Page 66 of Bride of the Black Dragon
I creep away from the fireplace, finally making it back to the wall. If I can just hide behind the tapestry, I’ll be all right. I slide behind the heavy fold of fabric, trying not to sneeze from the dust.
I’m almost there. I curse myself for not taking the heavy iron key with me, but I know if the Queen had caught me with it I would have lost a hand—or worse. Maybe I can just stay here in the secret passage until she leaves again and then go get it. But first, I have to get to safety.
Slowly, carefully, I begin to edge toward the secret panel. If I can just?—
My heel scuffs the stone—the tiniest sound. A whisper…a breath.
“What was that?” Dorian’s voice slices the air.
Before I can move, the tapestry is ripped aside and I’m caught in a spill of firelight, blinking up at them like a cornered rabbit.
“You,” the Queen says, eyes narrowing to slits. “Of course.”
She doesn’t even look surprised. Just…annoyed. Like I’m a bit of mud on the hem of her gown.
Dorian grabs me roughly by the arm and hauls me into the center of the room.
“You filthy little thief,” he snarls, his hand tightening painfully. “What were you trying to steal, hmm? Something pretty to hawk at market before you ran away? Or were you looking for the key to your precious monster’s collar?”
I say nothing. My heart is racing, my mouth dry. I can feel the Queen’s gaze stripping me bare.
Dorian shoves me against the edge of the Queen’s vast marble vanity, hard enough to bruise me, and begins to paw at me with rough hands.
“Stop it!” I twist away, but he’s stronger and furious. His hands are everywhere—grabbing, probing, forcing their way down my bodice like he thinks I’ve hidden an expensive necklace or a priceless brooch between my breasts. His fingers pinch and bruise as he yanks at my gown, tearing the delicate lace.
“She’s got nothing,” he snarls finally, disgusted. He wipes his hands on his trousers, as though touching me has made them dirty. “But I’d wager she was going to.” His lip curls. “The nasty little thing was doubtless hoping to steal something from your jewelry box, Mother. Sell it and run off to be with her beast.”
My skin crawls. I want to slap him—to scream at him. But I know if I fight, this will only go worse for me. Still, I must speak up for myself.
“I wasn’t trying to steal anything!” At least, I wasn’t trying to steal any jewelry, which was what Dorian accused me of.
The Queen watches, unbothered. Her hands are folded over one another, the many rings on her long fingers glinting in the firelight.
“Well?” she says finally, voice like poisoned honey. “Speak, girl. If you weren’t trying to steal from me, what exactly were you doing skulking around my chambers?”
I swallow, my throat thick with bile and humiliation.
“I…” I lick my lips. “I came to speak to Your Majesty.”
Her eyebrow arches.
“Speak to me? Uninvited?” she demands, her lip curling.
“I didn’t think you’d grant me an audience,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “So I— I had to try.”
“Try what?” she snaps, her patience clearly wearing thin.
I take a deep breath and look her in the eye.
“To ask you to let me see Xaren. Please—I know he’s in the dungeon, and I know you’ve collared him. But I can feel—feel—that he’s wasting away. Locking up his Drake…it’s killing him. You’ll lose him if this goes on much longer.”
She lets out a harsh laugh.
“Don’t be melodramatic. If he dies, he dies. That’s his choice.”
“But it’s not just him,” I insist. “His Drake—it’s a part of him. Like his soul. If you keep them separated too long, they’ll both die. Is that what you want? The only living heir with a Drake big enough to protect the Kingdom, dead by your own command?”
She opens her mouth, clearly ready to scold me again—but I cut her off before I lose my nerve.
