Page 22 of She Who Holds My Wrath

The corner of his mouth lifts, just slightly. “Of course you do this now. On the morning you’re about to face the leaders of the realm, you’re more focused on plotting ways to change one girl’s life.”

“Not just one girl,” I murmur, my throat tight. “If I can’t look after the people closest to me, how the hell am I supposed to look after an entire kingdom?”

He exhales slowly, nodding. “Then after today, I’ll see to it. We’ll make it happen.”

Gratitude swells in my chest so strongly it hurts. “Thank you, Aran.”

For a moment, the weight of queenship, of looming war, of loss and grief, doesn’t crush me entirely. For a moment, I’m just Daisy again, holding on to the people I love, fighting for them in the only way I know how to.

Aran offered to portal us to our first destination—the village of Cinderspine—but I refused.

I wanted to take the same walk Korithax and I made on my first day here, after I had agreed to marry him. My chest aches at the memory, every step down the palace path cutting a little deeper. That feels like so long ago. Time is slipping through my fingers like grains of sand. Life really doesn’t wait for anybody, no matter how badly we want it to.

A small entourage of guards trails behind us, with two leading ahead, their armour clinking faintly in the stillness of the surrounding fields. The road feels… emptier than I remember. Too quiet. As though the looming shadow of war has driven everyone indoors. I hate it. I hate that my people—my kingdom—live in fear instead of freedom. The fields are pretty much the same. Crops tended, but farmers scarce. It feels like even the earth itself is holding its breath.

Then I see her.

The flamebeast. The same one that approached me months ago, the one that pressed its snout into my palm as if she had known me all along. The memory makes my lips tug into a small, aching smile. Korithax had been so stunned she had come to me so freely. Now, I wonder if she had always known. If she had known who I truly was beneath it all. I am a part of her creation, after all. Dasmyrin and Elyistria had shaped these magnificent creatures.

She prowls towards me, just as before, her great head low, swaying side to side in a serpentine motion. The guards instantly cry out, their hands going to their hilts, voices sharp.

“Stand back! Protect the queen⁠—”

“Don’t!” My voice cracks through the air, sharp enough to halt them. I step forward with a hand raised. “Lower your weapons. Immediately.”

“But, Your Ma⁠—”

“You dare defy your queen?” Aran’s tone is ruthless, his hand resting casually on his own sword as he glares at the panic-stricken guards.

The questioning guard swallows hard, bowing his head once before letting go of his weapon. The others follow suit, albeit reluctantly. I move past them, drawn towards her as if by invisible thread. Somehow, I know she’s female. The way I knew Korithax’s tether. Not knowledge, but instinct. Something soul-deep. I stop just short of her and she lowers her head, her warm breath huffing against me as I slowly lift my hand. She presses her scaled snout to my palm without hesitation. My chest floods with something that feels like recognition and belonging.

“Hello again,” I whisper. “I’m Daisy.”

I don’t know why I’m speaking to her. Why I’m standing and offering my name. But it feels natural, as though it’s what she expects. Her molten-gold eyes bore into mine. And then, clear and loud, a voice flickers in my mind. Feminine and ancient.

“Vesindiyah.”

My breath catches. “Your name… is Vesindiyah?”

She huffs, almost indignant, like she’s saying, Yes, that’s what I said. Keep up. A laugh burst out of me, loud and disbelieving.

I hear movement behind me as Aran steps cautiously closer. I glance over my shoulder to find him staring, wide-eyed. “Daisy,” he breathes. “Did you just… say the flamebeasts name?”

I nod, stroking Vesindiyah’s crimson, iridescent scale with my thumb. “I heard it in my head. And when I asked if that’s what she said, she all but rolled her eyes at me.”

Aran exhales, almost reverent. “Of course. Now that Dasmyrin stirs in you. Dasmyrin and Elyistria created them as protectors. But Dasmyrin… she was closest to them. There was one, in particular. Loyal beyond measure,” he cocks his head, eying Vesindiyah with a soft smile. “This must be her.”

Warmth pools my chest as I press my forehead to Vesindiyah’s snout. “I can feel it,” I whisper. “In my soul. Gods, I can feel it so deeply in my heart that it aches. She’s bound to me.”

I absentmindedly rub at my chest where I feel the bond ache. My fingers grazing the golden pendant. I can’t believe I didn’t feel it before. Did my mortality really hide so much from me? Would I have felt this if I didn’t turn? I always felt something towards Korithax, but it wasn’t as strong as it was when I turned immortal. My mind reels with the feeling of the ancient creatures’ bond that resides by the space I know is still taken up by Korithax.

“This means…” Aran trails off, awe in his voice. “This means not only armies—but these creatures. We could have flamebeasts by our side. Dasmyrin… she always rode into battle with them. She rode into battle on her,” he says, angling his head to Vesindiyah.

My throat tightens, my eyes finding Aran’s. “I couldn’t ask that of her. Of them. This is not a war I want to drag more people into that I need to. Especially not such magnificent creatures.”

Before I can step back, Vesindiyah nudges her head against mine, a gesture filled with such fierce certainty that I don’t need words. I understand what she’s saying instantly. She has already decided her path is still with me. She has decided she will ride with me into battle, just as we have before.

“We all will.” Her voice echoes in my mind, clear and powerful.