Chapter 41
RAINIER
Wishing very much to never rise from our comfortable bed, I used my divinity to blow open the curtains of the four-poster. I’d shut them before drifting off into a satiated and dreamless sleep, and it had kept the offensive daylight from keeping us awake. But now, there were responsibilities to attend to.
Gently caressing Em’s back, I pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to waking with her in my arms. I’d envisioned it so many times during our years apart. Each morning I felt her soft breathing against my chest and her arm wrapped tightly around me, I had to remind myself it wasn’t a dream. She roused only enough to settle her body more comfortably on mine, and I was sorely tempted not to disturb her further.
Alas, duty won.
“It’s nearly dinner time, and if you want time to brush your hair and wash before we meet with the council, I’d say you should consider giving me a glimpse of my favorite color blue,” I murmured into her hair.
She smelled of lavender soap, and I breathed deep. Tilting her head up, she pressed a drowsy kiss to my jaw, blinking the sleep out of her beautiful eyes. I hated to cut these blissful minutes short with her. Though we’d snatched a defeat away with divine fire and dragons’ teeth, it was only a matter of time before the attacks would begin anew. Despite Irses having ripped his arm clean off, I was sure the Supreme had survived—like the persistent pest he was. We needed to prepare.
Em stretched, arms and legs reaching as far as she could, before curling up against me once more. “Everything hurts,” she grumbled. “‘Thoroughly fucked’ is right.”
I snorted, rubbing down her back once more. The noise she made was vulgar in its pleasure. “Careful with those sounds, dear heart, or we’ll have to start all over again.”
“I think, in that case, I would die in the best way possible,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her shoulder. Her hair was a tangled, golden mess down her back, and her freckles stood out on her deliciously plush skin. “Gods, you worked muscles I’d forgotten I had. Even my neck hurts.”
Turning and putting her legs over the side of the bed, she stretched once more, leaning down to touch her toes. It took everything in me not to grab her and flip her onto her back. I would find it quite simple to justify being late to our council meeting if I was pressed deep inside her.
She stood on stiff legs, stumbling toward the bathing chamber. Her ass cheeks jiggled, and I had to look away. My dick was growing more eager by the minute.
“Do I have time for another bath, or do I have to settle for a washcloth? Soaking sounds nice,” she said from inside the darkened room.
I glanced at the clock on the mantle. “Sadly, not enough time for that.” I tried not to let my apprehension flow down the bond toward her. I wasn’t keeping a secret, not completely. But there was no sense in worrying her when I didn’t even know what the council meeting was about. “Durand made it seem quite important when we spoke last night—er, this morning.” Time was strange in the aftermath of battle.
“No reprieve for royalty,” she murmured, and I heard water splash from the ewer. “What did you do to me, Rain? My back is aching.”
“As soon as we’re finished, I’ll massage that perfect, sore body,” I said. Rising, I headed toward the dressing room attached to our chambers. Picking through clothing, I sought comfort. I didn’t need to dress for battle today. So I pulled on woolen breeches and a loose tunic, before finding Em a comfortable skirt. Blue like her eyes, the fabric was soft, and the embroidery on the matching bodice was elegant but not overstated.
“I can’t even lift my arms to brush my hair,” she complained as she came to stand beside me, hairbrush loosely clasped in her hand.
“Get dressed, and I’ll help you. I’m sorry I hurt you,” I said, wishing I’d been more gentle. But with everything that occurred, with everything we’d fought for and how badly I wanted her, I was grateful I hadn’t been rougher.
Em bent at the waist, rifling through the chest of drawers for fresh underthings, when she let out a high-pitched whine.
“Is it that bad?” I asked, grasping her by the shoulder and putting my hand on her lower back. She stood, quickly pulling the chemise over her head.
“This isn’t—I’m not?—”
Another whine, and she gasped for breath.
A roar resonated, shaking the entire palace. It sounded like Irses.
“The dragons,” I said, panicked, as I held out the skirt for her to step into. No horns had sounded, and last I’d checked with our scouts, the Supreme’s army had retreated to the Aesiron. We would push them out of Vesta entirely once we had time to recuperate. So what new threat was this?
“What’s happening?” she cried, pulling the skirt up to her waist and tying it in place. “They’re hurting him.”
Quickly, I helped her with the bodice. She whimpered in pain as we both found our boots. Thanking the gods I’d brought my sword into our chambers, I unsheathed it as she opened a rift into the Dragon Hollow.
What we found carved my stomach out.
“STOP,” I bellowed, as Em used her shadows with such a quick and intense force that I felt a breeze on my forehead.
“What are you doing?” she screamed, throwing Lasu to the ground with her divinity.
A few dozen soldiers encircled Irses, each holding a spear. A large metal collar sat on the ground before the snarling and snapping creature, and I didn’t understand how it got there. Something of that size couldn’t have been crafted overnight.
Rage filled me as I spotted Traekka behind him, curled on the grassy spot beside the pond with her wings covering her body. She whined, deep and mournful, as I spotted the glint of a metal collar around her neck. Irses had taken a protective stance in front of the rest of the dragons, and he’d been physically injured because of it. Light passed through a ragged hole in his wing, and a spear had clearly scraped his leg.
