They exchanged a knowing glance, and something in the room tightened—subtle, but noticeable. The air felt…thicker with secrets.
I looked down at my plate to twirl some pasta onto my three-pronged fork. When I looked up, the air escaped my lungs in utter disbelief and shock.
The Viscountess who had seemed like a typical Fire Fae female with her blonde hair, amber eyes, and golden skin, had completely transformed. Her eyes were now a lilac purple, her gold skin pale with patches of shimmering purple scales, and she had beautiful lilac-tinted translucent butterfly wings.
I dropped my fork, eyes widened and mouth agape. “Tis a water dragon my dear.” She replied.
I scanned the faces around the table, and Antonias and Alina both had lilac eyes instead of the traditional burning amber, but otherwise still seemed to be Fire Fae. The Viscount’s appearance stayed the same.
“You’re a Water Fae?” I asked bewildered and confused. “Yes, my dear, I keep a glamour as do our children so I trust that you can keep our secret?” She asked kindly as her wings fluttered.
“Half breeds are often killed as infants by the Holy Guard for having what they deem impure and weaker blood, so, it is imperativeto all of our safety you do not reveal my mate’s or children’s identity.” The viscount said.
I gulped. I felt both honored and confused they would share such a dangerous secret with me. Who was I to them?
“You can trust me, I’ve come to realize I rather dislike most Fire Fae.” I replied. “No offence,” I added quickly, looking at the others around the table.
The family laughed and I relaxed, letting out a tense breath. “To that we all can agree,” the Viscount chuckled amusingly. “Forgive me for asking…but I thought the different elements of Fae couldn’t reproduce?”
Alina scoffed. “That’s dragons, not Fae!”
“Alina! Mind your tongue, she is not from our world!” The Viscountess scolded.
The Viscount’s scowl on his face softened as he shifted his attention from his daughter to me. “She is correct, Fae shouldn’t by law, in this kingdom it is an offense punishable by public burning at the stake, but we certainly can cross genetics, dragons, however, cannot.”
“What if I told you, I knew a dragon that was half water and half fire.” I replied.
Antonias’s lilac eyes widened and he quickly asked, “are you talking about Aurelius’s dragon?—but…the beast breathes fire, I’ve seen it with my own eyes— I was told her coloring was just an anomaly, something that went wrong in her shell perhaps.”
“I think that’s what Aurelius wanted everyone to believe, but he himself told me he found her near this region, and she was indeed a half breed, half yellow fire dragon and half water dragon.” I replied.
“You said youknewa dragon…is she? —” Alina asked.
“Gone, it’s fairly recent, we were... very close.” I said with
watery eyes and shaky breath. She gave me a sympathetic look.
“If there was the possibility of one than there is a possibility of more in this region, if we could somehow find them and bond them to our best riders, it would be a huge advantage in the movement, especially if they wielded both water and fire.” The Viscount pondered aloud.
“I’m sorry, …the movement? Are you leading some kind of rebellion?” I asked.
“No, Lady Delilah, I’m leading a revolution. Many years in the making, I groomed my son for council life so that when he was of age he could infiltrate the inner workings in Embris, while I managed things here in Ashenport. There are many Fire Fae who are tired of the tyranny of the ways of the old, the council and its obsession with Holy Law, acting as the governing body for the Temple has done nothing but slaughter and enslave innocent Fae for thousands of years, and now their stubbornness to abolish slavery will either kill or capture everyone who calls this land home by the Water and Shadow Fae armies.”
“But why share all of this with me? I don’t understand.” I said.
“The High Lords motivation for cleansing the kingdom of the council was not political…it was a matter of the heart, Delilah. You have proven to be extremely valuable to the High Lord. Our hope is that you will sympathize with our position and convince the High Lord to join the revolution.”
Realization settled in. They did not know.
“You have a bigger problem than that right now, Folliade found his mother in Titus’s castle spell bound as a Fire Fae high healer. Titus believes he will be invading in a matter of days.”
I heard a fork drop and three sets of lilac eyes, and one set of amber looked at me with shock and fear. When no one said anything, I asked.
“Did Titus not tell you the night I was captured, Antonias?” “He mentioned it the night we apprehended you, but I assumed it was a bluff meant to scare the council and deter them from taking you. We had little time to form a plan for your rescue; I had to leave right away to stage my accident and when I returned Holy Guards had already taken him for the ritual.” He replied fearfully.
I nodded, and the complicated pieces of this kingdom’s politics were slowly starting to fall into place. All but one. A brave wave of anger filled my chest like a balloon.
“You said, you had been grooming Antonias for years, yet Titus planned the murder of the council only a couple days ago, were you planning on…removing him too?” I asked boldly, throwing harsh intensity with my stare at the Viscount.
