Page 12 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
Death was stealing me from this world and taking me from her, and all I could think was how fucking dare the gods think they can take me from my queen.
One more breath, a few more drops of blood, and I would have been gone. At least, Zaal told me this because I remember nothing more than pain and seeing Maelena being taken away. And yet, the dragons decided that my fate in this world was not over. They gave me a gift, something they had not done for a mortal in a very long time. But the price may yet prove to be too great. It may be something I end up regretting. But today is not the time to work out whether that is true.
Heels click across the room, one by one, and I turn to face the witch who’s walking into my throne room. A room in a castle where witches have never been welcome. She has very long black hair braided together in a custom fashion for the witches that hangs to her ankles, along with gold markings all over her face and her arms that are visible. The rest of her is in leather up to her neck, tight, with several skirts flowing out from her waist, and thigh-high boots. No weapons. Interesting. She must think she is powerful enough not to need a weapon on her. Or my men removed them from her.
Her eyes are a piercing blue, a sharp contrast to her tan skin. Like most witches, she has an eerie, otherworldly quality about her. I’ve been told she’s the one we can trust. But I don’t trust witches as far as I could throw them.
“That’s far enough,” I command. My voice is gruff from screaming and shouting. “If you are of no use to me, I’ll kill you and send you back as bones.”
“That would be an honour for the return of my bones, Your Majesty. You are more generous than they say.” Sarcasm lines her tone. She is cocky even now. If I wasn’t so angry and distrustful of her kind, I’d almost like her. “I’m sure my nonexistent family would bury them. Perhaps.” She smiles, revealing sharp canines with gold-metal tips. There are also several piercings through her tongue. “My name is Kymera. I am the chief emissary of the witches. Our queen wishes for our kind to live long and successful lives, and peace with many allies is the key to that plan. She agreed I could come here to negotiate a deal, and part of the deal will be your free passage and safety with your wife to meet with her in the future.”
Burning them all would help too.
“We do not want war,” she continues, “and your kingdom is beginning to understand that war is not beneficial to anyone. You’ve lost your own wife and queen in the process of the rebellion of your people.”
Fire burns in my eyes, and shadows dance up the walls, blocking out the light.
I’m glad it’s not my firepower that came out. I really don’t want to fuck this room up. Maelena will come back, and she needs to see it.
Kymera doesn’t so much as flinch.
“Careful, Kymera, when you speak of my wife.”
“You cannot scare me. I accepted death the moment I walked into your kingdom, let alone your castle and throne room. You are not known for being reasonable, Your Majesty. In fact, reasonable is the opposite of what you are well known for.” She stands still in the darkness. “I know what it is like to lose someone you deeply care for and be powerless to get them back.”Her eyes look down, as if something on the floor has caught her eye. “I was angry, violent and vengeful in the years to follow. I see where you are, and I am offering to help.”
I hate to admit it, but I need her help. Witches are the only ones capable of usingether, and it’s through that they can track anything. It was used to track and bind dragons to them against their will. Something I vowed to hate them for forever. But now I need it.
“You will find me extremely unreasonable at all times, except when it comes to the return of my wife; therefore, I am listening.” I watch her shoulders drop slightly. “If I find the witches have taken her, which I don’t suspect your queen is brave enough to do, then your kingdom will burn. I’ve burnt kingdoms before; don’t test that I will not burn another for my wife.” She nods once. I’ve never thought the witches were responsible for Noble taking Maelena. My wife is alive; I can feel it, and the witches would have killed her by now. “Talk.”
“We did not take your queen, nor do we want war. I came to you in peace,” she begins. I let the shadows drop just slightly, just enough to let a bit of light into the room. “I am powerful, and I believe I can find your wife. This will be a trade between you and me. I cannot offer you peace negotiations between our races, so do not ask for this. You and my queen have a lot of unfinished business that will need far more negotiations than we can do right now. But I can offer you a trade for my help, significant help. I can see and sense that you have dragon magic, so the dragons have found you worthy. For me alone, that is enough to trust you because I trust them. They are wise, ancient beings with shared memories of all time. They have seen all of time before and after, and they know they would not trust you with this kind of power unwisely.”
“And what do you know of my power, witch?” I growl.
“That you are extremely dangerous, King Erax, but power like yours is not given to the unworthy. You are history in the making, and alongside your queen, there may be hope for our realm yet.” She bows her head once. “Will you consider a deal between us?”
She could be lying and not be able to find my wife. But at this rate, I’ll do anything to get her back. Apparently, Kymera is the strongest of her kind, second only to her queen.
“Why do you think you can find Queen Maelena?”
“Dragon magic is the strongest power in this world, but every magic has a counter or a weakness. It cannot go unchecked, and for dragon magic, witch blood magic is the counter weakness.”
I’ve never heard that claim before.
“Dragon magic cannot control witch blood magic or even see it, if the spell is strong. I believe the reason you’ve not been able to find your wife is because there’s a rogue witch involved. If there’s a witch involved, you will need a witch’s help. Despite how many spies you have across the kingdom, it could take you years. You could never find her at all, even through theether, and they could kill her by that point. But with me, you have a chance of getting her back within weeks. How many weeks has it been? How many months has it been already?”
“Too fucking long.” I see straight through the witch’s emotional blackmail. It’s almost amusing that she is trying to manipulate me. “What do you want in return?”
I’ve gone insane with longing for Maelena, and I know that she could ask for so much and I’d probably agree to it in the desperate, maddening state that I’m in. I killed most of my nobles from the castle, fired all the guards and maids, and now there’s hardly anyone left here. The only people I couldn’t throw out in my madness were the ones who work for my grandmother and in the dungeons. The messenger from earlier is one of mygrandmother’s favourites. She’s the only one I trust anymore in this world, except for Maelena.
ItrustedNoble. I fucking trusted him so much as he stabbed me in the back for years. How long had he been planning to betray me? Was it when we climbed the mountain together and stole the eggs? Was it when his father died and I helped him grieve? Was it when we flew on our dragons together, on a hundred or more flights, and made this kingdom a better place—together? I trusted him; he was my best friend and like a brother to me. My trust in Noble cost me greatly, and I won’t give my trust to anyone else again. Maelena is the only one I trust now. I have to find her.
“I want you to take me to a dragon pit to see and visit your dragons,” comes the witch’s bold demand.
“You can control them with magic, and when I took the eggs, I promised these dragons would be free of witch control,” I snap.
I’ve lost so much, but I will hold to that vow until the day I die. Kymera is correct when she says how wise and powerful the dragons are. But to the witches, they are pets to be tamed and then chained.
“I vow to the goddess Hekai, may she tear my soul in half if I break this vow, not to use my magic to bind them, to hurt them or do anything but defend myself.”
