The Shadow Queen (13 page)

“The cost was too much for others to bear too,” Lorelai whispered.

“Who is telling this story?” Gabril demanded.

“You.”

“That’s right. Now, as I was saying, the wicked queen was terrified of the princess’s strength, and she did everything she could to break the princess’s will, but the princess refused to be broken. She stood up to the queen, revealed her for what she really was, and escaped the castle—”

“Because you helped her.”

“Interrupt me one more time, and you will have both cooking
and
cleanup duty for a month.”

Lorelai pressed her lips closed.

“The princess could’ve let her grief turn into bitterness, but she turned it into kindness instead. She could’ve let her terror turn into paralysis, but she used it to fuel her courage. She learned how to climb walls, how to fall without being injured,
how to disguise herself, how to sprint through the forest without leaving a sign—she learned how to survive, but she never allowed her own survival to mean more to her than the survival of others.”

His voice grew husky. “She’d been trained to flee at the first sign of trouble, but instead, she stayed. She fought an entire group of soldiers because she didn’t look at her odds of winning, she looked at her reasons for fighting. She trekked through the forest to Nordenberg with her brother even though the entire northern army was looking for her because she didn’t look at the reasons not to risk the trip. She looked at her reasons for going.”

Lorelai flinched at the mention of Nordenberg.

“And when the princess realized that she and her brother were in terrible danger, she didn’t freeze. She didn’t surrender. She fought to save her him, leaving herself open to attack.”

Lorelai’s pulse pounded, and her palms burned as the wound where the vine had sunk its teeth into her chest throbbed faintly.

“And when tragedy struck once again, the princess didn’t wallow in it. Didn’t let it break her. No, she came back to her mentor, saw that he was about to die, and”—his voice broke, and he cleared his throat—“she disobeyed his most important rule, knowing it might bring the wicked queen straight to her to finish what she’d tried to do nine years ago. The princess healed her mentor, at great cost to herself, because she didn’t look at her odds of survival. She looked at
his
.”

Slowly Lorelai looked up to meet Gabril’s gaze.

“Now you tell me, Lorelai Rosalinde Tatiyana Diederich, does that sound like a courageous warrior to you?”

She couldn’t speak.

He took her hand again as they neared the top of the steep rise. “Thank you for saving my life, Lorelai.”

“You’re welcome.” Her voice was small. The spot beside her that Leo would’ve filled with joking about what costumes they’d wear as they took the fight to Irina or with congratulating himself on surviving the seriousness of Gabril and Lorelai was achingly silent.

Gabril’s voice was strong and sure. “I believe in you, and I’ve fought for you, because in a world full of people who crumble before an evil too terrifying to comprehend, you put up your fists and fight.”

Before she could reply, a strange sound shook the forest—a steady thump-thump that reverberated from the air above and caused the trees to shiver. A shadow blocked the sun, and Lorelai looked up to see Irina’s red and gold dragon—longer than a horse-drawn carriage and twice as tall—fly over the top of the hill and plunge straight toward her.

“D
OWN
!” L
ORELAI SHOVED
Gabril to the right and took off running in the opposite direction. “Chase me. Come on, chase
me
,” she whispered as she dove between two thick-trunked pines and sprinted down the hill. Her heart thundered in her ears and a vise squeezed her chest as visions of Gabril being consumed by dragon’s fire or crushed between the creature’s monstrous jaws filled her mind.

Branches exploded into the air, and a tree crashed to the ground and tumbled past her to disintegrate into chunks of debris at the bottom of the hill.

She risked a glance over her shoulder as she tossed her travel pack to the ground and leaped between another pair of trees.

The dragon had flown past Gabril, who was struggling to his feet, his face a mask of terrified fury. The beast was heading straight for her, its enormous wings shattering treetops as it came.

“Run, Lorelai!” Gabril yelled.

She
was
running—flat out sprinting faster than she’d ever gone—and the dragon was closing the gap between them like it was nothing.

