Page 38 of Kingdom of Ashes & Bone
There was almost a stampede as children cried and screamed, terrified because their mothers and friends were terrified. Feet pounded all around me, and yet the mass of humanity as a whole moved far too slowly. Scared mothers and children were no match for Fireguards in their prime. It would only be a matter of time before we were surrounded.
A matter of time ended up being less than five minutes.
I could only watch helplessly as the fit men raced past the refugees and pushed them back with white-stone spears, while others came up at their backs when they tried to flee back toward the kingdom. Like cattle, they were herded into a giant circle, Fireguards with gleaming helmets and armor acting as a human wall of flames and steel wherever they turned.
“Keep them there. Don’t harm them. We need what’s left for our breeding stock, after all.”
The queen rode into our camp in a chariot coated with silver and pulled by two white horses with armor that matched the Fireguards, but was pure silver instead of tinged with red and gold. Her demeanor was icy death amongst a sea of flames and terror. She wore an ornate, gaudy white dress with silver armor wrapped around her throat, arms, chest, and legs. A dazzling crown of moonstone and dragonsbane sat on her head, and delicate sandals with jewels were on her feet. Her lips twisted with satisfaction, and I swore I’d never hated anyone in my life as much as I hated her.
Her eyes scanned the crowd. “Where are my sons? Ah, there you are.”
The queen acted as this were nothing more than a light dinner party as Zion and Zariah pushed forward toward her. She didn’t even react to both of them standing there plain as day, next to each other. The women stared. The Fireguards readjusted their grips on their spears, the shafts wobbling and lowering as they saw two princes for the first time.
The game was over, then.
The queen spoke before either prince could, her cold words dripping from her lips fast and hard like pelting raindrops.
“I forbid you from fighting me. I forbid you from helping M-Mari.”
I could tell it pained her to say my real name, and not something more degrading like ‘mud rat’ or ‘bitch,’ but instructions had to be specific, didn’t they?
Zariah flinched and Zion snarled, golden scales bursting forth as he shifted into his dragon form, unable to control it.
The queen laughed, a light tinkling sound that sounded like glass being scraped across stone. “Oh, and one more thing. I forbid you to move.”
Zariah shifted just as the last words left her lips, but the damage was done. My two strong, dragon princes froze on their massive bellies, motionless and paralyzed—two felled monsters prostrated before their conqueror.
Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed it back down.
“That’s taken care of.” The queen gestured to the small contingent of Fireguards around her who weren’t keeping the refugees at spearpoint. Her voice took a hard edge that was nothing like the high-pitched, breathy tone she usually spoke with.
“Lash them down.”
A sob tore from my throat as the Fireguards jumped forward, working together and using dozens of ropes to tie Zion and Zariah up, and stake them down into the ground. I winced as the rough ropes cut into the delicate membranes in their wings, forcing them tight against their bodies. How could a mother do this to her children? What defect allowed one to callously watch as a living creature’s eyes bugged out in terror and despair?
Zion and Zariah snarled and growled in their throats, but there was nothing they could do as their bindings bit into their skin. Frozen in place, not even a claw twitched.
“That’s better. Now that you’re settled, you have permission to move.” The queen smiled nastily at her sons. “I want to watch you writhe and squirm as I take back what’s mine, and end it by flaying your mud bitch alive.”
Zion and Zariah roared with anger, struggling in vain against the ropes. Smoke billowed from under their ropes, which gave off a reddish, copper hue.
Dragonsbane rope. Holy fuck.
The queen turned back to the Fireguards, her hand flicking out in a dismissive gesture.
“Herd them back to whatever remains of the mud and squalor,” cried out the queen.
My jaw dropped. It was worse than if she just would have shifted and roasted us all. But this? The queen hadtaken what I’d said to heart. I’d meant it only to get under skin and make her angry. But she listened. Gods above! If she couldn’t breed more dragon sons herself, she’d force her sons to do it.
And it was my fault.
The queen was crazy. Batshit, fucking insane. She—
“No.”
The voice was faint in the air, but it was there. And it wasn’t from Zion or Zariah. The queen’s dainty hand perched above her eyes to peer through the smoke and dust, eyes narrowed.
“Who said that?” she snarled quietly.
