A gentleman of his word, one might say... if he weren’t such a cock hole some days.
The door climbs open on rusted hinges with a cry that I feel deep in my chest. And there stands a willowy figure before me. Her long arms angle severely with frail hands on slender hips. But just behind that old queenly figure is my Roman. I mean, Roman. Regular Roman.
I shake my head at myself but remain leaning against the wall farthest from them. Three feet separate me from them. I wait patiently to hear to what I owe this delightful surprise of having the queen of Hell in my little prison.
“Roman tells me he once met a mage in the upper realm. She was a beast tamer. She advised him that ember dragons like yourself need sunlight to feed their fiery souls.”
An ember dragon. Is that what I am?
The flames that heated my shifter’s body are still fresh and warm in my mind. It’s a fleeting thought, because I’m honestly too focused on whether or not my friend Romey lied to his queen.
“Welllll,” she says on a voice like hot honey.
I arch an eyebrow at her and continue to wait her out.
Well what? What the fuck do you want? Tell me how the game ends!
“Get over here, my pet. We’re going for a walk.”
Oh, I hate her.
I fucking loathe this witchy bitch.
There’s a drifting pause where no one moves. My gaze doesn’t hold hers for long. The tangle of uneasiness in the depths of my stomach draws my attention instantly to Roman. The shadows covering his pretty eyes don’t stop me from feeling his gaze upon my face. He said he’d never leave me down here.
But what did he promise to get me out?
I push off from the wall, and the moment I move, so does she. She strides back the way she must have come, and I walk right up to Roman. There was a time where I would have punched him in his obnoxiously perfect jaw just to see if it’d crack under the pressure of my fist. But now, I come to him, and as soon as I’m near enough... my head drops against his smooth chest. My eyes close, and I take a single second to inhale a shaking breath that holds all my uncertainty and all my anxiety.
And I give it to him.
Then I lift my head, slip past his confused expression, and follow after the queen of Hell.
“I must admit I’m pleased to have found you, Cersia.” Her voice echoes back to me as we pass the dozens of shadowy doors lining the dark walls.
Found.She did find me. She instructed the High Hell of a woman in the upper realm. She led them to me. But was it to kill her predecessor or... to leash one of the rarest creatures in all the realms?
Our feet fall like heavy lead down the long dark corridor. I follow her, Roman follows me, and we’re a chain of captives being led to our deaths.
Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but this queen will have our lives. She’ll use them as she wishes until they die in her hellacious honor.
And it’s not worth it.
A door ahead opens, and a stream of pale white light falls across the dirty floor. It takes me a second to realize Avian’s holding the door open with a bow for his queen. A piece of his soft hair falls into his eyes as he looks discreetly up at me as we pass. It’s like looking into the future and feeling it all crumble away before you’ve even touched it.
I could have been happy with Avian. Or Roman. Or, fuck, maybe all of them.
But that won’t be our lives.
For our lives are not our own.
I keep walking.
The three of us head uphill to a side of the castle I haven’t yet ventured. We’re on the opposite side of the castle gardens. The moon is high in the sky, and the light it provides feels unnaturally bright tonight. It beacons us as we trek up the extreme incline through the dirt and rubble. My boots slide with every step I take and I can feel the heat of Roman’s hands hovering with every careening step, but he doesn’t dare coddle me. Just sensing his nearness should be a calming ease within my mind.
It’s not, though. My mind blazes with a thousand different thoughts, and none of them are logical.
Attack her.
