Page 33 of The Uncrowned King (The Bastard Duology #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Miena stood on the balcony of what had once been Villette’s rooms. Her body was flush with a recent meal of magic. Aksel had brought her a young boy, but his magic was weak. It wouldn’t satiate her hunger, but it was more than she’d had before. Even now, Aksel was searching for her next meal.

She listened to the distant sounds of roars and smiled. The next wave of dragons was attacking. More of her dragon soldiers had gone into the tunnels to find the Kings.

The air shifted around her. She was no longer alone. Miena turned to find her three siblings. She had known they would come but had hoped to be fully refueled first. The fact that Aksel hadn’t brought her another child yet made her think Daelya might have grown a spine.

“I was wondering when you three would show up,” Miena said.

“Where is Kora?” Lotti asked.

Miena shrugged. “She’s cooling off.”

“This can end now,” Eurielle offered. “Give us Kora and walk away. We won’t come after you.”

Miena grinned as she eyed Villette. “There is no walking away. All of this was supposed to be mine. I’m merely taking back what was stolen.”

“We’re not meant to act as gods,” Lotti stated.

Miena gave her a dry look. “You’ve been listening to the Kings. Of course, we are. Why else would we have such power?”

Eurielle took a step forward. “There’s no running from us. Not if you choose to remain on this path.”

“Nothing to say, Villette?” Miena asked.

Villette glanced toward Lotti and Eurielle. “The facts are plain. Three against one. It doesn’t matter how powerful you are. You won’t win.”

Miena had spent too long locked away and dreaming of this moment to lose. Even without consuming the children’s magic, she was stronger than Villette and Lotti. Eurielle was the one she needed to worry about. If only there had been time to find other kids. Villette had diligently cleared the city of those with magic. Most likely on the off chance that Miena got free. There was no time to go elsewhere now. They would all die, but she had a special plan for Villette.

“You look tired. Feeling drained?” Villette asked, a cunning smile tilting up the corners of her lips.

“I’m never too tired to put you in your place.”

Miena struck before the others could.

“Merrill!”

Con’s shout from behind him was the only warning he got before dragons came at them from both ends of the tunnel. They shifted immediately and moved back-to-back. It was difficult to move, and there wasn’t room to open their wings.

The smaller dragons got past the larger ones to attack en masse. There were so many Pinks. Merrill had been overjoyed to find that the Pinks hadn’t gone extinct as the Kings had believed. But right now, he would be thrilled never to see another. They covered him, clinging like jellyfish as their talons slid between his scales and sliced deep. He scraped them off, but they returned with a vengeance.

Merrill heard a grunt and looked over to find a Pink attempting to claw Con’s eye out while he grappled with a Bronze. Merrill felt a Pink moving toward his eyes. He rubbed his arm over his face to knock the small dragons off before grabbing the one near Con’s eye and ripping it in half.

Derek burst into a room from the tunnel. He stalked to the door and yanked it open so hard that it ripped from its hinges. Two soldiers turned at the sound and rushed him. Magic boiled up within him. He threw out his hands to release it and watched the men drop to the ground, unmoving.

He didn’t stop to check if they were alive as he stepped over them and ran out into one of the many passages beneath the palace. Soldiers spilled out of rooms. He didn’t break stride as he lifted his hand. Magic flew from his palm again and again, the guards falling instantly. A few were smart enough to run away.

His steps faltered when he heard the faraway sound of roars. No doubt Miena had sent more of her dragon army after his friends. He paused, debating whether to help them or find Kora. His mate won.

Derek found a set of stairs and ascended them. At the top, he stopped and inhaled, hoping to catch Miena’s scent. She had been in the palace, which made it hard. He got a whiff of her, but it was faint and too old.

He stalked down the next tunnel. Anyone who attempted to stop him felt his wrath. Word had spread, though, because more soldiers ran instead of taking a stand. Derek climbed the next stairs he found. It took him too long to get from the bowls of the mountain to the palace.

