Page 44 of The Princess of Nothing
I should’ve been shocked they were siphoning power from dragons, but nothing surprised me with those people. He said it took months to weaken them. They were ginormous creatures with impenetrable scales. The inventive torture they’d needed to have used made me shudder, despite the heat. The memory of the poor baby dragon walking behind its mother tugged at my heart. Xenos was no better than us, although he claimed to be. Berovia’s rules about protecting dragons and helping everyone was a cover-up for getting what they wanted.
I had to find out where they kept the dragons. The creatures were rare, a dying breed. To capture not just one, but two, was an improbable task, especially when the firedrake warders protected them on the islands. I doubted they had more than the two I saw, and if they did, they couldn’t have had many. Wherever they were keeping them, it had to be out of the way but close enough so Xenos could keep an eye on them, out of fear of being caught. A prison contained, with magic. I didn’t know this kingdom enough to think of such a place, but I did know one person who did: my fiancé.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Darkness swallowedme as I desperately tried to claw out of my nightmare. Blaise was watching me. The smoky gray in his irises had turned white, and his lips were pale, stretched into an unmoving line. He was empty, hollow. The smell of damp mold hung in the stagnant air. Drips sounded in the background. We were in the dungeons at Lepidus. The crown on his head was wrapped with ivy and moss. He reminded me of a living doll but was somehow alive.
“Blaise,” I pleaded at the resemblance of the boy I had once opened my heart to, no matter how brief. “Show me you’re in there. I’m afraid this is real.”
I knew I was dreaming, but nothing in my life was meaningless. Had he come to me like Cedric had? Was he finding me, or was it a premonition of dark days to come? Morgana had told me time and again I had the power of foresight, but I never believed it.
He opened his mouth. His tongue was inky black, as if he were poisoned, just like his father had been. It was a task he must have done daily, to weaken him and turn him mad, pushing him to take his life. I didn’t want to believe it, but I had guessed all along. How could I judge him? Hadn’t we both taken our parents’ lives?
My stomach ached when I awoke. I sat upright and jolted when Edna brushed the sweaty strands out from my eyes. “You were dreaming,” she said. “Tossing and turning since early morning when I came to check on you.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead. I’d hoped to see Cedric, not a hollow husk of Blaise standing in a room I couldn’t escape. My eyes flitted to the window. “Did I sleep in?”
“No, it’s still early if you wanted to see Kiros. He will be out today.” Her smile brushed her cheeks pink. “He’s doing much better.”
I placed my hands on the sheets, over my lap. For once, I was happy she’d woken me up. “That’s great news.” I looked up at her, bleary-eyed. I didn’t care to ask about his recovery. I should have, but Edna took every opportunity to give me updates as if I were waiting eagerly for news, like a wife should.
I did need to talk to him though. The dragons were being kept somewhere, and if I could find out where, and perhaps help them escape once Cedric got us out of here, it would remove their secret weapon with the added benefit of wreaking havoc on Bluewater.
I breathed in the evocative smell of honey and vanilla. “What’s that?”
“Your bath is ready.”
My shoulders rolled back at the thought of sinking into the steaming water. It was the singular best thing I enjoyed at court. I’d take a bath, then go to see Kiros. If he was being discharged from the infirmary, we could take another walk, get out of the castle. We were days away from the wedding, and I was still no closer to gaining his trust or getting any sort of free rein without a dozen guards always watching me.
Doubts had begun to sneak into the corners of my mind too. What if Cedric wasn’t coming? Something may have held them up. He hadn’t visited my dreams the last few nights. Once I had begun thinking about everything that could go wrong, including Cedric’s safety, my belly hurt. “Perhaps I’ll skip breakfast,” I told Edna before hurrying to the bath. My hands were shaking. My faith unraveled as I took off my robe and stepped into the water. The smell was intoxicating, yet nothing calmed the questions hammering in my skull. My thoughts treaded every eventuality. By the end of my bath, I’d concluded Cedric wasn’t coming, and if he did, we’d die in the fight to get me out. I rubbed my eyes and stepped out and into fresh, fluffy towels. I was going to become either the queen of a kingdom I couldn’t rule, and the wife of a man I hated, or a body buried in an unmarked grave, forgotten as the princess who never made it home.
***
Itrembled away thememory of Blaise in my dreams and instead focused on the hallway ahead. Diamond patterns ran down the center of the marble floor, curling around into smaller passageways that led to the different wings. Some were empty, others bustling. I dipped down an empty one. The sounds of my clicking heels echoed. Light poured in through the windows, which came to a point near the high ceiling. Sandstone pillars shaded the view of a fountain with a naked lady in the center of the courtyard outside. The royals’ private gardens. I pulled my gaze from the window to where the hallway split. I hurried up the steps until I reached the infirmary and stepped inside. I inhaled deeply but held my breath for a moment before seeing Kiros’s bright smile.
“Winter.”
