Page 20 of Hearts on Fire
“My apologies, Your Majesty. I’ll take care of it outside, so as not to disrupt your celebration.” With his arm around my middle, he tossed me over his shoulder.
I clenched my hands into fists. Indignation burned through me like acid. Yet I knew protesting would only make it worse.
The dragon-king grimaced, obviously annoyed by my behavior, but he didn’t stop Elex from carrying me out of the room.
After the heavy doors closed behind us, Elex carried me down the hallway, then around a corner and out of sight of the guards by the entrance to the hall. The moment we were alone, I slammed my fists into Elex’s hard bottom.
“Put me down! Now.”
He set me down with my feet on the floor.
“It had to be done,” he explained, running his hands through his hair. “I couldn’t let the king near you.”
“I know.” I breathed deeply, trying to calm my nerves, my fear, and indignation. “I have to find Zenada.”
“Wait.” He took my hand. “Tell me what life is like in theSalamandraSanctuary?”
I scoffed. “What do you think?”
He spread his arms aside in a disarming gesture. “I honestly don’t know what to think, Amber. In my old time, my mother looked after the Sanctuary. She ran it along with twosalamandraswho lived there. As far as I remember, it was always a safe place for both men and women. Those who were going through hard times, who had nowhere to go and no one to take care of them, found a true sanctuary there. According to the legends, MotherSalamandracreated our people by teaching her sons love and compassion. She united dragons and saurians, creating the gargoyle race. The Sanctuary bears her name as the symbol of unity, love, and compassion.”
I hugged my arms. “Beautiful words, Elex. And maybe that’s what the Sanctuary was during your times. But that’s certainly not what it is now.”
“Tell me,” he demanded.
I used to think Elex grew up sheltered and ignorant. But that clearly wasn’t the case. Elex was smart and inquisitive. He didn’t shy from the truth and didn’t fear it. He wouldn’t have spent a hundred years of his life willingly blinded to the life outside of the castle. The Kingdom of Dakath just used to be very different during his time—much better, by the sound of it.
Now, I had to tell him the truth about his own world. I heaved a breath, wondering where to even begin.
“Dakath women are not allowed to exist independently. Their value is only as good as what they mean to a man. TheSalamandraSanctuary is filled with widowed and unmarried women who have no man to belong to. Men aren’t allowed inside, unless they’re sent by the king. In which case, he can order them to do whatever he wants. Oh, and as I recently learned…” I tipped my head in the direction of the king’s party room. Bitterness filled me, and I made no effort to keep it from my voice. “The women are expected to run to the castle at the snap of the royal fingers, to entertain the king and his men, and to provide sexual favors along with whatever else tickles his fancy. They get nothing in return, just the scorn of the ‘respectable’ villagers and burn scars.”
Elex gritted his teeth, working his jaw. He looked like he could barely contain his rage, which gave me hope.
“You can change this, Elex. You are the Prince of Dakath. You have what it takes to make a difference.”
His features tensed in a pained expression. “Only by changing the present, Amber, I would risk changing the future. No matter how hideous life is now, in just a few hundred years, this world will be so much better.”
“A few hundred years?” I felt deflated, hope deserting me.
He kept talking passionately. “Before the spring is over, King Edkhar will win the war. He’ll defeat the Rebel Lords in the final battle at the foothills of the Bozyr Peak.”
“He will?”
That was disappointing. I took no sides in this war, but from what I knew, the cause of the Rebel Lords appeared as a more sympathetic one to me—they stood up to avenge the kidnapping of a woman. King Edkhar had been fighting solely to assert and keep his power.
“This summer,” Elex continued, “the king will marry his future queen, Lady Amree. And less than two years from now, his son Elex will be born.”
“Elex?”
“Yes. I was named after the Great King Elex. He will be nothing like his father. Under his rule, the Dakath Mountains will thrive. The justice and liberties the people enjoyed in my time will begin during the reign of King Elex and his wife, the Fire Queen.”
“The Fire Queen? Is that her name?”
“That’s the name kept in chronicles of her. My great-grandmother was the one and only fire bendingsalamandrain gargoyle history. Her magic rivaled even her husband’s.”
“Quite a power couple they made,” I muttered, rather impressed.
“They were bonded mates, inseparable and practically invincible.” He took my left hand in both of his and stroked the ruby salamander wrapped around my ring finger. “This ring belonged to her.”