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Chapter 9
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2023-09-10 00:08:37Related chapters
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 10
Maya and Marc had taken much pleasure in finding ways to add to that over the years. As Mistress constantly reminded them.Maya grinned as they entered the mountain that was her home. She could weave her way through the maze of corridors and climb her way up into all the dragon eaves. So few were accepting of a half-Fae girl here, but it still felt more like home than anywhere else.Mistress Moran dragged them both into her office. “You were both out of your beds last night. Explain yourself.”Maya kept her mouth shut. No explanation would be satisfactory for Moran. Fighting in the Dragon Ring in the Wastes? She might as well tell her that she’d completely lost her mind. Moran might believe her more.“It’s my fault,” Lyam piped up.Maya raised her eyebrows. Since when did Marc take the fall?“Explain, Marc.”“I snuck out last night to go to a tournament party,” he said solemnly. “Maya tried to stop me because we had to be here so early. Eventually, she came with me to keep an eye on m
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The tournament!” she gasped.“Yes! You didn’t come home last night. We’re were all worried. I drew the short straw to come here and collect you.”“Can you keep it down?” Theo grumbled from the pallet next to Maya.“Theo, get up! It’s the day of the tournament.”“Scales,” Theo gasped, rolling over with wide eyes. “Are we late?”“Late?” Aurora asked with a stilted laugh. “We’ll be lucky if we make the trek back to the mountain before it starts. Now, get up. Let’s go.”With this new information, both girls moved at lightning speed, throwing on fresh clothes, and scrambling out of the room.Gods, how had this happened? She wasn’t particularly punctual, but she had never wanted to miss something this important. Then the night before came back to her—the fight, the winnings, Basem Nix.She winced. She’d fought Basem Nix. Scales. That wasn’t good. She had never seen Basem in person before, but she sure as hell knew his name. And the echo of it still rang in her ears. He was full-blooded Fae,
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His black hair was swept back off his face. But it was the gray eyes, which caught and held her gaze, that made her shiver. There was something… wrong with him. Something terribly twisted inside.His gaze swept over her and then dismissed her just as quickly. Then, he turned and stormed down the hallway. Without a backward glance or a question of his direction, he just left.Scales.Maya jumped from her place against the wall, cursing her right leg for falling asleep underneath her. She shook it out, but that only made it worse. Pins and needles trailed down her leg. She winced with every step.“Excuse me,” she croaked, finally getting her voice back.He didn’t slow down or stop or even look back at her.She gritted her teeth against her dead leg and pushed herself into a half-hobble, half-jog. “Excuse me, Prince Fordham.”That got his attention. He pivoted with strict military precision and looked at her with those ever-changing eyes.“Hi,” she said a little breathlessly. “I’m here t
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Only a few lines were visible. And she furrowed her brow in confusion as she read them once, twice, three times through.Red rivulets run down his spine.Her tears gouge canyons into her cheeks.Black eyes watch, unceasing.Unceasing.Maya shuddered at the imagery. Was this… poetry? Did the princeling write dark, vivid poetry?It felt wrong somehow to read this. She hadn’t known what he’d been doing, but she certainly hadn’t imagined him to be an artist. Could someone from the House of Shadows find art in their darkness?It made her feel a little sick.She snapped her fingers, and a small flame appeared in her hand. She cupped the remaining page. The fire burned it down to ashes. As if it had never been.“Maya,” Mistress Cressida said.She whipped around as if she had been doing something wrong. “Yes?”“Fordham passed through to the tournament. I am going to escort him. He is the last. You can return to the House of Dragons.”“Of course. Thank you.”Mistress Cressida nodded at her and
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Maya looked down at her hands and jolted. She was just a ghost of herself as well. She couldn’t exactly see through her hands, but it was close. They had a hazy outline to them. She wasn’t solid any longer.“Where are we?” Maya finally managed to get out. Fear coated her words.We are on the spiritual plane. He hesitated, as if in incomprehension. You pulled us both through.“I did?” she asked. “How?”That I do not know.“Scales,” she whispered. “What do I do? How do I get us out? Is this normal?”We will assess how to get out when it is time to depart. Gelryn paused over her other questions. This has never happened before.He said it like an admission.They were silent at that realization. Maya had done something that no one else had ever done before. That Gelryn knew of at least. All because she had been too stubborn to let go? Or was there another reason?“Why did this happen?”Truly, Maya of the House of Dragons, I do not know.She was stunned. “You have never entered the spiritua
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You believe this will come to pass as well?She pushed her hands into her eyes. “I hope not. I wasn’t even supposed to tell anyone about this,” she said anxiously. “Helly said that it would put my life in danger.”And she was right. I would advise you listen to Mistress Hellina of the House of Stoirm, first of her line. She is wise. I see that your threads are entangled. I would not want to see harm come to you, child. But if this is revealed, everyone you know could be in danger.“I… I’ll be careful,” she said.He bowed his head formally. You have passed testing.She almost laughed. “What does that mean?”You have my permission to continue to the tournament.“I can’t,” she said with a sigh. “No one will let me. And I don’t want to enter anyway.”Do you not want a dragon?She shook her head and touched her aching neck. With a shove, she slowly rose to her feet. “I think you all should be free to do what you please.”Then, with a sad smile, she bowed to Gelryn the Destroyer and stumble
