Chapter Two

The copper-scaled dragon let out a shrieking roar, the sound rebounding horribly from the stone walls of the cell. In a froth of rage, it railed against the iron bars of the cell's front, heedless of the bruising pain of each strike. Again and again it threw itself against them, each effort bringing a new wave of pain, and with it, fury. It let out a dark hiss, then drew in breath. A gout of flames blasted from its gullet, the blaze yellow and shot through with blue. The room's temperature, already stifling, rose unbearably. Focusing its slitted eyes on the bars, the dragon snapped its jaws shut. The air wavered with the heat radiating from their glowing outlines. The dragon snarled and slammed against them once more, ignoring the pain of the impact, then drew back. There wasn't the slightest damage to the bars after its assault; the fire hadn't weakened them at all.

Darius let out a snarl— the dragon form, aside from being physically his strongest, was very appropriate to his fury even if he couldn't take his usual size in the small cell. He let out an earth-shaking roar even knowing that no one could hear it; he was too deep in the dungeons, too far from any ears. Queen Naratha obviously hadn't wanted it known that she'd imprisoned her own heir. There would be rumors, certainly— there were always rumors— but the only people who knew for a fact that he was here were Naratha and his foster brother, Kai.

Another snarl escaped him. Kai . Kai was the reason he was in here, why he was trapped and helpless to prevent what he knew must be coming. And Darius did not intend to forgive that fact.

The night previous, his worst fears had been realized, and Tanitha had soul-bound him. He'd felt furious, frightened, betrayed, all of it. He'd left Tanitha— gods, would he ever forgive himself for turning away from her distraught gaze?— and flown straight to the palace to beg Kai to help him. Undoing a soul-binding was a dangerous, difficult affair, but it was the only way to both remove the power Tanitha had over him and to protect her from the danger she'd unknowingly placed herself in. Kai had agreed, telling Darius to wait while he found one of the palace elementalists who could be trusted to be discreet.

He hadn't done that, though. The instant he had left Darius' side, he'd run to Naratha. And as much fury as Darius felt toward him, that same feeling was directed at himself in equal measure. He should never have trusted Kai, should never have believed that he would continue to protect Darius' secret.

The secret that the crown prince of the demon-ruled cities had fallen in love with a human woman.

Darius closed his eyes, though it didn't matter; the room was so full of acrid smoke that he couldn't see anything, anyway. He'd left her. He'd been afraid, and he'd let that fear rule him, let it drive him to fly away from her without any understanding of why Tanitha had forced the matter of his true form. He still didn't understand it, and his thoughts had circled each other on the matter like hungry jackals.

Now though… now it almost seemed irrelevant. Every time he thought of her eyes, the horror in them when she realized what she'd done, he felt as if he was taking a knife to the gut. She'd understood the power she possessed and she'd been sickened, visibly repulsed at the idea of having that level of control over him. He'd seen that even through the fear and fury that had been tearing through him. And still he'd let his long-standing fear of being bound like that rule him. Still he'd left her.

And now she was going to die for it.

A roar of helpless fury broke out of him at the thought, the sound deafening in the small space. He slammed the full bulk of his dragon form against the wall. The entire room shuddered. He whipped his tail against the bars, the strike of his iron-hard scales sending a deep, angry hum into the air. With another roar, he loosed a gout of flame, then a concentrated stream of it at the hinges of the cell door. It did nothing, of course—those bars had any number of enchantments forged into them. Fury rising yet higher, he slammed against the bars once more, a terrible shriek of draconic rage tearing out of him.

The door to the room opened, and a cough sounded. "How can you even breathe in here?"

Kai's voice. Darius whipped around to face the front, keeping his dragon form despite how the room's basalt walls were slowly draining him of the strength to maintain it. The flow of the air in the room abruptly changed, and the smoke began to vent into the hall behind Kai, who slowly became more than just a hazy outline as the room cleared.

