Page 5 of Court of Dragons and Ashes

Hope comes over, kneeling and looking at me. “She’s still breathing, and that’s all that matters. Your mum’s alive.” I don’t know how she knew I needed to hear that, but I did.

“Alive,” I breathe the word out as I rise to my feet. With Hope’s help, we carry my mum through the portal and lay her down on the grass in the garden, sending my shadows to lead grandmother outside to her in a second. I lean down to my mum. “I’m going to save our court and free our people. I’m going to save Ayiolyn, just like you taught me to.” I shakily kiss her cheek before going back into the portal with Hope and letting it close behind me, leaving my family in another world. They are safe, I remind myself.

Terrin’s relief floods my mind as he senses me back in this world. “You’re alive,” he whispers to me, his voice broken. “You should not be in this world. It is falling, my rider.”

“And you should not make a choice for me to leave without asking me if I wanted to or not. I’m furious at you and them, but right now, I need you to fly to me.”

“On my way,” he simply replies, sounding like he wants to say more. I cut him off, knowing I can’t argue with him about it all right now.

I look at Hope and Arty, the only ones I have to trust in this castle for everything to work out. “Now, we get our courts back and save the kings.”

CHAPTER 2

ARTEMIS

No one watches me in the corridors, and it’s a blessing. I’m a shadow to them, which in all honesty, is perfect for me right at this moment. I’ve always been a shadow to my parents, and I understand it. I might be the daughter of two powerful Greek gods, but I don’t have any magic, not even a drop, and they make sure everyone knows I’m not a threat. Still, the people of the Water Court keep a good distance from me, from everyone, as they make their way down the pathways of the castle.

This castle is alive, the very walls seem to be listening, and I swear they guide me to the room quicker than I ever have been before. I make my way into the side room of the chambers of the throne, a public room that is now completely empty except for the book that my mother has left out for anyone who dares to sign. The door opens for me, and I slip inside, my breaths coming out in clouds. I don’t know if the castle can hear me, what magic it really holds, but I whisper, “Please let me know if anyone is coming.”

In response, the door lock clicks shut behind me. I grin. It feels too easy as I push my back against the cold door, listening to the sounds of the guards walking the corridor outside and theecho of the sea outside the castle. It’s cold, empty, and silent in this place. I remember the stories my nanny Tara, a spelled mortal tasked with bringing me up in mortal ways, told me of the joyful Water Court. She lived here for a time with one of the water queens, but she was from Earth. The court used to be full of water creatures, splendid feasts, and art displays. Now…anything good like that has been drained away.

I nervously glance around the room for a minute, making sure I’m alone before walking to the book. The book is simple, with a feather pen resting on the tip of it, and I feel nothing strange from it like magic. I quickly write her name on the paper, just like she asked me to: Princess Ellelin Spirit Ilroth of the Fifth Court. My heart is racing as I put the pen down, noticing there’s not a single other name signed in the book. I don’t blame them. Even being queen of the Water Court is not worth being under the gods’ control like slaves. Anyone who signs this, they know they’re signing up to be a prisoner, unless they’re extremely powerful or stupid, which few are.

It surprises me how many are loyal to the kings, no matter what my father or mother does to them. They remain loyal. Many screamed that it’s the Dragon Crown Race that chooses the queen, even right before my father killed them.

They will kill me when they know what I’ve done. I rush out of the room with that thought, slipping back into the corridor. I’ve made so many mistakes, listened to my parents’ every word, and never once thought for myself until Kian showed me to be better. I can die my own person, which makes me richer than I ever have been before. I hope this is a step towards redeeming some of the horrors of my past.

I rub my cheek as I stroll to my room, finding Tara sitting on a chair in the corner, stitching a dress. Tara has rich wrinked skin, light brown hair that she keeps in a bob under her ears, and she always wears colourful patterned dresses that make hereyes sparkle. Her dark brown eyes brighten when she sees me, and she opens her arms. I don’t hesitate before running into her arms, one of the few bits of comfort I ever get. “My darling Artemis, you look pale. Are you well?”