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Then, we’d better use it, huh?”saw the hesitation in Amber’s eyes. “Never mind,” Maya said at once.Amber was the youngest of seven siblings. Her parents were farmers, north of the valley. And at the end of the day, they just hadn’t been able to afford a seventh mouth to feed. Her father had packed her up, taken the donkey into the big city, and deposited her on the steps to Draco Mountain. He’d done it out of love. She’d have a much better life here than where she had come from, but that didn’t make it any easier.Amber still felt the pangs of hunger and poverty, just as Hadrian did. Maya… had never known such. She had only seen it secondhand on the streets and from her friends. Though she would have preferred to have grown up with someone like Amber’s parents. Who had left her out of love… not shame.“No, no,” Amber said with a sigh. “Wear the powder. It will look lovely with your dress.”“Are you sure?”Amber nodded. “That’s why I got it, isn’t it?”Maya took the small pot of powd
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All of that is true,” he agreed. “But he hates something more than that.”She raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”He met her gaze. “Me.”“You? Because when you two were in the tournament? He won already.”And you lost. She didn’t say it, but she wanted to.Her father and Master Aurora had been in the dragon tournament together. Aurora was now in the Society, and her father was not. The end. The whole story.“Yes, he won, and we’ve had a feud ever since,” he said evenly. “I fear that he might have discovered that I am your father.”“And?”“And he would take you into his household to hurt me.”She shook her head. “Do you hear yourself? Nothing you are saying makes sense. One, wherever I go couldn’t possibly hurt you because you abandoned me. You left me at the doorstep of Witches Mountain and walked away. You have no feelings on the matter. And two, Master Aurora would never select me when he hates half-Fae. He was the person who convinced the Society to put down the rebellions five years
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Regain your place?” she asked in confusion. “Is this about your curse?”“No,” he said forlornly. “I’m not who you think I am, Maya”“You’re exactly who I think you are, Ford. I’ve spent the last month with you. I know precisely who you are.”“About what? You cannot lie with actions.” She forced him to look at her. “I know who you are.”“I was exiled,” Fordham bit out. “That’s why I came to get a dragon and join the Society. I’m no longer welcome in the House of Shadows, and I should never have brought you into this with me.”Exiled. Gods!“Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, the hurt seeping into her voice despite everything.His face went dark. “Why should I have told you?”She took a step back at the viciousness in his voice. “Ford…”“It was a mistake to invite you to join the House of Shadows, and if you come home with me… I can’t guarantee your safety.”“Guarantee my safety? Since when have you ever been able to do that?” she snapped back. “I’m the one who has been running st
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 64
Corinna put her hand on her shoulder. “Bravo.”Fordham stepped up to her side and then Aurora, surprisingly followed by Roake and Noda. They might have argued against her in the cave, but they were one now. She could feel Tieran’s presence heavy behind her. And she no longer felt alone.“We still need to convene a council meeting to discuss this,” Lorian grumbled.“I believe we have a majority present,” Helly said with a coy smile.“That is not decorum.”“Neither are the circumstances,” Bastian said, striding to Helly’s side. “I call for a vote on the matter of Maya’s entrance into the Society.”“All in favor?” Helly said.Maya’s heart caught in her throat as she counted the hands raised in the air. Half. It was at least half. She kept counting—nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Oh gods! Almost everyone.“Those opposed?” Helly called out.Lorian shot his hand up, and four others slowly raised their hands as well. Maya memorized their faces. The council members—Masters Roldan and Dowde and Mis
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 63
A council meeting will be held to decide that,” Lorian said. “She doesn’t qualify. She has no tribe, and we have never had a half-Fae.”“You never had a human before either, and you let two compete last time,” Aurora shot back.“And look at how that turned out,” Lorian snapped.“Just because there are a few loud bigots doesn’t mean that we should go backward! We must stay the course or else people will think that all they have to do is cause enough fuss and we’ll take away other people’s rights. That is not the Kinkadia that I know and love. And I won’t stand by and let you use your prejudiceMaya wanted to duck out of sight. She’d never had someone like Aurora , who was so full of privilege, so very Bryonican royalty, stand up for her… to completely defend her. She barely even knew her.Lorian opened his mouth to object again, but Aurora barreled forward.“And on the second account, my mother and I have agreed to select Maya into Bryonica under the House of Drame.”Maya’s stomach flo
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 62
