Page 17 of Queen of Legends and Lies (Dragons of Tirene #4)

Chapter Fifteen

The next morning, Eldor appears at my door, a tray in his hands and a purposeful glint in his russet eyes. With his chin-length hair sticking out in every direction, he bustles past me without waiting for an invitation and clinks the tray onto the low table.

As usual, my grandfather is armed to the teeth. Though the man is a skilled fighter and a little rough around the edges, he also enjoys studying and possesses knowledge on a vast array of topics.

I gesture toward the table. “The maids already brought my breakfast.”

Cups, plates, and a cluster of papers—including invoices, military movements, guard schedules, and laws—populate the surface. After passing out almost immediately following the coronation, I woke up with the compulsion to educate myself.

I can’t be a good queen if I fail to understand how the kingdom works.

“Alannah’s special healing tea.” He pours the steaming liquid into an earthenware cup.

“Made from new buds of the Fusion Root Vine she’s been tending.

Rather creepy looking if you ask me, but it’s good for a variety of problems like heat exhaustion, aching kidneys, brain fog, dry mouth, fatigue. Probably other ailments too.”

I’m pretty certain my grandfather’s just filling the silence, trying to ease the tension coiling within me.

I curl my fingers around the cup, soaking in the warmth. “Do the Fusion Root plants suffer from mites?” My need to keep the conversation light drives the question more than true curiosity.

Eldor raises a silver-speckled eyebrow, mild surprise flickering across his features. “Yes, they do. At times.”

Nodding, I sip the tea. Earthy bitterness slides down my throat, and the vapors soothe my dry mouth and sinuses.

Eldor scrutinizes me. “You’re dehydrated. That’s why you have no tears. Why your eyes are so dry.”

“Yeah, it’s probably because things got pretty dicey during my adventure with Agnar,” I deflect, not ready to dive into that well of emotions, “and I’ve been doing a lot of traveling. Long flights on dragons dries out your eyes.”

His frown signals his skepticism. “You were dehydrated yesterday morning as well.”

I shrug. The tea soothes me though. As I drink, I realize I never had a chance to talk to anyone about what I saw after the ceremony.

“Yesterday, when I collapsed, I had some sort of hallucination.” I gulp another mouthful while he sets his own cup down and grants me his full attention.

“Armies of corrupted spilling over the walls, endless caves stacked with the dying, battlefields littered with all the peoples of the land, and Xenon sitting on a stone throne, ruling over it all.”

Eldor’s face hardens, the playful grandfather slipping away to reveal the strategist, the guardian. “It doesn’t sound like a hallucination, Lark.” I can almost see the wheels spinning behind those guarded eyes. “It sounds like a vision.”

“From a god?” I lean back. I’m so tired of puzzles, of gods and their meddling. And yet, here I am, sipping tea and talking about visions that may very well decide the fate of a kingdom.

His eyes narrow ever so slightly. “No. From Rhiann.”

My expression mirrors his. While deserved, his sarcasm still irks me. Especially since I feel like crap.

“Yes, the gods. More specifically, Mar.” He speaks as if the goddess is an old friend rather than a deity known for weaving dreams terrible enough to reduce the mightiest warrior into a quivering child.

“Mar.” I recoil as if the word itself were a serpent. “That’s Narc’s sister.”

Eldor nods, his jaw tight. “And Nyc’s daughter.”

Anger flares within me, burning hotter than fire magic.

Those gods with their entangled web of power and mystery always seem to ensnare us mortals, regardless of our desires.

Images of the stone throne and the endless caves flicker behind my eyelids.

I wonder what game the gods are playing with my fate now.

“Great. Just what I need. More divine meddling in my life.” My sarcasm matches his, revealing our blood relation better than any of our physical traits. “What are they doing to me? Trying to light a fire under my ass? Give me a clue? Frighten me into action? Or just drive me batshit crazy?”

“Maybe all of the above.” Eldor raises a single brow as he refills my tea. “Or maybe not.”

“Very helpful.” I snatch the cup and gulp down another few swallows, the bitter liquid a complement to my mood. “I’m getting a little tired of the gods.”

I plunk the cup back onto the tray with enough force to slosh liquid over the rim.

