Page 120 of The Forbidden Dragon King
I’m shaking but I don’t try to push myself up.
My joints ache, and my muscles burn. My throat feels like it’s been shredded by my screams. I stare blankly at the far wall.
At first, it’s nothing but a smudge. Slowly, I can make out that there are shelves, then that are scrolls on it. Yet those scrolls bleed into each other.
I relax.
My senses have returned to how they were before, possibly slightly worse.
Every time that the dragon punishes me like this, I am weakened.
“A butter knife?” Maximinus tuts. “I’ve been training you better in assassinations than that. So, what was it? Were you bored buttering the broccoli in the kitchens? Wanted to spar? If you need more missions, pet, ask me.You don’t choose your own marks and act without orders. This is why I need to teach you these hard lessons, pet. You’re a criminal. An uncivilized barbarian with no morals.”
“Flatterer.” Breathing hard, I push myself back to my knees.
Maximinus drags out a tiny, engraved silver bottle, whose stopper matches Maximinus’ royal badge. He shakes it, and I can’t look away from it.
The antidote.
My pulse speeds up.
By the Shadow Gods, I must have it.
“What do I need to do?” I demand.
Maximinus’ lips quirk. “Suddenly so obedient.” He places the bottle between us on the desk, pointedly. “This won’t cure you. We both know that you watched what this can do. Did you weep, as you are now, when your mother and father died? Your court burned? Poor, pretty pet. The effects are only going to get worse. If you follow my orders in secret, however, then I will allow you this antidote, which will give you some relief from the pain. And time.”
Time to destroy you.
Time to take my revenge.
Time not to weep but to stand up for every one in my kingdom who was wiped out by his poisonous magic.
I wipe the tears off my cheeks, staring defiantly back at him. “May the Shadow Devils damn you to hell.”
Maximinus shrugs. “Most likely. First, let us discuss your next mission. At the weekend, I am hosting a specialfeast on the deathday of Tarquin as a memorial. I will be celebrating his glorious achievements, including for winning the First Fae War. Don’t you think it fitting that the ex-Shadow Fae King attend?”
Furious, I draw back.
My eyes flash. My wings flap in agitation.
Memories flash in my mind of a huge silver dragon swooping from the sky like death, and fire, and the end of my fucking world.
Ma and Da burned to ash.
The Winter Court, more ancient than any apart from the hidden, eleven court, melted like snow.
A terrified, weeping kid with a baby clasped in my arms, leading an army of other weeping, terrified kids, away through a secret tunnel, leaving behind my home…a home that would never exist again.
Tarquin was the fucking criminal, not me.
“Never,” I hiss.
Maximinus’ expression darkens. “I can always turn my attentions to the other pet…?”
My eyes widen.
Freya.