Footsteps sounded behind her, and she didn’t have to turn her head to know that Fordham had followed her into the mayhem, as he had been doing for weeks. She didn’t slow. He would catch up to her. She kept moving forward, glad for those hours and hours of running so that by the time she reached the first line of Red Masks, she wasn’t winded.Maya used her wind magic to bowl through the first group, and they hastily fled. But she could see the leader up ahead. Their leader was holding up a large, swirling gray orb, much like the amber one Basem had used against her.This was her chance to get revenge for what those people had done to her. This was her chance to end it. No longer would Red Masks walk her streets. No longer would they terrorize humans and half-Fae. No longer would they try to take away their rights. It could end right here, right now.The crowd had cleared enough for Maya to slow as she approached the leader of the Red Masks. He turned to face her. He was a large man. Th
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 61
One of the goblets was offered to Maya. “Drink from this. You will pass into the spiritual realm, where you and Tieran will meet. When the binding is complete, you will be dragon and rider.” Tara touched Maya’s hand with a wide, genuine smile. “I’m so happy for you. Good luck.”“Thank you,” Maya whispered, staring down into the goblet. It just looked like water, as it did in the pool, but she knew it was part of the spell. She looked to Tieran. “Ready?”As I’ll ever be.Maya frowned and then downed the drink at the same time Tieran lapped from the pool. For the second time today, her vision went fuzzy, and then she blackedFor the last five years, Maya had thought constantly about what it would be like to go through the dragon-binding ceremony. Having witnessed it firsthand, she had seen each of the competitors drink from the goblet and then enter a state of sleep, coming to with excitement as the bond set in. She’d imagined every scenario for how the binding was actually accomplished
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 60
Maya came to, gasping for breath. She put her hands on her knees and tried to suck in enough life to leave that horrible nightmare behind. She knew that it was the faerie illusion that she had walked into. That it was designed to warp reality and pull out her deepest, darkest fear. She had just lived it—marrying Ashby March and living a life where no one ever saw her for who she truly was. She had come out on the other side of it, had risen above the adversity, but it had felt so very real.Her body trembled with exhaustion from the illusion, but she was no longer helpless. Her magic flared bright and bursting within her, and all of her injuries had been healed. She straightened to her full height and found herself before a gaping audience. The cave was large enough to hold the five dragons—Avirix, Netta, Tieran, Luxor, and Evien—as well as their five Dragon Blessed handlers. Standing before them were the four competitors who had made it this far. Aurora stood with wide eyes, farther
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 59
You got tested?” he asked in exasperation. “Why does that not even surprise me?”“It wasn’t purposeful. I wanted to know what testing was, but when I stepped inside, Gelryn said he’d been waiting for me.”“Ominous,” Fordham muttered.She laughed. “A little bit. But it ended up being fine. He actually left and went to the Holy Mountain to try to find information on my visions.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he’ll find anything, but he seemed confident.”“That’s good at least. You need to get those under control.”“Hey, they’ve helped you!”“They have,” he admitted. “I just don’t want them to control you.”She nodded and fell silent. They did control her, and if she didn’t find a way to stop them, then they always would. It was why she’d gone to Gelryn in the first place.They continued trudging through the plane and watched as they crossed over the South River without ever getting wet. Then, the landscape turned rocky, and suddenly, they were in the mountains. The sun was low on the h
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 58
He came to his feet. “Well, that’s lucky.”She swallowed back the lump in her throat. Marc here to save us after all.”“We should probably set out at dawn,” Fordham said. “Together, we can get out of here.”“All right, princeling,” she said with a half-smile. “But first, we’re going to need some pinecones.”Fordham didn’t ask, just helped her cover a few pinecones in sap, and then she cracked the two biggest sticks she’d found on a sharp piece of rock, placing the sap-covered pinecones inside and dipping them in the flames.He looked at her, impressed. “Torches. How did you know how to do that?”“House of Dragons teaches us more than just etiquette,” she said with a grin. She brushed mud off his brow and laughed. “You look ridiculous.”“I ate poisonous berries,” he reminded her.And then they both laughed.The weight and fear of the night before had dissipated at dawn. They had gotten through a lot together this last month. This was one more adventure.Together, they tracked through t
The Dragon queen is a witch and a vampire Chapter 57
With a determination set into her very marrow, Maya left for the portal room. It was not a long walk, and within minutes, she was at the end of the hallway. She waited patiently for the two guards standing in front of the room to turn and walk the other way. She didn’t know what kind of gods’ luck this was, but as soon as their backs were turned, she hustled down the hallway. With her heart in her throat, she turned the doorknob and entered the room, carefully closing the door behind her.The room itself was enormous. Big enough for multiple dragons to comfortably stand in. This was only the Fae entrance. There was a separate tunnel that the dragons could enter through that disappeared deep into the mountain. And standing as large as a house was a giant stone archway, magnificently carved and ornately built. The center of the archway shone a brilliant iridescent. Just as in her vision, there stood a goblet on a table next to the archway.Maya warily approached it. She looked into the