Irses was too big for the Hollow, and I feared if he slammed his head into the cave roof, it would cause the palace to fall. Thankfully, as it was, Em’s newly formed escape dug from the cavern to the grounds hadn’t seemed to affect the integrity of our surroundings. Soldiers stood against the sunlight filtering in from the steeply angled tunnel, and half of the torches had gone out. Quickly, I accounted for the other dragons in the dark. Lux and Ifash were missing, and I was grateful for it. Their fire would have certainly caused far more damage.
Irses could have ripped each of these soldiers to shreds, yet he hadn’t. Thank the gods.
“Drop your spears,” I ordered, and not a single one of my soldiers listened. Probably because they were too afraid to drop their weapons when a massive creature bared its teeth at them.
Normally, I’d have rumbled the earth to get my gods damn point across, but I didn’t feel confident doing so at the moment. Em didn’t wait, though, using her shadowed divinity to steal the weapons from each of the soldiers and hurling them into the dirt walls behind them. My eyes widened at the show of power.
It was organized chaos after that, each soldier running to their spear to pull it free.
“ENOUGH,” I bellowed once more, walking in front of Irses. The dragon, though he’d been suspicious of me and protective of Em since I met him, seemed to calm. Em ran to the beast, cooing and soothing and healing.
“Why?” she whispered, heartbreak heavy in her words. Irses being harmed after Ryo’s death stung. If I felt like a failure, I was sure Em only felt worse. But these were our soldiers. We shouldn’t have had to consider they would harm the dragons.
“Lasu,” I snapped, and he limped toward me. Irses growled, and the one-eyed man lifted both his hands as he approached. Em shushed and petted the dragon, pouring her healing divinity into his leg. “Explain this.”
“Ashmont’s orders. From the council.” He winced, rubbing at his hip. I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“You don’t answer to Ashmont. You answer to me,” I responded, my voice icing over.
“He outranks me,” Lasu said, affronted. The meager torchlight played over his face, darkening the black eye he’d been given in the pit the day before.
“And I outrank him, do I not? Where is Ashmont? What were the orders, exactly?”
Before he could answer, the enraged sound of a woman barely concealing a scream came from behind me. Whirling toward her, I wasn’t shocked to see Em’s hands clenched tightly.
“The spears had obsidian tips,” Em spat, and I tasted her fury. “That collar on Traekka is probably obsidian.”
“He could have killed them,” I said, my own anger contorting my features into something ugly. “Why the fuck didn’t you come to me, Lasu? You had to know I wouldn’t stand for such treatment of the very creatures who saved us.”
“And they will ruin us too,” a soft voice said from the shadows. “At least, that is what the council believes.”
“And so you acted upon their concerns without letting them be voiced to me first?” I demanded of my father’s general. Tall and lean and quiet, Ashmont had known me since birth. And he’d despised me since the moment I preferred Raj to train me.
“The fire breather roasted a horse this afternoon, within the city walls. What if it was a person? A child? The council decided action needed to be taken—with or without your input.”
“And no one thought to wake us?”
He had no answer. With hands behind his back, Ashmont dipped his head, the picture of deference. Despite the twitch of my eye and the anger boiling in my gut, I reminded myself he was merely serving as a messenger.
Em was a different story. Behind me, her simmering wrath was palpable. But she stayed quiet, and I gently caressed the golden bond between us, hoping to soothe her. It had the opposite effect.
“Where was this resolve when your king was captive in Folterra? Why didn’t action need to be taken then?” she snapped. As she stepped forward, Irses moved, bringing his dangerous maw beside her as if to protect her.
I feared it wasn’t my dear heart who needed protecting.
“I was simply obeying the former queen,” Ashmont responded, dark brows meeting as he stared at the ground. “Though I wish I would have done more then. Perhaps that is why I act now. Before it is too late.”
Before Em could respond, her outrage untouched by his explanation, I crossed my arms. “Bring the council to me.”
“Here?”
“Here.”
Lord Durand had seemed worried when we’d last spoke, but I was sure he didn’t know about the impending action against our dragons. He would have told me. But he’d clearly had his concerns. Perhaps he had hoped to change their minds at our meeting. He’d been an advantageous ally to Em during my weeks in Declan’s dungeon, but he still had to speak for the majority of the council.
I grimaced, thinking about how my father would have avoided this. Soren would have appointed a new council the moment he became king, men who did as he wanted without question. I hadn’t had the time to do as such—and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
But I was angry they’d moved on this without granting me and Em the courtesy of a meeting. Ifash had forced things to move faster than necessary thanks to his hunger. The dragon in question hadn’t even returned to the Hollow, still roaming the countryside. Lux had last been seen flying south, and I thought it might have been a blessing that the biggest, most dangerous dragon wasn’t present for this conversation.
“They’ve been stuck beneath this palace for weeks, and Irses and Lux are the only reason the city stands,” Em said, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. She hadn’t had time to brush it, and putting her sex-mussed hair on display like that made me wish I could drag her off into some hidden alcove. Yet we were here, handling what the council had decided without proper authority.
