I turn with Baron at my heels and head back to the castle before she can respond. She knows something is off, but this isn't the time to question me.
Back in my room, I set to building a fire in my hearth. My servants have all been sent to aid in rebuilding, leaving me alone to tend to myself. I enjoy the silence, the peace, the solitude. Or I would, if the threat of the annihilation of my people wasn't hanging over my head, along with the loss of Arianna.
I undress, knowing I must rest, as I've barely slept since Arianna was taken.
A screech freezes me. Loud, all-consuming. Outside.
I run for the window, my stomach coiling.
I am the Prince of War. The Prince of Death.
But when I look outside, I know fear.
A phoenix blazes through the sky. Its wings span bridges. Its claws are large enough to tear apart a house. It cries out, a high screech, full of malice and dread, and I know my entire kingdom can hear it. Tonight, they will all look upon the sky, and they will see fire.
The phoenix dives over the forest. The forest where Kayla and my people work.
It glides over the tall trees, sparking them with red flames.
Setting the forest on fire.
Men and women yell and scream and run to fetch water.
But they will not contain this raging inferno.
The world burns.
And our hope burns with it.
Chapter 7
REMEMBER ME
"Yours is the sign of Lucian."
—Kal'Hallen
We make a sorry lot, spread throughout a barren hall. Most of the Fae left quickly after the Druids. Asher and King Lucian stand in a corner, engaged in a heated discussion. Twice I have heard them shout my name.
Madrid sits alone at a table, drinking straight from a bottle of something that glows blue. Varis is gone, not seen since the disastrous presenting, and here I am, drowning my sorrows with Durk of all people.
He's less annoying when both of us are drunk.
I hold my goblet up and tap the side. "It's empty," I say. He nods somberly and refills my wine, topping his off as well.
"At least no one tried to tear my clothes off this time," I say as I drink deeply from my cup, the flavor burning my tongue.
Durk raises a bushy red eyebrow. "You are royalty, regardless of what the other Old Ones say. No one would dare touch you in such a way."
I raise my goblet. "I'll drink to that."
Our glasses clink, and we drink. My head spins. Everything feels fuzzy and less important. Less weighty. I know this won't solve my problems, but it's nice to be out of my head for a few hours, even if I'll likely regret it in the morning.
"I'm not breaking any drinking laws here, am I? This is more like Europe, with a younger drinking age?"
He frowns at me. "I know not this Europe, but you are the law."
"Right."
We toast again. For I am the law.
I hear a hiccup and turn to see Yami lifting an entire wine bottle to his mouth. I grab it from him before he drowns himself. "You are definitely too young for that!"
He mews and drops his head, giving me big sad eyes.
"Nope. No wine for you. Come here."
Yami jumps back onto my arm and climbs up to my shoulder. I place the wine bottle a safe distance from us, noticing the dragon licking his lips and tilting over a bit. There's a stain of red on his mouth.
I sigh. "Great. My baby dragon is a lush."
Durk shakes his head. "The Midnight Star does not sound as formidable as he once was."
"He's a baby," I remind him. "He will grow out of it." I hope.
No wine bottle in site, Yami glances at a platter of meats and cheeses. He dives off my shoulder, head first into the food. His claws push aside the cheese, and his little fangs tear into a slice of pork. This must be the hunger Varis warned me about.
Durk grunts at the food—which disappears into thin air for all but me—and leaves the table abruptly, returning a few minutes later with a bottle of something that glows silver, and two small shot glasses.
He fills both and hands me one.
"What's this?" I ask.
"Magic," he says, downing his shot in one gulp. His entire body shakes, and he yells, and giggles, and then his lips curl into a pleasant smile.
I sniff at my drink, then copy him, taking it all at once. I nearly gag. It burns down my esophagus and I choke, grabbing my throat, looking for something to put out the fire inside my body. I can feel it eating away at the lining of my stomach!
Durk guffaws and slaps my back, then pours us each another.
"You've got to be kidding," I choke out, still panting and waving at my mouth.
"Only way to tame the beast," he says.
I do another shot, and my world wobbles. Durk smiles at me, and I swear it's the first time he's looked at me with something other than revulsion or disdain. "You might not be as bad as all that," he says.