"What do you want?" Darius snarled, the sound guttural and harsh. It was difficult to speak without snarling in this form, but Darius wasn't inclined to do anything to ameliorate the effect. Impotent fury boiled inside him. Gods, why had he believed that Kai wouldn't go to Naratha about this?

He knew his mother hadn't wanted to hurt him. She certainly hadn't wanted to take to her dragon form and battle him. But she'd still done it. Because all Naratha had known at that moment was that her son had been soul-bound by a woman that she had ordered him to kill. A woman who, from Naratha's perspective, had every motivation to use her newfound influence over the prince to take her vengeance.

Darius had tried to explain, his words coming fast and desperate. But soul-bound as he was, Naratha couldn't trust anything he said, couldn't believe that his words were his own. So Darius had tried to flee, taking to his dragon form to return to Tanitha. Despite everything, he couldn't stand the thought of her being in danger without someone to defend her. But then Naratha had taken her own dragon form. Darius could have fought her off if it had just been the two of them. But then Kai had joined the fray, and together, he and Naratha had brought Darius down, then imprisoned him.

Wounded and bleeding from their claws, Darius had tried everything, practically begging Naratha not to take action against Tanitha. But she hadn't listened. He'd never before seen the look she'd had in her eyes at that moment, that cold and dark fury as she'd left him behind bars, her every movement filled with lethal purpose.

Kai closed the door firmly behind him, though smoke still hung in the air. "Don't be like that," he said quietly to Darius. "You know I didn't have a choice about what I did."

Darius snorted, more smoke curling from his nostrils as he turned his head away. If that was how Kai felt about it, Darius didn't see any point in continuing the interaction.

Kai was quiet for several seconds before saying, "I thought I should tell you that I just brought Tanitha's sister into custody."

Darius's heart seized, and he rounded on Kai, his slitted eyes fixed on him. "What?" he said, the word low with feral anger.

"If you'll listen for half a minute without trying to bring the palace down," Kai said, keeping his tone level, "I think you'll be very interested in what I learned from her."

Darius stared at him, the slits of his eyes narrowing with predatory focus. He had never met Tanitha's sister himself, but he knew how much Tanitha cared for her, and thus how badly any harm to Lithra would hurt Tanitha.

He let out a low hiss. "If you've harmed her…"

"Oh, please," Kai said, folding his arms. "You should be thanking me for bringing her in before it occurred to Naratha to use her to try to draw Tanitha out. I don't imagine she would have been treated particularly gently in that case. Lithra is imprisoned, yes, and extremely frightened and confused, I'm sure. But she's unharmed, and she's going to remain that way unless you tell me to do otherwise yourself. So will you please listen for a moment?"

Darius turned away. "Imprisoned," he scoffed, angry even though Kai was right; it was far better than the alternative. "That seems to be a favorite move of yours lately."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Kai demanded, an edge of pain in his voice. "You, my brother, came to me, desperately asking for my help. You told me that a human woman had soul-bound you. A human woman who has ample reason to hate this family. Of course I was afraid of what that could mean. Of what she could have ordered you to do."

"She doesn't hate this family," Darius snapped.

"No?" Kai asked. "You told me she's intelligent. You think she didn't realize who must have ordered her death the second she saw your face?"

Darius' leathery wings drooped slightly as he remembered that moment. The memory of Tanitha's obvious fear cut at him every time he let his mind turn to it. He'd been angry and frightened— of course he had been— but he was still struggling not to hate himself for frightening her in turn. Ashen Halls, she'd looked terrified. Terrified of him .

How could she have thought that he might hurt her?

He closed his eyes for a moment, then finally released the dragon form he'd been using, letting his body reform into his human shape. He shook out his ink-black wings once before turning back to Kai.

"I came to you for help, and you betrayed me," he said, his voice low and hard with anger. "I will never forgive you if Tanitha comes to harm because of what you did." He finally met Kai's eyes. "Tanitha does not hate this family," he said flatly. "I don't know why she did what she did. But I do know that she didn't mean to hurt any of us."