Hurtling over a boulder, she dove beneath a low branch and whipped toward the left as the crackle of dragon’s fire exploded into the tree behind her and sent it plunging for the bottom on the hill.

She couldn’t outrun a dragon. Couldn’t climb trees and leap through the forest when the dragon could just light her on fire the second she was in range.

There was only one way out of this, and the power was already flooding her veins.

She skidded down the rest of the hill, her pulse beating a frantic tempo against her skin as the dragon roared and fire strafed the ground behind her. The heat licked at her skin, and she rolled forward, coming to her feet at the bottom of the hill where she was surrounded by smoking chunks of the trees the dragon had destroyed.

She wasn’t going to die here—incinerated by Irina’s pet dragon while the queen stayed safe and sound in her castle, content in the knowledge that she’d destroyed the last of the Diederichs.

Kill overgrown lizard. Eat the eyes, tear out the heart.
Sasha’s thoughts, vibrating with rage, broke past the thunder of Lorelai’s heartbeat and sent a shaft of panic down the princess’s spine as the gyrfalcon, returning from her morning hunt, streaked through the air, heading straight for the dragon.

No!
Lorelai tore off her gloves as the dragon reached the bottom of the hill, the wind from its wings slamming into Lorelai
until it was hard to keep her footing.
Don’t attack. Don’t come closer. He’ll kill you.

Kill it first.
Sasha shrieked and dove for the dragon.

No!
Lorelai screamed, but Sasha ignored her.

Her bird was going to die, and then she was going to die unless she changed her odds. Lorelai locked eyes with the dragon, magic burning like lightning in her palms, and sprinted straight for the beast.

The dragon’s eyes became slits as Sasha slammed into its head, and it shook her off as easily as a horse dislodges a fly.

Smoke poured from the beast’s nostrils as Lorelai closed the distance between them, and it opened its mouth.

Fear tore at her, threatening to turn her thoughts into a whirlwind of panic, but she was acting on instinct now. She twisted to the side, kicked off the ground, slammed her feet against the closest tree trunk, and launched herself into the air. Arcing, she flipped and landed on the dragon’s back, just behind its head.

Sasha flew at the creature’s face, aiming for its eyes, and narrowly missed getting incinerated. Heat from the fire that poured out of the dragon’s mouth warmed the scales beneath Lorelai, and she grabbed its neck with her bare hands, her mind frantically scrambling for an incantor that would force the dragon’s heart to obey hers instead of Irina’s.

The dragon’s skin shuddered, a ripple that nearly dislodged Lorelai.

Sasha banked hard and shrieked as she came for the beast.

Something crashed behind Lorelai, and she glanced back to find two additional dragons smashing through the trees—a
silver and black dragon that was slightly smaller than the one Lorelai clung to and an enormous all-black dragon whose wingspan was wider than a peasant’s cottage.

Sobbing a desperate prayer that she could somehow figure out how to defeat three dragons at once, Lorelai dug her fingers into the scales on the dragon’s neck, an incantor on the tip of her tongue.

Except she wasn’t gripping scales.

She was gripping skin that was rapidly softening into something human.

The dragon dropped to the ground, sending Lorelai tumbling. Its ridges and wings receded, and its bones made an awful grinding sound as its body shrank.

Sasha slammed into the dragon-turning-human and knocked him to his side. The silver dragon roared and lunged toward the bird, but then a boy with wild red-brown hair picked himself up off the ground and held up his hand, palm out.

The other dragons slowly settled onto the ground, their eyes watchful.

Sasha settled onto a branch and watched them as if waiting for one of them to make a wrong move.

The boy turned to face Lorelai, wearing nothing but a strange collar of thistle and bone. The breath left her body as the sun glinted against his wild hair. His amber eyes locked on hers, and the empty space carved into her by Leo’s death filled with fury as she stared at the Eldrian king she’d rescued from the mob in Tranke.

