Page 85 of King of Fire and Flames

“It’s really not a laughing matter, Arrow. You’re quite deranged. Do you know that?”

He gripped my shoulders, stopping my restless pacing. “I don’t think you understand how far I’ll go to protect you. No atrocity would be too vile and no being safe should they make the mistake to stand between us. Don’t you think I would’ve already razed Taln three times over if it would ensure your safety, love?”

“No more,” I said, pressing my face against his chest plate. “Promise me that from now on, only good deeds will be committed in the name of our love. And by the way, are these gold feathers still poisonous in Taln?”

“Unfortunately, no.” His deep voice rumbled against my cheek. “My first good deed in honor of our love will be to free the orc from the fire cave.”

I stared up at him. “How? And when?”

“Tomorrow at dawn we’ll meet at the moat. Ari will bring you under her reaver’s cloak, and we shall save the petals for defeating Melaya and his brother.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer to do it at night?”

“No,” Ari said, guiding me to settle on the chair in front of the mirror. “They won’t expect us to make a move in plain sight. Arrow must leave now and finalize the plan, and you and I will prepare for tomorrow by conserving our energy and getting a good night’s rest.”

Arrow moved Ari out of his way and stole a kiss from me. “Good night, my Aldara. Sleep well.”

As the Storm King exited, Ari began unpinning my braids. As she brushed my hair, the slow strokes soothed me into a frowning silence as I thought over everything that had been said tonight.

Ari put the brush on the dresser, then squeezed my shoulders. “Leaf, I can hear you worrying. Please try to relax. Arrow and I have a plan in motion. A good one. Trust us.”

What choice did I have? I couldn’t rescue Orion on my own.

Chapter 26

Leaf

When I woke up the next day, the sun had already risen, and a soft mauve light slanted through the cracks in the curtains. With a gasp, I leaped out of bed, then stumbled around my chamber as I tried to get my bearings.

Where was Ari? Had she slept in, too?

I threw on clothes—a dark red tunic over my Mydorian leathers, Arrow’s feather cloak wrapped around my shoulders—then opened the door.

“Morning,” I said, surprised to find Raiden and Zaret standing outside my room. “I’m going for a walk.”

“We’ll join you,” said Raiden.

“Uh, probably not a good idea. I didn’t get much sleep last night so won’t be very good company.”

“We don’t mind getting our heads snapped off. And Arrow asked us to keep you safe, Zali,” said Zaret. “You should remain in your room until he returns. I’m sorry.”

Right. So those dust-damned traitors had left without me. Or at least they thought they had. Arrow must have forgotten how I reacted to orders. I ignored them.

“Oh? And where is Arrow?” I asked, holding the edge of the door and swinging it back and forth in a distracted manner. “And have you seen Ari this morning?”

Raiden smiled, subtle creases bracketing his warm, brown eyes. “I think you know very well where they are. And in case it all goes to shit, he wanted you as far away from the scene as possible.”

“Okay, that’s reasonable. I’ll take a bath, then. And since you’re so concerned about my safety, I’ll even leave the door open a little so you can hear if I drown.”

Making sure the gap was wide enough for me to fit through, I smiled sweetly, then hurried to the bathing room. I ran the water, clunked some soap about in the tub, and dropped a couple of towels on the floor to mimic the sound of my clothes hitting the floor. Then I pulled an orchid petal from my pocket and rubbed it over my chest.

Magic shivered through me, and I swiveled to face the mirror. Good. It was blank. I turned the faucet off, splashed my hand through the water for a minute, then quietly slipped through the door and past my well-meaning guards into the crisp morning air.

Soon, the chill would disperse, and the sky would be ablaze with dragon fire, but for now, even the dragons and their trainers slumbered soundly in their beds.

When I arrived at the fire moat, no khareek, sneaky Storm King, or two-faced reaver elf were waiting for me. I hurried to the cliffs and peered over the edge. Still no sign of Arrow or Ari, but at least the fire cave was visible, tiny sparks swirling from its mouth, eddying in lazy patterns toward puffy white clouds in the lightening sky.

My heart pounded as I climbed down the slope onto the path cut into the cliff side, and then proceeded toward the cave, terrified of what I might find when I arrived.

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