Page 63 of A Deception of Courts

“That hardly sounds like freedom.”

“Living in one’s truthisfreedom, Robin. A lesson you have recently learned. I, too, discovered my truth many years ago when I was born with a different name in a body that did not match the beauty of my soul. I am who I am because of choosing myself. Freedom is a concept I know well, in every sense of the word.”

My breath clouded before me, matching the frigid air in defiance. “Then I hope we give the rest of the realms the same chance to experience the beauty of such a thing.”

Rafaela offered me a smile. “As do I.”

Something moved in my peripheral, just behind the top of Rafaela’s head. She noticed my gaze shift and turned to look behind her to see what I had seen. Before I could follow, it was gone.

“I think that’s my sign to return to bed and force myself to sleep,” I said, patting the stone wall before making a move to leave. “I’m so exhausted that I’m seeing things. Rafaela, try to get some rest, too. Please.”

“That is not exactly an enticing concept. Your beds aren’t designed for bodies like mine.” Rafaela threw out her wings. The thick carpet of feathers across them flickered as the breeze whipped at them. “Rest will come once Aldrick is dealt with.”

“Good point, but–” I swallowed my words as a sound echoed across the barren landscape surrounding the castle. Rafaela’s head snapped, looking out over the dark, searching for something.

The noise was like that of thunder. I expected to see the flash of blue-white light spear across the skies. A shiver passed across my arms, sending each individual hair to stand.

“Get inside,” Rafaela said quietly, hunting the dark for the cause of her sudden panic.

“What is it?”

Rafaela’s wings pounded with one fell swoop, and she was up, standing balanced upon the stone wall she had been sitting on. She reached down, plucked the hammer from its resting place, and clenched it in both hands. “Robin, do as I say. Go.”

That’s when the sound came again. This time it was louder. Closer.

Three dark shapes cut across the night sky, blending in with it seamlessly. If it wasn’t for the moon refracting its light across Imeria’s surface, I don’t think I’d have ever made them out. Beasts. No, monsters, flew toward us.

“If you’re not going to run, Robin...” Rafaela bellowed, wings already beating, feet lifting from the ground. “Then you must fight with everything you have in you.”

It took little time for the creatures to cover ground and grow closer. I stood, rooted to the spot as the demonic monster I had last seen flying across our ship days ago hurtled in our direction.

It was the Draeic. Except this time, it wasn’t alone.

CHAPTER 18

I tracked the Draeic, their speed horrifyingly impressive as they barrelled through the night. Magic flooded my veins. My nerve endings sparked. I tried to breathe, but a serpent had coiled itself around my chest and squeezed. I didn’t need air in my lungs when my pure, undiluted power fuelled my body.

Let them come.

The world slowed to the detailed ebb of clarity. Rafaela’s command rang continuously through my mind.“Fight with everything you have in you.”

I glanced back toward the castle,mycastle, and imagined talons tearing through the stone. My ears mocked the sound of the destruction. I heard the monstrous tails, thick as the oldest trees, wrapping greedily around spires, snapping them like dried twigs beneath their weight.

I wouldn’t allow it. This felt like a test, Altar seeing me steady on my path as king but needing proof I was worthy. I’d show him – I’d show the world what I was capable of.

Although my mind screamed for me to do as Rafaela commanded, to run back into the safety of Imeria’s walls, my heart refused, the decision further confirmed by my iron will. It kept me rooted to the spot as the violent beat of wings and thunderous roars grew louder as they flew closer.

Cold winds ripped around me. I heard their whispers of warning – their chants. The wind longed for me to let go of the power that shook within my core as though breaking free from a cage. This was my home. I’d not been here to stop the first unwanted assailants when they came, killed and left this court in ruins.

For their memory, I wouldn’t run and hide.

History would not repeat itself this night.

The gale forced my back as though a hand urged me to face the incoming attack. My feet barely touched the floor as they lifted me. To its power, I was nothing more than a puppet tangled at the end of their strings. The sudden release intoxicated me until I felt as though my very being was no longer my own.

Because it wasn’t.

My body was a vessel, a gift that was granted to keep the demons at bay. I supposed I would start using it for its true purpose by sending them back to the dark pits they’d desperately crawled from.

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