He shoved a sealed parchment into my hand, bowing quickly.
I broke the wax with my thumb, eyes skimming the page.
Come to the healers’ quadrant immediately. —Meri
My brows drew together.
“How did Meri know I was hurt?” I asked, glancing up at him.
He adjusted his collar nervously. “I only deliver messages, Miss.”
I nodded once, folding the parchment and tucking it into my belt.
“I’ll be right back,” I told the others. They were still dismounting, the dragons settling into their roosts above. “Healers’ quadrant.”
They didn’t question me.
The path wound through the yarrow gardens, where pale-white blossoms bobbed in the breeze, their scent distinct and medicinal. I was just about to step through the arched door when a figure moved from the shadows.
Inderia.
She stepped from the doorway like a ghost made of silk and spite.
A robe of deep-red velvet clung to her shoulders, open just enough to reveal the creamy satin of the dress beneath, flawless, expensive, and meant to be admired. Her hair was twisted back in a cascade of perfectly placed curls, a glinting ruby nestled at her throat.
Her smile was as soft as it was venomous.
“You are a whore,” she said smoothly, “but this is what happens when a prince forgets his station.”
My hand moved before I thought.
The slap cracked through the garden like a whip.
Her head jerked sideways, her curls shifting like serpents.
Inderia gasped and touched her cheek, shock flaring in her eyes before the rage.
“Guards!” she shrieked. “I want her head!”
Kaelith’s roar ripped through the sky above before any guard could take a single step.
The ground trembled.
Windows shook.
Inderia paled.
Because Kaelith wasn’t just protecting me.
She was promising death.
Chapter
Six
Kaelith dropped from the sky like a falling star, landing so hard on the far side of the Yarrow Gardens that the earth beneath my boots quaked.
Stone cracked beneath her claws. The wind of her wings sent robes and hair flying as people scattered, screams ringing out as servants and onlookers fled.
