Page 11 of The Last Dragon King
“We’ve got one more!” Regina called over the murmuring voices.
I’d never seen the great hall so packed full of people. The child-bearing women of our village were here with their families, some of them even with their husbands. I didn’t think the king’s notice included married women. That was awful. What was the chosen queen supposed to do, leave her husband and family to have a second life in Jade City?
Did this man have no morals? He must need an heir badly to be assessing the magic of married women.
The people in the room parted and I made my way up the crowded aisle, feeling like every pair of eyes were on me.
Why did this need to be a public affair? I was nervous enough as it was without the entire town looking at me.
When the throng of people had finally thinned enough to give me a good view of the commotion, I gasped at the sight of the sniffers.
There were two of them, females with bright red hair, and skin so fair I could see the network of blue veins in their cheeks and neck. Twins, I realized, as I scanned their faces. Identical. They each wore a thick black leather eye mask that tied behind their heads and covered their blindness. The tips of their fae ears poked out of their hair, and they cocked their heads to the side in unison as I approached.
Kendal stood proudly behind them as the rest of the girls, rejects I suspected, hugged the walls and watched.
“Bring her to me,” one of the twins said, and I gulped. Many,many, rumors surrounded the sniffers. One was that they were born blind, which enhanced their sense of smell. Another was that they weren’t blind at all but that their mothers bound their sight with masks to force a magical smell enhancement.
Now that I saw the black leather masks, I wondered if the latter was true and what it would be like not so see anything your entire life by choice.
Regina nudged my back slightly and I steeled myself, looking back at my mother for one last glance.
I expected to see terror, but instead there was determination and the glint of steel in her hand.
Oh Hades.
FOUR
My gaze narrowed in on the glint of steel in my mother’s hand. She had pulled my hunting knife from my pack! My eyes widened, my mouth going slack, but then I quickly fixed my face so that Regina wouldn’t see.
What the Maker was Mother intending to do with that? Stab the sniffers? My mom hadn’t killed a thing a day in her life, never even swatted a fly. This whole situation had turned her mad.
I stumbled forward, and without seeing me the sniffer reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder.
My heart pounded so hard in my chest I could feel it in my ears.
Another hand landed on my other shoulder, and I looked up to see the second sniffer.
As if they were one being, they both inhaled at the same time, tipping their heads back as if to devour my scent.
I flinched, feeling like my entire soul lay bare in that moment. Something, some magic caressed me then, slithering over my skin and worming into my chest. My breathing became ragged and they both smiled at the same time.
“Sandalwood,” the one on the left said.
“Neem,” said the one on the right.
“Blood,” they both said together.
“And awholelotof magic,” the one on the left said with nostrils flared.
Hades.
“Enough to bear the king a child?” Regina’s hopeful voice came from behind me, and I steeled myself.
They both shrugged at the same time. “More than this girl.” They flicked their head to Kendal and spoke in unison as if sharing one mind. “But not as much as the girl from Grim Hollow.”
I sagged in relief. There was a girl in Grim Hollow with more magic than both Kendal and I.Thank the Maker.
“Well, bring them both anyway,” Regina told them and I went rigid under their grip. “They’ll need to be properly tested, and in the end it’s the king’s decision who he chooses.”
