59

“When I’m finished with you,” Corinne shrieked, “I will take your head and hang it above my throne in this very palace!”

Her hold on me slipped as she focused on Draunar. I backed up, crouching low to the ground as I deftly dodged the soldiers and the other dragons. I glanced around looking for any wolves in the tree line, but I could barely see at all with the chaos of battle escalating around me.

Draunar roared again, then beat his powerful wings, lifting his immense body into the sky. He inhaled, then exhaled a column of flame directly at Corinne. I cowered back from the sudden brightness as the heat rippled through the air.

Corinne lifted the sword over her head. The blade blocked the column of flame as if it were a shield. The flame spilled over the edges, but none of it touched Corinne. Her eyes glowed pale, and then her hair moved like it was underwater as she channeled her power. The blade of the sword began to glow.

I realized it then. The spell she had been discussing with the sorcerer—it was tied to the blade itself.

She roared, sounding like a dragon herself as she pushed the spell through the blade. Glowing white light traveled up the column of flame, wrapping around it like ropes and extinguishing it just as easily. Draunar’s eyes widened in shock and fear as he realized it. He beat his wings harder to put distance between himself and the spell.

“You fool,” she called, her voice cruel and layered as if she was speaking from a different realm. “You thought you could trap the Fae queen with no consequence? You doubted my power?”

Draunar moved to blow another column of fire, but the spell traveled to his jaws before he could expel it. He roared as the queen’s air of magic coiled around his head and neck. He shook his head wildly as if trying to knock it off. His claws dragged through the light to no avail. Then, he fell from the sky like a goose struck by an arrow. His body hit the ground with a loud thump. The other dragons turned their attention to the king in sudden confusion; a Fae soldier took advantage of their momentary distraction and drove his sword into the dragon’s belly. He roared, then gurgled and fell sideways, writhing in pain as his death approached.

Corinne approached him, sword still drawn and glowing. The spell worked its way around Draunar’s body like a net, pinning his wings to his body. He thrashed against it, roaring, but he could blow no fire, nor could he break her hold. Corinne’s power crackled through the air like a thunderstorm. She walked, but her feet hovered an inch off the ground. The power spilled from her like light trapped from within. I’d never seen her this powerful. I’d never seen Draunar so cowed.

If she had taken Draunar down so easily, the other nations didn’t stand a chance.

She laughed, high and cruel, and then drove her sword into Draunar’s clawed foot. He shrieked in pain, writhing on the ground in agony but unable to shake the sword from his flesh.

“Kill the guards,” Corinne roared. “Take this disgrace to the dungeons.”

The two dragon soldiers were dispatched easily by the Fae soldiers, and their bodies were left in a heap on the grounds. Adrian stepped forward and took the sword from Corinne’s hand. He controlled the spell now, apparently, and dragged Draunar roaring and hissing behind him like he was a sack of potatoes.

Corinne’s hold tightened on me again. I was forced toward the palace itself, trailing behind the marching Fae soldiers as they thumped their fists against their breastplates and shouted a low rhythmic war cry in warning.

“Come out, dragons!” Corinne shouted over the din. “Your king is dispatched, pledge to your queen or face your death where you stand!”

The war cries continued as soldiers filtered through the palace, dragging the sparse number of servants and dragon fighters from their chambers and into the throne room. Corinne took her seat on Draunar’s throne while Adrian dragged Draunar, still roaring uselessly, down the west staircase into the underground level I hadn’t yet seen.

I stood in the center of the room, under the dais, while the chaos escalated around me all under Corinne’s watchful, glowing gaze. Beneath my feet, Draunar’s rage rumbled helplessly. He was trapped in his own palace—just as trapped as I’d been in the cavern. But gazing up at Corinne, I knew I had only traded one imprisonment for another.

19

I

t took less than a day for Corinne to solidify her takeover of the Shiangan palace. Some of the lower-ranking dragons had pledged their allegiance without question, especially once those who refused had their bodies dragged through the streets of the town as proof of Corinne’s strength. King Draunar was under lock and key in the dungeons, and more Fae had crossed into Shianga from Faerie.

The throne room was an explosion of celebratory activity. Corinne lounged in Draunar’s ornate throne, with a flagon of wine dangling from her fingers, her pale cheeks flushed red and eyes glassy with drink. Dragon and Fae servants both worked in a flurry, bringing in endless plates of food from the kitchens, and the wine poured like waterfalls. Music played loud and raucous, and Fae danced and sang loudly to honor the queen and her victory under the open skylights of the throne room.

I made myself small, pushing close to the furthest wall of the room. I was free of my muzzle, finally—the queen trusted me enough to keep me unrestrained now that she’d had her victory. But I could still feel her power squeezing gently around my chest. It was a similar hold that she’d had in Faerie: strong enough to give me boundaries, but not tying me directly to her side.