And no one had stared so intently, like Prince Elias wasstilldoing. In fact, every Voltarian he’d met seemed to make a point of ignoring the scars so clearly caused by a lightning sorcerer.
But not the lightning prince. He just kept openly staring at Gerard. At his scars.
What is wrong with him?
Gerard cleared his throat. “Yes. My current appearance was the result of a lightning strike. It occurred in the Ozer Mountains in Draconia.”
Prince Elias blinked. After a second, he licked his lips and looked away, his hand dropping.
“Sorry. I suppose that was a little insensitive of me.” Helaughed. “I have a habit of letting my mouth move before I have time to think. That’s always my problem. Not thinking enough.” He laughed again.
His father joined in with the laughter.
The empress asked the queen consort a question. But Gerard wasn’t listening. Wine and those tiny bits of food were drunk and eaten as conversation between the royal families continued. Gerard pretended to pay attention.
But it was impossible to focus. Because the entire time, Prince Elias kept glancing at him, his hot gaze burning Gerard’s skin.
What is wrong with the man? Why does he keep staring at me? Perhaps my scars make the pretty prince realise that there are far worse things to war than uninspired, scratchy robes.
Chapter
Seven
It’s him! He is the dragon I attacked. Prince Gerard, the dragon warrior prince, is the dragon I almost killed.
Until about two seconds ago, Elias had thought he’dactuallykilled him. Now he couldn’t stop staring.
Scars wove across the right side of Prince Gerard’s face. Their spidery, fern-like design raised and lightened his dark skin. It looked like a lightning strike.
I did that. But how is he alive?
Elias had hit him. Twice. Directly.
Once in the chest. Once in the face. Prince Gerardshouldbe dead! Elias had killed dragons with less. Yet here the dragon warrior stood.
He lives up to his title. He is strong. He is a survivor. Like me.
Elias had seen the dragon cry out, flying and spiralling before smashing into the cliff face above him. After that Elias hadn’t seen what had occurred to the dragon.
He’d been a little distracted.
Rocks had tumbled down towards him from where the dragon had hit. Blood pumping, Elias had flunghimself into the tunnel where he’d been just before he’d emerged to attack the dragon.
The rocks had smashed down behind him. But Elias hadn’t fully entered the tunnel in time. Boulders and rocks had crushed his left leg, pinning him to the ground and pulverizing bone and flesh. If he hadn’t been travelling with an earth elemental and a healer, he’d have died there.
Still, it had been a bitch to recover from. But he’d survived.
So too had Prince Gerard, it seemed. Against the odds, they’d both lived. Now they bore the scars from that exchange. But unlike Prince Gerard’s, Elias’s scars remained hidden beneath his clothes.
The moment he had properly looked at the right side of Prince Gerard’s face, Elias had known it had been his doing. Like he could feel his own magic calling to him from Prince Gerard’s flesh.
He’d been so taken aback that he’d pointed and asked about the wound. He couldn’t stop himself. He’d been so shocked that he’d survived.
The scars spread across the majority of the right side of Prince Gerard’s face. They travelled up beneath the hairline of his short dark hair and meandered down his neck and beneath the collar of his coat. An eye patch covered his right eye. Elias’s strike must have damaged that eye beyond repair.
He pressed his lips together. They’d been at war. It was his job to kill and bring down dragons! Still … he did not like to think he’d robbed the man of half his sight.
His own wound from Prince Gerard had no lasting effects, except for the obvious scarring. Although, when a lightning storm approached, Elias could feel it in thereknitted bones of his leg. But he’d already been able to sense that with his magic. So it was a useless skill.
