AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brenn starts speedwalking to catch up to the guard who’s almost out of sight and I fall into step with him.
“You’re right… I’m sorry. It’s just a lot for one day.”
Brenn arches a brow. “I know.”
A long silence passes before I whisper, “Do you think King Everand realized I have a never cat?”
Brenn's short laugh echoes through the stone halls. “Gods, no. They're indigenous to the Realm of Monsters and I don't believe the king has ever been there, so I think your secret is safe.”
Chapter 36
Calamity
Weeks have passed in a blur.
Brenn is still here with me, since Mira never came back. He must’ve sat at the edge for days and my heart broke every time he returned to tell me she never showed.
And sadly, I'm still no closer to shifting than I was when I arrived. King Everand believes it's from my dragon being repressed for so long, that it could take years… Or at least he told me so right before ensuring me he'd take care of me as long as I needed him to. So long as no one fully mates with me.
Brenn had been right. Not once has the king tried to pressure me into anything. He's just had someone come get me for dinner every night, and let me meet him at the table. Though he has asked questions about Meg and my time in Solaria, I've danced around talking about Loric and the others like their lives depend on it.
And from what it sounds like. They do.
The treaty is contingent onalldragons staying out of the realm and going off of what the king has told me, they’ve executedanyone that’s broken that rule. The only reason he won’t treat Brenn as a traitor is due to his injuries.
He’s only allowed Brenn to join us at this long wooden table once. Last night. During which, King Everand nearly interrogated the man about how we got up here if his injuries shredded his wings and I can’t shift. Brenn had lied through his teeth–or so I thought–claiming to have made a fabric that acts as the webbing of his wings and we were lucky enough for it to survive going through the barrier. He even showed him the fabric that must’ve come in the bags he brought with him, and since the king has never gone through the barrier himself, he believed it, though he wanted his counsel to examine it. And with reluctant fingers, Brenn let him take it.
It wasn’t until we returned to our room–and yes, I do meanroom–that he explained how it’s allowed him to fly, but there’s no way the fabric is strong enough to hold up through the barrier. It means, when they do test it—if they do—the king will know the truth, that someone brought us up here. He might even make Brenn demonstrate just to prove a point.
We both agreed to never give up a name if it comes to that, but we’ve also been preparing for the worst. We prioritized me shifting over everything else, so if we have to run, we can.
Brenn’s tried everything that doesn’t result in sheer force. My dragon has too. She knows how life or death the situation we’re in is, and she’s worked with me, pushed with me, and yet, nothing happens.
I’ve started to fear we may never do so. Which means, I may never claim the crown, never see Loric again… Doing so in Solaria would just put them all at risk, and being here would get him killed. We might not have a choice but to go to Hell Hold and pray Asmo’s father accepts us with open arms, but I doubt he will. He tried to kill his own son, then when he failed, hetricked him and locked him away in his prison realm to endure the Solarian king’s rule.
What would he do to someone who he can’t lock inside there? Who can walk through the barrier? The only answer I can find is death. Though, it’s not like Asmo’s father is looking for me, either. So, there’s a sliver of hope, that if shit goes south, we’ll be able to hide our dragon halves, pretend to be some other sort of shifter and never tell anyone our real names. We might be able to live in hiding… we’ll just always have to look over our shoulder.
Still, everything is contingent on Brenn and I making it off this moon without being caught, and me having wings to land us safely on the ground.
The dining room table stretches out before me, a round wooden chandelier hanging above us, full of twinkling lights. Only the king and I sit here, today, a feast splayed out in front of us that could feed a whole village.
“Not much longer and your mark will be gone. How are you feeling about that?” King Everand looks up from his plate, his silver eyes looming across the table.
“Bittersweet, I guess.” It’s not a lie. I miss Loric, so deeply that he’s all I can think about most days. It’s been both a motivation for me to shift, and a reason not to, because it means I can see him and I’m not sure I’ll be able to restrain myself from going down there… from putting everyone he knows and loves at risk because I simply missed him. Maybe if the mark is gone, I might finally be able to shift without that fear keeping my scales hidden.
However, it’ll bring other issues to the table, like how Loric’s father will likely try to push me into mating with him, and that feels completely wrong on a soul level. Morality of the situation aside, I wouldn’t. King Everand can be kind, and he’s powerful, could likely offer me anything and everything I asked for butone. He can’t offer me that same feeling of being with Loric. My heart won’t flutter when he looks at me, my body won’t ache for his touch, and there’s an intimacy that I have with Loric no one else can compare to. Things are just simple. His hard, jagged pieces fit perfectly with mine, and anyone else would just fall flat in comparison.
“Interesting,” he hums, chewing a bit as he squints at me from across the room. “How so?”
“Well, I love him… I loved him before the mark was even placed on me. And sure, my feelings are stronger now, more amplified, but I don’t think that’ll just go away when it disappears.” My fingers linger on it, feeling the smooth skin, the bite that’s slightly more silky than the rest.
“Love him? You scowl at him most of the time.” The king takes another bite.
“And how would you know that? You’ve only seen me around him a few times, and not for long.” Doing my best to keep my heart rate even, I take a bite, chew my food, and keep my eyes on my plate.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but the castle does have windows. My rooms are relatively high up, and from them I can see just about everything going on around the castle. I’ve watched the two of you, even chuckled when you tossed your boot at him once.” This king tips his head, looking at me beneath his lashes.
Brenn had tried to use anger to drag out my creature. He’d told memy matewould move on, that if I wasn’t woman enough to shift, then I wasn’t woman enough to mate him. I knew he was saying it to get beneath my skin, but it hurt more than I cared to admit, and due to his terminology, if anyone had overheard us, even the king, they’d assume Brenn was talking about himself in the third-person.
