Page 20 of Blood of Dragons
ARE YOU SAFE?
Yes. I ran into soldiers, and now they’re escorting me to Riviana Star.
DID THEY HURT YOU?
They haven’t touched me. They didn’t try to restrain me or grab me by the elbow. I was already treated with more respect than I’d ever had in someone else’s lands.They’re taking me to their queen, Queen Eldinar.
DID THEY MENTION ME?
No. They asked if I was alone, and I said yes.
REMAIN VIGILANT.
Always. “Your forest is beautiful.”
He didn’t turn around. “The forest is not ours. We don’t believe in ownership the way humans do.”
“You’re a human.” I cocked an eyebrow.
He came to a sudden halt and looked at me over his shoulder.
Everyone else halted too, in sync with his movements.
I glanced around me before I looked at him again. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t speak.” He moved forward again, his cape billowing behind him, his presence so distinguished that it reminded me of Talon, the way he changed the atmosphere of a room just by being in it.
We continued our walk, several more hours passing. We stopped for short breaks, and I drank water from my canteen, but I didn’t have any food. There seemed to be berries in the nearby bushes, but I didn’t dare take anything from their forest without their permission. And I didn’t want to ask for permission, because that might offend them too.
I knew when we were close to the Riviana Star because the sound changed. Instead of hearing the birds chirp at the tops of the trees, I heard music. A light, ethereal sound with harps and stringed instruments. It grew louder the closer I came, and then there was a hum, a hum that felt audible or vibrational, I couldn’t tell which. “That music…where is it coming from?”
“Riviana—the heart of the forest.”
“I assumed it was coming from your city. I meant, is it coming from the elves? Because it seems to be everywhere all at once?—”
He halted and turned back to me, the annoyance in his eyes. “Riviana is the great tree at the center of our forest. The source of our power, of our longevity, of our purity. The music you hear is coming from her—not from us.” He turned forward again and continued.
That music came from a tree? I had questions, but I was smart enough not to ask them. The trees started to thin once we reached the center, more space between the trunks, less of a forest and more of a clearing. Then we reached the main path, and the city of Riviana Star appeared—tree houses in the boughs, glowing lanterns hanging from branches, a royal structure that rose high into the trees with statues erected in the front, of a female elf with long hair as she held a butterfly in her open palm, of a man in the armor of a king, standing tall andproud with one hand upon the hilt of his sword, one of the birds I’d seen earlier perched on his shoulder.
The music was louder now, but not so loud it was overwhelming.
My eyes took in the sight of a place I couldn’t have imagined before I saw it. I looked down the paths and saw the city branch farther into the distance, seeing a market where elves gathered to buy their produce and essentials. The women all wore dresses in a deep, olive green with different flower arrangements in their hair. The men wore dark trousers and dark shirts, tall and lean.
I looked elsewhere so long that I lost my trail and felt an arm grab me to bring me back in line. When I looked forward again, I was behind the human, heading to the royal structure with the statues, the walls covered with ivy and flowers. “It’s so beautiful.” I’d seen the beauty of the wildlands, even appreciated the isolation of the Arid Sands, had seen the mighty scales of a powerful dragon, but I’d never seen anything like this. The peace…I could feel it like raindrops on my skin.
The man ignored me as he led the way to the staircase. The elves who had escorted me there remained outside near the statues so we could make our way alone.
This time, he waited for me to join his side before we proceeded forward. He had a heavy sword across his back, just the way Talon did, and he also had a bow and a quiver of arrows. There was another blade along his hip, a man outfitted for war in a place of peace.
We entered the building and moved past the guards positioned on either side into a hall with another staircase—the throne placed at the top. There were open windows along the wall, no glass separating the exterior from the interior so the ivy couldgrow inside as well as the outside. It brought natural light to the room, natural light that blanketed the queen in an ethereal glow.
I stared at her and was immediately at a loss for words.
She really was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, with long blond hair woven into a crown of white flowers, skin the color of snow and eyes the color of the ocean and ice. She wore a white dress, flowers stitched into the fabric, the sleeves reaching down her arms to her wrists. She sat with a perfectly straight spine that didn’t touch the back of the chair, and her ankles were crossed as they rested on the floor, the beautiful gown spilling out around her.
I rarely grew nervous, but she made me lose my voice.
The man who escorted me there stepped forward and looked upon his queen. “I present to you Queen Eldinar, Queen of Riviana Star.” His stare lingered for seconds before he turned to me. “Bow.”