Page 76 of King of Fire and Flames

In shock, my gaze cut to his. “You’ve forgiven her?”

“It’s a long story. Now please continue our tiresome, petty argument out loud.”

Stacking the books on the table, I huffed out a sigh. “But, King Arrowyn, I’ve seen your ice work. You have a talent for sculpting bodies, buttocks in particular. I think you’d do a magnificent rendering of Prince Bakhur.”

Arrow laughed, turning it into a growl as he shot to his feet. “Are you suggesting I have a… a fascination for the Fire Prince?” he shouted.

I tried hard, but failed to stop my shoulders from shaking with laughter. “And what if I am?”

He shook his head slightly, warning me I’d gone too far. “This is the last time I come to you for artistic advice, Princess Zali. You’ve been no help at all today.”

I shrugged. “Fae kings often react poorly to constructive feedback.”

With a whispered curse, Arrow turned on his heel, his cloak whipping out behind him as he marched away. The words “Fire moat,” echoed in my mind as he swept through the library doors. “Five minutes. Don’t be late.”

The old librarian appeared at the top of the stairs again. “Is King Arrowyn all right?”

“Oh, yes,” I replied, picking up the mythology book. “Don’t mind him. He’s very sensitive about his creative process.”

The fae harrumphed, and then disappeared in a whirl of black robes.

I contemplated the book on my lap, running my finger over the gold-embossed runes and dragons on its red cover. It mostly contained long-winded tales of the deeds of ancient fire wielders.

One particularly harrowing story detailed the scene after a battle, where the fire mages set a lake alight and burned the Ice Realm families who were taking refuge in it. Another recounted how the fire fae had conquered the lost tribes of sand dragon shifters in the Light Realm thousands of years ago, a story I thought best not to share with Arrow.

At least not until we were safely back in Coridon.

I used my final minutes in the library to run through what I’d found in the books—mostly things that I already knew.

The Sun Realm’s strength stemmed from the fire fae’s ability to transform their appearance and in their mastery of the dragons that flew over the city with their trainers each dawn, perfecting complex battle formations.

Flipping through the book one last time, it fell open on a page toward the back. I ran my finger over a passage about twin mages, the words partly concealed within the embossed illustration of a palace consumed by flames.

It said: With each pair coming to ascendancy during the reign of a Sun Realm king, mergelyn twins are the key to a ruler’s success. Lose one, the other fails. One dies, the kingdom falls. Protect the powerless, for he is the holder of the other’s glory.

A short, but extremely interesting piece of information.

Heart pounding, I wondered if I’d stumbled across the secret to bringing the Fire King down. If we could somehow gain control of Nukala, perhaps it would be easy to disable his brother, Melaya, and remove the block on our magic.

I snapped the book closed and returned it to the shelf, sliding it between tomes of bardic poetry and quickly scanning the rows around them. Each book in the section contained the word poems or songs in its title, while the surrounding shelves were designated for volumes of art history.

A Case Study of Magnificent Magicians and Mages had been misplaced, possibly not intended for the eyes of the average reader. Or a captive princess from the Earth Realm.

I brushed dust off my hands and headed toward the exit, eager to share my newfound information with Arrow and feel the delicious burn of his silver gaze trailing over me.

Chapter 24

Leaf

In daylight, the moat looked different—much less sinister than the other night. Its fiery surface swirled gently, like water in a breeze. Sparks floated lazily above it, and I wondered if the lie-eaters would make an appearance today.

“So what are we doing here?” I asked Arrow, sneaking up beside him.

He turned and scanned my body, his hot gaze curling my toes. “We’re going to summon the khareek and sell them some lies, and in return, they’ll help us speak privately just in case...” his words trailed off as he grimaced at the anklet around my leg.

“How do you know the moat-dwellers can do that?”

“As it turns out, you’re not the only one who can read. I went to the library last night and did some research of my own.”

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