Aspen (The Dragon Kings #2)(49)

After several feet, she touched down, and Helios landed next to her.

This is where I leave you. I don’t expect we’ll see each other again. If you survive, tell Rowan that I cared for him a great deal.

“Don’t be like that. We’re all going to survive.”

You have a great deal of courage and faith. I hope you’re right.

Skye nudged Aspen with her great head and then flew back out of the cave.

Come on, girl, let’s go save Obsidian.

Aspen crawled onto Helios’s back, and he flew down the rest of the ruby-studded tunnel and into a huge crater. At the bottom sat Obsidian, surrounded by several dragons of varying color and size. Helios touched down behind him. Aspen scrambled off his back, and immediately several gold and silver dragons surrounded them. They descended on Helios and wouldn’t let him pass, separating them from Obsidian and the council. Fear. A word that had no place in Aspen’s vocabulary. It crept up on her when she least expected it, and now she found herself afraid. If Helios couldn’t get to Obsidian, they would all die.

Runa nudged Aspen’s knee and took flight. “Grab my feet.”

Aspen didn’t hesitate. She held tight to Runa’s feet and was lifted out of the middle of the circle of dragons that surrounded them. To her surprise, none of the gold and silver dragons tried to stop them, instead the moved in tighter around Helios.

Runa set her down next to Obsidian, then landed and kept her body close to Aspen.

Aspen knew that her life was about to end, but her fear ran deeper for the dragons sitting next to her, who would also be killed. Because of her. Never before had her dangerous adventures threatened others.

She put her hand on Obsidian’s side and felt the fire within. His heart raced.

Obsidian talk to me.

A voice answered, but it was not Obsidian. He can’t talk to you, foolish girl. We’ve forbidden it.

Aspen smiled because six weeks ago, had she found herself surrounded by eight dragons, she would’ve been ecstatic and enamored. It said a lot for Obsidian to hold such sway over her that she’d hardly noticed them.

The circular cavern was wide and deep. Nine pots encircled the room, all lit by different colored flames. All except one, which sat at the front of the room, unlit and alone.

In front of each flame sat a dragon of the same color. Bright blue and orange. Brilliant red and lemon yellow. Violet and green, silver, brown, and snow white. They varied in size as well. Of course the smallest was the tiny underground dragon. The white dragon was taller than Aspen’s house.

The little yellow dragon cocked his head at Aspen, and then he spoke. “You must be Aspen. We were just talking about you.”

“Yes,” she replied.

“You’ll have to forgive Obsidian’s rudeness at the moment. We have forbidden him to speak. Although, I’m sure if he could, he would have a lot to say. He was adamantly against going to get you. How fortunate we are that you came to us. You couldn’t have known, of course, why we were coming for you. Why are you here?” His voice squeaked.

“I’ve come to ask you not to kill Obsidian.” Aspen knew what they were going to say, and she prepared herself to argue, and tried to muster up her courage to make another bold request.

The dragons shifted around her, probably talking to one another. Their heads would lean this way and that. Every once in a while, a puff of colored smoke would escape from their nostrils. After what seemed like an hour, but was more like ten minutes, the yellow dragon spoke again.

“Do you understand the magnitude of Obsidian’s crimes?”

“You mean falling in love with me or trying to save his own life, because I see no crime in those things.”

The little dragon crawled closer to her. “You are brave, aren’t you? Yes, you are right. He has put us in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, he has created a situation where he cannot have a queen. He also tried to displace us as a council by creating his own.”

“Why can he not have a queen?”

“Because he’s sealed himself to you, my dear.”

Aspen tried to stand a little taller as she made her next request. “So make me the dragon queen. I know she has to be human.”

Aspen felt Obsidian shake next to her. The air in the pit was suddenly warmer. Wings opened and closed. Feet stomped on the floor.

“That is a very bold request, Aspen. But we dismissed you as a possible candidate weeks ago. Pearl presented your name to the council when Obsidian first developed feelings for you.”

Aspen crossed her arms. “Why was I dismissed?” Her pulse quickened, and she narrowed her eyes at them.

“You are too young for one thing. Add to that, as we searched your ancestry, we found no leadership in your bloodline, and the women in your family have weak seed.”

“Excuse me. My mother had three children.”

“With a lot of help. She had several miscarriages, and with both of her successful pregnancies she was on bed rest for most of it.”

Aspen had no idea. How the hell did they know all this? She’d have to ask her mother about that when they got out of this mess.

“I don’t see what my family history has to do with my ability to be a good candidate. I want this. I want to be your queen.”

“Do you realize what being a queen entails?”

“No, but I’m sure I can handle it.”