Page 2 of Crown of Briars
Bile crept up my throat, and I resisted the urge to retch. Ionly had one more chance to end this. I did not want to leave this world without putting in every effort to save my kingdom.
With the last of my strength, I lifted my head to look straight into Clermont’s yellow eyes. My voice was low as I said, “Bring me the human princess.”
Charcoal coatedmy fingertips as I crouched to the ground, brushing pebbles and dirt away from my specimen. Squinting, I tried to make out the color of the sheen glinting in the pale sunlight shimmering through the cavern ceiling. Underneath the rocks was a gemstone, but I couldn’t tell what mineral it was.
I brought my free hand to the amber necklace at my throat. Immediately, the voice of Azure, my dragon, resonated in my head.
“Another quartz, perhaps?”
I shook my head. “No, this is too dark.”
“There are darker forms of quartz.”
My mouth twisted as I tried to dig my fingernails further into the rocks, but they wouldn’t budge. “Damn it. I can’t get to it.”
“Mind if I try? My talons aremuchsharper than your frail human claws.”
I rolled my eyes. “They aren’t claws. If theywere, you can bet they’d be sharper.”
Azure’s long, serpentine form appeared by my side, her pale blue scales glinting in the faint light. Her talons scraped against the rocks on the ground, making a loud crackling sound.
“Step aside, feeble human.”The humor in Azure’s voice drew asmile from my lips despite her teasing. This was a frequent debate between us: which of us was the superior species? Azure argued that with her wings, size, and talons, she was clearly stronger. But with my royal connections, fae magic, and wit, I claimed I could best her.
So far, neither of us had won the argument. But, as I watched her sharp talons effortlessly cut through the impenetrable rock, I had to concede she had bested me this round.
I crossed my arms and clicked my tongue. “Stones, you are such a show-off.”
Azure let out a low huff, which I interpreted as a chuckle. Sometimes, even when I wasn’t touching the amber stone at my throat, she could still understand me. Perhaps it was the tone of my voice. Or perhaps it was because she knew me so well.
Ordinarily, my fae magic could only work when I was directly touching the gemstone that granted me power. In this case, the amber stone was the only way I could communicate with my dragon. She wore a collar with a matching amber stone embedded in it.
But sometimes I wondered how much we actually needed the amber at all. I had a feeling that, if I lost my supply of amber, we would still be able to read each other quite well.
Azure let out a low rumbling sound, and I immediately pressed a hand to my amber necklace.
“Interesting,”she mused.“It looks like a dark form of quartz, but I can tell it’s something different. It’s a stone I’ve never encountered before.”
My eyes flared wide at that. Azure was the only being I knew who was more familiar with gemstones than I was. It was what originally brought us together. As a child, I found her wandering our deepest caves in search of the same minerals I was looking for. When we both stumbled upon a trove of amber embedded into the cavern walls, we thought it was a sign from Fate, guiding us toward a lifetime of companionship.
I frowned, waiting for the dust to settle from her digging.
“It does look like black quartz,” I said. “You’re sure it’s not?”
“I am quite sure.”Her tone was haughty, as though offended that I even asked.
With a chuckle, I stretched a dirt-crusted hand to run the pad of my thumb over the rocks surrounding the gem, careful not to let my fingers touch the black stone. Then I glanced at the geology reference book lying open a few feet away. The worn leather tome had been our most useful resource guide during our explorations. “Onyx perhaps?”
“I have encountered onyx before as well. It does not smell like this.”
“What does this one smell like to you?” I asked. As a dragon, Azure had access to sharpened senses that I could only dream of. Even if I were full-blooded fae instead of half human, my fae senses still would have paled in comparison.
Azure’s wide nostrils flared, and her eyes closed. Another low hum escaped her snout.“Shadows and poison.”
I jerked my hand back as if the rocks had burned me. “Shit.”
“Relax, human. If it were dangerous, I would know.”
“Oh, really?” I challenged, climbing to my feet and backing away from the stone. “You just said you had never encountered it before. How are you supposed to know if it’s dangerous or not?”
