Page 62 of Dragon Heir

“My duty is to protect my queen. I am sworn to guard you to the death, and that is what I will do. What comes before then—I shouldn’t have let you kiss me. You are the future queen, and I’m simply your Captain of the Guard. That is what we are, Vynessa. All that we can ever be.”

The words tear at my throat, but the tears that shine in her eyes shred what’s left of my heart. If I have to hurt her to keep her safe, it’s a price I must pay. I should never have let us get this close. I should never have let my heart get involved.

It’s too late now. Maybe it was always too late. My loyalty, my respect, my love, they are all hers. Not because she is my queen and I must give them, but because I willingly give them. I am hers, and I will always be hers.

There’s a loud crunch, and then figures file out of the clearing, ten massive soldiers, and I know every one of them. Princess Shynia’s royal guard, plus four. They part ways for Shynia, who comes to stand before us in a pair of tight-fitting, soft leather pants and a sleeveless top. Her blonde hair is wound into a snaking coil atop her head, and she clutches a gleaming knife in each hand.

“Sister,” she calls, as her gaze sweeps through the clearing. “Where are you? Your precious guard is lying to you. Mother arrested both of your guards when they tried to kidnap you. True got away.”

Vynessa’s mouth opens, and I manage to clap a hand over her lips before she gasps. Sinetar is wiser than I give him credit for. Clearly, he neglected to tell Vynessa that the queen had Paxton in chains. It’s probably the only reason Vynessa agreed to flee the palace. The queen’s guard took Paxton and me completely unawares. Only my powers of invisibility allowed me to escape.

Shynia must smell the queen’s heat, though, because her eyes dart around the area we huddle in, even though she can’t see us. Her hands flex on her blades. This would be the perfect opportunity to rid the queendom of us both—the princess in the way of everything Shynia wants and the guard who slipped the queen’s control and went rogue.

“Oh, True,” Shynia trills. “If you don’t return the princess to the palace, the halfling will be killed and skinned before sunset. His sea leather will be crafted into armor and gifted to the Sun King so he can spend all the time he needs under the sea, slaughtering what remains of the Sea Kingdom.”

“No!” Vynessa explodes, shooting out of my arms.

One moment she’s a human body of flesh and blood against mine, and the next, she’s a vessel of liquid light, spraying bolts of sizzling lightning in all directions. My hairs stand on end, and heat scorches my armor, electricity dancing over my skin. Her power shoots forward, forking toward the guards and Shynia.

The ice princess whips her weapons up like shields, and the bolts electrify the steel. Several of the guards aren’t so quick. The bolts shoot them in the chest, sending two of the dragons crashing into the trees.

Shynia’s blades glow white and then blue, and for one horrifying moment, I think she’ll redirect the lightning. Instead, she throws them to the ground with a shriek of pain.

“There you are, sister,” Shynia says, her mouth curling into a triumphant smile, as if she happened upon just what she was looking for. As if her palms aren’t smoking, her flesh charred. “The queen sent me to find you. She requests your presence at the palace. She’s throwing a banquet to celebrate your impending nuptials.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Vynessa

What just happened? The forest goes in and out of focus. Black, charred trees collapse around us. Six of Shynia’s guards are on their feet, hair sticking straight up, but alive. Two of them lie on the forest floor, limp and forgotten by the others, and two more lie moaning in pain.

Pax!

My mind is screaming that one name over and over.

Shynia told us that queen is going to kill him, and then everything went white. Heat seared up my whole body. It was different than in the washroom, this was all spark, no flame. I wonder if I kept it in too long, if I did it wrong and it exploded out in this horrible way that hurt so many.

My heart leaps in panic, but when I glance behind me, True is climbing to his feet, seemingly unharmed, though his leathers are smoldering.

Shynia raises her hands. “You’re clearly happy to shoot a messenger, dear sister, but I’m not the one who arrested your lover. I’m not forcing you to marry a prince from the Sun Kingdom. I just came here, on the queen’s bequest, to tell you about your guard. The queen says that you need to return home, or the halfling dies.”

I’m sure Shynia is lying. The queen would send her soldiers to get me. She probably did. Shynia came out here to kill me, but she’s unarmed now. Not only that, but there’s also an edge of fear in her eyes where I’ve only seen disdain before.

“Well, come on,” Shynia says, impatiently snapping her fingers and sticking up her nose, clearly trying to hide her unease by acting like a snob as usual. “We have important guests, and you can’t go looking like that.”

“We can still run,” True murmurs, but the resignation in his voice betrays him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. No, you can’t.” Shynia glances around at her guards, her golden hair circling her head like a crown.

The remaining six guards have all drawn their weapons, ready to take us by force. Even though I know True must be as strong in dragon form as human, he can’t possibly fight off all six of them. And I feel so depleted I doubt I could even make a spark. I wonder if I burned out my fuse, or whatever dragons have that makes fire, when my magic erupted.

I don’t have time to ask, though. My head is pounding, and the weight and horror of the task ahead presses down until I think I’ll suffocate. Not only do I have to survive a wedding to a stranger, but that’s only the beginning. If dragons are to continue, I have to lay nine eggs. As a prisoner of the Sun Kingdom, I’m sure he’ll force me to lay them for him. I can’t even remember how long it takes for all nine heat cycles—I didn’t know that part of dragon lore was relevant to me when I learned it.

After that, though… There’s no reason for the Sun King to keep me alive. He’ll have all nine heirs, and he’ll kill me, leaving the nine clans with no queen, only a king to rule.

As horrifying as that is, the more immediate dangers are the ones making me panic. Pax will never be safe. They will use him to hurt me. Nobody I care about will ever be safe. The best thing I can do for my human family is to pretend I’ve forgotten them as thoroughly as the dragons have so I don’t bring attention and danger to them. And my men… I have to distance myself from them as well.

“It’ll be okay,” I whisper, reaching back toward True, grateful for his steadiness and strength beside me. “Just stay with me, True. I’ll protect you.”