Dragons Against Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice #2)(57)

Tristan’s breaths began to come fast and shallow. He gripped his head in his hands, trying to slow his pounding heart, his breathing. Was there nothing he could do to help them in this moment? Nothing he held power over?

No, now was not the time to fall apart. Adelaide had offered kind words of encouragement to him the prior evening. If he was to one day assume his father’s throne, then a leader he must become today. And strong leaders did not crumble under pressure.

If only they could reach Rosalind before their father and his troops, a bloodbath might be avoided. Haelan had predicted Zayne would fully recover by twilight. If Addie did not worsen and his father neither found them or stormed Weston first, they could well set out this very night and have his family restored by morning. He turned to face his warrior friend once more.

“Quinn—have you continued to track the number of flights taken by my father’s sentries to the west?”

“Aye, my lord. The next group should take wing within the hour.”

“Good.” Tristan stood and cast one last glance at his sister, her skin still far too pale. “Join me outside. We shall watch for the next group to make their pass. For as long as the sentries keep to their schedules, we will know my father’s plans have not changed.”

“And if they do not pass this way?” asked Haelan.

Tristan frowned. “Then we wake Prince Zayne and take wing without allowing him time to fully heal. For our window of time to prevent war will have been shortened. Significantly.”





Chapter 33





Rosalind wove alone through the halls of Giselle’s manor home, eager to rest before their midday meal. And why wouldn’t she be, as she’d been robbed of sleep the night prior? Even so, she refused to complain—what had begun as heartbreak had transformed into elation.

She had found her one true mate and been spared living the rest of her days with a less perfect match.

Though Jaxon was eager to bind and take her as his future queen, she was uncertain as to how his mother might view their hasty decision. After all, Rosalind was the daughter of Giselle’s most despised enemy. But if an arranged marriage had been proposed to keep peace between rival kingdoms Edana and Forath, why couldn’t the same hold true for Forath and the witches of Weston? Surely the bonding of offspring could hold past hatred at bay, could it not?

“Princess.”

Rosalind, now only a dozen paces or so from her guest chambers, froze at the queen’s voice. Slowly she turned and offered Giselle a low curtsey. “Yes, my queen?”

The queen looked vibrant today in a flowing green gown made of fabric so light that it fluttered with each of her movements. And though her skin had taken on a healthy glow, her eyes remained sharp as ever. Rosalind did her best to feign innocence though she stood before Giselle in a dirtied gown, hair yet damp from her earlier interlude in the river with Jaxon.

“Last night—were you able to keep my son distracted during my prolonged absence?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And?”

“And…he questioned me not of your whereabouts, my queen.”

“No, no.” Giselle strode forward, a gleam in her hawklike eyes. “Did you join with him?”

Rosalind blushed at the queen’s directness.

“Excellent.” A smile softened her harsh stare. “I shall ask you both to accompany me for our evening meal, after which we finalize our plans for the attack on Forath.”

Giselle gave Rosalind’s cheek a motherly pat, then turned to go.

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes, child?”

The queen turned back, one brow arched above eyes that had grown dark with caution. Rosalind swallowed hard, then drew in a calming breath. Now was not the time to dissolve into a skittish child. Rather, she should request the queen call off their attack. To spare her father and brother, as she no longer possessed her hatred for them. But then, might it be wrong to profess her plans without Jaxon standing at her side?

“Might I have a clean gown delivered to my chambers before then?” she asked, skirting her original intended response. “Something…scarlet, perhaps?”

“But of course. I shall have Ella find a gown suitable for my future daughter-in-law.”

With one last twitch of her raised brow, the queen turned and strode away, a woman confident in her own home. And one far more cunning than Rosalind had given her credit for before they had met. How Giselle knew of her son’s plans already, Rosalind could not fathom. Only that such knowledge sent a wave of unease through her body.

Unease that the queen might possess far more knowledge about Rosalind’s future than she’d alluded to…and that the queen herself had a hand in the shaping of it.





Chapter 34





Queen Helena slipped past the guard nearest Edana’s stables and into the long, musty building. On silent feet, she hurried through its center and out the rear doors. Keeping to the deepening shadows of twilight, she crept round the building’s northern side and into the nearby woods, where Berinon had instructed she meet him. ’Twas yet another act of disobedience to her husband.

A thrill ran through her as she moved farther from the confines of her stone-walled home, one she felt guilty to experience. Her place was as queen, wife to Robert. Though she understood in this moment why Zayne slipped away from home time and time again.