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M areleau couldn’t imagine who Ailan was referring to, but curiosity got the better of her. Ailan headed for the door while Mareleau rose to her feet and gathered Noah from his playmat. She retrieved her carrying sling from the end of her bed and tucked Noah into it as she strode out of her room. Ailan was waiting in the hall.

“Who am I meeting?”

Ailan gave her a sly grin. “You’ll see. I’m not sure you’d come if I told you.”

That wasn’t at all comforting.

Yet her interest was thoroughly piqued as Ailan led her through the palace halls. She was so distracted with trying to puzzle out their destination that she forgot to marvel at her surroundings until they were three floors down. Mareleau hadn’t left her room much since arriving at the palace, save for the tribunal meeting. Now that she’d earned the tribunal’s binding vow of respect and protection, she was allowed to explore the palace, but it was an unfamiliar place filled with strange people. She’d felt safest in her room.

They reached the bottom floor of the palace, where the ceilings rose four times as high as the ones in the upper halls. Elegant chandeliers sparkled with pale blue and white crystals that caught rays of sunlight and sent shards of glittering illumination upon the walls. Guards dressed in silver armor over white silk robes lined the hall ahead. They bowed as the trio passed. A pair of Elvyn footmen in blue-and-ivory robes opened the ornate double doors ahead.

Sunlight streamed through the doorway as Ailan led the way. A white marble staircase stretched out before them, leading to a large courtyard. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mareleau glanced behind her, taking in the exterior of the palace for the first time. Her jaw hung on its hinge as she assessed the towering ivory turrets, the gilded balconies, and the pale blue crystalline walls that comprised the lower portions of the structure. She hadn’t been able to see much of the castle from her bedroom or any of the halls she’d walked through, but this…

This made her realize just how massive Alles’Taria Palace truly was. It was twice as large as Verlot.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ailan’s voice startled her from her awe. She stood beside Mareleau, a wistful expression in her eyes as she admired the structure. There was something almost sad about the look. “Alles’Taria was named and modeled after the original seat of the Morkara, the palace that had been built over El’Ara’s heart.”

“What happened?” Mareleau asked. “I know five hundred years is a long time, but all that’s left of the palace is a rock. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“Centerpointe Rock,” Ailan said with a nod. “I’ve seen it once, during the battle last spring. With my memories compromised, I didn’t recognize it for what it was. I knew it marked an invisible well of fae magic, but I didn’t understand how or why. Now I remember.”

Ailan’s expression darkened. She turned her gaze away from the spires and started off toward one of the many gardens that surrounded the courtyard. This garden contained tiny trees in myriad shapes and varieties, stone gardens marked with impossibly high cairns, as well as several ponds. Mareleau could only half focus on the beauty. The rest of her attention lingered on the subject they’d left behind.

She knew roughly how Ailan’s battle with Darius had ended—he’d killed his mother before Satsara had managed to finish her ward. Then he and Ailan were trapped in the human world. But what had their plan been, and how had Darius thwarted it?

“I was supposed to lure Darius far from the palace,” Ailan said as they wove through a grove of waist-high trees with vibrant needle-like leaves and twisting, twining trunks. “My army was meant to keep his attention off what my mother was doing. Her dragon was with my forces too, to convince him Satsara was among us. It was imperative that we keep him fighting until my mother’s wardweaving was finished. That meant we couldn’t overwhelm his army, for that would only make him worldwalk back to the human world for reinforcements. Upon his return, if he tried to worldwalk to any location already covered by the Veil, he’d find himself blocked and know what my mother was up to.

“So we held back, sacrificing our soldiers so he’d keep fighting us, keep thinking he was seconds away from victory. Only once the Veil was complete would we give it our all and either kill him or obliterate his army enough that he’d worldwalk away. If the Veil was finished, he’d never be able to reenter El’Ara again.

