Page 32 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Aw, shit. You weren’t bullying me after all,” Eyrx says.

“No,” I laugh. “I always thought you were a sheep in wolf’s clothing, so to speak. The moment you opened that door, I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. Kind of hoped you would, but my life was shit.”

“You have such a kind heart, Lysa,” Dad says as he hugs me. When he pulls back, he smiles. “But I know your mother very well. This means that you, her literal clone, are also a vicious little thing. I feel like it is a blessing from the Gods to have the opportunity to finally stand by your side as your father and fight this with you and your mother.”

“You are what I needed my entire life,” I tell him. “I had the blessing of knowing mom but it was a father that I needed to show me that compassion extends beyond fear. Although Eyrx was the one who showed me that, you are showing me every second of every day that no matter the distance, I always had two loving parents who wanted me.”

“We always wanted you, sweet girl. Always,” Dad says as he hugs mom and me.

“Let’s hit the road, everyone,” Drake says with a smile.

After loading everything that we need, we all get into vehicles and set course to the wall. As we are leaving, there is a crowd cheeringand waving us goodbye. The trip is exceptionally long, and we have an entire war ahead of us, so I sleep on Drake. There is something truly amazing about being curled up in his lap.

“Lysa,” Drake says softly.

“Mhmm,” I mutter without opening my eyes.

“We are here, my love,” he tells me. I groan and sit up but find that we are alone. “They have started setting up. Do you want to go help?”

“Sure,” I say as I stretch. We get out and we are on the other side of the wall and massive tents are effortlessly going up. “Where are we setting up?”

“In the center of everyone,” Drake says as he leads me with his hand on my back toward the tents.

“There are so many people here.”

“Everyone wants justice for you,” he says as he pulls a rope that is tied around a small box. He steps back and a tent starts to emerge and spread out in front of us. I look at Drake with my jaw dropped.

“That’s… cool as fuck,” I say, and he laughs.

“It has obsidian and Ignisium flakes in the walls, so we will be well protected in here from anything magical. We can hear everything around us extremely well, but no one can hear us,” he says.

“What now?” I ask.

“Now we eat,” he says with a smile. “I believe Eyrx and Juli are cooking.”

“Sounds good!”

“We should take a walk in the woods tonight,” he suggests subtly as we walk away from the tent.

“Oh yeah?” I ask with a smirk.

“Mhmm. I could go for a little game of hide and seek,” he remarks.

“Sounds familiar,” I laugh.

“Gotta try a little harder to get away this time, Little Flame.”

“Mmmm. I might even cry for you,” I tell him.

“Oh, sweet Lysa. I’ll do more than make you cry,” he says, squeezing my ass in his large hand.

“What? Choke, scream, and beg?” I ask as we stop beside Eyrx and Julianna.

“Youarepretty when you beg,” Drake says with a grin.

“Knot in her ass. That’ll make her scream,” Eyrx laughs.

“I can see it now… she’s clawing at the dirt trying to get away. I’ll let her get right to the wood line before I put my hand over her mouth and take her ass,” Drake says to Eyrx.

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