Shit. Here we go.
Eveera
I’ll kill him. I’ll kill all of them.I think as Bennett’s words echo loudly in my head:
“He’s a bit overprotective when it comes to his wife.”Gods, he may as well have run me right through with his broadsword.
Finally, I break our locked stare and turn my attention over to Felix. My regent, who, for all intents and purposes, was supposed to make sure something like this didnothappen.
“Eveera–” they both start at the same time, but my hand flies up, quickly cutting them off.
“I wouldn’t.” I snap, making a beeline for the passageway. Pulling the tapestry away from the wall, I push open the door, my chin tilting to the side to look at Felix. “You of all people… I never would have expected this fromyou.” The door shutstightly behind me, and despite my tired and aching feet, I book it down the cobbled path.
The closer I get, the thicker the smoke becomes, and I can’t help but cough as the dense smell hits me. Yanking hard on the handles, I throw myself into the throne room.
She’s wrapped around the dais, her armored body taking up most of the space.
I take a cautionary step out of the shadows. The second I do – her head swings my direction, gold eyes blazing and teeth bared. Blistering hot steam assaults my skin, and through the slits of my eyes, I see the orange glow of flames building beneath her scales.
Reflexively, I raise my arm, my Wield coiling around it in a weak attempt to shield myself. With the heat in the room only rising, I scream out, “VADA!”
Her growl cuts off, and I peek an eye open to see her focusing on me, the fire in her throat quickly snuffing out. The teeth large enough to eviscerate my body in a single strike are still about a foot from my face, but at least she seems to recognize me.
“Little demon.”
She raises her snout, retreating enough to give me some walking and breathing room. My eyes scan the room, taking note of the piles of burnt clothes, charred bones, and several discarded pieces of armor.
“Well, I see you’ve kept yourself well fed.” I snark. She narrows an eye at me, clacking her teeth in response. “I hope they were nobody important,” I add, grimacing as I kick the rubble out of my way.
“I don’t usually ask.” She quips, bowing her shoulder to me. I grab onto the onyx colored scale and haul myself up in between her shoulders. I nestle in closely, the warmth of her body and resting fire seeping through my skin.
“Take me anywhere but here, Vada.” She hums in understanding and crouches.
I dig my nails deep into the grooves of her scales and tuck my chin into my chest, bracing for take off. Her body lifts with ease, the two of us barreling towards the closed ceiling.Closed. Fuck.“Vada! Wait–”
Red tempered glass shatters all around us, showering the floor in tiny ruby shards as we make our ascent into the dusk-filled sky. When she levels out, I lift my head, taking in Obsidian below me. “And to think you wanted to end it and miss all this.”
I startle at the sound of Axel’s voice and look down to see his ebony arms wrapped securely around me.
“Now, I know you aren’t real,” I say breathlessly.
“Ah, and what gave it away?” He asks lightly.
I hum, slouching myself into his familiar form. “Because Vada would never let you on her back and you never would have climbed on.” He laughs, the warm and rich cadence of it getting lost in the wind. “He married me off,” I say coldly. Axel doesn’t answer, but Vada’s growl rumbles beneath me. “He married me off like I’m some animal up for auction.”
I can hear the words coming out of my mouth, but they sound ridiculous. They sound so ridiculous, I can’t help but laugh. I mean – in what fucking realm did they think I would ever agree to an arranged marriage?!
“Well, they didn’t. That’s why they did it while you weren’t here…”
I didn’t realize I had been shouting that out loud, and I scowl at him over my shoulder, a shit-eating grin present on his face. “I didn’t ask for your – less than helpful – two cents. That’s not why I keep you around.”
“Well, that I know – it’s because I’m remarkably handsome.” I shake my head and settle into his chest.
“It’s getting really unsettling to see and hear you when I’m not drugged,” I grumble, my eyelids dropping closed. His chin rests on top of my head, and I drift off to the sound of him hushing me.
Every night after my first flight back, Vada and I’ve gone out and stayed out until the sunlight just barely crests over the horizon. It's a part of our routine now, and afterward,s if she lets me leave her sight, I come to sit in my council room where I stare silently at the picture of my parents and the fucking ridiculous will they'd left behind.
My rage at the circumstances surrounding my life is palpable, and the uptick in my emotions keeps my Wield poised at the tip of my fingers just waiting for some hapless fool to step into it.
