Page 104 of The Flame King's Queen

“I have nothing to say to you. Nothing I will ever give you.”

The lich’s hand tightens on the crib, and he glances at the baby. “No, Isavelle? You are saying no to me?”

I start breathing faster at the implicit threat. “How can we talk on equal footing? You know my name, but I don’t know what to call you.”

He wags Zabriel’s forefinger in my face. “Tricksy, tricksy. I know better than to trust a witch with my real name. You may call me what those Brethren fools named me. The Shadow King. The true leader of Maledin, though in the past I have rarely shown myself. I think that will change for my next five hundred years as ruler. With your help, dear Isavelle, I shall sit upon the throne and show everyone the true leader’s face.”

There’s an angry roar from outside the window, so loud that it rattles the panes of glass. Scourge is clinging to the side of the castle, one enormous taloned foot on our terrace, his massive body blocking out dusk’s final glow.

My mate’s dragon.

He roars again, and the sound is so thunderous that I have to cover my ears. Sylvi wakes up and starts crying.

The lich, in Zabriel’s body, staggers. The magical seal on the door breaks, and I hear people hammering on the wood and jostling the handle. My heart soars, and I realize that my mate’s powerful connection with his dragon is disrupting the lich’s magic.

The door to our room bursts open, and I see Fiala, Dusan, and Stesha’s distraught faces.

“Take our baby out of here,” I call to them. Fiala darts forward, scoops the baby up in her arms, and runs for the door. Dusan and Stesha have their weapons drawn and they’re both reaching for me, but I’m not going with them. I can’t be anywhere near them, or the lich will hurt them. He wants to speak with me, so I can draw him away while the others fight off the undead army.

I turn and run for the open terrace door.

“No, no, no,no—” Stesha shouts. I feel Stesha’s fingers snatch at my sleeve. Out on the terrace, I grab hold of Scourge’s saddle and climb as fast as I can to mount him. I have never done this alone before, and without Zabriel around me carrying me atop his dragon, I’m reminded just how massive my mate’s dragon is.

Scourge spreads his wings.

“Take off, please take off,” I plead with the dragon. He’s always understood and protected me instinctively, but maybe he’s confused because the lich is possessing his rider. “Please fly us away from here, Scourge.”

Far above me, Scourge turns his head to look at me, and I see something that makes my blood run cold. The dragon’s eyes gazing back at me aren’t a burning shade of red, but a flickering green. He won’t take off because he’s being controlled not to want to take off.

The lich in Zabriel’s body is climbing up to the saddle, that hideous grin still on his face. I kick at his fingers, but the lich doesn’t seem to feel pain. He doesn’t even flinch as he hauls himself into the saddle behind me and wraps both his arms around me. Zabriel’s scent is filled with an evil, acrid smell that reminds me of the necromancy book at the archives.

“You didn’t realize I possessed the dragon as well?” the lich rasps into my ear. “You stupid girl. The white-haired bastard tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen to him. You’ve never listened to anyone. That’s why we’re so perfect for each other. Once we’re together, no one will ever try to control you again. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Let me go,” I scream, thrashing around in his arms.

But the lich only laughs as Scourge spreads his wings and launches into the sky. We fly in a slow, wide circle around the castle and over the city. Where the fires burn, I can see the mayhem of battle. The undead have overwhelmed the gates and made it into the city. It’s not only soldiers who have taken up weapons, but the people as well. Bodies are lying in the streets. Blood soaks the ground. The undead are relentless, smashed to pieces only to reform as though nothing has happened.

Scourge belches green flames, and they light up the ground below an eerie green. I can imagine the fear and despair that the dragonriders, soldiers, and people must be feeling as they see the king’s dragon breathing green flames.

They must feel like their world is ending. They must feel lost. It’s how I feel with the lich using my mate’s strong arms to lock me tightly to his chest.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Not far,” it purrs in my ear. “Someplace we can be alone, so that you may think things through carefully and decide what is right. What is decent. What is fair.”

It digs Zabriel’s blunt nails cruelly into my waist, making me gasp. Whatever the lich wants is going to be far from what is right, decent, or fair.

Below, little of the ground is visible in the darkness, but after some time, I see moonlight shimmering on wet rocks, and steam rising from the ground. Scourge circles downward before finally landing next to pools filled with heated water. My heart aches when I remember how Zabriel brought me here after saving me from the Brethren, and he gently bathed my wounds and the dust from my skin and hair.

The lich releases its hold on me, and I take the chance to scramble down from Scourge’s back. There’s a heavywhompsound, and when I turn, I see that the lich has confidently slid to the ground in just the manner that Zabriel would. It saunters toward me, and Scourge turns and stalks after me as well.

I scramble backward as they loom over me. I saw them once like this long ago, dragon and rider, both seeming to look at me through the same eyes, and sharing one mind. Then, their eyes were blazing red, but now, they’re a sickly, terrifying shade of green.

“I brought you here that first night I took you captive,” the lich rasps. “I wanted you so badly, and it was my right to take you. You were so small and stupid, so annoying with your crying and protestations. I thought about just taking what I craved.”

“Do not speak to me as if you are Zabriel. Those memories are private, and you’re lying. Zabriel would have sooner died than hurt me. He wanted to die after what you made Emmeric do to his sister.”

“Nothing is hidden from me now that I occupy his mind. I know everything about him. Everything about you. Where he ends and I begin, there is no distinction.”

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