Page 119 of The Forbidden Dragon King
I groan, clenching my hands into fists. My wings tremble.
Did Aurelius notice that my vision is lowered?
That I am slowly becoming blind because of Maximinus’ iron poisoning? The same poison that he used to create the pandemic, which led to the genocide of the Winter Court?
I bet that Aurelius is too self-important and entitled to have even noticed such details about his newpet.
A fae’s natural senses are better than a dragon’s. I can still manage by my sense of smell, for example, the delicious scents from the meal he brought me.
He signaled his own movements with so much noise that I could have been blind and still known where he was. Fae can move silently, but luckily for me, dragons arelarge and stomp around as if to make sure even the earth on every step knows that they own it.
Blind.
I turn my head, trying to shake away the thought.
How soon will it happen?
Against my will, a tear breaks from my eyelashes and chases down my cheek.
By the Shadow Devils, Aurelius calls meworthlesswith his words, while treating me as precious with his actions.
His uncle, however, is the opposite of him.
In many bloody ways.
“Sweet pet.” Maximinus still doesn’t look up from his paper. His quillscratch,scratch,scratchesacross the parchment. I slump with relief that he has finally acknowledged me, rather than ignoring me as he has from the moment that the guards dragged me here from the dungeons, before forcing me into this punishment position. “Why do you persist in hurting yourself like this?”
I bare my sharp, gleaming canines. “Right now, it feels a lot like it’syouwho is hurtingme.”
Maximinus raises his eyebrow. “You mean the iron that I poisoned you with? You mean likethis?”
He flicks his wrist, and the poison iron in my veins flares higher. It creeps like shadow tendrils up my throat and down the backs of my hands.
I scream.
The iron surges through my bloodstream. I can feel it twisting, sick and wrong, through my body.
A violating invader.
My wings finally drop out of their position, as I writheon the floor, dropping my fevered forehead to the blissfully cool marble.
“Fuck,fuck…” I slam my head against the floor, as if that’ll help drive out the pain; blood drips down my temple and into my eyes.
My vision blurs further.
The world is turned to shadows.
It’s terrifying.
My breathing becomes ragged, and my lungs burn.
Finally, the pain eases back to a background hum again.
Scratch, scratch, scratch,
Maximinus is writing again.
How long have I been lying on the floor like this?