“And while the council remains grateful for all that was done, and all that was sacrificed ,” Durand said, his mournful tone clear he was referencing the fallen dragon, “the people of Astana cannot withstand any more turmoil now that the enemy has retreated.”
Em gave me an expectant look, but I said nothing. Not because I agreed with the council, but because I needed a moment to ponder the man’s words.
Frustrated, she snapped, “So, you propose collaring them, and only using them as an attack dog when necessary. Where is your humanity?”
I tilted my head to the side, speaking to Durand. “They are living, breathing creatures. They will not be reduced to a weapon in such a way.”
“But if you cannot control them, Your Majesty,” he said, the corner of the man’s eyes crinkling as he braced for the impact of his words, “then what else can we do? As much as they’ve protected us, they have caused destruction as well.”
He spoke of the Wend, and my chest tightened. Reduced to embers and smoke, nothing had survived. I hoped to the gods Em had been successful in evacuating that portion of the city in its entirety before she rained divine fire down upon it.
“Collaring them is not on the table,” I said, arms crossed. I was king, and on this I would not bend. I didn’t wish to be considered a tyrant, and with the council in seeming agreement, I weighed each choice carefully.
“With obsidian, no less,” Em said. “They are made of my divinity. As it is, I believe Traekka is even smaller than she was before you ordered that collar to be placed upon her.”
“Then send them away,” Durand proposed, running his hand through his silver hair, and Em gasped. “Keep one to defend our walls, and send the rest away.”
One of the council members, a healer named Jaehren, stepped to Durand’s side. In a soft voice, he said words I knew would strike an arrow to Em’s chest. “Your Majesty, I have treated more burns than I even thought possible since yesterday.”
She worried her lip before crossing her arms and turning toward Irses. She put her hand on his snout and spoke quietly to the massive beast. I gave her a moment, waiting for her response, but when she didn’t speak, I turned toward the council members once more.
“Leave us. We will handle the dragons. Do not make such a decision without me ever again, or each of you will find your seat on my council vacant.”
Durand nodded, and one of the younger council members opened a rift. They couldn’t move through it fast enough. With just me and Em in the Hollow, we had the freedom to discuss things plainly.
“What do you think we should do?” I asked, already knowing how she would answer based on her stiff body language. Irses settled on his haunches, head resting on the ground, and Em caressed his neck. She didn’t bother to turn around.
“Nothing,” she snapped. “To do this to them after everything. Ryo died to save everyone!” she exclaimed. Irses’ eyes slid shut, and he heaved a sigh.
I said nothing, walking over to check on Traekka. The collar had been removed while we waited for the council, but Em was right—she was smaller. Only barely larger than Ryo was, the obsidian shackle had done damage. It was likely she could reverse it with her shadows and more memories, but the idea gnawed at me. I didn’t want her to lose any more than she already had.
The fact the council already had collars for the dragons told me this wasn’t a new idea.
They were afraid.
They were lucky they hadn’t been able to get the collar around Irses’ neck. It had clearly been designed with his much smaller frame in mind; he would have choked to death.
“What if we send them to Elora?” I suggested, waiting for her anger to redirect toward me.
“You’re not seriously considering sending them away, are you?” Em asked, and I felt a tremor beneath our feet.
“Control, dear heart,” I reminded her, and the ground stilled. Squatting beside the sleeping dragon, her shade of sapphire blue appearing black in the low light, I pressed my hand to her neck. Her scales were strangely smooth where the collar had once been, but there was nothing to heal; my divinity wouldn’t latch on to anything.
“They’re frightened. They watched Lux burn down a quarter of the city, and they saw shadows pour from Irses’ mouth. A horse was snatched in the street. What if they were right? What if they took a person?”
Though I hated it, I had to be fair. The council was chosen to represent our people. If they were all terrified, perhaps there was merit in listening to their concerns.
“They wouldn’t do that,” Em said, only the uncertainty bubbling along the bond amongst all her rage told a different story. I stood, turning to face her. She leaned against Irses, looking so tired and so very beautiful. “What if we just close off the Hollow—like it was before? They won’t be afraid if the dragons can’t get out.”
I pondered the idea. It didn’t seem fair. “We both know Irses will not leave your side.” The dragon in question adjusted at his mention. “And Lux can defend us if the Supreme returns before we are ready.”
“You’re going to make me send the rest of them to Elora, aren’t you?” she said, hands limp as she stared down at her feet.
“Do you really think I’m capable of making you do anything you don’t want to do, dear heart?” She didn’t look at me, so I went to her. Taking her hand in mine, I squeezed. “I think this might be the best compromise. This way, Elora doesn’t have to cross the sea.”
The slow breathing of Irses beside us was soothing, and I felt my own heartbeat slow as my breaths matched his.
After a moment, watery blue eyes finally met mine. “I thought the whole point of being king was getting to do whatever you want.”
“That might have been the case before. But we are destined for so much more than that, don’t you think? My father will be remembered as someone who only stoked war. We will be remembered as those who brought peace. Our legacy lies amongst the stars.”
Em only stared, mouth parted. After a long moment, she stepped forward, giving me a wavering smile.
“Tomorrow,” she said, and then she pressed her lips to mine.