Page 13 of The Flame King's Queen

“You couldn’t have known. None of us knew, though I feel as though I should have suspected her more strongly after the Ritual of the First Heat.” The other spellbreaker, Heloise, went mad and tried to kill me during the ritual by exacerbating my heat until I was exhausted. She withheld food and water from me and overpowered the otherHratha’lenguarding me, including Elysant. She must have been complicit in what Heloise did, but no one guessed.

Dusan is gripping his halberd with both hands so hard that his knuckles are white. “Thank the gods you’re both safe and well. Nothing can happen to our king and future queen, the only Alpha and Omega pair in the kingdom, or we will all despair.”

“No doubt the king will be on his feet soon. Meanwhile, will you please take me to my family? I feel terrible abandoning them for so long.”

“Of course, my lady.” As we walk, Fiala says to Dusan, “You know,Ma’lenand Lady Isavelle are not the only Alpha and Omega pair in the kingdom. There is also Kane and Ravenna, remember?”

Dusan makes a disgusted sound. “They don’t count. The lady will kill him as soon as Kane destroys the southern barrier, and she’ll come to live at the castle.”

“If the former witchfinder dies suddenly at some point in the near future, I don’t imagine that there will be many who will shed tears over the loss,” I say.

Fiala snorts in amusement. “You are correct, my lady.”

The rescued villagers are all sheltering in the Great Hall and beneath tents in the conjoining courtyard. Many of them are gathered in small, bewildered groups. Others are weeping, no doubt, because they have learned that half their loved ones perished while they were locked in the ethereal plane. I recognize several faces belonging to the villagers of Amriste and move toward them, only to notice how they shrink away from me.

I spot Anise when she suddenly shoots to her feet, screeching, “How dare you call my sister that horrible word! Take that back.”

There’s some angry conversation, and then Anise marches over to me, two spots of indignant color burning in her cheeks. Dad follows behind her.

“If someone has called me a witch, then it is not an insult,” I tell Anise when she and Dad reach my side.

“They called you a demon,” Anise exclaims.

A demon? That’s a new one. “Why am I a demon?”

“Because your eyes and hair have changed colors. They are saying you are possessed by a demon. Your appearance has got something to do with the dragons, am I right?”

I completely forgot that my looks are different from the last time I saw my family, and they won’t know why. Anise has guessed correctly. “Yes, it’s because of the dragons. That one dragon you saw earlier, to be precise. The small, pretty one with turquoise and golden scales. I bonded with her, and I changed a little to look like her. It happens to all dragonriders.”

Dad studies my face, and after a long silence, he says, “It’s very striking. We have plenty to adjust to, it seems.”

When I look closer, Dad’s and Anise’s faces are bewildered and afraid. This experience must be difficult for them. All they know is that one moment they were in their village with Ma and Waylen, and now they are here without them, and there are dragons in the skies.

“I’m sorry. I should have explained what’s been going on. What is the last thing that you remember before we woke you up?”

Anise purses her lips and thinks. “Mistress Gorran came running across the fields saying that there were dragons in the skies, and they were fighting the Brethren Guard.”

“And after that?”

“I think we must have gone to the edge of the village to see for ourselves. I don’t know. It’s like trying to remember a fading dream.” Her brow furrows, and she shakes her head. “But you, Isavelle. What’s been happening to you? These people call you Lady Isavelle. You are the king’s…mate? But our king is King Alastor, and he’s an old man.”

I take a deep breath as I realize the enormity of everything I have to catch them up on. I’m wrung out from worry over Zabriel and the effort of casting advanced magic. Anise’s questions have brought up terrible memories, but I want to answer as many of them as I can.

Dad places his hand on Anise’s arm. “Hush, now. Your sister is worn out from saving us, and she’s worried about her…husband?”

“Thank you, Dad. But we can talk a little. Zabriel is my mate.” I pull my hair aside and show them the healed-over teeth marks in the back of my neck. “It’s like a husband. These mean we are bonded for life.”

There are a thousand questions in each of their horrified eyes, and I pat my hair back into place. Perhaps I need not go into so many details so soon.

“Did your husbandbiteyou?” Anise asks so loudly that a dozen heads swivel toward us.

Dad clears his throat. “Our curiosity can wait until we’ve all eaten and rested. Your sister looks worn out.” He smiles and brushes my cheek with his thumb. “It is good that we are together at last. Let’s sit down and share a meal.”

We find an empty trestle in the Great Hall and share a meal of bread, soft cheese, and stew. While we eat, I fill them in on a little of what has been happening in Maledin since the Brethren was forced out. They take particular interest in Emmeric, for they too heard mutterings about the Shadow King in the months before Zabriel awoke beneath the mountain.

“I for one won’t miss the Brethren and their stupid Shadow King,” Anise states, dropping her wooden spoon into her empty stew bowl with a clatter.

“Hush, Anise, do not speak so dangerously,” Dad says automatically, and then glances around. “Ah. I suppose we needn’t worry about guarding our tongues about the Brethren any longer.”

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