Chapter Forty-Seven

CHAPTER

FORTY-SEVEN

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C AYDEN AND I SWOOP THROUGH THE THRESHOLD, JOINING the array of generals and political advisors. The banquet is held in a hall with a gorgeous view of the lake—thankfully with no view of the gazebo. Every room in the castle is decadent yet ethereal. Smiling faces of those congregated beam in our direction as they mingle around the room, sipping drinks and listening to the harpist pluck the strings skillfully.

"Two more of our honored guests!" Eagor announces, stepping forward to shake Cayden's hand and kiss mine. "Seeing a dragon in my lifetime is more than I ever hoped for."

"They are quite magnificent," I reply, darting my eyes to the window in time to spot Delmira gliding close.

"Otherworldly," he says. "There is something I must discuss with you, Commander."

Cayden cuts his eyes to me briefly. "You can speak freely."

Eagor clenches his jaw, but I step in before this can escalate. "Ailliard is probably waiting for me."

Cayden leans down to kiss my cheek. "I'll find you."

"Of that, I have no doubt," I mumble, and smile when he glares.

I find Saskia and Ryder, but no Finnian yet, and Ailliard is briskly striding toward me. Relief floods through me as he wraps me in a hug and lifts my feet off the ground. My bruises ache, but the heat comforts me once he sets me down. I'm going to search Cayden's desk to find a list of magical shops in Ladislava, and then I'm spending the whole week exploring.

"You're not upset?" I ask.

"I'm just happy you're safe." He squeezes my shoulders and glances around the room. "Would you mind stepping into the sitting room so we can speak privately?"

"Of course, but have you seen Finnian? I thought he'd be here by now."

"Not yet, but I'm sure he's not too far behind. You know he's usually late." He guides us into the room off the banquet hall and shuts the door. "Did you enjoy Imirath?"

"I . . . suppose. Though that had more to do with the company." There was nothing wrong with Imirath, but it's not a place I'll crave to revisit.

"I often reminisce about the beauty of Zinambra." His eyes take on a dreamlike film as we sink onto the couch across from the fire. "I have news."

"Of Aestilian?"

"Of home," he replies. "We can finally return."

I laugh softly. "I must stay here to fight in the war, but you're not my hostage. You're free to leave if you wish."

"No." He shakes his head. " Home. "

Home.

Home.

The confusion on my face bleeds into utter disbelief.

He can't mean—

"Imirath." My stomach knots when he proclaims the word with such reverence. I press my elbow into my bruise to confirm I'm not dreaming.

I shift farther away from him and swallow the bile that rises in my throat. "I don't understand what you mean."

"King Garrick has rescinded the bounty on your head after you freed the dragons. I rode to the border to meet with Imirath soldiers under a white banner; your father wants you to come home and if the peace crumbles, we'll be on the right side of the war."

"My father would sooner put me back in chains than welcome me into the castle," I argue.

"That's all in the past." He waves a dismissive hand. "You'll find peace with it eventually."

"Tell me, when Garrick throws a bone, do you chase it with your tail wagging?" The torture I suffered is in his past because he's not the one who must live with the memories.

"He won't kill you, Elowen." His voice has taken on a defensive tone.

"I'm grateful you never had children if that's your standard of fatherhood." A dry laugh rattles through me. "I will sooner burn that castle to the ground before I ever take the throne and prolong the Atarah reign. My dragons will not return to their prison, nor will I."

"Those beasts are unstable and dangerous." He reaches for me as his eyes take on a soft note, but all it does is rouse my suspicion.

"What do you know?"

"Elowen, please be—"

"Don't you dare demand I alter my reaction to your treachery. The mask has fallen, I see you as you are." I rise from the couch to put distance between us. "What do you know?"

He sighs and rakes a hand through his beard, weighing the consequences of telling me now or telling me when I'm close enough to his king to burn him. "Your father never physically hurt the dragons. He opted to toy with their minds by hiring a mage to re-create your essence despite you being in the dungeon, and I imagine he continued doing so while you were in Aestilian. Garrick would give them a sense of hope and comfort before ripping it away, but he's not a bad man, Elowen. We all have blood on our hands."

Horror sinks into me when I recall the way the dragons' eyes softened in the chamber before Cayden entered. They were tortured to the point they attacked hope before it could touch them. I know they sensed my pain while I was in the dungeon, so they must know I didn't want to leave them when I disappeared.

"My hands are not nearly bloody enough, and will soon be covered in ash," I state. Garrick is my father. He's supposed to be the man in this world to protect me from others, not stain his own hands with my blood.

Ailliard stands and mirrors my position across from me, squaring his shoulders to appear larger. "You are an exiled princess. Aestilian cannot protect you against the kingdoms of this world. It was your choice to come out of hiding, and I warned you of your foolishness. Imirath will give you the security you need."

"I was chained when I was nearly five years old! Where was my security then?"

"He did it for the good of his kingdom!" Ailliard shouts. "The prophecy stated you could be the doom of Imirath. He chose to be a king first, and father second."

