Page 60 of Fire and Fate
"Kaia, daughter of Isolde, and Solace of Valoria, kneel before your queens."
Solace and I sink to our knees, our hands finding each other automatically. I'm trembling slightly, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what's happening. Solace squeezes my hand, grounding me.
Zara steps forward first, her voice resonating with power as she speaks. "By the ancient laws of our kind, by the magic that flows through dragon blood and binds us to one another, I declare this union blessed and sanctified."
The air around us begins to shimmer, visible threads of magic appearing. Golden light emanates from me, meeting the black and green that swirls from Zara. The threads intertwine, weaving together in patterns that feel both ancient and new.
Alessia speaks next, her voice carrying equal weight. "May your bond be strong as stone, may your passion burn eternal as dragonfire, may your love endure through all the ages to come."
Orange and red magic joins the pattern, Alessia's power adding another layer to the weaving. Then blue threads appear from Solace, her magic responding to the ceremony despite her being Beta rather than Alpha or Omega. The four colors dance together, creating something breathtakingly beautiful.
I can feel the magic sinking into my skin, into my bones, into my very soul. It's warm and comforting and right, binding me to these three people in ways that go far deeper than any physical connection. This is soul magic, the kind that transcends individual existence and creates something entirely new from four separate beings.
"Rise now as mates," Zara and Alessia say together, their voices harmonizing perfectly. "Joined in body and spirit, bound by choice and sealed by magic."
Solace and I stand together, still holding hands. The moment we're on our feet, Zara pulls me into a deep, claiming kiss that steals my breath. When she releases me, Alessia takes her place, her kiss equally intense. Then Solace kisses me before moving to kiss each of our queens in turn.
The magic swirls around all four of us now, the threads becoming so complex and intertwined that I can't tell where one ends and another begins. We're connected, truly and completely, in a way that can never be undone.
Zara lifts me into her arms suddenly, cradling me against her chest. "Now we go to the courtyard," she says, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "Where we will complete the physical bond that this magical ritual has begun."
The crowd erupts in cheers and applause, following us as Zara carries me through the corridors toward the courtyard.Alessia walks beside us with Solace, their hands linked, all of us processing toward what comes next.
"Long live our queens!"
King Frederik
"This is a horrible idea, Your Majesty," Cornelius says from beside me, his weathered face drawn with concern. "We should turn back before it's too late. The Shadowlands are dangerous enough, but marching into dragon territory with this small force is suicide."
"No," I snap, my hand tightening on the reins of my horse. "There have been reports that Solace entered the Shadowlands in search of the dragons. That traitor went looking for them, and if she can make it through, so can we. It's time I do something instead of sitting in my castle waiting for others to fail. We march through that passageway and take back what is ours. I am due my riches. I've waited long enough."
My cousin Margot rides up on my other side, her expression carefully neutral but I can see the doubt in her eyes. "Frederik, perhaps we should reconsider the timing. The warriors who've returned speak of impossible defenses, of magic that makes approach nearly suicidal. And you've gathered this force so hastily, without proper preparation or planning."
"Preparation?" I laugh, the sound bitter and sharp. "I've been preparing for this for decades, Margot. Every warrior I've sent, every expedition I've funded, it's all been preparation. And now I have intelligence that there's a way through, that Solace found passage. If a Beta can manage it, surely I can with trained warriors at my back."
I gathered up these people just hours after announcing we'd hold a ceremony for Kaia a week from then. The ceremony was supposed to be a somber affair, a chance for the kingdom to mourn the lost princess before moving forward with new leadership. But I'm not going to wait around for someone else to bring me my riches, not after that last warrior stumbled back through the gates yesterday saying it was a hopeless journey.
Hopeless. The word echoes in my mind with mocking clarity. Nothing is hopeless if you want it badly enough, if you're willing to take what you're owed by force if necessary.
The warrior who returned, a young Alpha named Silas who'd been so confident when he left, came back burned and broken. His armor was scorched, his skin blistered in places where dragon fire had caught him. He'd babbled about flying beasts and magic that turned the very air to flame, about defenses that no mortal force could breach.
But he also mentioned something else before the healers took him away. He said he saw Solace, alive and well, being escorted into a massive white castle by dragon guards. He said she looked unharmed, comfortable even, like she belonged there. Like she'd been welcomed rather than captured.
That's when I knew. That Beta always was too ambitious for her own good, too attached to my daughter and after taking her life, she ran. She saw an opportunity and took it, damn the consequences for everyone else.
So I called together every able warrior I could find, promised them wealth and glory beyond measure, and we set out within hours. Margot protested, Cornelius tried to reason with me, but I wouldn't hear it. This ends now. I will get my riches, I will reclaim my daughter’s body and her spirit, and I will strike down that traitorous Beta for her crimes.
Now we're at the edge of Embrath, a place I haven't been for nearly four decades. The last time I stood here, I had Isolde with me. She was newly captured, bound with iron chains that burned her dragon skin, weakened by magic-suppressing cuffs I'd acquired from a dark mage who promised they'd keep her compliant.
I remember the fear in her eyes when she realized where I'd brought her, what I was showing her. Her home, visible in the distance but impossible to reach. I told her then that if she tried to escape, if she tried to return to her people, I would burn every village in Valoria until she surrendered. That her freedom wasn't worth the lives of innocent wolves.
She never tried to run after that. She stayed, played the role of dutiful queen, gave me a daughter. But she never stopped hating me. I could see it in her eyes every time she looked at me, that barely concealed loathing mixed with resignation.
Good riddance when she finally died. Though I'll admit, I'd hoped to get more use out of her first. More children, preferably sons. Access to her dragon magic that she kept locked away no matter how I threatened or cajoled. Some indication of where her people kept their wealth so I could claim what was rightfully mine through marriage.
But she gave me nothing except one disappointing daughter who couldn't even shift properly.
"Your Majesty," Helena speaks up from further back in the column. "The scouts report that the passage ahead is clear but there's strange magic in the air. They recommend we proceed with extreme caution."
