The Last Dragon King (Kings of Avalier #1)(35)
“What happened to the other royal family?” I really, really, didn’t want to know the answer to that question, but I asked it anyway.
She looked at the door, the one that Regina sat on the other side of. “The queen of the Eclipse Dragons went to war with the Dark Night Dragon clan and slaughtered nearly all of them. For what reason, I don’t know.”
I could physically feel the blood draining from my face. “Eclipse Dragon queen?”
She nodded. “The queen of Cinder Mountain. She had a special type of magic. They called her the king killer. She could steal other dragon-folks’ magic and merge it with hers, making her all-powerful.”
My heart must have stopped, because I didn’t feel it anymore. I just felt… numb… and in shock. So very much in shock that I forgot to breathe for a moment.
No. Make it not true. Make it a lie, I prayed.
Narine went on, speaking barely above a whisper. “When the Eclipse Dragon queen tried to kill the Dark Night Dragon king, who at the time was King Valdren’s great-great grandfather, she lost. But it’s said her daughter went into hiding in the cliffs above Gypsy Rock with her husband and that the royal line lived on.”
My heart hammered in my chest. “What are you saying?”
Narine chewed her bottom lip and faced me. “I’m saying, my lady, that I think you are the lost queen of the Eclipse Dragon clan.”
My heart fell into my stomach and I couldn’t speak. How? It wasn’t possible. A queen? That was a joke.
I shook my head and laughed nervously. “A good children’s story surely,” I murmured. “Besides, I only transformed my wings.”
Her eyes cast downward to the floor. “This time,” she mumbled.
What did that mean? That next time I would fully transform? I couldn’t handle this anymore. In an effort to escape the conversation, I slid down and dunked my soapy head underwater.
The memory of the blue wings hanging off my back came to my mind and I considered Narine’s story. It sort of lined up with my mother’s. That the woman who gave birth to me had fled a battle, covered in blood, and said that her entire family had been killed, right? Maybe eighteen winters ago, when I was born, the dragon king at the time had found her in hiding and killed them all. I tried to remember every word my mother had said, but I’d been under stress and the exact wording of the story failed me.
Two things I did remember…
The woman who birthed me had said her family was killed because of a magic they carried.
And she’d said I would be killed if that magic were revealed in me.
I would need air soon, but I didn’t want to leave the water and the safety of its embrace. I lingered another moment, then I broke the top of the water and gasped, relieved to see that Narine had left me to myself. Clean clothes lay folded on the chair in front of the window.
This might be the last bath I ever took. King Valdren did me a small kindness in letting me clean up before my interrogation, but I knew what I was about to walk into. The king could smell a lie, and so this interrogation was going to be a truth bomb of epic proportions that would no doubt get me killed.
I only had one thing he desired, and that was my womb, so I needed to hope like Hades that he really wanted an heir that badly, and promote my child-rearing powers lest my life end today.
It was time to take my mother’s advice and make him fall in love with me. Whether it was possible or not.
When I stepped out of the washroom, Narine looked right at my unbuttoned tunic and a slight smirk graced her lips. I’d left it open just enough to give a hint of my cleavage. I also kept my hair down in loose waves, as I had heard men at the tavern say they liked that once. I wasn’t proud of what I was doing, but I was desperate enough to do it. I needed the king to see me as more than a threat, which was all I was to him now.
A king killer.
Especially after hearing Narine’s story. If that was true, and my great-great grandmother nearly killed off all of his clan, then I was in grave danger.
I waved goodbye to Narine and she gave me an anxious smile of encouragement. Regina stood, her face devoid of all emotion as she gestured for me to walk with her. I needed allies if I was going to save my life, and Regina had been kind to me before.
“Treason for having wings? How is that possible? I didn’t even know I could do that until he put me through that test,” I told her as we left my rooms.
She kept her head forward and said nothing.
“Did he tell you what I did at Gypsy Rock? That I rode on his back and killed a warrior from Nightfall? I protected him!” I yelled.
She stopped, turning to face me, and my heart hammered in my throat.
“I’ve fought beside the king in many battles. He is a just man who does not make irrational decisions. I trust that he has his reasons for your… treatment.” She then resumed walking.
Okay, that wasn’t exactly a declaration of becoming my ally, but I would take it.
It was a long walk to the torture room or whatever place they were taking me. We passed a library, kitchens, two training rooms, and finally made it to a set of double doors.
I released a shaky breath as Regina reached out and knocked.
I turned to her, suddenly desperate. “If he kills me, tell my mother and Adaline that I love them.”
She looked stricken, as if the idea that the king would kill me was preposterous. But I was just imprisoned for the last twenty-four hours and now I was being questioned for treason, so she nodded, and then the door opened.