“I’m fine, it’s just been a strange few weeks with them both here and free.” I pause. Tara knows how I really feel about my parents, and she has always supported me and protected me however she can. I’ve asked more than once about her life before my parents took her and forced her to work for them, but she only ever said everyone who meant something is long gone for her. Only I remained now. Tara brought me up to be good, and I didn’t become what she wanted in the end. I can see it now, the slight disappointment in her eyes. “I preferred it when they pretended that I didn’t exist and left us alone.”

Her brow creases. “Arty,” she whispers, the nickname she gave me in secret. My parents hated the nickname whenever I asked them to call me by it. She looks like she is about to say something, something important, but my door is yanked open.

I turn to see a guard, the dark blue armour shining. “Artemis, you’ve been called to the court by your parents. Come.” The guard has icy blue eyes, white hair, and a red haze to his eyes that suggests he’s completely and utterly under my mother’s spell. She spelled the ones that would not help and killed the ones that were too strong for the spells. Some of the court is not spelled, and they choose to stay. This guard, something about his face shape reminds me of Lysander, and I wonder if he is some kind of relative. I nod before standing. I look down at Tara. “I love you. I’ll come and see you when I can.”

“I love you too, darling,” she gently replies, and I grin at her. I feel her eyes on me all the way out of the room, and I struggle to keep up with the guard and his giant footsteps. My ribs are still broken, and I’m bruised far too much to be running with him. My father was especially brutal the last time I saw him, andevery inch of me wants to run in the other direction rather than come to their call. I’m trapped, but not for long. Ellelin is here, and things are going to change.

I felt something different the moment I met Ellelin, and not because I knew who she was and what I needed to do but because she is so determined. My father gave me simple instructions: take Ellelin’s blood after she was my friend, so the blood was willingly given as per the curse’s instructions, and kill all of the other competitors. I could have poisoned them all, killed them in their sleep, done a number of things on the first night, but I didn’t. My father was furious at me for changing my mind and claiming that it wasn’t easy to get Ellelin to be my friend, when in truth, she was my friend from the beginning. I was myself with her, the girl Tara brought me up to be, with all the human parts of Tara that she taught me. Not the monster my father commanded me to be.

I wish I could change things and not let fear control my decisions like I did.

As we weave through the castle, it’s silent. Far too silent. As I turn into the throne room, the guard remains at the door, and I know why the castle is pretty empty. The throne room is flooded with people from the court, a wave of blue dresses and suits on either side of the pathway to the thrones. Their heads are bowed and not one of them dares look up or make a sound, not even the children or babies I spot mothers holding.

My mother and father are sitting on the thrones, lounging on them, like they are meant to be there, when everyone else in this room knows they are not. Imposters. My father’s staff is spread across his lap, and he taps his fingers on it as I approach. On either side of my parents are the dragon kings on their knees, and they are broken. A red glaze covers their eyes, and thick chains are wrapped around their wrists. They’re under my mother’s spell and they don’t move. There’s a feeling ofhopelessness echoing around the room, and it threatens to suck me into it. Ellelin. Ellelin is coming. The princess of the only court my father fears is here.

My mother waves me over. She is wearing a thin red gown, her legs crossed, revealing a deep slit up her leg, showing all of her golden skin. Her long blonde hair falls down to her waist, and every bit of her sparkles like she is the sun. Beautiful, but unlike the sun, she is empty and cold inside. “Where have you been?”

“Just around,” I lie. I lie well. She taught me that.

My mother rolls her eyes. “It’s an important day, and yet no one has signed up for the tests.” She looks at me. “I was thinking, and perhaps you could sign up.”

My heart races. “Why would I do that?”

She leans forward, a look nothing short of malice in her eyes because I’ve dared to challenge her. “We need people to be enticed to sign up. It seems that my test wasn’t that popular, and I want to play a game. I’m bored. Do I need to convince you to do as I ask?”

“Love of mine,” my father interrupts, touching her bare leg. She faces him. “Why would you be bored? Everything is in our palms in this world, and there’s no one to oppose us. The dragons of the West have gone completely silent, hidden with their dragons’ tails between their legs. The idea of beating us is gone, and we will destroy them soon enough. Our magic is growing and soon we will be able to open a portal to another world, for more wa?—”

She places her finger on his lips. “You are the god of war. I am the goddess of love. War does not interest me, it bores me. All that death and for no good reason.” She flicks her thick locks of hair over her shoulder and looks at me again. “So, do you need convincing?”

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