All of us lay in my bed together after. Each of them stroked some part of me. My hand, my hair, my foot. And I knew without a doubt that I would rather face death with them than alone. I’d rather face anything with my knights at my side than without them. Because if we could conquer a dragon together, we could do anything.
Epilogue
The next morning was cloudy. A chill in the air threatened snow. I pulled my fur cloak tighter around me as Connor helped me ascend the stairs to the temporary dais set up beyond the moat, in the open stretch of land between the castle and the capital.
I took my seat in the middle throne as my husbands and Avia sat beside me. I watched the executioner as he sharpened his blade.
The crowd gathered slowly. First the nobles came riding their horses and tittering with gossip. And then the villagers walked up the cobblestone road. Everyone gathered to watch a man die.
Vendors began hawking their wares: turkey legs and mince pies. I’d never been a fan of their determination to turn executions into ‘events’ rather than warnings or lessons. But there was little I could do about it now.
I tried not to tap my foot impatiently as I waited. Ceremony required pomp and circumstance in order to demand respect, and that required time. So Mother had always said anyway.
Avia leaned toward me muttered, “Something feels wrong. He didn’t argue with you. Didn’t fight. It felt too easy.”
“He’s given up,” Declan shrugged.
“What’s there to fight? He summoned a dragon to attack our monarch while on a diplomatic mission. There were witnesses. He’s done for,” Connor spoke up.
Avia shook her head. “Aren’t djinn supposed to be clever?”
“He’s only half-djinn and the least powerful of all his brothers,” Declan said. “Though, I do agree, I’d have expected an escape attempt from him last night.”
“Do you think his brothers sacrificed him, then?” Avia asked.
Ryan shrugged as he joined the conversation. “If they did, he went along with it all.”
We all sat for a moment, stewing in our own thoughts before Avia spoke again.
“Oh, look, there’s Mateo. I’ll be back in one minute,” Avia sprang up from her seat and darted away.
She had just reached the gap between the dais for our thrones and the dais for the nobles when a scream issued from the crowd.
I stood, scanning the throngs. The crowd began to break, like a wave, going in every direction, frothing, frantic, crazy. They tripped and tumbled over each other, running away from the dais. People were trampled underfoot. A cart was overturned.
I shot peace over the crowd before I could figure out what was causing the riot. They mellowed slightly as I searched for the reason for their fear.
One small child stood frozen, his finger pointed skyward.
I turned and looked at the sky behind me.
A black creature swooped down out of the clouds.
The dragon snatched Avia up before I could blink.
My heart exploded in fiery rage.
Avia’s scream lashed the air, cracking like a whip. The dragon was back in the clouds before our archers could react. Avia was gone.
“Nooo!” I screamed.
Just then, the guards dragged Abbas out. The prince was chained and grimey, his hair full of dirt as it tumbled to his shoulders. His golden outfit from the night before was caked in dried blood from the night of the battle and the filth of the dungeon. But the eyes that met mine were triumphant. Gleaming.
The guard brought him to the edge of the royal dais.
“Good morning, dearest,” Abbas grinned at me. “You look a bit pale. Would you like me to warm you up?”
A jet of black flame shot down through the clouds, stopped only by the magical barrier in the sky my mother had erected after the last Fire War.
Avia screamed again. The crowd rushed away through the field.
My stomach dropped until I heard the string of curse words that followed Avia’s scream. She wasn’t hurt. Yet.
That dirty, liver-eating shitehole. If he thought he’d won, he had another think coming.
I blasted Abbas with peace power until he stood complacent. Then I grabbed the chain holding him from his guard. I’d need him for leverage.
I turned to my knights. “Suit up. We have a princess to save.”