“But he was smarter than that. Or, at the very least, he suspected we were holding back. He and I were fighting one-on-one when the truth dawned on him. He hissed our mother’s name, and I knew it was over. I reached for him, latched onto his arm right as he worldwalked away, forcing him to take me with him. Next thing I knew, we were in the forest north of the palace. In another heartbeat, he was gone. He’d left me behind on purpose. Either he’d anticipated I’d try to grab him or he realized it as soon as I touched him and altered his destination.

“I ran to the palace as fast as I could, but Mother was already dead and the palace was destroyed. It may have been the force of Satsara tying off the edges of her Veil so suddenly, or the pressure of forcing El’Ara into the human world, but Alles’Taria Palace was obliterated when I got there. The guards were dead, crushed in the rubble or murdered by my brother. He was killing those who remained as I arrived, popping in and out of thin air to behead the survivors before they even had a chance to defend themselves.

“He came for me next, taunting me about how he’d ended our mother’s life while hugging her. While telling her he loved her. He’d slit her throat right after she’d smiled up at him and said she loved him too. He didn’t yet know that she’d also tied off her wardweaving, blocking him from El’Ara thereafter, but once he did, he tried to kill me in earnest. No more taunting. No more games. So I did what I thought I should in that split second before he tried to behead me; I relinquished my title as Morkara to my unnamed heir.”

Mareleau’s stomach sank with guilt. She’d condemned Ailan for having made such a reckless choice back then, but could she blame her? She hadn’t had much time for rational thought when her enemy could appear from thin air to surprise her with a blade through her neck at any moment.

They reached the far end of the garden where an arch in a tall hedge wall opened to a sloping hillside behind the palace. Rocky steps led down to where the crystalline palace walls gave way to natural stone. There daylight melted to shadow, the sunlight obscured by the turrets.

“Where are we going?” Mareleau asked, her curiosity now tinged with apprehension.

“To the dragon caves beneath the palace,” Ailan said. “Ferrah, Uziel, and the hatchlings live there.”

“Wait…don’t tell me…”

“I want you to meet the dragons.”

The blood left her face and she hugged Noah close to her, though he was already as close as he could be in his sling. She glanced down at his sleeping face, then back at Ailan. “Why?”

“You want an asset that will make you feel safe? If you earn the dragons’ respect, they will listen to you.”

Mareleau blinked at her. “Safe? You think being around a dragon will make me feel safe? You do realize Ferrah shattered the windows of my bedroom at Ridine Castle and nearly had me skewered with glass. And now you want me to take Noah into a cave full of the creatures?”

“They will not harm him.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation in Ailan’s voice, only warmth. “He is their Morkara. They would no sooner hurt him than me. Besides, Ferrah didn’t mean to hurt or alarm you at Ridine. She’d been looking for you. According to Uziel, he and Ferrah acted against the archers in your defense. They saw a threat to you, not them.”

“According to Uziel,” she echoed. “As in…you can talk to him?”

“I can communicate with him. It’s almost like talking. Should you ever grow close enough to one of the dragons to bond with one, you’ll learn what I mean.”

Mareleau pulled her head back. “That…that’s an option for me? To bond with a dragon?”

“Maybe not today, but someday, perhaps. For now, I am confident you can earn enough of their respect to get them to listen to you, the same way they listen to my consort. That way, even if I am not here, you can take comfort in commanding them to protect you.”

This was madness. Mareleau should refuse to take a step further. She should run.

But she didn’t.

Instead, a strange thrill buzzed through her. Whether it was out of a need to protect her son or simply her ego wanting to be important enough to command a dragon, she knew not. All she knew was that as Ailan continued to descend farther and farther down the hill, toward the craggy base of the castle, her feet followed. Even as her heart raced. Even as sweat pooled beneath her armpits.

They reached the base of the palace where a dark maw split the stone. There really were caves beneath the palace. Dragons lurking floors beneath her bedroom. Who would have thought?

