Page 227 of The Forbidden Dragon King
Now, dressed in nothing but a coarse, plain white robe like a sacrifice, I swing from the chains in the grand Silver Basilica, which the servants have whispered about as the Council’s judgment chamber. The chains bind my arms above me to a large marble column to one side of a wide aisle. I grit my teeth, as they also dig into my stomach, looping tightly around my waist. I’m suspended above the silver veined marble floor.
I tilt my head to look through the celestory windows in the nave walls. A sharp, cold moonlight streams across the walls of the basilica that are gilded entirely in silver.
On the night that I’m probably going to die, the moon looks painfully beautiful.
Will I soon fly to join my parents and murdered ancestors?
“Hey, love, are you still with me?” Daire whispers. He attempts to kick his legs, banging against the column to get my attention. He’s dressed in matching robes to mine, which are a startling contrast to the black of his feathers. He doesn’t need silks, satins, or the trappings of royalty to look beautiful. Or like an Alpha. He’s a second sacrifice. “You hanging in there?”
My gaze snaps to his with an unwilling smile. “That wasn’t funny the first dozen times you said it.”
Daire’s arms are chained above his head. His wings are folded behind him and crushed against the hard columnby the tight chain that winds not only around his waist but also his chest.
I wince.
I try to ignore the bruise standing out on his cheekbone from where Maximinus struck him after he strode into the cavern. I didn’t understand why so much of his anger had been directed at Daire.
“Want me to tell you another epic Shadow Fae poem?” Daire swings from the column on the opposite side of the aisle.
I wince. “Pass.”
I know what he’s doing. I don’t know how many hours we’ve been left here, but it’s long enough to leave me strung out, desperate with nerves. Daire has been trying to distract me by entertaining me.
I hate that Maximinus has taken Daire’s natural talents and used them to train him into both a courtesan and an assassin. Yet I realize that I know little about the Raven King (or simply, the fae), who lived free in the beautiful woods and snowy mountains of the Unseelie Kingdom.
A fae with close friendships and his featherglass. A fae who laughed, danced, and stood up against an invading force who were much stronger than he was.
A fae who witnessed the death of his family. His friends. His court.
How could he think that I’d judge him?
Earlier, Daire sang a hauntingly beautiful song that was as soothing as a lullabye. It echoed through the spacious nave and up to the vaulted ceiling.
In every note, I could hear the whisper of the breezethrough the northern forests and ice shifting under frozen rivers.
While he sang, I felt safe. I shivered with the dominance in every note. Maximinus controls Daire, but I know that if he’s unleashed, his power could make this empire shake.
I hate this metallic chamber with its enchanted chains and walls that are weapons in the hands of a metallicum sorcerer.
This is the heart of the Council.
At one end, an apse, a semicircular raised stage is flanked by twelve statues of silver dragons in flight. In the center is a single giant throne that appears to have been built out of glittering dragon scales, with the House of Draca’s emblem on the back, and gilt flames coiling from it all the way to the vaulted ceiling, as if it’s blazing on fire.
I grimace at the ache in my arms. I shift, trying to ease the pressure on my shoulders, gasping as pain bursts through my wrists, arms, shoulders, then down my back.
My throat is dry, and I cough to clear it. My temples throb.
After such an extreme heat, I should be resting and not hanging by my wrists.
That’s basic Omega care.
What a surprise, Maximinus doesn’t give a fuck. I hope that he never bonds. Has he in the past?
I can see why he earned his pet-hater badge.
My stomach turns with anxiety.
I don’t know how much longer I can hold ontoconsciousness. Is this how Daire and I are being executed or only tortured?
