Page 128 of The Blade in the Ashes
“I’d suggest you rethink that assertion very, very carefully.”
The blade I had stolen from the blacksmith lingered on the ground by Thea. I thought about bending down to retrieve it, but discarded the idea just as quickly. I didn’t need it. I had more than enough burning hatred in me to tear them apart with nothing more than my talons and teeth. Honestly, I’d rather it remain within her grasp.
Just as I'd prefer to do this with my bare hands.
“I found her first!” The man insisted, still pointing a greedy finger in her direction. “I’ll be the one claiming the prize.”
Dragonfire sparked in my chest, and I swallowed it down as my lips quirked into a dark smile. “You don’t even know who it is that you brutalized, do you?”
His gaze flicked to the tip of my Descendant's Mark visible above the line of my stolen pants. His jaw worked as he took in the shape of it and deduced who I had descended from.
I hoped that Mark made him second-guess his actions. I hoped the knowledge that he was standing before a Dragon of Zion frightened him a little. His fear wouldn't change what was about to happen, though.
His fate had been sealed the second his crimes against her were committed.
His punishment was as inevitable as the setting sun.
“That is Councilwoman Theadora Moore of the Athenian High Council,” I explained, my voice eerily calm despite the emotion that made my fingertips shudder. “An attack against her is punishable by death. A punishment that I, Clayton Vail, Dragon of Athenia, am well within my rights to execute.”
There was a moment of confusion.
A pause when heads tilted, and minds registered the significance of what I had just said.
Then his comrades all stumbled backwards in a rush, eyes flashing with a flicker of doubt and then an undeniable show of apprehension. Still, he only inclined his head at me, eyes narrowing.
“There is no High Council anymore,” the man sneered, his upper lip pulling back over rotten teeth. “Hyrax rules here now.”
I almost laughed. Did he think that would stop me? Did he think that claiming I had no authority would change the fact that he was about to answer for what he did to her?
“Well, in that case,” I leaned back, clasping my hands behind my back. “Then you should know that woman is also the daughter of Hyrax. Underhis rule, she is your Crown Princess and heir to the entirety of the Mortal Realm.”
Even with all the hatred burning inside of me and the beast clawing towards the surface, I couldn’t stop the glow of pride that colored my voice.
I had spent my entire life being known as the Crown Prince. That title was as much a part of my identity as the very name I bore. Since birth, I had been trained to value my crown above anything else. No one and nothing would take it from me.
No one but her.
If she wanted my crown, I would bow before her and hand it over.
So, if these men viewed Hyrax as the ruler of this land, thenshewas their princess and I would happily be her sword.
I turned to her. She remained in that seated position, her gaze focused intently on the man in front of me while she clutched a wrist that bent at an odd angle. That blonde hair that I’d spent months dreaming of hung in tangled, matted-down knots around her forehead. She was bleeding, hurt almost beyond recognition, but she still watched this scene play out with a straight spine.
“What is your order, my love?”
She stared at the man before me, her features twisting into a scowl filled with a malice I hadn’t seen before on her. I never wanted to see her that obviously traumatized again.
“Kill them.” Her voice was broken and too quiet. “All of them.”
Her wish was my command.
In another life, I would have wanted to drag out their deaths. I would have wanted to make them suffer an hour for every second they had caused her pain, but Thea needed me more than I needed to work through the rage of my inner beast.
So, their punishment was swift and uncompromising.
With a single burst of dragonfire that easily sparked to life in my chest, it was finished.
Thea watched it all, her eyes hard and unyielding, and when it was done, her chin lifted. I watched her throat bob as she swallowed and released a small shudder.
