two bombs came from Vylian stalls.
My people are out for blood.