Page 93 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
The dragon crouched flat on his belly, his head whipping back and forth in an unmistakable gesture of submission.
“Well? Did you know?”
The dragon shook its head.
I frowned. Hadn’t Zariah said they had to obey the queen and couldn’t lie to her?
“As I suspected. Kill them.”
I didn’t have time to react or lord over our secret little alliance with the dragon. Mostly because the dragon ignored said alliance and dove straight for us, the guards yelling and leaping out of range. The Noble cried noisily and fell to the ground, covering his head with his hands. All the while, the queen laughed hysterically.
The dragon would have killed me almost immediately with its outstretched claws through my chest, had Shava not yanked me backwards flat onto the ground. A flash of silver went by my face and the dragon screamed, rearing back in pain as the knife nicked the soft skin around its eyes. It breathed fire everywhere, creating absolute chaos.
“Fuck, missed,” Shava cursed, pulling me up harshly. “Come on,get up!We have to get to the tunnel, and fast!”
In its rage and pain, the dragon stomped and blew fire everywhere, scattering the guards and making it hard to breathe, let alone see. The queen screamed at him to obey and soon enough he would, so we had to hurry, scurrying back through the gate into the mud quarter. My body kept moving automatically while my mind kept whirling, not understanding why the dragon had lied to the queen. And when I didn’t understand something, it drove me mad until I figured it out.
And then, through the smoke, the impossible happened.
Asecondgoldendragon dropped out of the sky and tackled the first one.
“What the fuck—” I breathed out.
“No time! Comeon!”
By some miracle, Shava found the tunnel’s entrance, and yanked me in after her.
Two dragons? TWO DRAGONS?
And why had Zariah attacked us? Hot betrayal burned in my gut. It was M all over again, winning my hard-earned trust only to stab me in the back.
This was why you never trusted people. This was why humanity wasn’t worth my effort.
Buttwo dragons.
“I think we made it far enough below ground. The shaking has stopped.” Shava’s hand around my wrist tightened. Her eyes were wide with panic, but her voice was steady.Shewas steady, like always.
My spiraling thoughts ground to a halt. Shava was right; the rumbling in the earth was gone, the dragon’s rampaging only muffled thuds far off.
“Zariah lied to the queen’s face, and then he attacked us!” I shouted out into the abyss as Shava grabbed my wrist and held on, ensuring we wouldn’t get separated in the darkness. There was no time to light a torch. I was too in my head to do anything but follow behind her.
I thought back to the day I’d first met him.
“Prince Zion,” I gasped out.
The naked boy frowned, sitting back on his haunches.
“No. I am Zariah.”
“Zariah? The prince’s name is Zion,” I protested.
The boy’s eyes watered with tears as he slapped his hands over his face.
“I’m not supposed to tell! Momma said!”
I blinked as possibilities crashed together, leaving one inevitable conclusion.
“There’re two of them,” I whispered.