When he drew in a breath, he caught Kora’s scent. It was strong, but then it vanished. Derek raced through the halls, trying to find it again. Each time he had it, it rapidly moved away. He stopped on the main stairs and waited. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps below him, moving lower. Derek peered over the railing and saw the shadow of someone descending the stairs.

He leaped over the side, falling until he dropped before the person. There was a gasp as a female servant fell backward.

Derek recognized the material of the sleeves the human carried. He leaned over the woman and demanded, “Where is she?”

“W-w-who?” the woman stuttered.

“Kora.”

She shook her head and tried to shrug. “I-I don’t know who that is.”

“Where did you get those?” he challenged as he jerked his chin to the sleeves.

The woman was shaking so badly she could barely talk. “Miena told me to carry them and run up and down the stairs until she said to stop.”

“Give them to me.”

The woman quickly did as he demanded.

“If I were you, I’d get as far from Stonemore as possible,” Derek warned.

She wavered, but when he stepped back, she scrambled to her feet and raced away.

He tightened his fist around Kora’s sleeves. This wouldn’t be the last thing he held of hers.

“Wait for me,” he murmured and took the stairs three at a time.

Rhi used her sword to chop off yet another dragon’s head after it fell from the sky. Brandr, Hector, and Alasdair were bruised and bloodied, and each time a wound healed, another took its place. The dragon soldiers were relentless, a never-ending sea of scales.

She tried not to think about the fact that she was killing dragons. She consoled herself with knowing they were already dead. At least she hoped that was the case. The three Kings had tried to get through to them, but not a single dragon responded.

Rhi teleported to a white and blue dragon that had just fallen and let her blade slice into its neck. It wasn’t a clean cut. The dragon was too big, and her sword was too small for decapitation, but she got the job done.

She kept waiting to hear one of the others call for her. There wasn’t time to worry about them, not when she was dodging dragons plunging from the sky, and others coming at her. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and teleported just as a dragon twice the size of an elephant charged her.

Rhi jumped onto its back and sank her blade into its neck, using a blast of Fae magic to ensure her sword reached the spinal cord. The dragon tried to call out as its body went slack and slumped to the ground. Rhi jumped onto another dragon in midair, slicing its spine before doing a front flip onto another and cutting its spine, as well.

There was a blur of movement, and something hard slapped her face. She realized it was a wing as her sword flew from her hand. Rhi teleported to the ground and formed a large bubble of magic between her hands. She threw it at the dragon who dove from the sky toward her.

Rhi.

The sound of her name on Con’s lips made her stomach drop. It took her attention from the dragon, and a talon sank into her shoulder, yanking her from the ground. She dangled in the air as pain ripped through her. She formed a bubble of magic and threw it at the dragon.

In the next moment, she spotted moonlight glinting off gold and beige scales. Brandr was three times the size of the dragon who had her, and her son easily ripped her attacker in half. Its talon was still lodged in her shoulder, and when that part of the dragon dropped, it took her with it. Rhi didn’t have time to do anything but prepare as she hit the ground.

“Mum!” Brandr was there, his long, black hair in disarray.

She gave him a smile. “I’m a little hung up.”

He chuckled and removed the talon. Rhi glanced at her bloodied shoulder. Fae healed, just not as quickly as dragons.

“Your father called for me,” she said.

He nodded. “Go to him. We’re nearly done here.”

“More could come.”

“We’ll handle it,” Brandr said. He jumped into the air, shifting as he did before she could say more.

Rhi knew her mate’s exact location by his call and teleported to him. She found him and Merrill in a tunnel and outnumbered. They were stuck with the dead reanimating as others continued to attack. In order for them to make any headway, they needed to move.

Her gaze briefly met Con’s as she touched two dead dragons and teleported them back to her son. Rhi found her sword and cut off their heads before returning to her mate. By the time she got back with the next two dragons, Brandr was waiting. He removed the heads while she went back for the others.

