Page 13 of The Dragon King
“Perhaps you’re right.” Alaric continued to wear his disturbing smile. He gave a slight bow before he turned away and walked back into the trees from which he came. “Thank you for your mercy, Death King.”
Chapter 3
Calista
The tension in my heart made it shrivel. It hardened my blood to stone. My lungs ached to breathe but couldn’t capture the air. More than a day had passed since Talon left, and we’d received no news.
I did as he asked and wore my armor and carried my sword. It didn’t feel heavy at first, but with every passing hour, it made me sink into the soil from the weight. It became harder to breathe. I barely slept and hardly ate, poor preparations for battle, but I couldn’t do much else until I knew he was okay.
I couldn’t ask Khazmuda if Talon was alright because we were too far apart to speak with our minds.
Then we finally got word from a scout that the army had returned.
I waited at the royal palace with Queen Eldinar, hoping that both my uncle and Talon would return in the same condition as when they left. In their absence, I hadn’t spoken with the queen because she would offer no solace. She acted like I didn’t exist, offering no maternal support because she was clearlydisinterested in a familial relationship. She would always blame me for the Behemoths who marched on their lands.
I wouldn’t waste my time trying to change it.
The soldiers began to file in, and the first person I saw was my uncle. But before I could run to him, Queen Eldinar left her throne and got to him first. I hadn’t seen her show him affection in public, but she immediately cupped his face and brought their heads together.
I looked past him and saw Talon, his black armor making him stick out like a spot of blood on a white sheet. His intense gaze was locked on mine, and I grabbed on to his even though he was still twenty feet away.
I didn’t care who saw or what they thought, I ran straight to him.
A small smile came over his lips, and he looked so handsome.
I moved into his chest and rose on my tiptoes to kiss him.
Both of his arms circled me, and he brought me close as he kissed me, not squeezing me like he usually did because the plates of his armor were as solid as stone. He pulled away and pressed a kiss to my forehead before he released me.
“I can see there was no battle,” Queen Eldinar said. “The armor is untarnished. There were no injuries. So, what happened?” She turned her gaze on Talon as if he was somehow at fault.
He stared her down, me standing at his side.
General Ezra turned around and gave him the angriest look I’d ever seen. “I don’t know what happened, Your Majesty. Because the Death King communicated with Alaric in a language I’ve never heard.”
“You heard what I said to him,” Talon said. “I gave him a week to leave your forest and settle somewhere at least a hundred leagues away. Their kind will no longer be a threat to you, and no lives will be lost in the process.”
Queen Eldinar slowly walked up to him, dressed in her pristine white armor and ready for battle. “And he agreed?”
I stepped away because it seemed as if they were about to swipe at each other.
Talon held her gaze. “It appears so.”
“I asked you todefeatthem. Not ask them to leave.”
“If they’re a hundred leagues away, then they’re as good as defeated.”
“And why would they listen to you?” Her eyes narrowed. “We’ve been at war with them for a thousand years, and all it takes is the Death King to ask nicely?”
“They fear me.”
Anger flashed across her eyes. “If they fear you, you should have killed them?—”
“Without my army and my dragon, I am far more vulnerable. Why would I risk injury and death if there was another option? Perhaps if you hadn’t handicapped me, you would have gotten what you wanted.”
She shook her head slightly from side to side, her jawline tight as she clenched her mouth to suppress her ire. “You’re worthless?—”
“You thought you could outsmart me, when I will always outsmart you,Your Majesty. I’m a man of my word, and now it’stime for you to be one of yours. Take us to the location of the dragons.”