She’d never worn something like that before. Nor had Empress Emmeline ever worn a brown leather belt around her waist with four daggers hanging from it.
Elias didn’t move. But every single muscle in his body tensed.
“Elias, just do what you are told for once!” she snapped.
Still, Elias remained exactly where he was. He looked down the corridor, past her and the other Zephyrians. No guards from Draconia stood watch. Not a single one. And a figure dressed in grey robes and a black mask stood down the end of the corridor, watching.
Elias pulled on his powers. He lifted his hands. Sparks flickered across his fingers. But he did not attack. Not yet. “Why are you in these quarters? Where are the guards? Where is anyone from Draconia?”
If she didn’t start answering, Elias would draw the answers from her whilst she writhed on the floor screaming in pain as the electricity singed her nerves.
She raised a single brow. “What are you going to do, Elias? Zap me with your little sparkles?” She laughed.
The others joined in. Allexcept the robed figure who stood still, masked face unreadable. But Elias would bet that no mirth showed even beneath the mask.
“Your sparkles won’t help you, Elias. But then, when have they ever helped you?” his stepmother mocked. “And unfortunately the Draconian guards won’t help you either.”
She strolled away from him, down the corridor, the others following. She paused in an open doorway that led to a sitting room. She looked inside. She smiled. “Want to see what has happened to them? Come see for yourself.” She gestured into the room.
For several seconds, Elias didn’t move. But finally, his curiosity won out. Refusing to relinquish his power, he stepped forward. However, he waited until Emmeline and the others had moved ahead before approaching the doorway.
Elias sucked in a breath. Draconian guards lay on the floor. Eyes blank and unseeing. Chests unmoving.
“What have you done?” Elias asked as he pulled on more power.
“We took the air from their throats.” The empress smiled.
Wind sorcerers could cut off someone’s air. They just stopped it from being drawn into someone’s lungs. If they did not stop, their victim would collapse and die.
Actually, that power had been minimally useful during the war against the dragons. It required the Zephyrian sorcerers to be very close to their target. And dragons flew so far above and moved so swiftly that the wind sorcerers were better off attempting to fling a dragon into the ground or cliff and injure them that way.
Then Elias remembered. He’d heard unusual footsteps in the corridor as he packed. But he’d been too consumedwith Gerard leaving to pay proper attention. Had that been when the guards were killed?
Throat tight, Elias asked, “Where is Gerard?”
She smirked. “Your dragon warrior cannot save you. He is not here. He is my prisoner now, and I have sent him away. If you want to see him alive ever again, you will behave and be a good little boy for once. Now will you do what I say?”
Elias hesitated. But what choice did he have? He needed to find Gerard, and he had no idea where he was. He dropped his arms. The sparks disappeared.
“Now hold out your hands,” she instructed.
When he did, her smile turned almost gleeful. Beau stepped forward and tied his hands with rope. The strands bit into Elias’s wrists. Elias grunted. Beau chuckled and tied the rope tighter.
The rope would do nothing to stop his powers. They’d not bothered with magic shackles or the like. After all, they thought him practically powerless.
“Now come this way.” She swirled away, black skirts sweeping across the floor. Elias and the Zephyrian soldiers, who walked on either side of him, followed her. Beau and the strange, robed figure came behind.
They passed through the Draconian quarters. Men and women dressed in ragged clothing moved within the rooms.
“What is going on?” Elias asked.
“That’s none of your fucking business,” Beau snapped. “Just shut up and keep walking.” He shoved Elias in the back.
They passed Colette’s room. The door was open. Nobody was inside. “Where is Colette? And where is the Draconian royal family?”
“I said shut your fucking mouth and keep walking.” Beau shoved him again, harder this time.
Elias stumbled and righted himself. He passed more of the poorly dressed individuals. Who the fuck were they, and why were they here?
