Page 16 of The Dragon King

He continued to look at me with pity. “Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to.”

The prison had no other prisoners besides Talon, so Queen Eldinar stationed guards outside the building.

I entered the building and found him behind iron bars, leaning against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed, still wearing his heavy armor like it weighed nothing. There was a small window at the top of a stone wall that allowed some light to come through. He was staring at it when I walked inside.

I stood at the bars and looked at him.

He continued to gaze out the window instead of at me.

“They said if the dark elves leave within the week, they’ll release you.”

He seemed uninterested in that.

“And if they don’t, I’ll get them to release you.”

“I can leave this cell whenever I wish.” He slowly turned to look at me. “But that would require me to do things that would piss off your queen.” His dark eyes looked at me with heavy disappointment.

He would raise the dead to set himself free. Or he would have Khazmuda burn the forest.

“It’s interesting. They say they don’t trust me, but we all know I’m only in here because I’m a willing participant. Because I have too much integrity to disturb the dead now that I understand how much grief it caused their people.”

“Why won’t you tell them what Alaric said to you?”

“Because.” He looked at the window again.

“Because why?”

He didn’t answer.

“Will you tell me?”

After he stared at the window for a while, he turned back to me. “Someday.”

“I—I don’t understand.”

“I told you how my family was killed. I told you the dragons were subjugated by a foul creature with magical abilities. Well, those beings were called dark elves, and they’re the same as the ones in this forest.”

My eyes immediately dropped.

“Not the exact same ones, but…they’re the same kind.”

“Why wouldn’t you want the queen to know this?”

“The reason they have these abilities is because they’re cursed, and Riviana is the one who cursed them. So, did I lose everyone I love because of the dark elves, or because of the god that lives in this forest?”

My blood ran cold at his words.

“I haven’t decided.” He looked out the window again.

Now I understood why he didn’t want the queen to know, because his allegiance was unclear. Would he want revenge against the monsters in the forest…or against the god they worshipped? “There’s only one person to blame, and that’s theperson who conspired against your family. Once we have the dragons, we’ll kill him.”

He continued to stare out the window.

“Talon.”

He slowly turned to look at me.

“Did Alaric offer to tell you where the dragons are?”