Page 83 of Beautiful Beast

Their eyes met mine, daring me to step into the shoes of the Elders and view the world through their view. Ancient and cold, with no care for anyone other than dragonkind.

It all came together so quickly I lost my breath, and at once I felt like a fool for not having seen it sooner. And yet, I never would have, because I would never be so callous.

“They would wait,” Endre said. “Until the humans have so little strength even their weapons are not a deterrent. Then all of Viria will belong to dragonkind, the land will be healed, and they will have no more regret.”

Every moment of the last three hundred years now made sense. Endre’s betrayal now cast in an entirely different light. My stomach hollowed out. He’d known. Who knew how long he’d understood the true poison that lived in our sire’s veins, and not once had he been able to fight back.

And even now, he’d understood what sparing Lena’s life would mean when I chose it. Had chosen it too. It would lead us here to this moment, praying to the Fallen we could bring some fire back to hearts and hearths that had long been nothing but blackened ash.

“What do you mean?” Lena asked quietly. Her face had gone pale. “What can’t be turned back? What would the Elders regret?”

“They regret giving humans any knowledge of dragons,” Mesene said. “It was that action that allowed the war to happen. Humans took the gifted knowledge and turned it against us.” She held out a hand. “Though many of us understand it is not all humans who would have taken such an action. The consequences remain. The Elders cannot see past that betrayal.”

Idroal folded their arms in the folds of their robe. “And the dying land is not merely a famine, Lena. It can be healed, but not by humans. And until we can approach your kind without fear of violence, we cannot help them. Nor would many wish to.”

Lena straightened her shoulders, and I witnessed the mask of a princess fall over her face. Only the slightest tremble of her mouth and hands told me what she truly felt. “I understand.”

I resisted no longer, taking her in my arms. What was spoken was both a condemnation and a death sentence for her entire race, and yet she faced it with grace.

Belleo looked more subdued than I’d ever seen the dragon. “I’ll fetch something warm, and something to carry the clothes.”

“Mesene,” Endre said, finally standing. “Do you have something to fortify my strength?”

She inclined her head. “Yes, my lord.”

Idroal observed us all before nodding. “I shall return. I am coming with you.”

“That’s not necessary, Idroal,” Sirrus held out a hand. “We know you do not like the capital, nor is this your battle.”

A grim smile. “Will you command me not to?”

“No.”

“Then it may not be necessary, but I shall do so all the same.”

They disappeared, and I held Lena tighter. She looked up at me, face still pale. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were dull—a shadow of the beauty I’d already fallen for. “I suppose this was always going to happen, wasn’t it.”

Not a question.

“We will keep you safe.”

Again, I saw the mask of royalty. “That’s not what I asked, Zovai.”

“Yes,” Endre answered for me. “Yes. As much as we wished to remain here forever, it would have happened eventually. We hoped to delay them longer.”

Lena swallowed and reached upward, allowing Varí’s tail to wrap around her finger. “If this is inevitable, I would rather face it sooner than pretend it does not exist.”

I tilted her face up to mine and kissed her, longing to wipe the despair from her voice. “Do not be afraid, Princess,” I whispered. “You’re ours now. Remember that.”

She melted further into my arms, and I locked eyes with my brothers, my fear mirrored in their own. For years we had nothing to fight for and nothing to truly live for. Now, inexplicably, we did.

I only hoped we had the power to save her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

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KATALENA

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