“What happened?” Mareleau asked. “I know five hundred years is a long time, but all that’s left of the palace is a rock. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”
“Centerpointe Rock,” Ailan said with a nod. “I’ve seen it once, during the battle last spring. With my memories compromised, I didn’t recognize it for what it was. I knew it marked an invisible well of fae magic, but I didn’t understand how or why. Now I remember.”
Ailan’s expression darkened. She turned her gaze away from the spires and started off toward one of the many gardens that surrounded the courtyard. This garden contained tiny trees in myriad shapes and varieties, stone gardens marked with impossibly high cairns, as well as several ponds. Mareleau could only half focus on the beauty. The rest of her attention lingered on the subject they’d left behind.
She knew roughly how Ailan’s battle with Darius had ended—he’d killed his mother before Satsara had managed to finish her ward. Then he and Ailan were trapped in the human world. But what had their plan been, and how had Darius thwarted it?
“I was supposed to lure Darius far from the palace,” Ailan said as they wove through a grove of waist-high trees with vibrant needle-like leaves and twisting, twining trunks. “My army was meant to keep his attention off what my mother was doing. Her dragon was with my forces too, to convince him Satsara was among us. It was imperative that we keep him fighting until my mother’s wardweaving was finished. That meant we couldn’t overwhelm his army, for that would only make him worldwalk back to the human world for reinforcements. Upon his return, if he tried to worldwalk to any location already covered by the Veil, he’d find himself blocked and know what my mother was up to.
“So we held back, sacrificing our soldiers so he’d keep fighting us, keep thinking he was seconds away from victory. Only once the Veil was complete would we give it our all and either kill him or obliterate his army enough that he’d worldwalk away. If the Veil was finished, he’d never be able to reenter El’Ara again.
“But he was smarter than that. Or, at the very least, he suspected we were holding back. He and I were fighting one-on-one when the truth dawned on him. He hissed our mother’s name, and I knew it was over. I reached for him, latched onto his arm right as he worldwalked away, forcing him to take me with him. Next thing I knew, we were in the forest north of the palace. In another heartbeat, he was gone. He’d left me behind on purpose. Either he’d anticipated I’d try to grab him or he realized it as soon as I touched him and altered his destination.
“I ran to the palace as fast as I could, but Mother was already dead and the palace was destroyed. It may have been the force of Satsara tying off the edges of her Veil so suddenly, or the pressure of forcing El’Ara into the human world, but Alles’Taria Palace was obliterated when I got there. The guards were dead, crushed in the rubble or murdered by my brother. He was killing those who remained as I arrived, popping in and out of thin air to behead the survivors before they even had a chance to defend themselves.
“He came for me next, taunting me about how he’d ended our mother’s life while hugging her. While telling her he loved her. He’d slit her throat right after she’d smiled up at him and said she loved him too. He didn’t yet know that she’d also tied off her wardweaving, blocking him from El’Ara thereafter, but once he did, he tried to kill me in earnest. No more taunting. No more games. So I did what I thought I should in that split second before he tried to behead me; I relinquished my title as Morkara to my unnamed heir.”
Mareleau’s stomach sank with guilt. She’d condemned Ailan for having made such a reckless choice back then, but could she blame her? She hadn’t had much time for rational thought when her enemy could appear from thin air to surprise her with a blade through her neck at any moment.
They reached the far end of the garden where an arch in a tall hedge wall opened to a sloping hillside behind the palace. Rocky steps led down to where the crystalline palace walls gave way to natural stone. There daylight melted to shadow, the sunlight obscured by the turrets.
“Where are we going?” Mareleau asked, her curiosity now tinged with apprehension.
“To the dragon caves beneath the palace,” Ailan said. “Ferrah, Uziel, and the hatchlings live there.”
“Wait…don’t tell me…”
“I want you to meet the dragons.”
The blood left her face and she hugged Noah close to her, though he was already as close as he could be in his sling. She glanced down at his sleeping face, then back at Ailan. “Why?”
“You want an asset that will make you feel safe? If you earn the dragons’ respect, they will listen to you.”
Mareleau blinked at her. “Safe? You think being around a dragon will make me feel safe? You do realize Ferrah shattered the windows of my bedroom at Ridine Castle and nearly had me skewered with glass. And now you want me to take Noah into a cave full of the creatures?”
“They will not harm him.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in Ailan’s voice, only warmth. “He is their Morkara. They would no sooner hurt him than me. Besides, Ferrah didn’t mean to hurt or alarm you at Ridine. She’d been looking for you. According to Uziel, he and Ferrah acted against the archers in your defense. They saw a threat to you, not them.”
“According to Uziel,” she echoed. “As in…you can talk to him?”
“I can communicate with him. It’s almost like talking. Should you ever grow close enough to one of the dragons to bond with one, you’ll learn what I mean.”
Mareleau pulled her head back. “That…that’s an option for me? To bond with a dragon?”
“Maybe not today, but someday, perhaps. For now, I am confident you can earn enough of their respect to get them to listen to you, the same way they listen to my consort. That way, even if I am not here, you can take comfort in commanding them to protect you.”
This was madness. Mareleau should refuse to take a step further. She should run.
But she didn’t.
Instead, a strange thrill buzzed through her. Whether it was out of a need to protect her son or simply her ego wanting to be important enough to command a dragon, she knew not. All she knew was that as Ailan continued to descend farther and farther down the hill, toward the craggy base of the castle, her feet followed. Even as her heart raced. Even as sweat pooled beneath her armpits.
They reached the base of the palace where a dark maw split the stone. There really were caves beneath the palace. Dragons lurking floors beneath her bedroom. Who would have thought?
“Being formally introduced to a dragon…is it dangerous?” she asked. It had almost been deadly for Cora, after all.