“Being formally introduced to a dragon…is it dangerous?” she asked. It had almost been deadly for Cora, after all.

“It won’t be dangerous for you, I promise.” Ailan led the way inside the cave opening. Darkness enveloped them at once, and Mareleau threw out her hands for guidance. One palm met a stony wall. She was about to call out for Ailan to wait when a spark of light blinked just ahead. Then another.

Mareleau took a few hesitant steps. Each one sparked more and more tiny pinpricks of blue-green light. After a few more steps, the walls and ceiling lit up like starlight, casting her, Noah, and Ailan in an aqua glow.

“Dragon flame reacts with the minerals in these caves and leaves these residuals. They get denser and denser the deeper we go.”

Ailan was right. As they wove deeper into the tunnels, more of the light painted the walls until she could see everything from the ground to the curving, rocky walls, to the towering ceilings dripping glowing stalactites. It was one of the most beautiful yet eerie sights she’d ever seen. If only Larylis were here. If only Noah was awake and old enough to appreciate such splendor.

If this were your home…

Longing and guilt clashed in her heart. What a traitorous thought that was, when she was already Queen of Vera.

But El’Ara is an entire world. A world like this . A world with magic and miracles I’ve yet to see .

She shook the thoughts from her head.

“My bonding ritual with Uziel ended in danger,” Ailan said, “but that was only because of my brother. He disrespected my mother’s dragon, and Berolla meant to punish him, not me. Two of her talons raked through my chest, nearly puncturing my heart, but Uziel intervened just in time. Berolla was so distraught over what she’d been tricked into doing that she atoned by sacrificing the two very talons that had cut me.”

“What do you mean she sacrificed her talons?”

“She voluntarily severed two claws from her toes. That collar Cora had was made from those talons. It took us months to understand the magic Berolla had infused them with. No, that isn’t accurate. My mother knew, for Berolla had told her, but Satsara had hidden the talons’ true purpose from us. It wasn’t until we were close to losing the fight with my brother that Mother finally told us what we could do with the claws. That we could stop Darius from worldwalking by puncturing his flesh with them.”

“The war with Darius raged for multiple months ?” Shame sank her stomach as soon as the naive words left her mouth. Of course they’d fought for months. War could last years. Decades, even. Some queen she was. She changed the subject. “You said Berolla infused the talons with magic. Do all dragon talons contain different kinds of magic?”

Ailan shook her head. “Talon magic is rare. Like unicorn horns, talons disappear into ash after the dragon dies. Only a talon gifted from a live dragon contains magic, and it is up to that dragon to decide how to infuse it. No Elvyn would ever ask of such a sacrifice from a dragon. We’re lucky Darius never learned of this ability, or he would have found a way to exploit this gift from them.”

Nausea turned her gut, along with another pang of guilt. She’d once ordered three princes to hunt unicorns and bring her a pelt, a pet, and a magical horn. Little had she known, the process for taking a horn was nothing short of torture. Yet another choice she regretted making.

The illumination painting the cave walls brightened, drawing Mareleau’s eyes to the view ahead. An enormous cavern spread before them, the ceiling twice as tall as it had been before. Tiny pools of flame flickered over the cavern floor in a multitude of colors—red, green, orange, purple. A hulking shape rested at the center of the floor, its silhouette rising and falling like a breathing mountain. Then, with a grumble that shook the ground beneath Mareleau’s feet, the shape moved, stretched, lengthened, until it unraveled as Uziel. His enormous dark head lifted from beside his body. His tail swished across the floor as he flicked his tongue toward Ailan.

Another shape stirred behind Uziel, which launched a swarm of tiny, winged creatures—baby dragons?—into the air. They flew off to perch on stalactites and stalagmites, circling the structures with wary looks at the intruders.

Mareleau shrank back. The baby dragons were only the size of a small dog, but they moved so quickly, stared so suspiciously.

