Page 34

Aurora

“L ooks like the sovereign got your message,” I said as the palace came into view.

Ranks of armored soldiers were visible on the roof, the palace guards out in full force as we approached. The sun glinted off polished scaled-plate armor, emphasizing the perfect lines of wary, watchful guards. Heads were on swivels as we neared, multiple sets of eyes stayed laser focused on us.

It made sense that they would be on high alert. Not long after Damian had regained consciousness, a local from the nearby town had arrived, having seen the fight from a distance. It hadn’t taken much to convince the man to fly to the palace as fast as possible to inform the sovereign. With that taken care of, I’d forced Damian to rest overnight before we followed in the morning.

“Maybe.”

I jerked my attention away from the welcoming party. “What do you mean ‘maybe’? Look at this. She’s got everyone turned out.”

“Then why aren’t they at the walls? Why aren’t they out protecting the other scepters?” he said as we continued to descend. “We aren’t that important. It’s not like we’re bringing the last scepter back to be guarded by them.”

“Hmmm.” I looked back at the guards on the roof again with a fresh eye.

There did seem to be an inordinately large number clustered close to the center of the roof, near where Damian was likely to land.

“Do you think something happened while we were gone? Is the sovereign okay? If they could get to the scepters, maybe they could get to her?”

He flared his wings, slowing us dramatically. “That’s possible. Or maybe she found the bastards behind all this and everyone is just still on guard? I don’t know.”

Damian set down smoothly onto the roof. I waited until he’d settled and then got up from where I sat at the base of his neck and started to climb down the length of his wing. As I did, he swung his snout around, bringing it near my face.

“Stay close.”

I nodded, dropping from his wing earlier than usual so I could press in tight to him while he changed.

“Something’s definitely off,” I mumbled under my breath, watching the faces of the soldiers waiting for us.

“Agreed.”

None of them showed any overt emotion, but that in itself was a giveaway, especially when paired with their eyes and the set of their feet. They almost looked ready for a fight.

“Hey,” I said, coming to a decision as Damian reassumed his human form. “Listen, there’s something I should tell you. About last night and the attack. I was going to wait and tell only you and the sovereign together. I didn’t want it to get leaked. But—”

If the sudden narrowing of Damian’s eyes hadn’t told me something was happening, the clanking of scale-plate armor behind me would’ve been a dead giveaway. I turned slowly to see what the commotion was about while Damian stepped in front of me.

“What is the meaning of this?” he growled, the gravelly bass a warning that brought the advancing lines of soldiers to an uneasy halt.

One guard stepped forward. “Magistrate.”

Though there was nothing about his armor to differentiate him from the others, it was obvious from his bearing, the spine-straight posture and sharpness of movement—not to mention the respect in his voice—that this was the leader. A man used to commanding others, to being followed. Not out of fear but out of respect.

Damian didn’t care. He didn’t relax, didn’t move a muscle. “Explain yourself, Captain.”

“As a man of the law, I’m sure you understand the necessity of following orders, Magistrate. That’s what I’m doing here.” As the guard captain spoke, his men fanned out, surrounding us in a square of metal and dragon scale.

“Explain. Yourself. What orders? Under whose authority? I have done nothing to warrant this treatment,” he snarled.

The captain frowned. “You misunderstand, Magistrate. My orders do not pertain to you.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Me? What the hell did I do? Am I in trouble for not fighting a dragon? You do know I’m human, right? Not a whole lot I could do.”

Damian waved me silent. “Captain. She is with me.”

“No, Magistrate. She is under arrest.”

“Councilor Kerstun does not have the authority to do that,” Damian snarled, rolling his shoulders.

The soldiers stiffened, preparing themselves for a fight.

“My orders,” the captain said, keeping his cool, “come from the sovereign herself, Magistrate. Would you defy your ruler?”

Damian stiffened, glancing at me.

“She has not done anything wrong.”

“I’ve done everything asked of me,” I added. “What is the reason for this arrest? I demand to know.”

“Silence, human,” the captain said, the first hint of his prejudice showing. “In the land of dragons, we don’t have to tell you anything.”

Damian rumbled warningly, stepping forward.

A dozen soldiers lifted their swords and took a matching step forward at the same time. The threat was clear: Come along peacefully, or come in pieces.

“Damian,” I said nervously as two guards stepped up to me holding manacles. “What do I do?”

He grimaced.

“Damian?” I repeated as my hands were forced behind my back and trapped in stainless steel restraints. “What do I do?”

“I …” His nostrils flared, eyes filled with a deep simmering anger.

“Take her away,” the captain said.

“Damian?”

Soldiers grabbed me by the arms, hustling me off the room.

“I will free you!” he called over the sound of their armor.

I tried to respond as we went down the stairs, but one of the guards drove his elbow into my stomach. “Be silent, human.”

Gasping for air, I wrenched my arm away, trying to get free, to run back to Damian. The guards grip was like a vise on my biceps, barely yielding at all to my struggle.

“I didn’t do anything,” I spat, struggling impotently as we descended to the lower levels of the palace. “I’m not the bad guy here.”

The guards didn’t respond. They simply took me to a cell and tossed me inside, slamming the heavy bars shut. I didn’t bother trying to see if I could do anything to them. They were made for a dragon, not me. There was no way I was escaping.

“Enjoy your stay,” one of them smirked before leaving me alone in the dark, damp palace dungeon.

The cold crept in as I leaned against the metal barriers, sinking in past my clothing and through my skin until it settled deep into my bones, numbing me to the core.

He’d left me. Damian had just let me be taken, thrown in jail, when he knew I hadn’t done anything.

“I’m never going to fit in here,” I whispered, resting my head on the bars, feeling the futility of it all. “They’re never going to accept me.”

Not even him.