“You!” She spat the word at him as she raised hands that shook with anger, power sparking in her palms and begging for
an incantor that would send her magic into the boy and kill him where he stood.

“
You’re
the princess?” He sounded shocked and horrified.

Every part of her trembled, and there was a buzzing in her ears that made everything but the need to hurt him seem inconsequential. She stalked toward him, her eyes locked on his. “I should’ve let the villagers kill you. Or let you break the treaty by shifting into your dragon so that Irina would have nothing to do with you.”

“I didn’t know when I agreed to hunt down the lost princess that it was you.” He held his hands up in a placating gesture as if somehow his words would make amends for anything.

“You were with Irina in Nordenberg.” Magic burned against her skin, and incantors designed to punish and destroy balanced on the tip of her tongue, desperate for release. “You were hunting us there.”

“I didn’t know who I was hunting—”

“Leo died there!” Her hands slammed into his chest and sent him to his knees. “My brother is dead, and you were there helping Irina to kill him.”

The black dragon roared, smoke pouring from its nostrils, but Kol held up a hand to stay it. His eyes were stricken as he stared up at her.

Lorelai leaned down. “Oh, you’re going to want his help. Not that he can save you from me. You owe me your life, remember? And now you owe me for Leo’s, even though it was Irina’s spell that killed him. What do you think my brother’s life is worth, Kol? Is it worth the life of a king who would enslave himself to a monster and kill the innocent?”

“I’m so sorry.” He breathed the words, every syllable full of pain and regret.

Lorelai’s heart pounded, and magic seared her veins with the power to make him truly sorry. To make him pay for his part in Leo’s death.

Behind him, the black dragon began shifting to his human form, but Lorelai ignored him. Let him plead for the life of his miserable king. Let him threaten to kill her for laying a hand on Kol. Lorelai didn’t care. The terrible pain that had filled her when Leo died had found a purpose in hurting the king of Eldr. It would be justice, and Leo deserved that.

No one is going to give you what you want, Lorelai. You have to take it for yourself. Use your power and take it. Take
it!

Irina’s voice, quiet as a breeze but hard as iron, filled Lorelai’s memory as she flexed her fingers and held Kol’s gaze. Beneath her anger, beneath the awful need to make him pay for Leo, a voice whispered that she was on a precipice. If she took the leap—if she used her magic to take the life of a boy simply because her pain begged her to without first making sure that it was justice, how could she look Irina in the eye and say that the queen was wrong for doing the same thing?

“Nothing I say can make up for the loss of your brother,” Kol said with quiet sincerity. The grief in his voice matched the pain that lived inside Lorelai. “Or make up for the fact that I was trying to kill the girl who saved my life.”

“No, nothing will ever make up for losing Leo,” she said, and though anger still shook her, she slowly curled her hands into fists, ignoring the burn of her magic. “My first mistake was to rescue you. My second was to believe that you had honor.”

“I didn’t mean to violate the debt I owe you. As soon as I recognized your bird, I put my human heart back in control and shifted. I don’t want to be a killer.” There was desperation behind his words. “I don’t expect you to believe me after all that’s happened, and I have no right to ask you for mercy—”

“No you don’t.”

“I don’t ask mercy for myself. Only for Eldr.” His amber eyes held hers as the black dragon finished shifting and became the enormous boy—Trugg, if Lorelai remembered correctly—who instantly started running toward them. “You’re a
mardushka
, like Irina. You could save Eldr. You’re a good person—you wouldn’t have helped us in Tranke if you weren’t. Please, do what you want with me, but say that you’ll save my people now that Irina won’t.”

She frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t hurt him.” Trugg threw himself between Lorelai and Kol, his arms held wide to block her from being able to touch his king.

“He tried to kill me.” She glared at Trugg. “And he is part of the reason my brother died.”

