Page 31 of Only Flames Remain

Smart man.

The wound in my side sent a scorching pain down my side, all the way through my right leg down to my toes. I pressed my eyes closed, gritting my teeth.

“You won’t be able to keep this from King Mavros much longer.” Ren spoke once more from the doorway, voice soft. “To be honest, I am surprised Emrys or Valerian haven’t let it slip yet. Emrys has every reason to tell him.”

“I know, Ren. It’s…complicated. Emrys—he just—it’s complicated.”

Ren’s gaze fell to the floor. “I understand. He still loves you. But will his love for you overpower his desire for the throne he believes to be rightfully his?”

“Only the gods know.”

I had every intention of bathing after the long flight I had taken tonight, but my legs simply wouldn’t cooperate anymore. I collapsed onto the bed, pulling back the sheet with great difficulty after I was already sprawled atop it.

“Get some sleep, Prince. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“Stealing Prince Kallias’s lover?” I laughed, gaze on the ceiling. “How could I ever forget…”

Ren smiled one last time before turning the handle. He closed the door behind him with a soft click, leaving me alone with only the night sky and the glow of the lantern beside me. I had every intention of sleeping on the balcony under the stars tonight, but exhaustion took hold the moment I laid down.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit I was interested in the opportunity this little human would bring with her as she sailed across the Saltale Sea. She had, possibly unbeknownst to her, sailed right into our waiting hands. The only things she knew of Gothryn and the Vireth fae were the lies they spilled from their traitorous tongues.

When I finally slipped into a fitful sleep that night, I dreamed of the oddest thing. I was sure I had never seen anyone quite like her with my own two eyes—but there she was—behind my closed lids.

The image branded there.

A woman with ebony hair that fell over her shoulder in curated ringlets. Her beaded gown the deepest sapphire I had ever seen. Her cheeks were flushed pink, alluring for more than one reason. The heat pulsing in my core confused me—was it thirst, or something more? Blood pumped thickly in her veins, right below the surface.

But that wasn’t what had been so singular about her. It was when my gaze had traversed her body only to finally focus on her face.

Milky skin with wide, kohl-rimmed eyes.

One brown, one blue.

CHAPTER 10

Aveline

The indenture market wasn’t anything as I had imagined. It was far more civilized than I envisioned. I thought the humans would be brought in by ropes, the Vireth fae poking and prodding at us as if we were cattle.

I imagined we would wear dirty, simple shift dresses to appear alike. I pictured an auctioneer standing at the block, bringing us onto the stage one by one and selling us off as if we meant nothing at all but the coin we would bring.

This was nothing like that.

While I was still tense with apprehension, I had to admit that the humans here were not treated as poorly as I had been led to expect. We had been herded into grand carts pulled by horses to expedite travel from Scaldrithor to the palace. When I had first spotted the metal spires piercing the sky from the rickety cart that jostled me back and forth, my heart suspended in my chest.

The Gothryn palace rose as if it were a black blade against the summer sky—tall and narrow.

Severe.

The spires clawed upward to pierce the mist that hung heavily in the air. The stone was dark obsidian and weather-worn. The castle boasted elaborate balconies and beautifully arched windows. It was utterly breathtaking.

We took the wide dirt road that led to the arched gates of the palace and the courtyard beyond. A black owl circled above, its silhouette cutting across what little of the sun could be seen beneath the mist. How odd to see one out during the day, its forehead stamped with a crescent moon—something I had never seen before.

Everything about the Gothryn castle suggested it was a place of power and secrecy. It was home to dragons, after all.

We were unloaded in the courtyard, then filed into the main hall. We did not linger—we were quickly taken down a corridor toward the west wing of the castle.

Where the castle in Myros was all pale stone and sunlight, the palace in Gothryn was the exact opposite. The corridor stretched long and wide, bending out of sight and giving no true sense of where it might lead. The walls were carved entirely from dark aged stone. Tall columns rose toward vaulted arched ceilings that were adorned with elaborate paintings of the night sky. Exquisite tapestries were hung from the walls for decoration, the columns stamped with the Blackwater dragon crest.