Chapter 8

GOLL

Hearing her swift steps behind me, I smiled to myself. For the first time since I'd severed my father's head, I began to feel like the rightful king. Perhaps it was gaining Una's agreement to be my mizrah that was the final piece to the puzzle in settling my mind. I wasn't sure. All I knew was this elation of rightness as I led her up the steps to the floor above and opened the door to the wide outer terrace.

I stepped out, the sky dark now, the full moon rising. How fortuitous that Una's goddess should offer such a full and bright omen tonight. My soldiers had done a fine job in removing the spiked parapet here as I'd ordered.

Drakmir purred at the sight of me, the giant dragon barely discernible in the dark. His silver-blue eyes glowed by the moonlight as he lifted his head.

I stopped and glanced back. Una had frozen.

"Goddess above," she muttered, easing closer behind me, the edge of her wing grazing my wrist.

I stared down, stunned still at the softness of her before returning my attention to Drakmir. "He won't hurt you. He's gentle as a lamb."

"I'll bet he eats lambs." Her voice quavered.

"He does, in fact. Actually, he prefers goats. Lambs aren't much of a mouthful." I held out my hand, wondering if she'd take it.

I'd been more than harsh to her thus far, and she had no reason to trust me. But I still craved her faith in me.

"There is no reason to fear him, princess. You've faced bigger threats before and shown little fear in the face of it."

I remembered the way she'd challenged my father and his contemptible behavior right before I killed him.

She snapped her gaze to mine, anger still bright on her face. "I've been terrified from the moment your father's brutes killed my handmaiden and abducted me."

I blinked in surprise that she'd even admit that to me. She didn't guard herself against me as I had imagined she would. I'd expected a pampered princess, defiant and wholly resistant. I'd expected tears and wailing and protestations before finally accepting her fate. After years of being groomed into her royal position, a haughty facade was the very least I anticipated from her.

I took a step forward and curled my outstretched fingers, beckoning more gently. "Come."

Whether she was simply following her survival instincts to seek my protection or my softened voice gave her courage, she hesitantly took my hand, her gaze moving to Drakmir, as she let me guide her closer. Drakmir slowly lifted his head where he'd been lazily resting it on the terrace. He snuffed the air at the unfamiliar scent beside me.

" Gloyen , Drak. Asha styen ," I said in a soothing, calm voice as we approached. " Asha styen ."

His nostrils flared as he curved his neck lower to sniff the air. Una tightened her hold on my hand, and a jolt of awareness pulled my attention back to her.

"Have you ever seen a dragon?"

"No. They do not fly near Issos." She stepped closer beside me, her eyes on Drakmir.

"The myth about dragons that they only attack when they sense fear is sheer nonsense," I told her.

"Is it?" she asked shakily as I lifted her hand in mine and stretched her arm toward Drakmir's snout.

"Dragons aren't simple animals, beasts who react with predatory instincts." I placed her palm on the flat space between Drakmir's nostrils upon his smooth black scales, my palm covering the back of her hand. "They are magickal creatures, not mindless monsters."

She exhaled on a sigh, easing closer to stroke him. Drakmir's eyes closed to half-mast, a low purr vibrating in his chest. "When do they attack? When their master tells them to?" Her gaze flicked to me, and she stopped petting him.

"Dragons have no masters."

"Then what are you to him?" Those violet eyes I'd seen in my dreams thousands of nights held me captive.

I'd never forgotten her, the young fae girl who I'd saved from death by my father's wights. And yet it had never occurred to me that she would grow into such a stunning beauty. Her eyes, still a luminous violet, were no longer those of a girl but of a woman who'd known hardship and pain.

Drakmir nudged her on the shoulder. She jumped back, fixated on him with the tiniest of smiles. My dragon wanted more of her petting. I understood the craving.

" Shaleem , Drak."

He groaned and settled into a crouch, his tail knocking some of the ballustrade's stonework over the side. I didn't care. This was now his devoted perch when he wasn't wandering the skies or the woodlands. He tended to favor the Esher Wood behind the palace.

I didn't even think to get her cloak. I unhooked mine made, from a Meer-wolf pelt, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Glancing up to the night sky, I noted, "At least there's no snow. But it'll be cold up there."

"We're flying ?" Her shaken voice made Drak snuff.

"There is something I must show you.

I nudged her toward his side and climbed up the rope ladder connected to the saddle, then held down my hand. "Climb up to me."

She frowned but didn't protest, then hauled herself up until I could reach her. Once in my grip, I pulled her up and settled her crossways onto my lap, careful of her wings. Humming at the satisfaction of having her in my grasp, I shifted her body till she fit perfectly within the bracket of my arms and thighs.

For a brief moment, I remembered the softness of her skin on her inner thigh then banned the memory instantly from my thoughts. I couldn't fantasize about what I couldn't have just yet. Not until the mizrah ceremony in my palace. Not until she bathed in the black lake. My gut clenched, a single thread of dread at the thought of it.

"How do I hold on?" she asked, glancing over the edge nervously.

"You can hold onto me if you like."