Her eyes darted back to Uziel as the creature behind him fully awakened. The aqua glow of the walls glinted off opalescent scales and white feathered wings. After a stretch like Uziel had made, Ferrah bounded over the black dragon, as agile as a cat, and sat back on her haunches. Her sinuous back curved in an arch while her tail lazily coiled and uncoiled beside her. Long white whiskers draped from her maw—a rather toothy maw that was on full display as she yawned.

Uziel slithered over to Ailan, something like a purr rumbling in his throat. Ailan absently stroked his enormous snout as she spoke. “Uziel has agreed to listen to you. The others don’t seem interested in meeting you at this time, but Ferrah seems curious enough.”

“Others—” Just then, Mareleau noticed the other hulking shapes that she’d first taken for boulders. There were at least half a dozen other dragons asleep in the cave, though all were slightly smaller than Ferrah.

Mareleau’s gaze moved to the white dragon, who watched Mareleau like she was a fascinating jewel.

Or a snack.

She tightened her arms around Noah’s sleeping form.

“Would you like to introduce yourself to her?” Ailan’s expression was so hopeful, contrasting the churning in Mareleau’s gut.

She wanted to say no, to flee, to never look back, but beneath her anxiety, that bold thrill remained.

Not waiting for Mareleau’s answer, Ailan stepped closer to Ferrah, gesturing for Mareleau to follow.

Her legs trembled, but she found herself moving before she could think better of it.

Ferrah’s tongue flicked out but she didn’t startle, didn’t hiss, didn’t do any of the things Mareleau feared she’d do.

“Bow to her,” Ailan instructed. “Keep your moves slow and steady.”

Mareleau could barely hear her through the blood roaring in her ears. Her heart hammered so hard it felt as if it would climb from her throat. Yet bow she did, as smoothly as she dared. As she straightened, Ailan instructed her in what to do with her hands. She kept one loose and open at her side—which meant she had to fully turn Noah’s weight over to his sling—while she extended the other toward the dragon.

Seven devils, a dragon. I’m greeting a godsforsaken dragon. What if she eats my hand? What if she eats my baby? What if she eats me?

Her panic rose to a crescendo, but she managed to perform the correct movements. Palm toward Ferrah. Hold still. Then breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Ferrah rose from her haunches and took a step toward her.

Mareleau nearly lost her nerve and leaped back, but Ailan warned her to hold her position.

Ferrah stepped closer again. Then again. Her tongue flicked in and out with every step until it glanced over Mareleau’s palm. She shuddered as it tickled her skin.

Gods, those teeth were close.

Too close.

Ferrah held her gaze for several uncomfortable moments.

Then, with a ground-shaking huff, Ferrah bounded off, feathered wings pressed close to her sides.

Mareleau’s gaze whipped to Ailan. She expected to see disappointment on the other woman’s face, but instead she wore a wide grin.

“You see?” Ailan said with a chuckle as Uziel sniffed the side of her head, his breath blowing Ailan’s black hair in messy streams. “You’ve earned her respect.”

“ That was earning her respect?”

“That was more than my brother ever managed. She’ll listen to you now. Somewhat.”

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. A secret side of her had hoped she’d earn more than just Ferrah’s respect. She’d hoped maybe she’d bond with the creature too. Succeed at what Darius had failed.

“You’ll have plenty of chances to bond with a dragon in the future,” Ailan said, as if she could read Mareleau’s thoughts.

Mareleau opened her mouth to deny such hopes when movement rippled at the mouth of the cavern. The telltale swirl of color warping the air foretold Garot’s arrival. He stepped out of his vortex and folded into a bow at once, hands open at his sides. “Forgive my intrusion, most honored ones.”

Mareleau thought the gesture was for her, Ailan, and Noah, but when he stood, his gaze darted from Uziel to the little beasts who hissed at him from their perches.

Finally, he faced Ailan. “I have an urgent update. Cora has returned, and she’s asked to speak to you at once.”