"What of Galakin? Is it not you who said I should entertain a marriage offer from them to put distance between myself and Imirath?" His condescension slams into me, and all I see is red. Anger bubbles in my blood, boiling my temper and sharpening my claws. "I set my dragons free from the walls he cowers behind. The walls you made me believe were impenetrable. You manipulated me to believe you were protecting me by keeping the details of the Imirath castle to yourself, that a rescue mission was pointless."

"You no longer need Galakin now that your father has rescinded the bounty," Ailliard growls. "You're being unreasonable."

"Personally, I would define locking a child in the dungeon on a whim as unreasonable. The prophecy was filled with possibility, but Garrick's fate has been sealed by his own actions. He's a pathetic excuse of a king, and he will meet death as the coward he is." I roll my shoulders, feeling my poisonous anger course through me with no antidote. "I'm glad my dragons killed Isira. They saved me the task."

"DO NOT SPEAK OF MY SISTER IN THAT MANNER!" His body shakes, and his face is flushed to the point it looks like he'll explode.

"You knew everything that happened to me while it was going on." I laugh until it becomes shrill and manic as the truth becomes apparent. "You took me out of Imirath after she died for revenge against my father, and only regretted it once you realized how deeply the treachery ran from your moment of impulsivity. Oh, uncle, you're worse than spineless. You're a fool."

"You're coming back to Imirath even if I must force you. You will understand in time." He doesn't even deny what I accused him of because he can't. I was ignorant to think he loved me. I was nothing more than a poor investment and a misplaced mercy.

"You know everything those guards did to me and that my father condoned it, and you still want me to return."

It's not a question, but he answers it with no remorse. "Yes. King Eagor is informing Commander Veles of the change in plans. Do not assume opening your legs for him will ensure his loyalty."

I don't let the hurt show on my face. "You sound bitter. When you spread yours for Garrick, did it not yield the results you wished?"

He bares his teeth like a feral animal. "Your judgment is clouded. You're too enraptured with your life here, but it isn't real. This is not where you're meant to be. Cayden will not fight a war for one woman, and Finnian will benefit from the stability Imirath offers."

My father will use Finnian as leverage the first chance he gets. "You're even more ignorant than I suspected if you believe Garrick's fury can hold a flame to mine. I may have suffered him, but it's his turn to suffer me and my dragons. He will reap what he has sown."

"Let go of your hostility and see reason, " he pleads, taking a step closer with desperation written across his features. "This quest for revenge is abhorrent. You cannot live to kill, and you need to be smarter than this, Elowen. Look to your future. Nobody can love a vile creature."

"Clearly," I say, hating that it comes out hoarse as I look into the eyes of a man I've grown up believing was on my side. He's never been my hero, that's always remained myself, but he was someone who fought beside me. It hurts to look at Ailliard, to hear his voice say these things.

"I do love you." Tears shine in his eyes. "But love alone isn't enough."

I blink rapidly, sinking my teeth into my cheeks to refrain from breaking. His betrayal burns me from the inside. It pummels me, drowns me, and bleeds me dry. I need to find Finnian before Ailliard intervenes. "I'll show you one mercy tonight. A life for a life. Don't go back to your room or Aestilian. Get on a horse and get the fuck out of my sight because our debt has been repaid, and the next time I see you I won't hesitate to bury a knife so deep into your back that I'll have to retrieve it from your charred corpse. You are to stay away from Finnian, Cayden, Ryder, and Saskia. In my eyes, you're already dead."

Ailliard stares at me from across the room, looking at me as if he doesn't know who I am anymore. But I'm still the same Elowen he has always known. It's he who has changed. The tension between us is so thick that I let it push me toward the door, taking one last look at my uncle before I'm forced to turn. I refuse to let him see the pain he caused.

My fingers graze the knob when a sharp, shooting pain travels through my ribs, and a gold candlestick clatters to the ground beside me as a firm hand grips me by the roots of my hair. Ailliard yanks me back and punches me in the ribs marred with bruises before shoving me to the ground.

"You're the princess of Imirath, and you're going to fulfill your duty to your kingdom," he growls while scrambling from the room. The lock clicks in place as I'm wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth and shoving myself to my feet. The dragons roar beyond the walls, most likely sensing my distress, and I calm them before they blow the castle to smithereens with everyone inside.

Discovering the method of their torture makes it harder to hold myself together. My presence has been dangled in front of them throughout their imprisonment until their first reaction was to harm me. Garrick couldn't break the bond, but he could try to condition them to kill me.

There's no alternative exit and no windows to escape from. I force myself to get to my feet and take in several measured breaths to calm my nerves. My skin is covered in a cold sweat, and I want nothing more than to run somewhere nobody can find me, other than my dragons and the people who walked into enemy territory and stood by me.

But I owe it to myself to fight. I'm far from who I was but have yet to become all that I am.

I break the door handle with the candlestick and shove it open as Ryder rounds the corner. He grimaces when he spots the blood trailing down my leg from my reopened wound and tosses a spare sword.

"A group of Imirath soldiers infiltrated the banquet," he says.

I grit my teeth and finish securing the sword around my waist. "How the fuck did they get past the guards? They're under Cayden's command."

Ryder swallows. "He sent me to find you."

"Why?"

"He couldn't leave the room." He licks his lips. "They're holding Finnian at knifepoint."

Glass shatters, and Venatrix's roar rumbles the hall.