Page 62 of The Throne Seeker

“What is it?” Tristan asked, stepping beside her, his eyes on the arrow.

“Dragonshade,” she whispered, so low only Tristan could hear, not wanting to alarm the others.

Tristan’s mouth fell open. “What? How is that even possible? Are you sure?”

“I’m certain,” she said, and she was. His body’s inability to cool itself, the way he couldn’t keep any liquids down, his dilated pupils. “Don’t you see the traces of red?”

Tristan shook his head, inspecting it himself. “I don’t see anything.”

Her brows pinched, wondering why he couldn’t see what was so clearly right in front of him, but it didn’t matter.

“Please tell me there’s something that’ll save him,” Tristan whispered.

“There’s an antidote, but it grows far to the north—too far. Past the borders and into the lands of Ostlyn. I’m afraid he doesn’t have nearly that much time… He’ll be lucky if he lasts the night.”

Tristan’s expression hardened into determination. “There must be something else.”

She searched her memory. Dragonshade was a poison cultivated from finely crushed scales of dragons. And like all magical elements, they held unique attributes… She had an idea.

“When it comes to things with magical properties, often its opposite is what can bring balance,” she recounted, remembering a quote from a book she’d read.

“I don’t understand,” Tristan replied. “What’s the opposite of Dragonshade?”

“Not the poison itself—the opposite of the dragon’s power source.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we need something powerful enough to match the Dragonshade’s properties,” she explained simply.

“What could match one of the most powerful species of our realm?” Tristan asked, shifting his distressed gaze to Roman.

She didn’t know. The dragons of old had not been sighted for centuries. The only thing that could come close was another magical creat?—

“The phoenix.” Her head snapped up, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. “Its tears might be enough to matchits properties with its healing powers. It’s the only thing that might be able to help him.”

Tristan turned to his parents, who were eagerly watching them. “We need the phoenix. Where is it?”

His mother took two timid steps closer, concern brimming in her wet eyes as she looked to her husband for an answer.

Understanding flooded the king’s gaze. “It’s being returned to its home as we speak. As soon as the ceremony ended, its caretaker took off with it.”

“We have to stop them,” Rose said. It was Roman’s only chance. “I’ll get a horse and see if I can catch them on the road.”

Tristan’s hand shot out, locking on her arm, looking at her like she was mental. “No. I’ll go. I don’t want you putting yourself in danger.”

“You’ll both go,” King Henrik said, ending the debate for them. “We’ll stay and look after Roman. Go… and hurry.”

The queen muffled a sob.

“We will,” Rose promised.

There was no time to lose.

CHAPTER 28

The two made it to the stables in record time, Tristan mounting his horse first. Rose slipped past her steed to uncover the sword she had hidden in the hay for her training, securing it to her back before climbing up onto her horse.

His eyes widened as he watched her. “Since when did you get a sword? And how did you know it was there?”