“He had no choice. Not really. Irina twisted her words—”

“I can speak for myself, Trugg.” Kol put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and then slowly climbed to his feet, his eyes still on Lorelai. Still full of regret. “But if it’s okay with the princess, I’d really like to put on some pants before we have this conversation.”

For the first time, Lorelai realized that she was facing two boys who didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. Her cheeks warmed. “Yes, please put some pants on.”

Kol turned toward a bag that was still strapped to the back of the silver dragon, but Trugg stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, staring her down as if convinced she would hurt his king the second Trugg turned his back.

“Pants.” She flapped her hands at him.

“I’m good.”

She glared. “I’m not.”

“Trugg, get dressed. We need the princess’s mercy, not her wrath.” Kol returned with clothes for his friend while the silver dragon began to shift into the girl with the short dark hair and narrow green eyes.

Lorelai took a step back and looked at Sasha, still perched on a branch, her thoughts a steady litany of death threats toward every Eldrian in the clearing. Just behind the Eldrian girl, Gabril limped toward them, his sword out, his expression the kind of icy calm that meant someone was about to die.

“Why are we worried about her wrath? We can shift and kill her if she becomes a threat,” the girl said.

“If she
becomes
a threat?” Gabril reached the bottom of the hill. “Do you have any idea whom you attacked? There isn’t a single moment that she isn’t a threat. The only thing keeping her from bringing this entire mountain down on your miserable heads is her commitment to becoming a just queen.”

Trugg and Jyn bristled, but Kol inclined his head toward Gabril. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to explain my actions.”

Gabril gave Kol a long, cold stare. “You’d better pray she accepts your explanation. Dragon or no, I will kill you for putting my princess in danger.”

“Understood— Hey!” Kol whipped his arms above his head
as Sasha swooped low and yanked at his hair with her talons.

Let him speak, Sasha. I want to hear what he has to say,
Lorelai sent, and Sasha reluctantly left Kol and perched on the princess’s shoulder instead, her black eyes locked on the king.

“Thank you,” Kol said to Lorelai.

“I don’t want your thanks. All I want is an explanation for why you tried to kill me and why you’ve asked for my mercy for Eldr.”

He straightened and met her eyes. “Eldr is overrun with ogres—ogres that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The dark enchantress who has ensnared the kingdom south of ours let them out of the mountain where they were imprisoned, but it also changed them. They’re huge, bigger than our biggest dragon, and nothing we do stops them. Their skin is impervious to fire, to boulders, and to blades. My army was simply slowing them down, not stopping them. Even our best warriors—like Trugg, who is a
beast
in the sky—”

“Ladies.” Trugg raised his brows and gave Lorelai and Jyn a little smirk.

“This is not the time,” Lorelai said as Jyn muttered, “You’re a pig.”

Kol took a step toward Lorelai, and she raised her hands.

“So your kingdom is in trouble,” she said. “That doesn’t explain why you got in bed with the devil.”

He flinched, but held her gaze. “Here’s the truth.” He swallowed hard, and closed his eyes for a long moment before finally looking at her again. His voice was quiet as he said, “I was never supposed to rule. My father was a strong, fair ruler, and he was training my brother to follow in his footsteps. I wasn’t even a
very good prince. I spent all my time pulling pranks and skipping school. But now . . .”

His voice broke, and he looked at the sky.

“Now I’m all that’s left. Me and my little sister. I’m all Eldr has, and I can’t save my people. I can’t stop the ogres. Every week brings a new flood of refugees from southern Eldr into the capital. Every day brings the ogres closer to the capital as well, and we have nowhere left to run.”

Despite her anger with him, a small thread of compassion entered Lorelai’s heart. She knew what it was like to be desperate. To see the people you were supposed to protect lose everything and to be powerless to stop it.

Kol looked at her again. “I was out of options. I can’t fight magic. So I came to Ravenspire to offer Queen Irina a deal—enough of my kingdom’s treasure to buy food for her people for the next ten years in exchange for using her magic to seal the ogres back into Vallé de Lumé.”