But I revealednothingon my face. I held a steady position as always.
The look she’d given me before she fled . . .
Her rejection had carved a deep cavern within me, a gaping maw that would never be filled. The fates knew I deserved her rage. When I put us both on this course, I knew it would end like this. I’d delayed it as long as I could, but as I’d just told her, the game was now in play.
I’d purposefully ripped her apart. She was never going to allow me near enough to her to explain. But I’d try. Ihadto try. I’d find a way to make her understand—somehow.
Not because I needed her to finish this with the king but because . . .
I loved her.
She’d stormed through the walls around my heart and captured me.
Seek,I told her crow. He flew to the end of the aisle, and the flustered guard, controlled by a spell to keep him from hearing anything said inside the throne room, jumped. He opened one of the doors wide enough for Drask to soar through before closing it once more.
“I didn’t think you still had that bird,” the king said.
“He’s been away.” I’dsenthim away before Ivenrail could kill him. I thought the bird went wild. I never imagined he’d findher. That would teach me not to periodically look through his eyes.
When Drask found her wherever she’d flitted to now, he’d tell me if she wasn’t safe.
Not long after arriving at the fortress, I saw him perched on her shoulder. He recognized me but remained with her. He was no longer mine, and she adored this pet as much as the golden dragon I was unable to save.
She and I had spent too much time at Weldsbane. I’d taken a slice of life for myself with my fury, and the result? I’d failed, one time after another. Seevar. Reyla. Brodine.
Yes, I’d flitted here within days of the Claiming to do what I could, but it was already too late. I’d live with theknowledge that I hadn’t gotten here fast enough to stop the king.
There was one way I could make it up to her friends, and I’d do it even if . . . I didn’t want to think of what the result might be.
Madrood’s red eyes remained locked on me. The king wasn’t the only being in this room I needed to watch out for.
“Explain to me why that Nullen was wearing a collar,” the king snarled at me. “Yet she was still able to flit. She flitted! How?”
“Some of them can do it with the right training,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Why haven’t you controlled her yet?”
I would do all I could to avoid using the collar to control her behavior. I’d only done so today because I had no other choice. I adored how impulsive my fury was, how she fought for others, how quick she was to voice her opinion.
Any of which would have resulted in a magical lash from the king she might never recover from.
“Tempest needs a light touch,” I said.
“Nullens need nothing from us. They exist solely to serve us.”
“I don’t wish to break her.”
His sneer deepened. “You disgust me.”
When I was four and wanted to please this man, a comment and look like that would’ve made me flinch. By the time I was five and he’d murdered my mother, I wanted nothing to do with him or anyone related to him. I crafted a mask he would neverfind a way through. Now he only saw my façade, a cloak of acceptance.
I’d allowed Zayde in but only later.
As for the others? I didn’t know if they truly existed or where they were, though years later, I heard rumors of another and I looked for her, though I found no evidence she existed.
“I assume you don’t need anything further from me today.” With my mask firmly in place, I turned to leave.
“Do not walk away from me,” he snapped.
