Page 25 of Iron Hearts and Dragon Magic

“Your non-answer, for once.”

“Harm me, and you’ll be breaking a deal with a fae. It has consequences.”

“Don’t be dim. I never made any deal with you, stupid fae. Now give me your answer or you’ll die by the end of the day. Not a great loss, for sure, but I assume you are under the illusion that your life is, oh, so valuable.”

He would never mention Naia, he would never give them this weapon to wield against him. He still doubted that this silly herb would contain his magic for long. “Ask something else. I’m sure there are other things you want.”

“There are tons. But for now this is all I’m asking. Well, I’ll let you ruminate on your choices.”

As the queen headed to the door, River decided to try his last shot.

Mindmelding magic came easily to him. Perhaps he didn’t like its cost, but this was a time where it could make her free him, and the fact that she was threatening him justified its use.

At the first contact with her mind, he saw himself in her thoughts. It wasn’t River as he was now, but River as soon as he’d come back from his second time in the hollow.He’s the key, the strange, raspy voice said.I think I know what to do, she replied. It didn’t make sense. Had this woman been targeting him from before the time he had come to Ironhold?

The image dissolved in a sea of red, as her necklace flashed again. “Get out of my mind, worm. And yes, you’re important. Yes, you are here because I wanted you to be, you are here because you are my weapon. You think you make the choices. Oh, no, you don’t. You and king Harold are mere puppets in my play.” She laughed. “But all I want for now is your answer, then I’ll let you go.”

River wanted to cause her pain, wanted to get into her mind again, but he couldn’t feel his magic, couldn’t connect to it.

“I cannot give you that answer.”

“Then I’ll have to give you time to think.”

With that, she walked out, locking the door behind her.

River couldn’t believe he’d fallen for such a silly trick, couldn’t believe this queen was the one trying to hurt or kill him. He took a deep breath. There had to be a way out. There was always a way out. And he was going to find it.

6

A Visitor

Being a deathbringer should be about controlling darkness—and yet Leah felt that it was about to engulf her, suffocate her. This was only a passage, though. She brought to her mind the memory of the moment she had traveled there, unwittingly, how she had awoken on the floor of her room, and kept that memory alive in her mind, with as many details as she could recall.

It wasn’t exactly like what had happened with King Azir, but she saw an opening in that strange black fog, like a slit. It didn’t lead to her old bedroom, but to a place above the Frostlake castle, except that she was outside the dome. Interesting. So this dome had more uses than just keeping the cold out. That said, she had breached it once, she should be able to do it again.

In a second, she was falling, and felt hard floor beneath her. Yes! She’d done it! No idea how, but she was where she wanted: King Flavio’s study room, a place where she had spent many hours of her childhood, fascinated with everything related to magic. Light came from the round windows on top of the high walls.

Before she could rejoice, a woman’s scream startled her. Leah got up quickly, and saw Falina, one of the castle’s lead chambermaids, with wide eyes.

“Princess.” She bowed. “I… where did you come…”

There was no point in trying to hide her identity. Leah put a finger over her mouth. “I was hiding. It’s… a surprise.” Then she looked around her and her stomach knotted. All the counters and tables were covered with a dark green cloth, and the objects had been placed in burlap bags.

“What’s happening here?”

“Why, miss? Your orders. This room is being cleaned for you.”

Leah wanted to scream. How could anyone think she would want her father’s office dismantled? “It must have been a misunderstanding.” Or more likely, one of Ironhold’s lies.

“Oh. I can try to—”

“No, no.” Leah extended a hand. On second thought, it was better not to do anything that could draw attention. “Leave it.”

“But princess, I can see now that this is a mistake. To be fair, I thought the order was strange, and now I think it’s my fault. I kept thinking it was wrong, it didn’t make sense, and yet I said nothing.”

Leah shook her head. “Really, it’s fine. I’m sure they’re just… relocating my father’s things.”

The woman nodded. “I thought you were still in Ironhold. I’m so sorry for your parents.”

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