Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“Why does he want you there?”
I almost didn’t look at her when I answered. “Wants me to woo Lady Elizabeth.”
The light was immediately snuffed out of her eyes. “Oh…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be a dick so she won’t want me.”
“You don’t have to do that—”
“I don’t want to marry her.”
“Well, it’s not like you can marry me.”
My eyes took her in, thinking of my sister who married the enemy. If she could choose the worst possible person, I should be able to choose whomever I wanted. “I’ve been dragging my feet for a while, knowing what he would say. But I finally did it, and…it was worse than I ever expected it would be.”
“Really?” she whispered. “What did he say?”
“First, he basically admitted he wants to stage a coup against King Rutherford. He’d kill all his sons, leaving no heirs, and then kill him next.” My eyes dropped to my empty wineglass. “Then I’d become king, through my marriage to Elizabeth. The whole thing is just barbaric.”
Effie was silent, her expression doing all the talking.
“Said he didn’t give a damn about anyone at the bottom of the cliffs. Didn’t care about the lottery. Didn’t care about protecting future generations. But he did say something else…”
“What?”
“That when the Rolfes ruled the Kingdoms, they did the same thing.”
“Yeah.”
“So, he doesn’t owe anyone anything.”
“Huntley isn’t like that—if that’s what you’re thinking.”
I slouched in the chair as I stared at her.
“He and Ivory are determined to do the right thing—for everyone. So, if you have any doubt about helping them, it needs to be assuaged now. If you stand by your father’s side, nothing will ever change. But if you stand with Ivory, this world could be better. For all of us.”
I was up at sunrise.
The fire was dead in the fireplace, and Effie’s naked body was wrapped around mine. Her hair was matted in different ways, from the way I’d fisted it last night, from the way she’d lain on the same side all night so she could hold me close. I placed a kiss to her shoulder before I slipped out of bed and got dressed for the day.
The castle was quiet, the guards ready for the morning shift to replace them at their posts. Breakfast wafted from the kitchens, and just by the smell alone, I knew honey-smoked ham was on the menu. I made it downstairs, passed the guards at the front, and stepped into the daybreak.
It was a cool morning, a cloudless sky. I looked down at the city below then glanced up at the sunrise. It was just below the clouds beneath the edge of the cliffs, but the color of the sky was slowly changing, from pinks and oranges to blues and purples.
And then I saw it.
It started in my periphery, coming from the north, a dark spot against a soft sky. I turned to get a better look at it, to make out the expansive wings that held enough weight to keep the creature afloat. “What the…?” I stepped closer and squinted.
There were two.
Two fucking dragons.
Headed right toward us.
40
HUNTLEY
“Storm, make a perimeter of fire around Delacroix.” We’d waited for Queen Rolfe outside the tunnel in the woods, and once we had our meager army, we’d marched on the city and arrived at sunrise like we planned.
Ivory grabbed my wrist. “We agreed to leave Delacroix unharmed.”
I twisted out of her grasp. “I told him to make a perimeter, not burn the city or its inhabitants. We must display our power if we want this to end peacefully. Our dragons are armored and can burn this place to ash if he doesn’t surrender.”
Ivory searched my gaze before she gave a nod.
Storm jumped into the sky. I burn. He opened his mouth and shot out a stream of fire, burning the fields around the exterior of the city, preventing anyone from entering or departing. The green was lush and green, but it sparked like desiccated firewood.
I watched him go, watched his powerful wings carry his mass as well as his armor.
Faron would be scared shitless once he saw it.
“Let me handle this.”
My eyes narrowed on her face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“He’s my father—”
“And that’s exactly why you shouldn’t.” We stood together in the field, Pyre by our side for protection. The screams came a moment later, everyone in the city panicking as they saw the cobalt dragon armed to the teeth surround them in fire. “I will handle this.” I turned away before she could argue with me.
Queen Rolfe stared at the castle, glorious in her tailored armor, her eyes fixated on the structure she’d once called home. “A part of me is happy to see this place again. But another part of me wants to burn it to the ground—out of spite.” She continued to stare, her eyes on a window at the top. “I’ve thought about this day for a long time. Every moment since the last day I stood on these lands.”