Page 47 of The Last Dragon King
“I’m afraid I have to advise against that, my lord,” a male voice said. I recognized it as the old man with the leather-bound tome from the testing room. He must be a top advisor.
“She is a king killer. A queen of the Eclipse Dragons. She carries the power to completely annihilate you and your entire clan. You must never forget that.”
“I haven’t,” the king growled. “But I have interrogated her and she is blameless. She had no idea of her heritage.”
He stuck up for me! My body was glued to the wall in anticipation of how the conversation would end.
“And yet now that she knows the power she wields, the lands she could lay claim to, what will she do with that information?”
Lands to lay claim to?Did they think I wanted a palace and throne at Cinder Mountain? That was ridiculous.
“It is my advice that you take her out before she does the same to you,” the man said, and I froze in fear.
“Master Augustson!” Dr. Elsie scolded.
King Valdren’s voice was so gritty it could cut glass: “Is that what you advised my grandfather eighteen winters ago? Advice that got him killed and thrust my father into power?”
I wished to peer into the room and see the look on everyone’s faces. I wanted to know for certain if that was how my birth mother’s family died? If Drae’s grandfather killed them, causing my mother to flee to Cinder Village and gave birth to me.
“Joslyn is a fine choice, my lord,” the man concluded, not answering the question.
“I agree. She has more magic than Queen Amelia did. Not much, but slightly more,” Dr. Elsie said.
Silence. The longest stretch of silence I’d ever had to endure.
“Alright, if that is your assessment, I agree. Tell Joslyn I’ve chosen her and start tracking her monthly cycles. We can be married in a moon’s time. I’ll deal with Arwen.” His words simultaneously broke my heart and sent a chill down my spine.
I moved quickly out of the hallway and back toward my rooms.
He’s going to marry Joslyn.
The safe bet.
I should be happy for her, for him, for my sister and all of the dragon-folk who would be saved by the heir they would create, but I was also angry. He didn’t love Joslyn. He wanted a child and was just marrying her out of duty in order to protect her purity and image. I guess she should be grateful he wasn’t just taking her as some mistress whore. For some reason, hearing them speak of Joslyn and I in terms of magical rank really rubbed me wrong.
But could I blame him? His people, all of the dragon-folk, depended on him to have an heir. Would I do the same in his position?Probably. But for a moment it had sounded like he’d wanted to pick me, and that had made me excited. Sure we screamed at each other, and he’d imprisoned me, but… there was something there with him. A deep connection I couldn’t explain, something I never experienced before.
Forgetting my earlier desire to go to the library, I went into my room and curled under the covers of my bed instead. Any minute now someone was going to come tell me I was going home or going to be hung, I was sure of it.
Now I knew what the king had meant when he’d said he’d deal with me. He was thinking on whether he should marry me for my magical dragon womb or kill me because I had the power to kill him.
I’ll deal with Arwen. His words haunted me. What did that mean? He wouldn’t really take the advice of that man, would he?
I threw the covers off of my head and burst to my feet.
He was going to kill me. He wastotallygoing to kill me. Just one more dragon to take out like his grandfather had, and then he’d have no more problems.
I raced across the room, searching the drawers for my hunter’s outfit that my mother and Kendal had made me. I found it in the bottom drawer of the dresser scrubbed mostly clean, with my hunting blade on top.
Thank you,Narine.
I grabbed it, shoving it into an empty shoulder bag, and then tucked the knife into my waistband. Running to the small kitchen off my living room, I threw some dried fruits and cheeses into the bag as well, and filled my canteen. Maybe if I could steal a horse I could make it out of the main gates before they realized I was gone and sounded the alarm.
Slipping out of the door to my living quarters, I hurried down the hall, trying not to look like a fugitive fleeing.
When I passed Annabeth, the lead housemaid, I gave her a wave. “Good day for a stroll,” I said.
She smiled and nodded. “The gardens are beautiful this time of year.”