Eldor offers a small, knowing smile, the kind that says he’s experienced this type of divine play before. He rests his elbows on his knees as he changes tack. “Tell me about Knox. What happened the other night? Before the fires and the flooding.”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Not that part.” He snorts, gifting me with a sound I’ve heard only a handful of times. “Not the fun details. Just the basics and anything else. Like how you were able to communicate with him in the first place.”

I circle my pointer finger around the rim of my teacup while I think. “How I found him, I’m not sure. I went to sleep wanting to reach out to him. Then, while dreaming, I kept feeling that way. Missing him, longing for him.”

“You knew you were dreaming?”

My mind drifts back to that time. “Yes. I can’t explain how, but I just knew. And then, he spoke to me.”

“So he was reaching out to you too.” He bobs his head as if he expected that.

“I suppose so. I reached out and found him. We talked a little bit, and then a lightninglike energy zapped through me…through us both. I won’t tell you what we were doing when I felt it.” My cheeks burn hotter than any flame I could conjure.

“Best not.” Amusement dances in his eyes as he refills my cup yet again. “I’ve never done anything like that in my entire life, you know.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “I might actually believe that if you weren’t my grandfather. So I know you’ve done something like that at least once.”

He coughs before rubbing at his chest like his tea went down the wrong pipe. “Looks like you really have inherited my sarcasm. And, yes, I have plenty of experience in those matters. I just don’t want to hear about yours. The same way you don’t want to hear about mine. Deal?”

“Deal.” I bite my lip, trying not to grin at his obvious discomfort, and switch the subject. “And there was also the message from Xenon.”

Eldor’s composure falters, showcasing a rare crack in his usual poise. “What message?”

“A messenger delivered a note from Xenon, saying, ‘What were you doing with Knox last night? He’s cold. So very cold. Colder than he’s ever been. The drachen, you know. I fear he’ll die soon. Let’s talk.’ Right after that, we had to deal with those fires and the flooding well.”

“Flames and floods. That’s very interesting.” His casual tone grates on my already frayed nerves.

“It’s awful,” I snap, my frustration spilling over. “How can you find this interesting?”

“Because…the night you felt that lightning energy, the flames across the palace burned higher, and buildings caught fire. The main well was filled…and then it overflowed.”

I gawk like he’s grown a second head, struggling to piece together the puzzle he’s laying out. “What does all that mean?”

Eldor leans back, his gaze holding mine as if he’s peering into my very soul. “I believe something bigger’s happening, Lark. I think your powers merged with Knox’s.”

Merged?

“Have you ever felt something like that before? The lightning zap, I mean.” He waves a hand, indicating this experience could be from any time.

I frown, ready to deny it. Then I remember. “With Agnar. At Tír Ríoga.”

“Explain.” When he tilts his head, his dark hair cloaks the worry creasing his forehead.

I recount the tale, sharing everything I recall about the fight at the Pass of Chains.

No amount of hair could hide Eldor’s concern now. “I suspect it happened there, too, with Agnar. But I can’t be certain.”

“Merging our magic? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Then again, this wouldn’t be my first encounter with inexplicable ancient magic.

Warded books that only certain people can touch. A city that cannot be found unless you follow a specific path. Locks that only open with the drop of a specific person’s blood.

Magic is clearly capable of more than we know.

Eldor waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’ve never found anything in the histories regarding this. Nothing in your visions to give you a hint about this?”

“Nothing.” I shake my cup and watch the last drops of tea dance. “However, if the gods want to be involved in this, I’ll be sure to ask them about it. And about why they sent me images in the middle of my coronation.”

And right before Celeste landed with Sterling on the back of her mount. And yet again, I failed to save him.

Tears prickle my eyes. I widen them so Eldor won’t notice.

Tears? Tears!

I spring to my feet. “The tea worked!”

Eldor’s body jerks at my sudden motion. “What?”

I rush forward and press a kiss to his cheek.

“That tea worked. Thank you, Grandfather. After you drowned me in your tea, I’m no longer dehydrated.

” I race for the door. “I’ll tell the guards to show you to the archives, so you can search for anything involving the merging of powers.

You and I might be the only people in the palace who can find such books. ”

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

Glass clatters behind me, but I’m too focused on leaving to glance back. “I’m going to heal Knox.”