I may be one of the Empress’s children. I may be arriving with a girl who can wield light and a golden dragon flying above me, but that doesn’t give me the right to enter the palace through the front gates of the complex.
In fact, we’re met by a wall of guards, all eyeing the circling dragon with suspicion. We’re instructed to guide both the vehicle and the dragon around to the back of the palace, where we pass the obligatory checkpoints and are then admitted via a side gate. It’s not spectacular like the main golden gates that ring the front of the palace promenade, but it still has Briony’s eyes widening with amazement.
I drive us through to the large courtyard inside and there is the head of the Empress’s guard, Sir Cecil, waiting for us, flanked by two of his senior officers.
“Prince Beaufort,” the man says, bowing his head as I climb from the vehicle and go to greet him.
“Prince?” Briony murmurs from behind me.
“We already established he’s a prince,” Dray says.
“Yes, but I’ve never heard someone actually call him that,” she whispers back.
“Welcome home. The Empress is expecting you.” Sir Cecil peers around the group I have with me, eyes lingering on Briony with curiosity. “Who is the girl?” the man asks.
“Our thrall.”
“The Lumomancer?”
I nod and he observes her even more keenly, gaze trailing down her form. His lip curls. “Where is she from? Granite?”
“Slate,” I say, magic crackling.
The man’s lip curls even more and he examines her like she’s something he’s just dragged out of a blocked drain. “The dragon responds to your orders?” he asks her directly.
“Y-y-yes,” she says and I can tell she’s a little intimidated. I don’t blame her. The palace, the grandeur, the guards, the uniforms – it is all designed to intimidate, to let visitors know where they belong.
“Then have it land here.” He points to the closely clipped lawn.
“There?” Briony says, unsure. Probably because the dragon doesn’t always do as she asks and she doesn’t want him to embarrass her, especially when Sir Cecil is being such a snob.
“Yes, we can’t have a dragon flying over the city.” Sir Cecil gives me a disapproving look, like I should have known better. Maybe I did and I didn’t care.
Briony tips her head back and whistles. At first, it seems like this hasn’t worked. The dragon keeps on circling us. Then he spirals downward and the guards raise their weapons as he lands with a thud on the earth.
Immediately a dozen of the guards rush at the dragon and before any of us understands what has happened, they’ve clamped a heavy iron cuff around his left front leg and a muzzle over his mouth.
“What are you doing?!” Briony cries in outrage, her obvious nervousness instantly vanishing.
“Securing the dragon so it can’t do any damage,” Sir Cecil says.
“You can’t do that!” The dragon shakes his head, attempting to free his jaws and whines in distress. “It’s scaring him.”
“It’s a necessary precaution.”
“He won’t hurt anyone,” Briony insists. “He’s my dragon. And I’m telling you to take it off!”
She makes to run towards Blaze, clearly hell-bent on doing it herself.
I catch her by the arm and tug her back towards me. “Briony,” I whisper to her, “the dragon belongs to the Empress, like everything else in the realm.”
“Beaufort,” she says, shock radiating in her eyes, “is she going to take Blaze from me?”
“No, no,” I say confidently, although I don’t 100 percent feel it, “she won’t take him from you. Come on, the sooner we meet with her, the sooner we can be away again.” Although, damn, I’ve driven through the night. I could do with some sleep before a journey to the demon realm and who knows what after that.
“The Empress has a full itinerary planned for today and tomorrow,” Sir Cecil informs us stiffly. “I might remind you that tomorrow is Aeron Day.”
“What?!” Briony says.
