Page 132 of I Dream of Dragons
RAE
“Let’s talk, then,” the king concedes, as if he hasn’t just been chastised, gesturing at his guards. “You will require help.”
He most definitely will. Phaethon may be powerful, but his vessel—Jai, my Mars—isn’t superhuman. The lashing has left him bleeding and reeling. The worry barely lets me draw breath.
Still, he tries to stand up because Phaethon is an idiot. The result is that he slumps back down to the ground, his knees hitting the pavestones with a crack, hands slamming on the paving stones.
“No!” I struggle to escape Arkin’s grip and reach Jai. “Let me go!”
Arkin holds me back again when I start toward him. “Don’t draw any more attention to yourself,” he whispers. “We’ll follow quietly.”
The guards grab Jai and help him to his feet. It’s no use, though. He can barely stand and they end up dragging him out of the yard.
“Why should I trust you after what your friend did?” I pull away from Arkin, shooting him a glare. “Don’t touch me.”
“What my friend did? Are you talking about Tru? I have no idea what you mean, human lady.”
“Ask him, then, when you get a chance. Where is he anyway? Not shadowing you and Jai like always?”
He doesn’t reply, looking troubled.
Good, let him be troubled. I’m still reeling from the shock of almost dying, my hair still encrusted with salt and my leg burning with sea serpent poison, the stitches pulling.
Feeling Jai getting tortured just about finished me.
The guards carry him away, and the king follows with his own squadron of guards, silent and pensive.
I rush after them, not caring if Arkin follows. Let the king be pensive. Let all of them think and worry and fear. A great anger is rising in me. It’s all wrong. I may not need revenge for Mars after all, but I’m furious on behalf of the world, especially my family, our people, and all that the king has put Mars through.
I’ll make him hurt.
That I promise.
“Are you all right?”Remi asks as I hurry through the palace, after Jai and the guards holding him up.“Last I knew, you were barely conscious, flying toward the palace after falling into the sea, and now you feel like you’re full of sorrow and anger.”
I am. Tell me something to distract me.
“A jester now, am I?”
Please, Remi. Tell me… Tell me, how does Phaethon call you down? This call that you said you felt in the courtyard earlier.
“It’s as if he knows and speaks my name inside my mind. As if he knows and speaks the name of every dragon. Even theGreat Dara fly low when he calls. I’ve never seen them fly so low.”
And you?
“What about me?”
Tell me about yourself.
“You want to know how my day went? I’ve spent inordinate time fighting with seagulls. It has been entertaining.”
No, before… before now.
“Yesterday?”
Don’t poke fun at me! Just answer the question.
A silence greets me and oh Gods, I pushed too hard. I wasn’t nice and polite, and dragons set great stock by courtesy.
