The queen stood to face them. She held her hands out, palms up, and they both fell silent. “You’re right, Izzy. We must decide what to save and what to surrender,” she said eventually.
Luka snarled, but Danikha continued calmly. “We have made this treaty our priority. We’ve worked relentlessly to negotiate a true end to hostility. I wanted our kingdom to be safe so that we could begin to reshape ourselves. I wanted more equality, morehope. And we’ve made many sacrifices to achieve that goal.”
Luka wrapped his arm around Izzy and tugged her into his side as if to protect her from Danikha’s words. Izzy leaned into him. She wanted to soothe him, but she didn’t know how. His eyes gleamed, almost entirely taken by the green and black of his beast, and his skin was covered in an armor of scales. She could only imagine what it was costing him to keep the drake in check.
“But…” The queen looked slowly around the room, eventually focusing on Iona, who gave her a small nod, as if the two women had reached some kind of agreement. “Neitherof you did anything wrong.” Danikha’s gaze flicked to Shane, where he stood alone at the casement, and then returned to Izzy and Luka. “There comes a time when we have to step back and look—really look—at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” Danikha said. “We walked down this road so far that it became harder and harder to step off. But perhapsthisis the moment. Perhapsthisis the line we don’t cross.”
Shane turned from the window to watch his mother. His mouth was set in a grim line that grew even tighter as Cori angled her body away from him.
“We can’t give in to bullies,” Danikha said firmly. “Batlok wants more and more in exchange for less and less, and we have tried to accommodate him. But the truth is that his demands willnever end. He will never be satisfied.” She lifted her chin, scales glittering. “I wanted to bring peace to our land. I was prepared to stretch… perhaps too far, but I will not sign this treaty in exchange for our morals. Not in exchange for the truth.” Her eyes rested on her son. “Who are we if we can so easily sacrifice those we love?”
Beside her, Luka went completely still. Izzy’s beast was silent. No one moved.
“We know Luka and Izzy are innocent. There will be no punishment.” Steel threaded through Queen Danikha’s voice. “There will also be no wedding. If we cannot be friends without tying our families together, then we cannot be friends.” She looked at her daughter with grim determination. “We’ll do it your way, Iona—no more concessions.”
“Thank you, Mother.” Iona smiled viciously. “I look forward to our new negotiating position.” Behind her, where she couldn’t see it, Kai took a tiny step closer to her.
The queen turned to Cori. “I’m promoting you to knight captain of the border forces. Can you rally our soldiers and return them to their posts on the frontier? I know many of them have only just returned home.”
Cori bowed. “Of course! Thank you. This is an honor. We’ll start preparing tonight. I already have ideas about how we can rotate our forces. I’ll put together a report and give it to….” She hesitated.
“To me and a copy for Shane,” Queen Danikha suggested. “He is still the crown marshall, although he no longer has authority over you or your career.” Shane winced, but the queen ignored him. “Please take Aiden and Kai as your seconds.” She smiled at the two men. “I’m promoting you both to captain.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” They dipped polite bows, first to the queen and then to their new commander, Cori.
Danikha bowed back. “You three are excused. Please do whatever is needed to secure our border.”
Cori stood, but she hesitated, looking back at Izzy.
So much had happened. Izzy and her beast were still reeling, still half certain they would leave this meeting to go straight to their execution. Fear and relief flooded through her in equal, unruly measures. But even through that churning chaos, she could read her friend. Cori’s instinct was to follow her orders and see to her troops, but she didn’t want to leave Izzy in danger. “It’s okay,” Izzy tried to reassure her, although her voice still shook. “Go do your job and keep us all safe.”
“I won’t let anything hurt Izzy,” Luka added in a low voice, looking at Cori. “I promise.”
Cori met his eyes in a silent conversation. Whatever she saw in him, she must have been reassured because she bowed formally and then followed the others out of the room.
Izzy stumbled to a sofa and sank into it. Her whole body was trembling, and all she could do was lean against Luka as he sat beside her, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders.
The queen lowered herself into an armchair, looking somehow smaller than before. Shane slumped against the windowsill, as if he wished to fade into the nighttime darkness. Only Iona looked ready for any kind of battle.
“Next, we have to deal with Declan and Batlok.” Danikha pinched the bridge of her nose. “Iona, please send them a formal invitation to meet in the morning. Find a polite way to make it clear that we will not be harassed into any hasty action tonight.”
“Of course,” Iona gave her mother a small friendly pat on her shoulder as she moved to one of the desks at the back of the room and pulled out a quill and ink.
Danikha watched her with obvious pride before turning back to continue. “We’ll meet at the ninth bell. Luka, I’d like you to be there. Izzy, I think it might be best if you stay out of this one.”
Izzy shivered. Everything had happened so fast, she hadn’t gotten her head around it. Beside her, Luka looked equally stunned. The queen had saved them. She had accepted that the treaty could be lost for the sake of the truth—and their safety. “I don’t know what to say. I—” Izzy shrugged. “Queen Danikha, thank you.”
“Gods, Izzy.” Danikha leaned over to pat her knee. “I’m humbled that you would offer yourself and horrified that you thought you had to.” She shook her head. “We have to find a better way.”
If we can find the assassin, we can prove it wasn’t us or Luka, her beast whispered.Perhaps we can still save some part of the treaty?
And stop more people dying from Firebreather, Izzy agreed, slowly settling. Not forgetting that they might also find Rayan’s killer and prevent the murderer from harming anyone else.
All she wanted to do was take Luka home, lock her door, and recover from the terror of the last few hours. She didn’t have to go to the meeting with Batlok. If she wanted, she could run and hide. But…
The time for running is over.
Yes. It was time to take a stand, and there was one thing she could do. The very thing she’d told Shane she would do. She could pick up Rayan’s mission and continue it for him. She could get up in the morning, walk into Melo’s clinic like she belonged there, and figure out who the real traitor was.
