Esmeray bobbed her head again, this time more agitated. “Yes,yes. Look, Keerian gave that to me. He saidyouwould understand.” Her throat bobbed as her wings lowered and folded in.
A long moment passed silently as Laurent closed his eyes, still holding the chain and ring in his large hand.
Finally–
“I understand,” Laurent breathed.
At that, Esmeray’s whole body relaxed. She snapped her fingers and the invisible force holding Merrick gave way. The gargoyle flared his wings to stop himself from smacking his face against the glass floor. Panting, he lowered his sword, sheathing it to the hilt, before narrowing his cooled brown eyes at his friend. “Whatexactlydo you understand?” His tone was clipped, and although the sword was no longer in his hand, Lenna watched his fingers twitch, as if they were waiting for approval to jump into a fight.
“She didn’t kill her parents,” Laurent mused, handing the chain and ring back to Esmeray. “Esmeray did not kill the King and Queen.”
Chapter twenty-four
Lenna
“Wait,what?”LennaandMerrick asked simultaneously, staring at Laurent as if he’d gone mad. “How do you know for sure?” Merrick demanded, completely ignoring the beaming smile Esmeray shot his direction, as if she was preening “I told you so,” at the gargoyle.
“Merrick, we knowKeerian. Keerian would’ve never willingly given his mate his ring if he had any doubt in his mind, or even a fraction of a suspicion, that Esmeray murdered her parents.” Laurent ducked his head to Esmeray in a half bow. “I will hear your story in full. We can go from there on the…specifics.”
Relief flooded Esmeray’s face and she sat down on the closest black stone row of seats the court had vacated, her wings drooping as if some of the tension came out of them, as well, with Laurent’s declaration. “Thank you,” she replied softly.
Lenna finally found her voice, it was croaky and filled with shake, but it worked well enough. “What about the Oracle? You killed him in cold blood.”
Esmeray’s grief flickered for a second before vanishing–replaced by a cool, stony expression. She twisted around in the pew until Lenna wasfully in her sights. “Again. I cannot relay that here. Even with the few wards I left in place, anyone could hear us. And I don’t have many friends here, as you may have noticed.”
Lenna crossed her arms, blowing a loose curl out of her face. “Are you going to kill me?” Her blunt question made Esmeray rear back, before peering closer at Lenna, those cunning green eyes slitting as Esmeray studied her with interest. Lenna raised her chin, meeting the Esmeray’s gaze with her own, daring her to find her lacking.
“I am not going to kill you–but I can understand the precarious situation you’re in so, I’ll do you one better.” Esmeray let Lenna contemplate for a moment before following up with, “I willgiveyou the Prism, take you to the safe house I’ve been staying at, and explain everything.” Esmeray and Lenna stared at each other, a challenge, and a request.
Lenna weighed her words, the disbelief that she was still alive making her knees weaken under her gown now that the wave of nerves and adrenaline was fading. “How can you get the Prism? I don’t know where it is, and the Regent outright refused to allow me to have it.”
Esmeray grinned, the light returning to her scintillating eyes, and up close, Lenna could see small flecks of gold twined through the green, like a twinkling star that had fallen into a plush field of summer grass. Straightening in her seat and tucking her black wings tighter to her, the Princess remarked brightly, “Ohwewon’t be getting it. We’re going to wait right here. I have someone collecting it as we speak. I may have taken some liberties with my plan on the off-chance I was able to speak with you, and figured you may need a…” Esmeray crinkled her pert nose as she searched for the word, cocking her horns to the ceiling, before snapping her fingers once it came to her. "Apeaceoffering."
As if her words were a cue, a deep rumble filled the throne room, rattling the skeletal torches. Lenna noticed the golden hands seem to gripthe flame tipped iron tighter in their bony fingers. Merrick swore as the glass floor under them shuddered. Lenna braced herself against the pew, looking down into the depths of the dark caverns in panic, though this time, a monstrous, moon-silver eye peered back up at her.
“Shit,” Merrick said in awe, “I haven’t seen a dragon in decades.”
Laurent swallowed thickly, backing up until he was aligned with Lenna, his lips pursed together as he cautiously kept his emerald gaze focused on the floor, his hands bracketing Lenna to the pew as the room trembled violently again.
Behind the dais, the glass seemed to melt, ripples growing outward like the echo of a rock thrown into a pond. Lenna grabbed Laurent’s arm to steady herself as the floor rocked again. But the creature that emerged made Lenna wish the floor would swallow her up and make her disappear.
A black dragon shot out from the caverns below, landing in front of the dais with a heavythud. It was massive, with charcoal wings that unfurled with a heaving stretch and long, razor-sharp talons that scraped against the glass. Its armored scales illuminated silver hues in the faint glow from the skeletal hands protecting their fire. The floor sealed itself as the dragon passed through, its spiked tail curling around the dais as it ambled closer, each step of its considerable weight making the room shake again. The throne room was spacious, yet the beast easily took up the majority of the area in front of the pews. The dragon lowered its snout, one slitted pupil focusing on Esmeray, as it settled down on all fours, tucking its wings in.
Esmeray stood from her seat once the floor stopped quaking, her own wings folded tightly to her back, as she offered the beast her tattooed palm. The dragon lowered its head to smell her, and rumbled in contentment, the sound originating from deep within its belly. Her wholebody, wings included, only came up to snout level, but she tilted her head up to the dragon with a cheerful smile. Merrick looked from beast to Princess, as if he could hear the words that no one spoke.
“Gargoyles are the only beings that can mind speak with dragons,” Laurent explained, his arm protectively looped around Lenna, as he steered them down the aisle, giving the creature a wider berth. “It’s one of the reasons the Regent here is not too fond of his new posting.”
Lenna did not know what to say besides, “The dragon is mind speaking to EsmerayandMerrick?” Laurent shot her a bemused look but did not elaborate further.
Merrick stood behind Esmeray, his hand loosely gripping his sword in its sheath. The gargoyle bowed once to the dragon before turning and heading back to where Laurent and Lenna stood, waiting.
“That isn’t just any dragon–that’s Resso.” Admiration filled his voice, his brown eyes wide. For Lenna’s benefit Merrick elaborated, “Resso is the oldest and biggest dragon here. He guards the treasure troves in the caverns beneath the throne room, and only answers to the rightful ruler of the Obsidian Kingdom. Legends say Resso has lived inside the caverns since the first rulers began carving the Palace from the mountain, though Resso will never confirm nor deny that bit of lore.” He shot a glance back to where Esmeray still stood before the dragon. She was stroking its massive maw and the dragon, Resso, had his eyes half closed as if Esmeray was petting a very lazy cat, and not a creature that could swallow her in one gulp.
A few moments passed, and Esmeray kissed the muzzle of the beast before Resso turned slowly around, careful not to knock into anything with his spiked tail, and slid back down beneath the floor. Lenna noticed how the glass parted, like the creature just swum up and swam back down. She braved a look below the floor right as Resso spread his wingsout wide, gliding down into the depths, before disappearing into the darkness.
Esmeray met the group halfway and held out her tattooed hand to Lenna. “Here it is, but don’t look into it right now. I want to get far away from this dreadful place before we peer into the past. I have some of my own suspicions I need to confirm.”
She placed a blue silk bag the size of an apple into Lenna’s hands. Lenna marveled at the weight of it. It was much heavier than it appeared. Lenna gripped it tightly against her body. Something deep inside her settled, as if holding the Prism clicked a part of her soul into its rightful place.