She didn’t know how many trips she made before she noticed that Hector and Alasdair were helping behead the dragons. With their foes dealt with, she brought Brandr into the tunnel. He joined Merrill and Con in battle while she removed more dragons. She didn’t stop, didn’t rest until someone took hold of her arms.

Rhi looked up into a face she knew well. She threw her arms around Con’s neck and held him.

“I’m all right,” he whispered. “But you’re bleeding.”

She pulled back and smiled up at him. “It’s healing.”

“Where’s Derek?” Brandr asked.

Rhi jerked back. She hadn’t noticed that Derek wasn’t there.

“He had his own path,” Con explained. “One we couldn’t join him on.”

Merrill leaned his back against the wall as he rested. “We’re to meet him at Stonemore.”

They were all exhausted, but there was no time to rest. “I’ll get Hector and Alasdair,” Rhi said.

Pain shot through Kora. She screamed as blood welled from her neck and gushed over her front, soaking her shirt. The warmth of it was momentarily disorienting. She couldn’t hold her head up. It hung listlessly as prickles like hundreds of tiny needles ran down her arm and into her fingers.

She tried to lift her head, but her body wouldn’t obey her. Miena wasn’t there to inflict pain, which meant Villette had been injured. That meant they were battling. Who was winning? She hated not being there, hated more that she didn’t know if Derek was okay.

There was a loud snap, and her right arm bent awkwardly at the elbow as a fresh wave of agony engulfed her. Kora welcomed the darkness when it came.

Miena was tiring much too quickly. But she had gotten several good strikes in on Villette. It was too bad she wasn’t there to see how badly Kora suffered.

Lotti was a vicious warrior. Miena was impressed by the way she fought. Lotti might not have finesse, but she made up for it with heart. It was Lotti who sent the thunderous shot of magic. Miena tried to dodge it but was too slow. She attempted to block it instead. Miena knew it was a mistake the moment she did it. She was weakened and sluggish. What little strength she had gotten from the boy had long since been depleted.

Miena’s entire body locked up, her muscles spasming when Lotti’s magic hit her. She fell to the side and rolled to her feet, barely getting her arms up to block Villette’s strike. It was why she never saw Eurielle come in behind her until it was too late.

Her flesh stung from the cut, but Miena hadn’t come this far to give up. She peeled back her lips and bellowed as she slashed out her arm, letting magic spray Villette and Lotti. It had been a quick move, and they were too close to get away. It struck them both, sending them into a sprawl on the floor.

Miena spun to face Eurielle and dragged up the last vestiges of her power. If she was going to die, she would do it fabulously. She splayed her fingers toward Eurielle, but she was again too slow. Eurielle’s magic struck from her face to her hips, knocking her into the railing.

“My queen!”

The sound of Aksel’s voice spun her around. Miena spotted the infant in his arms and was at his side in the next breath. She laid her hands on the child. Miena gasped at the magic she found there. There was no time to do it gently. She called it to her, hastily pulling it from the child into herself until she had it all. The babe wailed from the pain. Miena was once more nourished.

“Bring me more,” she ordered the priest.

“Miena!” Lotti shouted.

She turned to her enemies, Aksel and the wailing child forgotten. Lotti’s face was a mask of rage as Eurielle stood aghast beside her. Villette pulled herself to her feet as the three of them stood against her once more.

Miena smiled as she motioned for them to attack. But she was ready when they came at her. Her body was flush with power, and it allowed her to be quick and agile, dodging attacks effortlessly. She tried to be careful so as not to use too much too quickly. The last thing she wanted was to be drained again.

She screamed when blood spurted from a cut on her forearm. Lotti smiled as she danced away, a dagger in her hand. Eurielle and Villette rushed her together. Miena had battled both too many times not to expect such a move. She evaded Eurielle and delivered a hard punch to Villette’s kidney.

Miena then teleported behind Lotti and shoved her at Eurielle, who had to catch her instead of delivering another blow to Miena.