"Yes, I think that's probably true," Kai said, to Darius' surprise. "Darius… I'm trying to tell you I've uncovered what motivated Tanitha to make you reveal your true form."

Darius took a quick step forward, just inches short of the bars. "What?" he asked.

Kai closed his eyes for a second. "This is probably going to shock you a bit, but it's important," he said. "So please, let me finish before you start shouting and threatening me again." Darius looked at him warily. Kai looked him over for several seconds, assessment in his gaze, then sighed. "I know I've called you a fool many times, but you should know I don't really believe that. I've seen how you are with the women who courted you, and I didn't think you'd ever be blind to the possibility of one successfully hiding her true intentions, her true feelings, if she meant you harm. Especially a human woman that you had every reason to be wary of from the start. So I started to wonder why someone you truly believed the best of would have suddenly decided to hurt you like this."

"She didn't know," Darius said quietly. He'd been hurt by her actions, certainly. But however betrayed he'd felt in that moment, whatever the actual effect of what she'd done… he couldn't make himself believe for even a second that she'd intended any harm. "She didn't know what would happen if she saw me in that form."

"Yes, I understand that," Kai said. "What I didn't understand was why she'd suddenly find it necessary to disregard your express wishes on the subject. I'm sure you would have given her the usual nonsense about those forms being sacred to our kind."

Darius gave a reluctant nod. He hadn't wanted to lie to her. But telling the truth about that to a human soul-speaker would have been incredibly dangerous.

"So," Kai continued. "Someone who has previously treated you with nothing but trust and respect suddenly crosses that kind of line? And she does it hours after she speaks with her sister?" He folded his arms. "Finding out what they discussed seemed worth looking into, I thought." Darius looked at him warily. "Tanitha didn't go to Lithra because she needed her sister," Kai said finally. "She went to her because she needed a midwife."

Darius stared at him. He took a sharp step back from the bars, his heart pounding. His mind seemed frozen, unable to accept the obvious implication of Kai's words.

Kai nodded once. "She's with child," he said. "Yours, I think we can safely assume?"

Darius sat down heavily on the charred cot behind him. He'd kept his bronze dragon scales over most of his body when he'd made the shift, so the heat radiating off of it was barely noticeable to him despite how it made the air around him shimmer in waves.

"She's…?"

"Yes." Kai let out a slow exhalation. "It seems that Lithra was under the impression that a child sired by a demon would take after the father's true form in the womb." Darius looked at him, his muscles tensing in alarm. "So, when Tanitha came to her, asking if the pregnancy was safe…"

Darius sat completely still, the weight of realization holding him in place as surely as the stone and iron around him. "Depths of the Abyss," he swore softly, his voice tight. "Tanitha thought…"

"Tanitha thought you'd as good as killed her," Kai said with a nod of affirmation. "It seems she was hoping to find evidence to the contrary."

Darius sat frozen for several seconds, then abruptly shoved himself to his feet. "I need to go to her," he said urgently. "You need to let me out of here. I need to tell her— gods, why wouldn't she have just asked me if it was safe?" he demanded, starting to pace from one side of the cell to the other. Kai started to answer, but Darius spoke over him. "I need to tell her that isn't how this works. She must be terrified, and—"

"She has other problems right now," Kai said loudly.

Darius stopped his pacing, turning quickly to the front. "What?"

Kai's wings twitched in a barely stifled sign of agitation. "After you'd been locked in here, Alethia arrived, back from her travels."

Ice shot through Darius' veins. Alethia hadn't even crossed his mind since he'd been thrown into this cell, and the matter of how grave a miscalculation that might be was rapidly coalescing in his thoughts.

"She was simply expecting to speak with you," Kai said. "To formally agree to move forward with the Trials, I think. Speaking with you obviously wasn't an option, and with the state of the palace, Naratha was obligated to tell her the truth about why." Darius stood practically frozen in place. Kai met his eyes, pained. "She told Alethia exactly why you weren't available. That you'd been soul-bound. And so Alethia volunteered to address the situation. Naratha agreed. I imagine she thought that Alethia would be among the most motivated to see this matter efficiently dealt with."

