Page 30 of A Touch of Iron
I fisted my other hand at my side and glanced at the guard before turning my attention back to Violet’s irate face. “At least let me warn you,” I mumbled. “The Seelie Queen will be here tomorrow. She wants to witness the duel. I can tell you with absolute certainty that she doesn’t have good intentions. If … if you win the duel, I don’t know what she’ll do.”
She scoffed and raised a questioning brow. “So you’re telling me to lose on purpose?”
“No!” I nearly shouted. “All I’m telling you is to be alert. It’s not just the King watching you and searching for weaknesses, but the Queen as well. And they both have separate agendas that don’t benefit you in any way.”
14
VIOLET
After Ansel’s five minutes were up, I slammed the door in his face. Just looking at him infuriated me and made me want to torch things.
“It’s not his fault, Vi,” my mother offered quietly as I stalked back over to where she sat on the edge of the bed. “He and I came up with this plan together to fool the King into thinking he had leverage over you. Ansel kept me safe the whole time. I’m just as much at fault as he is. If you’re mad at him, you have to be mad at me, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not mad at you, Ma. I know you’d do anything to help me, but he took advantage of that. You can’t trust any of the fae, whether Seelie or Unseelie.”
My mother stood and walked toward me. “Violet, I know better than most that you can’t trust any of them. But Ansel is different. He cares about you.”
“Alec cares too,” I blurted before I could stop myself.
My mother narrowed her eyes. “Alec? He’s just like Kaz, Vi. Don’t fall for his smooth tricks.”
“You don’t even know him,” I sighed. “If you did, you’d know he’s nothing like Kazimir.”
“I know more than you think.” She opened her mouth to say more but was cut off by a knock at the door.
I walked to the door and opened it to find Rook’s big frame standing there.
“Sorry to bother you, Lady Violet, but you have another guest.” He jabbed his thumb behind him.
I peered around him and saw Jon standing there. He was a fire elemental in the Unseelie Court and one of the people from the tax collecting traveling party who witnessed me going full dragon against the Wraiths. Amazed as he was, he promptly returned to court and blabbed to everyone that I was the dragon reincarnated.
He waved at me sheepishly. “Hello, Lady Violet.”
“It’s okay, Rook, thank you.” I opened the door further and invited Jon to come inside. I closed the door behind him, but he stood just inside the room.
“I heard about the duel,” he said by way of greeting. “The news is all over the court.”
I snorted. “News travels fast around here.”
He nodded. “Everyone is excited … to finally see the dragon in action.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like I can use fire. It’s an air elemental duel. There’s nothing exciting about it, I’m afraid.”
He shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. If you’re able to beat the King in his own element, you have no idea what you’ll start. It could be the beginning of a revolution!” he said excitedly.
“That’s not my intention,” I said solemnly. “I don’t want—”
“When you decided to out yourself as the last dragon, you made the decision to start a rebellion. You can’t back out now,” he said softly. “I don’t mean to force your hand, Lady Violet, but we … we need you.”
He wasn’t wrong. I knew I would incur the King’s wrath if I revealed myself to be the dragon. There was no backing out now.
“And if I lose?” I asked. “I just learned air. I doubt I’m up to par with the King, considering he’s had his whole life to practice and I’ve only had three months.”
Jon nodded. “It’s understandable to feel that way and I don’t think anyone will hold it against you if you lose. But … if you could beat him, it would do a world of good for us.”
I tilted my head and scrutinized his face, searching for a motive. “Why? Why do you want to start a rebellion? Isn’t everyone happy with the way things are?”
“Not everyone,” he argued. “The fae are tired of a two-party system. We want to be united and stop the archaic practice of picking sides. Some of us have families in the other court and we can’t even speak to them.”
