Page 61 of Exquisite Monster
One deep breath and another was all I gave myself before I set my hands on the doors and shoved them open.
Long tables lined the large, opulent space, with Andaros and his cohort sitting at the head table, facing the gathering. The human factions were easy to identify, colors distinct. The vibrant greens of Ostea, the orange and blues of Zastea. Denao, Trutis, Kerene, and… Gleira.
My father sat at the far end of a table, observing things in the way he normally did. He smiled at something someone said, but I could tell he was not relaxed. He was in enemy territory, even though Gleira and Craisos were allies.
Or were we? I didn’t know if the alliance had dissolved after the dragons took me from the wedding.
For long seconds, no one noticed me and the dragons flanking me. A servant saw me first, startling. This was a place where people might know of me. Descriptions of my hair and appearance. The goblets on the tray she held fell to the ground. I couldn’t help but notice the wine on the ground looked far too much like blood.
A courtier saw me, then another, silence and whispers spreading like the plague through the room. My father looked, and his jaw fell open. He stood, taking a step before freezing. “Katalena?”
Andaros’s head whipped toward me. Fury took over his face, quickly replaced with a sickening smile. “Guards. Take her.”
Chaos erupted. Guards closed in from every side. The Gleiran delegation was shouting along with all the others, trying to figure out what was going on. My fingers twitched like I might pull the darts from my sleeves, and Karadi made a low sound.Not yet. Do not reveal them yet.
Every guard in the room was approaching, but none of them reached us. They ran into the invisible wall Karadi held in place, unable to break it. Not even scalefire would penetrate that shield on its own.
But if they wore him down enough they would get through, which was why we needed to make this fast. Give the others time to execute the plan.
“Hello, Andaros.” I sounded calm and confident. Exactly the opposite of what I felt.
The new King of Craisos stood, not understanding why his guards couldn’t get to me. Until his eyes fell on Belleo and Karadi. His smile was suddenly charming and easy. “This visit is certainly unexpected. Who have you brought into my court?”
My father still stared at me, expression half horror and half hope. It was all I needed to know that Andaros had told him the dragons killed me.
“It doesn’t matter who I brought with me. It matters what I came here to say. Not to you, but to everyone else here.”
“You think you have a right to addressmycourt?”
“It’s the least you can do, don’t you think? After you told everyone here that dragons killed me, when it was you yourself who made the attempt?”
Gasps and whispers exploded around me, and I stepped forward. Karadi moved with me step for step, forcing the guards back and out of our way as we walked to the center of the room.
“My name is Katalena Isabel Arslan Savea, Crown Princess of Gleira, though I don’t assume that title is still mine. And I am here to tell you that everything you have been told about dragons, everythingKingAndaros has told you, is a lie.”
“And who are you to speak on this?” A man I did not recognize spoke. But the circlet on his head said royalty, and the colors of his clothes marked him as with the Zastean court. “What does a princess know of dragons?”
“Did news of my wedding not spread across the continent?” I asked. “I was sure Andaros would have used the event and those that followed to bring you all here. To provide you with weapons to fight the dragons, and, if you cooperate, Craisos will supply your kingdoms with food. Is that not correct?”
The man stared at me, eyes flicking up and down as he evaluated the new threat I now was.
“But the real question you should ask is why your lands are dying in the first place, and if there is a way to save them. There is.”
The man I was once meant to marry laughed. Not a small laugh, but a deep, genuine laugh. He sat back down on his throne and gestured to the room. “By all means. Share your lies. Nelis will refute them.”
An older man sitting down the table from Andaros stood, watching me with beady eyes and a measure of satisfaction I didn’t understand.
“Katalena, what are you doing?” My father asked. His voice was low, as if he were calming a wild animal. Still, I saw a whole world of emotions in his eyes. “Where have you been?”
I wished this plan allowed for me to speak to him. The tender look in his eyes was unexpected, and homesickness hit me harder than I thought it would when we passed Rensara. It was no longer my home, but this man was still my father. And perhaps I’d been wrong about how much he cared for me. “Where I have been doesn’t matter either. What matters is that you have been lied to. The dragons are our enemies only through our own making. Andaros’s ancestor began to sow distrust of the dragons and accused them of hoarding power. He stole the eggs of dragons and altered them. Bred them into the draygs you have now seen. The rest were butchered. We murdered the dragons’ children.”
The room was so silent I could hear my own heartbeat. Whether the silence was shock, disbelief, or rage, I couldn’t tell. Even Andaros looked pinned to the spot by my words. But no one moved to contradict me, so I kept speaking.
“This centuries-long war was the fault of humans. And the knowledge dragons provided so we could protect ourselves? We turned it back on them. This famine isourdoing.Wedestroyed the source of power that fuels this land.Weare why our peoples are starving.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “Our predecessors were fed a tale. That the stones which bind Viria together and keep it whole, give it magic, were nothing but a source of power the dragons used to manipulate humans. They were shattered, and that is why your lands fail. Andaros has told you the lie that taking over the dragons’ land will solve everything. But it won’t. Even if you win this war, and there is no guarantee of that, thousands will die. And if the lands continue to perish, eventually all of humankind will die.”
Andaros clapped slowly. Condescension dripped from his voice. “Well done. They certainly changed your mind quickly, haven’t they? Did they fuck it into you?”
Shocked exclamations erupted, my father turning to Andaroswith rage painting his face. But Andaros shrugged. “If she’s here to tell the truth, then she should tell the whole truth. She bedded three dragons rather than marry me. She accuses me of lying, and yet there is no proof her words are true. And further, she dares to bring dragons into this court.”