Darius forced himself to breathe. "Has she left already?" he asked. "If I could talk to her—"

"Talk to her?" Kai asked with a scoffing noise. "And tell her what? That her understanding of this situation is incorrect? That it's not simply a matter of Tanitha tricking and binding you? That you had feelings for her, that you were with Tanitha for the entire length of your betrothal? And you think somehow that will make Alethia more likely to be merciful to her?"

Darius took a stiff breath, unable to speak for how badly his mind was racing, trying to find a solution. Trying to find some answer that could protect Tanitha.

Kai shook his head once. "You've really made an incredible mess of things, you know," he said, his voice low. "And to answer your earlier question regarding why Tanitha wouldn't have just asked you if a pregnancy is dangerous… I suspect it might have had something to do with her not fully trusting that you'd answer her honestly." He folded his arms as Darius gave a startled shake of the head, taken aback. "Ironically, she and Alethia could probably do some sisterly bonding over their feelings on that matter, if the whole story came out." He shrugged, the motion tense and short. "Perhaps they'd let me join in."

Darius blinked, his throat suddenly feeling tight at the pain in Kai's expression. Worse than that, though, was the knowledge that Kai was absolutely right.

"Kai," he said. "I know. I know how many mistakes I made, and I am sorry." He shook his head once. Kai was his friend, and he'd barely given half a thought to how all this might be impacting him. The realization was quickly giving rise to an intense surge of self-loathing, but he couldn't let himself sink into that. Not now, not while Tanitha was in danger. "Truly," he said. Kai sent him a sideways look as Darius moved to position himself directly in front of him. "But Tanitha shouldn't have to pay for what I did." He met Kai's eyes, a plea in his own. "I am begging you," he said, his voice low. "Let me out of here so I can make this right."

Kai gave a short, angry shake of his head. "How do you not understand? You can't make this right!" he exclaimed. "This isn't something you can just smooth over, Darius! And no, I can't let you out of here! I'm not telling you that I refuse, I'm telling you that I can't ! And even if I could, I wouldn't! I have no idea if it's what you really want, or if you're under some order to protect Tanitha! I have no idea if you'd kill me the second I opened that door!"

This brought Darius up short. He stared at Kai. "I wouldn't… how could you think that of me?" he asked, the question incredulous and edged with hurt.

"This isn't about you," Kai said quietly. "It's not about your desires, your intentions. It's about what you might be forced to do against your own will."

"She didn't give me any orders," Darius said flatly. "She didn't know what would happen. This wasn't her fault."

"I have no way of knowing if that's true," Kai replied. "I don't know if you're saying this of your own will." Despite how level his voice was, there was an edge of tortured pain in his eyes. "I want what's best for you," he said. "But I can't know what that is while she draws breath."

Darius forced himself not to respond immediately. If he couldn't persuade Kai on this point, then Tanitha would soon be dead at Alethia's hands. Despite how that thought tore at him to leap into action, he had to be careful.

"You know I care for her," Darius said quietly. "You've known that since long before the soul-binding."

"I know that was true at one point, before she hurt you," Kai corrected him, his shoulders tense with frustration. He let out a harsh exhalation. "I have no idea what your true feelings toward her are now. Right now, the only thing I know is that you fled from her." He folded her arms. "And that's very telling."

The words stabbed through Darius, sharpened by his self-loathing for that act. There was no way he could convince Kai of his true feelings, not with how things stood now. But maybe there was a way to protect Tanitha, even so.

"Maybe you can't believe that I made a mistake in leaving her," he said. "But I think you can believe that I'd want my child to live." Kai looked at him, wary assessment in his gaze. Darius took one step closer to the bars, almost touching them despite the heat that wavered off of them. "Tanitha doesn't deserve any of this. And you say she's carrying my child ." Kai pursed his lips. "Please," Darius said, his heart pounding in his chest. " Help her ."