Chapter 20
Twenty
Dirk
“Something wrong, brother?”
I ignored the casual sarcasm from Caz, just as I refrained from glancing down to where he sat on the throne to my left, his hand resting casually on top of Anna’s.
We were in the throne room, and before us was assembled the Council, the informal body representing the most powerful Elites in the kingdom.
“What do you mean?” I asked from the corner of my mouth, doing my best to look the part of the unflappable Ice Prince, exactly as was expected of me.
Though hopefully that would not be the case for much longer.
Now that Anna had been fully claimed by Caz, she should enter her first heat sooner rather than later.
While dragons weren’t a fruitful species, especially compared to our lifespans, I hoped an heir would be produced quickly.
I would be more than happy to no longer be the second in line.
Which I suppose I am now. Technically, Anna could rule if something happened to Caz, though I doubt many would be willing to accept her. Yet.
I stifled a smile. In the coming weeks, they would get to know Anna much better, and I could not wait. Some of the Elites were in for a rude awakening if they thought she was just going to be a passenger with Caz.
No, the only reason I would step up and take the throne would be to stop someone like Mirko or his son, Andrik.
The chance to step back from politics was beyond attractive, and I loathed my uncle for forcing me to stay near and take the risk that someone would eventually link me to a past better forgotten.
Especially for Caz.
“You’ve been fidgeting tirelessly for the past twenty minutes while we wait for Mirko to get here and tell us why he called for this assembly,” Caz said, speaking just loudly enough for me to hear and no one else.
“Not to mention your alpha power is like a maelstrom in the room. Everyone can sense it, and that’s not you. ”
Was it? Damn. I focused my mind, dampening the outflow of power until it was little more than a trickle, glad for the distraction. I focused on keeping control. Now was not the time for letting others realize how on edge I was.
“What’s going on with you?”
I grunted a negative, not wanting to explain. How could I convince Caz that I was freaking out because I had promised Ella I would fix things and not screw them up further?
Perhaps I should have stayed away. There’s still time. That way she won’t get hurt when my attempt fails.
I resolutely did not allow myself to think what her reaction was going to be to my first attempt. It wasn’t done yet, and I knew if I dwelled on it too long, I would abandon the idea as being too awkward.
Why did this have to be so uncomfortable?
I stilled my hand as it started to fidget.
This was the way it had to be. Ella needed me to show her that I was different, that I wasn’t like Mirko, or Damon, or any of a hundred other Elites I could name.
She had to know I would take care of her and not hurt her.
A swirl of anger that anyone would want to harm her coursed through me just as the doors to the throne room opened.
Muted conversations sprang up across the rows of seated and standing Elites as they turned to see what was going on. Nobody, not even Caz, knew what was about to happen, but we were as prepared as we could be, having planned all night for various outcomes to the meeting.
“Calm, brother,” Caz urged as some of my power slipped my guard at the sight of our uncle.
I fought to get under control as he approached, the hideous birthmark that ran the length of his face catching my eye, as always.
He wasn’t alone, accompanied by a fancily dressed and immaculately groomed shifter, his son, Andrik.
A third shifter was with them as well, an elderly woman who had to be approaching the day she would abandon her human self and become a Pure Dragon.
Did she have a mate to go with her?
An image of Ella and me centuries from now, making that same choice, flitted through my head with an eagerness completely at odds with the rage slowly filling the rest of me.
“Any idea who that is?” I whispered.
“None.” Caz’s voice was taut, focused.
This was not something we were ready for, and his mind would be focused now, exploring every option, every path forward that Mirko might take.
I lifted my gaze from Mirko’s birthmarked visage, letting Caz focus on what was right in front of us.
That was his responsibility. Mine was to spot what Caz might miss, and right then, I wanted to see what everyone else was thinking.
Who in the crowd of the most powerful would be aware of what Mirko was doing, and thus who did Caz have to watch out for?
My first thought was Damon, the most vocal of Caz’s critics and someone who had nearly challenged Caz for the throne when he first ascended. But the big, burly Elite was staring at Mirko with a slight crease between his eyebrows. Damon was just as confused as the rest of us.
I looked at Yarl, another opponent of Caz’s and the dragon who had bought Ella from the slave market. The older man sat in the chair, his frizzly hair more gray than silver these days, and he made no effort to hide his curiosity.
In fact, as I scanned the room, I didn’t see a single face that looked eager for what was to come. Most were neutral or at a loss.
“Caz,” I whispered as Mirko approached the foot of the raised dais. “Nobody seems to know what’s about to happen. Be careful.”
I heard a tiny sound of acknowledgment from the throne, but that was it. I gritted my teeth as Mirko came to a stop and stared up. If he was playing things so close to his chest that he hadn’t told anyone else, it was going to be big. And bad.
Caz acknowledged our uncle with a tiny tilt of his head, nothing more, and waited for Mirko to speak. But Mirko only looked on in silence.
The urge to rip his face off grew. A finger twitched against my side, but that tic was the only sign of my rage at the disrespect being shown to the Ice Tyrant.
Mirko should be respectful and not try to provoke Caz into speaking first. Instead, he should address his leader and explain what was going on.
Unless he no longer sees Caz as worthy of respect.
Alarm bells started to go off in my head, but all I could do is wait.
The silence went on until someone at the back of the crowd booed. “Get on with it, Mirko. We’re bored.”
I took great satisfaction in seeing the weathered skin twitch on Mirko’s face as his eyes narrowed.
“This is Yellena,” he said, speaking loudly enough to be heard by all but looking straight at Caz. The challenge on his face was now plain, the hatred twisting his birthmark viciously. “I have spent years tracking her down, until I finally found her in the farthest reaches of the Ice Kingdom.”
Caz didn’t react. Didn’t even blink. He simply stared at Mirko, waiting for him to continue.
“For centuries, she served the tyrants, right here in the citadel itself. Her service ended one hundred and ninety-three years ago.”
I clenched my teeth. That number might not mean much to the assembled Elites. But to Caz and me, it was a known figure.
That would have been the year both Mirko and our father, a pair of twins, were born.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this …
“That’s because she was banished there one hundred and forty-three years ago by Hatveik, my brother and the father of our current Ice Tyrant. He did this when he came of age.”
“Get to the point!” a voice called out from in the crowd as the Elites tired of the production Mirko was putting on.
Mirko’s face twitched again. “Yellena was a wet nurse, assigned to the Tyrantess herself, to help with the birthing and care of heirs to the throne. And she knows something that everyone should hear. A great secret, born in shame, that will now be brought to light so an injustice may be righted.”
My gut tightened with every word. Something was very wrong.
“What secret might that be?” Caz asked, speaking at last.
Mirko took Yellena by the arm. Tightly, by the look of it. His face twisted into a wicked looking thing of hatred and evil delight as he stared up at Caz.
“The secret that my parents tried to bury, to hide away for almost two whole centuries. That when they announced Hatveik as the heir, it was a lie! The truth that Yellena knows is that I, Mirko, was the firstborn son, and so the title of Ice Tyrant should rightfully be mine!”
Stunned silence lingered for a pair of heartbeats.
Then the throne room erupted into chaos.