His eyes went hard as he nodded. “She needs a taste of her own medicine.”
The noise from the crowd started to die down, the cheering and chanting replaced with an excited hubbub. When I looked, everyone had their phones out, taking pictures. A tyrant had fallen, and they all wanted proof to share with others.
I should have been excited that Saldrea was no longer a threat, but all I felt was tired. A bone-weary exhaustion swept over me, and now that I was safe in Koar’s arms, I let it run its course.
My eyes fluttered shut, but even as my awareness faded, I couldn’t help but think:if I wish to claim my throne and change this messed up world, this was only my first fight. Things were going to get worse before they got better… probably a lot worse.
KOARTHANDRIS
Izzy never left my arms.I carried her and the shifter, one cradled in each arm, off the arena floor into the marshalling area, but I wasn’t sure where to go after that. The training compound Lhorine had built was safe and secluded in the forest, but also low on amenities, and Izzy needed a soft place to rest, to recover. The dorm room that had once belonged to Rook also didn’t seem right, nor the shifter barracks. I had my own room in the dracona atrium, where all the dragons stationed on campus were housed, but it too was lacking. Soon the entire world would know Izzy was the lost princess and hiding away in lack-luster dorms didn’t seem fitting anymore.
Safir, the tiger shifter who always seemed at odds with Izzy, saw my confusion and hesitation as I moved through the inside of the arena complex.
“Don’t know where to take her?” he asked. The man might be more astute than I gave him credit for. “Let me call someone.” He made a quick call, I had no idea to whom, then smiled.
“There’s a royal residence free, on the far side of campus.I’m assuming it won’t be an issue for you to carry her that far?”
I shook my head.
“And I’ll arrange for some new clothes for Izzy — and perhaps some of yours as well — to be sent over.” The man wrinkled his nose at my current state of dress. I’d shredded my clothes when I’d taken my dragon form, during our escape from the secret dungeons after rescuing the titan, Wensuria, Bayn’s sister. So, I’d stolen some clothes from one of the now dead dragons who’d been protecting Saldrea. The clothes were torn up and covered in blood from the fight.
I was surprised when Rook joined me, carrying Vyns.
“Didn’t think you two got along,” I muttered.
“We don’t… didn’t… probably never will, but we both love the same woman so…” He shrugged.
I raised a brow at that. “An incubus in love?”
He sighed. “I’d say it was a slip of the tongue, but I’m done lying to myself. How I feel for Izzy is wrong on so many levels, but it’s right… on the only level that counts.”
I grunted.
Hadn’t heard it put that way before, but the man seemed genuine. I wasn’t sure what had brought him around. He’d avoided Izzy most of this past week. I was glad he’d come to his senses.
If Rook carrying Vyns had been a surprise, I was shocked and taken aback when Bayn, the big titan, joined us. His sister was with him, as were the three titans who’d survived the fight with Saldrea’s minions. Two of them were badly hurt, but they limped along in our wake.
“You’ve got your sister, what do you want now?” I asked the stubborn titan.
The big man — I couldn’t say that about most people,but titans were even larger than us dragons — shrugged, face hard, refusing to answer.
His sister elbowed him in the ribs. “Just tell him, you big lug.”
Bayn grunted. “Fine.” He still took a moment, seemingly having a hard time finding the words, before he finally said, “Izzy’s the true princess. She beat Saldrea, that pretty much proves it to the world. She can change things… but she’ll have to fight first, and she’ll need all the help she can get.”
Fascinating.
“You want things to change?” I asked him.
He shrugged and gave a noncommittal nod. “Maybe. Nothing’s been right in this world for a long time. We all know it. Maybe it’s time for something different.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but he’d held up his end of our bargain. We’d freed his sister and he’d turned his titans on Saldrea’s crew, though it had all come too late to save Izzy from fighting Saldrea. I still didn’t trust the man any farther than I could throw him and given his weight — even with my strength — that wasn’t far.
The trail of people following us only grew as we crossed the southern end of campus. The presence of the titans kept most at a respectable distance, but more and more people came to see the woman who’d beaten Saldrea. Some looked unimpressed, others disbelieving, but the majority looked hopeful, relieved. They could sense a change coming, even if they didn’t yet know Izzy was a royal.
Safir, who also stayed close to me, took another short call before informing me that Lhorine and Olinara had taken care of Saldrea, who was now in a cell in the administration building. I hoped it was the one Izzy had stayed in last night, wrecked bed and all. Saldrea’s crew had also been put in binding collars and imprisoned.
The insane false princess’ reign of terror was finally at an end.
