Page 5 of The Flame King's Queen

Maybe Zabriel is in danger. He could be injured at this moment, even dying. I must find him and my dragon. “Captain Ashton, will you please put Godric in bindings and keep guard over him until we can find my mate?”

“Of course, Lady Isavelle.” Using some of the bindings on his uniform, the captain ties Godric’s hands behind his back.

All this time, Godric has been beseeching me in the sincerest manner. As soon as I give the order, he seems to give up. His expression changes to pure venom. “You will burn, witch. You have no right to sit upon the throne.” He addresses Ashton and Stesha with as much disgust and hatred. “You are both traitors to our kind. The humans will rise up against us once more, and we will all perish. The purity of Maledinni blood is—”

Dusan rips a strip from Godric’s cloak and stuffs it in his mouth. “Nobody cares what you think, you hateful bastard.”

“Go find your mate, Lady Isavelle,” Stesha tells me, holding his sword to Godric’s throat. “I do not wish to lose a good king because of you.”

How complimentary. I suppose I should be grateful that Stesha loves the king at least.

Fiala puffs a strand of hair out of her eyes and glares at Stesha. “Dragonmaster, Lady Isavelle and her dragon saved the flare’s fledglings from Auryn. She has been a friend to Zenevieve. She makes the king happier than we have ever seen him before, worked tirelessly in villages full of slaughtered Maledinni, and saved hundreds of lives today. I hope you see all that in our queen as well as finding fault with her.”

“Why do you think I am here holding this sword? I am loyal to those who are loyal to Maledin. Do you wish to scold me more, or do you wish to save the king?”

I would sooner expect Scourge to breathe ice than Stesha to speak a kind word to me, but his loyalty is worth its weight in gold. My sister and father are able to shelter in his protection so I can find my mate, and I am grateful for it.

“Thank you for your loyalty, Stesha. You have earned mine.”

Stesha glances at me before nodding sharply, and then he turns back to watch over our prisoner.

I think back to where I last saw my mate. Zabriel was gone when we emerged from my cottage in the ethereal plane, and I don’t know why. Emmeric was there instead, and he’d managed to unbind his magic that I had sealed earlier. Zabriel could be fighting him at this moment, the dragonriding king versus the man possessed by an undead sorcerer. Zabriel is strong and swift, but Emmeric is crafty and cruel, and he wields strange powers.

I move toward Scourge and place a hand on his scales. I can sense the coiled fury and tension in the dragon’s muscles, and fiery heat blazes rumble from his chest and up his long neck. I place a hand on his foreleg, wishing I could communicate with my mate’s dragon as I do with Esmeral.

I picture my little dragon with her gleaming turquoise scales flecked with gold. I saylittle, but that’s only compared to mountainous dragons like Scourge and Nilak. Esmeral is as big as a cottage now.

Esmeral. Where are you?I call to her with my mind. If she’s still in the ethereal plane, I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach her.

Esmeral.I’m here. We must find Zabriel.

The wind blows the mist around, but it does not reveal my dragon.

I turn to Dad and Anise, who are gazing in concern at how close I’m standing to Scourge. “We need to…” But I trail off as I see a dark shape in the sky, wings spread, and swiftly approaching. I feel that it’s her, and I joyfully call out to her.

Esmeral!

She’s not alone. Her greeting is filled with the important information that she’s carrying my mate. I call to the others, “Esmeral has Zabriel.” Thank the stars.

When my dragon lands, she crouches as low to the ground as possible, which I find strange as Zabriel is accustomed to leaping off a dragon several times her size. My mate dismounts with effort and slithers down Esmeral’s side, smothering a groan of pain as his feet hit the ground. He takes a moment with his face pressed against her scales before turning slowly toward us.

Zabriel’s teeth are bared in a grimace of fury and pain, and they’re stained with blood. His normally tanned skin is gray and pallid, and his long black hair is in snarls. His red eyes stand out starkly in his bloodless face, and his attention is focused on Godric as he limps toward him, one hand gripping his side.

Godric steps back, his wrists twisting as he tries to free himself, and small sounds of protestation escape from around his gag.

Zabriel takes out his dagger and slashes through Godric’s bindings. For a moment hope flares on Godric’s face, until Zabriel drives the dagger into the man’s belly and twists ruthlessly. The man’s eyes go wide, and he chokes and shudders.

Zabriel rips the gag from Godric’s mouth, and in a gravelly, labored voice, he growls, “Confess what you have done, and perhaps the gods will grant you the mercy that I will not.”

“Please, I was thinking of—”

“Confess, or die by my dragon, and I promise you he will make you suffer as you deserve.”

Blood spills from my mate’s lips as he speaks. I hold both my hands over my heart, filled with fear over Zabriel’s terrible injuries.

Godric grasps the hilt of the dagger, takes two bracing breaths, and pulls it out of his guts with an agonized scream. “I remain loyal to Maledin. I am the only one who is.”

He raises the dagger to attack Zabriel. My heart leaps in fear, but Scourge closes in with parted jaws and sinks his teeth into Godric’s shoulder. Nilak darts forward from the other direction and bites into the man’s waist.

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