Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Kora was three steps behind Katla as they neared the door. She had many questions for the woman, including what a Druid was, but Kora knew it didn't matter in the end. None of it did. The important thing was finding Villette and making sure her reign came to an end. It had been foolish for Kora to think she could take down Villette on her own.

Katla suddenly halted. Kora slowed on reflex and tried to see around the other woman. Katla rapidly pivoted to the right, moved to an empty table behind a boisterous group, and sat. Kora took the chair next to Katla and searched the tavern to find what had spooked the Druid .

" What's going on?" Kora asked.

Katla's lips were pinched as she swung her gaze to Kora . " This isn't a safe place."

" Then we should go."

Katla's hand covered Kora's arm as she started to rise. " Not yet."

" We're not safe anywhere in this city," Kora said.

Katla didn't answer. Instead , she ordered drinks.

Neither said anything until the beverages were delivered. Kora didn't want to sit there. She wanted to look for Villette . And Derek . Not knowing what had happened when she last saw him was driving her to distraction. She had to turn her mind off. Kora lifted the mug of ale to her lips and pretended to drink. " What are we waiting on?"

" I'm not sure," Katla said as she surreptitiously looked around the tavern as if searching for someone. " A feeling."

Kora accepted that answer. " How do you know our mutual enemy?"

" She wanted a war with the dragons. My people lived at the northern border with them. She sent raiders, and we ran to the only place we could."

" The border," Kora said softly. Toward dragons. She barely held back a shiver, imagining being surrounded by the beasts. Then she thought of Derek and Merrill . Maybe not all were beasts. The line that had so clearly been marked was blurred now, and she didn't know how she felt about that.

Katla nodded and turned her head to the side, listening to something from someone behind her. Then she sighed. " I believed I had watched my husband and daughter get devoured by dragon fire."

With those words, Kora was taken back to the day her brother, uncle, and cousin died. She could still hear their screams, still smell the burned flesh.

" Of my entire village, I was the only one left," Katla continued. " I was consumed with levels of grief and rage you can't even begin to understand."

" I can."

Katla met her gaze. " I think maybe you can." She looked away. " Villette came to me and offered a solution. I didn't hesitate to accept it, not thinking beyond my pain and misery. That beautiful, fertile valley turned into a forest of vines so tall and dense they blocked the sun. Any dragon who ventured into it was trapped. The moment they were inside my domain, I handed them over to Villette ."

" For what?"

" I believe she killed them. It's what I wanted. I intended to wipe out every one of the creatures."

Had Kora known, she would've been right there beside Katla . But then she wouldn't have met Derek or learned that not all dragons are the same. She wouldn't have known the taste of Derek's kisses or the safety of his arms.

" I paid no attention to the passage of time. I didn't realize thousands of years had come and gone until a woman rushed into the vines to save a young, pink dragon."

Katla's voice was so low that Kora barely heard the words. She leaned closer.

" That's how I learned that some dragons can change forms. The Dragon Queen fought against the vines' hold, and she wasn't alone. A man came after her. He's the one who figured out what had been done to me. He got the Queen out before Villette came for her."

" And ?" Kora urged, needing to know the ending.

" I learned a lot that day. He called me a Druid ."

Katla said the word slowly as if still testing it out.

" I confronted Villette , and she admitted everything. Even laughed about it. So , when the dragons and the others stood against her, I joined them."

Kora frowned and sat back. " After what they did to your family?"

Katla's gray gaze briefly slid away. " The one I believed had killed my husband and daughter actually saved them. She took them somewhere safe where they lived and thrived. While I was buried in revenge. We're the ones who crossed the border. Villette instigated that. She knew what the dragons would do. One did attack—the invaders, not my people. I trapped thousands of them to give to Villette , and somehow, they forgave me."

Forgiveness wasn't something Kora believed she could bestow upon those who had slain her family and people. Villette might have sent the dragons after hellhounds, but the dragons could have refused. She thought about Derek . Villette had filled his mind with lies. It made sense that she would do that to others, as well. Including dragons that killed hellhounds.

With that thought came another, one she wished hadn't formed. But once it was there, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Derek served Villette , and she had erased his memories. Could that mean he might have been one of the dragons who'd hunted her people?

She was too young to remember what the dragon that had attacked their village looked like, but she knew he wasn't the one who'd killed her brother, uncle, and cousin.

And if it had been him?

That wasn't an easy question to answer. She had uncovered some of Villette's treachery, and there was likely much more. Derek was part of that. Possibly unwilling. Did that make him less culpable if he killed hellhounds on Villette's orders? Before she knew him, she would have replied with a resounding, " Aye ." Now , she didn't know.

It was difficult to reconcile the man she believed he was with the dragon she now knew him to be. He had stood against the amethyst for her. He had fought Bryok so she could get away. That wasn't even factoring in Merrill , who she didn't know at all. Yet he didn't hesitate to side with Derek . That had to mean something, didn't it?

And if she believed Derek had sided against Villette , then she had to believe he was a good man. Er …dragon. Since she had shared her body with him, and, if she were honest, her authentic self, then she had to admit that not every dragon was the fiend she had always believed them to be.

" We have to go. Now ," Katla whispered urgently.

Kora rose to her feet. Katla quickly moved through the tavern. Someone pushed back a chair and cut Kora off. She had to go around another table and was nearly upon Katla when armored priests abruptly spilled through the entrance. Kora slid behind a pillar to hide. The conversation in the tavern went silent almost immediately.

" May I help you?" Katla's voice rang out, even and calm.

Kora winced. She peered around the post to find the Druid surrounded. A tall, stocky priest stepped forward and got right in her face. Katla didn't back down.

" We've come to detain you," the priest stated loudly.

" Have I broken some law by drinking ale?"

" You have magic."

Kora frowned. How could they know that? Daelya was still locked away with Miena . Unless Villette had someone else telling her about those with abilities. But then, wouldn't Villette have known about her when she arrived with Derek ? She decided it had to be the priests looking for an excuse to take someone into custody. Yet it appeared as if they had singled Katla out.

" Do I ?" Katla asked. " How interesting. And what did I do that was magical?"

" You know what you did," the priest replied.

" Since I've not done anything with magic, I believe I have a right to know."

" You have no rights in Stonemore . Take her!"

Kora could do nothing but watch in horror as the priests roughly grabbed Katla and dragged her out of the tavern. Just before Katla was through the door, she looked back and met Kora's gaze. Kora flattened her back against the support beam and tried to remain calm.

The conversation in the tavern returned as if nothing had happened. She soon realized they were celebrating Katla's capture. Kora had to get out without notice and preferably without any priests spotting her. She smiled and clapped with the others as she made her way to the door.

Once outside, Kora strolled leisurely through the streets. The moment she came to an alley, she ducked into it and touched the cuff to take her to the one place no one would think to look for her—the palace.