Page 104 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
He laughs, his voice grating against my nerves. “Can you believe that she thought she wasyour drakira?” He guts me with that question in a single, efficient blow. “I had to set her straight, of course.”
I sigh, knowing exactly where that miscommunication originated.Forgive me, Na’therya. I should have explained to her that I only called her mydrakirato Friedemar’s face for the purpose of defending her honor.
But it was wrong of me to stake a claim that was not mine to stake. Not without her permission. A dragon may long for a woman to be hisdrakira, but it is ultimately her choice.
Thedrakirachooses the dragon, not the other way around.
Malice’s smile fades. “I am not sure what other lies you have been filling her mind with, Benevolence, but rest assured that she will be well taken care of.” His eyes glint with his namesake. “So long as she behaves.”
“So long as she gives you her gift, you mean.”
He huffs out a breath but does not answer.
I do not need him to answer to know I am right.
He waves me off, already fading from view. “Enjoy the show, Nephew.”
My attention returns to Aurelia, to the vision of her struggling down the corridor, dragging the chains that weigh her down with slow, heavy steps.
My heart seizes all over again. “And the chains?” I ask. “Will you not remove the chains from her so that she can walk without pain?”
“Of course,” Malice whispers as he winks out of existence. His voice lingers on, though, like a phantom determined to haunt me until my final breath.
“Just as soon as she marries me.”
Chapter 32
Aurelia
Istare at the columns of monsters marching past far below, my eyes narrowed against the light of day. For all of Rowan’s claims that the Vale is dead, the weak sunlight glinting off the threads of Earth, Water, and Air weaving across the dry husk of our homeland is enough to nearly blind me.
I have become so accustomed to the shadows of Umbra Castle that I had almost forgotten what the world is supposed to look like.
“Is it not an exhilarating moment?” Malice asks as he stands beside me, his hands gripping the railing, his gaze wholly fixed on his army.
I swallow down a yawn and blearily observe, “I imagine you are eager to leave this place.” My attention wanders sidelong to where Ghoul, Rowan, and a handful of other goblins whose names I don’t know stand at attention, watching the procession with us. Though it is probably a trick of the light, Rowan seems to be standing taller today—a little less hunched.
He utterly avoids meeting my eyes.
Still, the sight of him gives me an idea.
Leaning slightly toward Malice, I lower my voice to the point where my tone becomes conspiratorial without being so soft that the others sharing the balcony cannot hear. “Eager for the company of more civilized persons?”
A smirk hitches itself at the corner of my captor’s mouth. “Indeed. It will be pleasant to have someone passingly intelligent to converse with again.” He flicks me a sidelong glance and graciously amends, “Besides yourself, of course, my dear.”
How generous.
I do my best to feign concern when I widen my eyes and ask, “Oh, but I do wonder what your new draconic subjects will think of having to share their home with our goblin friends?”
Malice barks out a laugh and turns to face me. “There is no need to waste your gentle manners on the goblins, Lady Aurelia. They have no feelings.” His expression hardens, his gaze turning to shards of emerald ice. “And they will not be coming with us, of course. The goblins belong here, in the Shadow Lands.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rowan twitch.
“But,” I protest, “the army—”
He cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “These matters are none of your concern. The army will serve its purpose, and that is that.” Taking a step closer, he lowers his voice, his next words for me and me alone. “But let this be a lesson to you, my dear: inmy mind, there are two sorts of people—tools and assets. Tools are meant to be broken. They are easily replaced.”
Within that nearness, his eyes search my face, as if hunting for cracks in the shield still protecting me from him. “Do strive to be an asset, not a tool.”
