Page 53 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
I didn’t know any of this.
“You didn’t do that to be cruel, but it was a cruelty, anyway. When I took Maelena, I knew I was not going to let anything happen to her, and I hoped it would just make you listen, make you see what the higher class needs of you. When I tried to kill you, I never set a single one of those bolts through your heart, or your head, or your neck. Not near any of the arteries I knew would kill a man. I am a trained soldier, Erax, and if I wanted you dead, you would have been dead. I could not bring myself to do it, even if that was the plan my brother suggested to free this kingdom. I still couldn’t do it, and I had a secret plan to make a deal with you for Maelena. Your death was not my plan.”
He flicks his eyes to me. “When I first met you, I thought you were spoilt, rather annoying and very naive.”
“Do you want to die?” Erax snarls, pushing an inch closer to his neck and a line of red drops down.
Noble continues. “I thought he was going to control every inch of you and make you into nothing but a vessel to carry his child, but that was far from the truth. You became so much more than that, and I respect you not just as my friend, but my queen.If you choose him as your king, then so be it, but you are the ruler this kingdom needs.
“The minute that I got back to the castle, Loch took over. He used dark ether to get into the mind of every single one of my soldiers. The many that are lying dead around you—they were once my soldiers. I knew their minds were gone. I could see it, but I didn’t know how to stop it. My brother…” Noble’s voice cracks like ice. “He started controlling everybody in the village too. Children were silenced, babies didn’t cry. His paranoia took on a whole new level. His new spies were all watching me, watching Nym, at all times. I knew I’d made a mistake, that my brother was playing a game that was far different from the one I was. He wasn’t meant to have any control; he wasn’t meant to intervene other than to be her friend. But he hasn’t just been living with the nuns, playing innocent, as you can now see. The witch side to him… something different is going on. I will help you get to the bottom of it, but you do need me.”
Nymala sighs. “It’s true. I sensed the minds of many of them turning very quickly to death and rot. They were watching my every move and reporting to Loch. He was watching you too, Maelena.” A shiver goes down my spine. Loch, oh, what have you done? “Noble tried to protect her the best he could within that castle, even from his only family. He tried to stop her from killing those soldiers and Loch making her do it.”
Erax’s eyes flicker to mine with fury because I did not tell him about that. I hold his gaze, hoping he understands why and drops it for now. He slowly turns back to Nymala who continues. “The witches are going to side with Loch. He has an in with them that I do not understand, but he definitely does. He has markings that I’ve never seen before.” She shakes her head. “I’ve been away from the witches’ court my entire life, and we all need Noble going forward. He’s a dragon rider, and hisfamily has links to the Witch Queen. She may be more open to communication with Noble there.”
“If it were my choice alone, you’d be dead, but you’re very lucky that I’m married, because there’s such a thing as asking my equal in this realm for her opinion before an execution,” Erax finally speaks and looks at me. “Whatever your choice is, my love, I will do. My sword is yours.”
I walk up to them, stand at Erax’s side, looking at Noble first. “My mother used to do something called Queen’s Mercy. The servants used to say the Queen’s Mercy was all that ever saved my parents kingdom from total ruin.” I softly place my hand over Erax’s on the sword. “I will never forgive you, Noble, but you can earn back your life by fighting for us. You will bleed and earn your life back.”
I glance at Erax as he lowers his sword. Noble sucks in a deep breath of relief before he goes on one knee and lowers his head. “Your Majesties, my dragon is yours. I ride for you.”
“You ride at the back, and you stay out of my fucking sight!” Erax snaps at him. “I will never trust you, betrayer. You’ve just been lucky today.”
Noble is smart enough to stand up and go to Nymala, who glares at him.
“You’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
“There I was thinking you liked me with your whole ‘don’t kill him’ speech,” he mutters. She huffs and purposely moves a few steps away from him. I’m tempted to smile at the pair of them, but I hear it. Or sense it. A dragon is near. I turn around as I hear the flap of wings, the air being cut as a powerful force flies right towards us. Nymala gasps, holding her chest.
“Is that Cyrsí?” I ask Erax, who wraps his arm around my waist.
He kisses the side of my head. “No, but she’s on her way. This is the ice dragon that lives in the lake. I’m not sure I told you about her.”
“I’ve seen it before,” I whisper to him, looking at Noble, who must remember that day in the lake where he once saved my life.
Now my debt to him has been paid.
The ice dragon flies around what’s left of the inn and lands with a thud right outside the forest. It’s huge, probably the biggest dragon I’ve ever seen, surpassing even Cyrsí in size perhaps. The dragon is covered in blue scales that are chipped, old and weathered, with scratch marks down its wings like cracked ice. This dragon has fought a fair share of battles and somehow lived to tell the tale.
There is a rider, someone I don’t know, but she is a witch. She has markings on her face like Nymala’s, but there are other ones, icy-looking runes on her arms. Her long black hair is in a tight braid, and it moves in the breeze as she slides off her back, and she runs straight at us.
Erax frowns at her. “This is the witch who helped me find you. We made a deal, and she became a rider. The first witch rider in centuries, and the second female rider known to the histories—after you. This dragon is a queen and has a strange connection to her.”
A witch dragon rider? Aqueendragon?
She runs straight past us and crashes into Nymala. The two of them start crying as they embrace each other.
“What just happened?”
Noble looks at me. “Nymala thought her twin was dead… and it seems she was not.”
As we watch the sisters weep, something cracks in the air around us. The ground shudders beneath my feet.
No one else seems to feel it. But I do. It's like the realm itself is waking up, and the shadows rising with it have my namewritten on a blade. Something dark and powerful is coming, and this time…
We have to be ready for it.
Epilogue
