Page 76 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
No. Steeling my heart against the grief waiting to consume me all over again, I grasp the velvet curtains draping the windows and fling them open. But what shred of hope I was secretly harboring wilts when I find myself staring at mere stone rather than glass.
There are no windows. I am in a solid room with only one exit.
Truly trapped.
“Worry not,Therya’kai,” a soft voice whispers directly against my ear, stopping my heart in its tracks. “We will find a way out of this.”
Before I can conjure up the energy to scream, Velda glides in front of my face and shushes me, turning my initial fear to disgust.
I twitch away from the pixie who just stood by and watched Malice perhaps murder her sisters, who allowed Malice to nearly murder her godson. Without looking at her, without speaking, I return to my study of the bedchamber.
I move toward the fireplace next but soon find that it is a false hearth with no chimney to speak of. The flames are composed of threads of Fire with a cushion of Air to contain the smoke.
Velda follows me. “You have every right to be angry with me, but I hope you will listen to the reason for why I did what I did before you seek to judge me.”
I turn to face her and coldly remind her, “You didnothing.”
Pain flashes across her features like a streak of lightning. “I didnothingbecause Bene asked me to do nothing. He ordered me to hide so that you would have at least one ally, no matter what happened next. He wanted to ensure you wouldn’t be left alone.”
All the air rushes out of my lungs as my knees threaten to buckle beneath me.Bene. Even when driven half-mad by his Shade, Bene was still thinking of me and my welfare.
I stagger toward the edge of the bed and finally allow myself to collapse. Blinking rapidly, I will myself not to cry. How do I possibly have any tears left to shed?
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, unable to bring myself to lift my eyes toward her face this time. “I’m sorry for misjudging you.” Drawing in a shaky breath, I wrap my arms around my midsection and hold myself tight.
Exhaustion crashes over me. My wounded leg throbs. I have now been awake all day, all night, and into the next morning. But I can’t possibly rest now. I can’t possibly stop. Not until I discover what happened to Bene.
As if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Velda softly explains without uttering another word about my rudeness toward her, “Malice’s weave was but a sleeping curse, not a killing curse. They are alive.” She sighs, sounding tired herself. “Somewhere. Malice will be keeping them close. It is the Corona he wants.”
The Corona. My mind flashes back to memories long past—to nights spent poring over the ancient Drakaran history tome Bene gifted me.
Suddenly, I understand.
“The Corona Ignis,” I recite. “The ancient relic that confers power upon the dragon kings.” The more I remember, the faster I speak, excitement welling up inside me to match the hope blooming in my heart. “It can only be worn by the true King of Drakara—whether that be a king chosen by birthright or one otherwise deemed worthy. Historically, the Corona has always rejected anyone who tried to usurp the throne by force.”
I look back toward Velda to find her watching me, looking pleasantly surprised. “You certainly know your Drakaranhistory.” An amused, albeit tired, smile quirks her lips. “One wonders where you came by such knowledge.”
“A history book,” I hedge, my mind spinning. Malice would want to keep Bene close. Which means he must be here.
Surely, Bene is here.
Velda heaves out a good-natured sigh and flits about the bedchamber, studying it herself. “We always did wonder what happened to Glorana’s copy ofDrakara Through the Ages. She tookgreatpains to translate that into the common tongue, you know.”
“Wait,” I murmur. A sudden thought makes me frown, the matter of the history tome immediately forgotten. “But Malice was originally trying to use his dark magic on me, not Bene. Why would he wish to use a sleep curse onme?”
Velda gently corrects me: “There is no such thing as dark magic. All that the Great Weaver has made is good and just. It is Malice’s dark heart that allows him to twist that goodness for his own nefarious purposes.”
I just nod, fighting the urge to say,“I know.”When Velda says nothing more, I delicately point out, “But this still doesn’t answer my question.”
The silver pixie finishes her own inspection of the room and flutters back my way. “It does not, no,” she agrees. “But let us assume the curse was always meant for Bene. Why, then, would Malice attack you rather than him directly?”
She tilts her head to the side, her gentle gaze boring into mine. “Perhaps because he suspected Bene would act on pure instinct if he did? Perhaps because he realized Bene would panic and use his body as a shield rather than take the time to weave a proper counter-spell if he thought you were in danger?”
Each word she speaks is a fresh dagger seeking to carve my heart from my chest. Malice used me to hurt Bene. He used myterror to trick Bene into flinging himself headlong into a sleeping curse.
Because he knew Bene would do so.
My feelings clamor against each other in a storm all their own. What does it all mean? Bene flying to my aid though he knew what would become of him if he did? Bene throwing himself in between me and Malice without a second thought?
