25. Chapter 25 #4
The queen grazes my cheek with the tip of her sharp fingernail.
The warning travels down the length of my spine and infiltrates my very soul.
“You should know, if it were not for my brother, I would put you in a forever sleep right now,” she whispers, glancing at Augustine and frowning.
“As it is, your life depends on falling in love. You would bode well to remember that. You cannot hide from my wrath forever, pet. You will pay the price if you do not put on the ring. That is a promise.”
And that’s when it hits me.
The gods are rationing the realm’s magical wealth amongst themselves by mapping out boundaries and assigning cities to determine which mortals they intend to siphon bloodmagic from.
We are nothing but the gasoline in the fire they intend to wage upon the dragons.
We are not pets, we are cattle. There is no real bid for our hearts, they simply want us to wear the rings so that they can steal our bloodmagic and break the curse by force.
Which is why they chose my friends, I suddenly realize. They’re the most powerful mortals in the realm, which means their bloodmagic must be worth more than everyone else’s.
The walls boom, the windows shatter, and the floor quakes beneath our feet.
“Your Highness!” Regent barrels into the room, his sacred butler attire shredded to smithereens.
He stumbles as he clamors up the steps of the dais, stopping only once he reaches the queen’s feet, his voice trembling. “Explosion… there was an explosion!”
A crackle of irritation sparks in the air, imbuing the room in taut energy as the queen bends down to meet him at eye level. Although I must admit, I’m thankful the attention is off me.
“Where?” she hisses.
“In the… in the Observatory…” Regent stammers, placing a hand on his marred cheek as he begins sobbing. “It’s gone. It’s… it’s all gone.”
The queen’s expression morphs quickly. One moment, it’s pinched in irritation. The next, it’s wild with shock. Finally, it floods with white-hot fury as she comes to realize that her precious castle has been bombed.
She swoops across the dais, her gown twirling like a flower petal landing on a battlefield coated in the blood of her enemies.
“There is a traitor among us,” she says.
“One who has been reporting our movements to the enemy. I have suspected this for a while. But tonight, it seems that my suspicions have been proven right.” Her narrow-eyed gaze locks on the priestess, who is cowering against the wall.
“Bring the pets to the safehouse,” she snarls.
“Tell no one of their whereabouts. We are being watched.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The priestess bends into a steep bow, then rushes up the dais steps to grab my hand. “We must go. You heard the queen,” she urges in my ear. “Now.”
“Perhaps it was one of them,” the Goddess of Whispers says as she lazily jerks her head toward Thalmos and Rhaziel. “They did try to have your precious pet killed, yes?”
Thalmos and Rhaziel both start sputtering to defend themselves.
The silver-haired god splits a grin. The queen’s nostrils flare as she cuts a ravaging look at both of her bone-headed brothers and says, “While it’s true that my brothers tried to betray me, a fact which I will never forget, they are also not an actual threat. ”
Both of them stop sputtering and shut their mouths, as if letting her words sink in.
The queen lifts her chin in declaration.
“This betrayal was carried about by someone more calculated and articulate,” she says.
“Someone with means to excess reserves of bloodmagic that I am not privy to. Someone who has been relentlessly destroying my soldiers for months, yet leaving behind no trace of their existence. Which is why we are going to snuff this nuisance out once and for all. Now. For I would rather fight an entire legion of dragons head-on than deal with another one of these insufferable bombs.” Her coiled fury extends back to Thalmos and Rhaziel as she adds, “And you two…”
They both start nodding profusely, sweat beading off their brows.
“You know what’s at stake should you so much as think about betraying me again,” she growls.
“Shadow?” the priestess says, giving my elbow a little tug.
I look up, only to realize that my friends have congregated near the exit, and they’re waiting for me.
For their sakes, I oblige and follow the priestess down the steps, but not before throwing an additional glance over my shoulder at Augustine, who has been quiet up until this moment.
I scour his beautiful features for any hint of surprise, only to realize he doesn’t look concerned about this bomb fiasco in the slightest. In fact, he appears downright unbothered over the fact that his castle is being demolished.
He even goes as far as casually running a hand through his hair, his curious gaze catching mine.
For a moment, his eyes soften around the edges, and his lips part as if he has something to say.
But then our silent exchange is interrupted by the priestess tugging me away.