Page 79 of Three Dark Kings and the Gilded Serpent

Cassia steps between them, while Victor’s forehead creases, stiffening at the rider’s next words.

“The Frost King is fighting beside the Ember King.”

Cassia’s shoulders are suddenly tense. “They’re allies?”

The rider swallows. “Unclear. It appears that their interests are aligned. Hadrian’s weapons are stationed at Ember’s border, where he’s focusing his assault. Without the Frost King, Hadrian’s army would have gained ground in Ember by now, which would have increased his power. Not to mention, many Ember Fae civilians would have died.”

“Frost,” I growl. “It clears the smoke.”

The rider’s attention snaps to me and, even though he glanced at Victor before, it seems he’s only now taking note of my identity.

“Iron King,” he gasps, hurriedly beginning to bow.

“You answer to Cassia,” I say firmly. “She’s your commander.”

I’m already moving toward the cave’s mouth, steering wide of the rider and his now-skittish eagle. “I need to get to the Ember border. I have to find Thyra and make sure she’s safe.”

“Wait.” Cassia rushes forward. She bites her lip before she wraps her arms around me.

I stiffen at her hug. Then relax, close my eyes, and accept her gesture.

“Our world is breaking,” she whispers.

I take a deep breath. “Maybe it’s for the best.”

She tips her head back, her jaw dropped. “What?”

“We can’t keep going as we always have. If the magical rules of our world are disintegrating, then the curse has a chance of breaking, too.”

Cassia blinks up at me. “When did you become so optimistic?”

“When Thyra gave me hope.”

Tears suddenly flood Cassia’s eyes. “I was scared I’d lost you. We heard Hadrian killed you. And then, when I found out you were alive…” She blinks rapidly, but the tears keep coming. “I was worried you wouldn’t be you anymore.”

I bare my fangs at her. “Don’t worry, little sister, I’m as vicious as ever.”

She sniffles, lets me go, and swipes at her eyes.

Now, it’s Victor who halts me. “Brother. Wait.”

He strides to the side of the tunnel, where several sections of rock form shelves, scooping up a long object concealed behind a lip of stone before hurrying back to me.

“I found this on Mount Vividari when I went to free Emiliana. I swore I’d give it back to you if I had the chance.”

I stare at my axe, the one I carried for years.

“I don’t have my tools to fortify the edge,” Victor says, turning the blade into the light. “But I sharpened it for you. Maybe you can find some use for it.”

I hesitate to reach for the weapon that I discarded when I thought my life as I knew it was over.

“Is Emiliana okay?” A question I should have asked long before this moment.

Victor’s jaw clenches again, his hands tightening around the axe. A heavy silence falls around me. Even the rider, having risen to his feet, hunches at his eagle’s side.

Cassia breaks the quiet. “Hadrian burned Emiliana with iron dust to make her copy the Chronicle for him.”

I can’t stop my snarl, my fangs cutting my lower lip.