Page 43 of Consort's Dragon
And what of this whole bloodline thing?Titus claimed to be one of the blooded and that Avera was too.What of Griff?She’d seen the flames licking his body, but she hadn’t stayed long enough to see if he’d actually burned.Had he lived only to find himself abandoned?
So much to think about and so little time.Titus expected them to depart for Merisu’s volcano with the eggs on the morrow, eggs still in her possession.She wandered over to where they sat on the dresser.Smooth, oval-shaped stones that, when touched, made her flesh tingle.
What would Titus do if he were to discover she’d fled with them in the night?Probably not be so nice.However, she couldn’t help but worry about his plan.Something about it felt wrong.
Kept restless by her thoughts, she wandered to the window and peered out.The city spread below illuminated the night, the many windows and even streetlamps keeping the dark at bay.How would the people react if they knew what their emperor planned?She doubted they’d agree to the danger he might be unleashing.At the same time, if they did nothing, what would happen to Daerva, even the world, when Zhos escaped?
A sigh left Avera as she turned and contemplated the nightgown left on the bed.The dress would be challenging to remove, given the buttons down the back.Rather than deal with them quite yet, she chose to flop in a chair with the dragon book in hand.
She leafed through, studying the images, the artistry stunning.She found herself studying closely the depiction of a dragon standing before a woman wearing a tiara similar to the one she’d lost in Daerva.She flipped quickly past the disturbing rendition of a person digging through a dragon’s sliced-open carcass.What an utterly horrifying thing to have to do.The drawing of an egg didn’t interest, seeing as how she’d studied the four in her possession.
As she kept flipping, passing over the pages with words she couldn’t read, she paused and frowned.It appeared some pages were missing, the slice that had removed them so close to the spine as to be almost unnoticeable.What did those pages contain?Had Titus removed them?If yes, then why?What did he not want her to see?If not him, then what knowledge might they be missing?
A thud at her bedroom door drew her attention.Had Prielli returned to help her get ready for bed after all?
As Avera rose and set the book down, the door shuddered as something impacted it.Before she could react, another hard crash slammed it open and a pair of soldiers in the royal uniform rushed in, swords out, expressions blank.Familiar…
It couldn’t be.Zhos surely couldn’t influence this far, but she couldn’t help but recall that the last time she’d seen people with that vacant face, they’d been under its control.
As they rushed for Avera, she darted behind the chair using it to give her some space as her mind whirred.She had no blade to fight with, nothing but her fists.She raced for the bed, the small dresser beside it holding a pitcher of water should she be thirsty at night.She grabbed it and immediately whirled, knocking it against the sword swinging for her.It clanged and the blade missed.Before the soldier brought it back to bear, she’d changed the trajectory of her deadly urn and smashed it against the soldier’s chin.He reeled backwards with a grunt, and in that second of him being off balance, she slapped a hand to his face.
Blink.His eyes cleared and he gaped at her in horror.
She had no time to reassure and instead yelled, “Protect me!”She hoped the spell would remain broken, seeing as she presented her back as she darted past him for his companion.
The other glazed soldier held his sword in a two-handed grip.He slashed and she ducked.When the blade passed over where her head used to be, she stood and clapped her hands against his cheeks.The flesh-to-flesh contact broke the hold on him, and he blubbered, “Oh shit, the emperor will have my head for this.”
“He will if you don’t defend me,” she retorted.“On guard.”
It would seem the pair were just the beginning.More soldiers came through her bedroom door, slack-jawed and glossy-eyed.The men who’d just attacked her took up a protective position in front of her, but they were outnumbered.Avera glanced around.Touch could break the spell, but so could blood.Her blood.If only she had something sharp.The metal urn remained intact, but the drinking glass could break.
It took but a smack of her hand to send it to the floor where it smashed.She grabbed a shard, ignoring the grunts of the men defending her, closed her ears to the cry of pain as one of them was hit.She slashed the sharp glass across her forearm, splitting open her flesh, and held the dripping wound over the urn which held only a smattering of water after all that swinging, but hopefully enough for her plan.As a body hit the floor in front of her, leaving a single defending soldier standing, she realized she had no time left.
Avera popped to her feet with the pitcher and aimed it forward, the bloodied water inside sloshing out to splash the soldiers advancing on her.It didn’t hit as many as she’d have liked, but did slightly drench three out of the seven she counted.
Three less armed men trying to kill her.
“Protect me,” she yelled in the face of their confusion, giving them purpose.
They whirled to meet those still pushing towards Avera, and the noise of battle deafened.Avera dipped to pluck a sword from a fallen soldier.It was heavier than she liked but at least now she could defend herself.She hopped onto the bed, giving herself the advantage of height and just in time.A soldier hacked at her legs.She parried the blow, the familiar movements soothing her frazzled nerves, even as her body protested.It had been a while since she’d done anything so strenuous.
While she fought, she also sought an opening to snap the man out of his fugue state, however, he wouldn’t let her close and when his lunge left him vulnerable, she sliced at his throat.
Only as he dropped, did she realize that they’d won.Of the soldiers that had invaded her bedchamber, only one remained standing, and barely.He had a hand pressed to a wound on his side.He needed immediate care.
At the stomp of boots on the stairs, Avera wanted to scream.How many would Zhos send?She braced herself only to feel the tension in her ease as Titus—wearing an untucked, partially unbuttoned shirt and pants, no boots—rushed in with some soldiers.
“Avera!”He cried out at the sight of her.
“I’m fine,” she huffed, panting from exertion, as she hopped from the bed.
“By a miracle,” he exclaimed, eyeing the bodies.“I don’t know what came over my soldiers.They attacked me in my chambers, but I see I wasn’t their only target.”
“If I were to guess, they were ensorcelled somehow by Zhos.”
“But how?”Titus frowned.
“I assume no one reported seeing a mist?”she asked, remembering how the town at the base of Fraegus Spire had been taken.