That earned me a fierce look. Mmm . I wanted more of that.

"Hold onto the pommel here." I placed her hand on the pommel closest to her. There were two, one on either side of the saddle. "You'll need trousers to fly astride, then you can hold onto both." I buckled the harness around both our waists, tightening the strap. "But don't worry, my mizrah," I crooned into her ear as I wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, one hand on her outer thigh. "I won't let you go."

She looked away, but she asked softly, "What does mizrah mean?"

I smiled, ignoring that conversation for now, and then shouted to Drakmir, " Hyvellin !"

Drak beat his wings and shoved off the terrace, shooting us up into the sky. Her weight fell into me on the upward slant. She gasped but didn't scream, both her hands white-knuckling the pommel. Drak flew at an angle toward the night sky, Lumera's round moon seeming closer as we ascended. We were far above N?kt Mir, but her eyes were still on the stars.

"Well done," I praised, my mouth close to her ear as I tightened my hold on her upper thigh and ribcage. "No fear on your first flight. I'm impressed."

"It's so beautiful," she breathed out, the roaring wind nearly stealing her words.

" Gasta met , Drak!"

He instantly turned and circled south. I showed him through our mental link where to go. By horseback, the ride would take days. But on dragonback, we'd be there before the moon had reached its peak in the night sky.

I remained quiet, catching glances of Una's enthralled expression as she observed the world from above. Drak flew higher until we were above the clouds.

Una gasped. I couldn't suppress a small smile at trying to see from her eyes. The gray clouds stretched out like a soft blanket, the moonglow silvering the sky like an ethereal dream.

For the moment, I soaked in this feeling of contentment, my mizrah in my arms, the kingdoms almost mine, the old promise given by my god Vix finally coming true. But as Drak descended, I steeled myself for what was about to come.

We lowered out of the clouds and closer to the ground, passing over the glittering Bluevale River. She tensed, knowing exactly where we were now.

"Sweet goddess," she murmured as we passed over the fields beyond Issos, where thousands of wraith fae gathered outside the walls.

Then we crossed over the walls of the royal city, she saw there were thousands more in the streets below. Blue coal-fire torches filled the streets. Pale moonlight illuminated her vast city, the white bricks of the castle an architectural beauty.

I couldn't see her expression, but I heard her heart beat faster with my heightened hearing and felt her breathing quicken beneath my arm.

Drak dove low as we drew closer. Her white hair shimmered in the moonlight like her pale skin. My stomach tightened with the need to touch its softness, to trail my fingers through its length, to wrap it around my fist.

My soldiers were chanting my name below Valla Lokkyr. The repeated, deep reverberation echoed up to us.

"Goll! Goll! Goll!"

The fact that my army had chosen my name for their mantra was a positive sign, indeed. All of my father's army had fallen swiftly in line, seemingly eager to follow me, their new king. While I was yet uncrowned, they chanted my name as their leader of this victory.

But there was one step yet to take, and we were about to take it. The wraith fae and now the light fae of Lumeria must understand that I ruled with an iron fist. It was the only way to assure obedience and dissuade rebellion.

I tried not to tighten my hold on Una's arm as she was far more delicate than in my dreams, but I needed this tangible proof that I truly had her. I stole a sidelong glance. She kept her chin high and her wings straight. Her black wings.

Son of Vix. She was made for me. Refashioned after that fateful day with the mark that told the world where she belonged. At least, according to Dalya. And very few knew my soul seer Dalya's vision. I'd been waiting for the sign, and there it was, sprouting from her back.

She would indeed give me the heir I deserved, that my people deserved. To right the old wrongs. And the kingdoms would be united under my rule as was foretold.

I ordered Drak to land on the bridge leading to the eastern tower, the one closest to the great hall at the top of Valla Lokyr, where Soryn would be waiting.

He beat his wings as we lowered and landed with a thud. I eased off behind her first then lifted my arms up to help her down. My gut instantly clenched at the glassiness of her eyes. Now she understood. She had no choice.

Deklam, one of my lieutenants, approached with a dozen of his infantrymen behind him. They'd been looking for me. After pulling Una down and setting her beside me, I turned.

"Sire." Deklam thumped his chest with his fist in obeisance and bowed his head. "We are stationed throughout Issos. Soryn and Prince Baelynn await you in the great hall."

Una flinched in my grasp and made a sound of protest, but I ignored her.

I took hold of Una's hand to guide her at my side to the throne room of her former home.

She was tense and quiet. Too quiet.

"Do not worry, Princess. I have no plans to harm your brother." I glanced at her fearful expression. "Or you," I added.

She didn't answer as we passed through the white corridors of Valla Lokyr, my wraith fae on guard at every turn.

When she finally spoke, her voice had a detached, dreamlike quality. "I do not know what is in store for me now. All I know is that my life is no longer my own."

I would like to have argued against her belief, but I would not lie to her. She was right. Her life was no longer her own. Fate did indeed have a certain future orchestrated with her as its primal center, its glorious star. And for that future to come to pass, she must be mine.

And I was about to ensure that once and for all.