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She rolls her eyes. “Of course, I did. No one ever comes here and leaves alive. At least, until me.”
“Oh, darling!” The voice that echoes through the empty hall sends a shiver down my spine. I know it… wished to never hear it again. The king comes into view, except his face is missing, nothing but round skin-covered head… Odd. Asmo had a face.
Calamity goes statue-still, his skin becoming so pale she could pass for dead. “No… He said if he stayed, I wouldn’t have a nightmare.” Her golden eyes flash to me. “You said–” She shakes her head, pinching her lips between her teeth. “Nevermind.”
She doesn’t know I’m real. I thought me being here would’ve made that obvious, but she thinks I’m part of this illusion, this figment of her imagination. My gaze cuts toward the king, the lock in his hand clinks as it clicks open. I lift my hand, drawing in a deep breath, and snap. He explodes into a cloud of snowflakes, and they slowly float to the stone floor, melting away in seconds.
“You just… How’d you…” Calamity looks between what’s left of the king and me.
I thought it’d be sort of symbolic, like the way she killed the nevercats. There’s no way I could’ve done such a thing in real life, but here… Here everything is in my control. I can do what I want.
“No more nightmares. Not tonight.”
Her jaw goes slack, her vacant stare on me, there but not really.
I offer her my hand. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere better, far away from this place.”
Her lips stretch into a wide grin, golden eyes practically sparkling as she gently sets her hand in mine. “Okay.”
Using my magic, the room starts to spin, the stone bricks becoming slick cavern walls. It’s empty, no sign of the carnage left behind by the grimleer, the air holding less of a chill. I hop up onto one of the wooden tables, my hands wrapping around the edge as I watch her. It’s like she’s taking it all in for the first time, and it brings a faint smile to my lips.
“Close your eyes.”
She seems to ponder that for a moment, but does, lacing her hands in front of her.
“Think of someone you want to see, who you want to be here. Think of their face, their voice, the way you feel when you’re with them.”
Her lips twitch as if remembering something, but her eyes remain shut. My chest tightens at the thought of Gael being the person she conjures. I hope not. She might’ve killed him in real life, but I won’t hesitate to do it here, as many times as necessary.
“Do you have your person?” I ask, hopping up from the table to stand in front of her.
“Yes,” she whispers, her hands gently feeling the air, as if she senses me here.
“Want them, want to see them badly enough and they’ll appear.”
Her head tips forward, too heavy for her to hold, but as she straightens, a lock of her dark hair falls in her face, resting over the bridge of her nose. I bring my hand to her face, hesitating a mere inch away, but I push it out of her face just in time to see light, shining off to my right. Like beads, the orbs float in midair, arranging, shifting, merging, until a woman’s shape forms, followed by dark hair. Then a dress and features, until a familiar face comes into view.
The air becomes trapped in my lungs, my eyes becoming owl-like.
The queen of dragons.
She smiles hard enough that it reaches her eyes, that it radiates light. Her gaze sliding from me to Calamity. A dark green cloak with black royal swirls rests over her shoulders, a dress beneath it that matches the one Calamity wears now–the same one drying in the real cavern.
“You can open your eyes,” I say, my voice barely audible as I gawk at a woman our realm believed to be long dead, and the paintings on Calamity’s walls become clear. She knew her…
Calamity squeals, lurching toward the woman and tossing her arms around her. Their dark hair nearly matching as they hug.
Do I bow? Do I leave?I’m at a loss for words. All I can do is stand here blinking, motionless.
She pulls away, her arms still looped around the queen’s shoulders. “I’ve missed you so much, and I know…” I can’t see her face, but I’m almost certain there are tears. I can hear it in her voice. “I know you’re not real, but…” Calamity cups the woman’s face. “It feels like it. I’d have given anything to hug you just one more time.”
The woman doesn’t speak, but she draw’s Calamity’s head toward her, kissing just above her eyebrow, and then her figure fades, disintegrating into the light before disappearing all together. Calamity’s shoulders drop, her body unmoving for a long moment, as if she’s waiting for her to come back.
I take a step forward, my fingers dusting over the back of her arm. “Are you okay?” I’m not sure why I ask. I’m not sure how any of this is happening, how I got sucked in here, how Calamity knew the queen,knewher enough to conjure her into existence, at that.
She lurches, making me jump. I don’t get a chance to breathe before her arms are slung around my throat, squeezing so hard itcuts off my airway. Her face is buried into the crook of my neck and my lips tingle, my lungs squeezing, desperate for oxygen. She finally lets go, just enough to look at me and I gasp, filling my lungs as full as they’ll go.
“Thank you…” her golden eyes toggle between mine. My chest tingling as I realize what’s been in front of me since I met her on that mountain top. It took me seeing the queen, seeing Calamity’s room to realize I’m not just protecting the mad king’s daughter, but that of the queen of dragons… The daughter of the last fury.
