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Not a snake. A water dragon.
Juliana ran.
She hit the inside of one of the turrets and bolted up the stairs. Ladrien slammed into the door behind her, making the very stone shudder and shake.
She had only two—maybe three—advantages. Her speed and size, her knowledge of the castle, and her mortal lies.
Technically, she could run from this. If Ladrien never beat her, her soul would never be his. But how could she outrun adragon?
By staying in small, confined spaces. By remaining hidden. By being very, very careful.
But not for long. He’d find her eventually.
Think think think think think—
She bolted up the stairs, her heart in her chest, windows showing flashes of his enormous scaled body as she climbed.
“Shall I tell you a fairytale, Juliana Ardencourt?” came his deep, snarling voice. A second later, his fist smashed through a window ahead of her, followed by his massive head. Juliana dived underneath it, slashing upright, but he jerked upwards before she could get in another attack, taking half the wall with him.
Juliana reached the top door and burst into the corridor, Ladrien snaking behind her, the stone bursting at the seams under his gigantic size.
“Once upon a time, a beautiful faerie princess fell in love with a handsome sea monster”— stone fell overhead, making Juliana swerve— “but a knight grew jealous of their love, and slayed the beast. The princess in turn slayedhim,and, for her transgressions, was banished from the faerie court, all whilst a child grew in her belly.”
More stone trembled. Juliana ducked, half falling, half rolling, skidding through the library doors at the end of the corridor. She dived behind a bookcase as Ladrien burst in behind her, finally able to move freely in the colossal space.
He shot into the air, wings cutting across the light. She twisted into another aisle of books, desperately trying to keep out of his line of sight, clinging to stacks and shadows.
“The Seelie said her child would be a monster, an abomination… but there were plenty of creatures called that. And the princess found them all. Every beast, every faerie deemed too vicious or too dangerous to live in the glittering court… she sought them out. Gave them a home. A princess of Faerie became the first Queen of the Unseelie. And her child its beautiful prince.”
You?Juliana realised. But the birth of the Unseelie Court was millenia ago. Unspeakably ancient.
Was Ladrien truly that old?
“I have seen the rise and fall of the fae,” Ladrien continued, flicking his tail and toppling over a shelf. Books went flying, wood reduced to splinters. “I have seen its worst and best. I have seen it fail and flourish. I have seen itsend.”
Another bookcase toppled. Juliana threw herself out of the way, accidentally diving into his line of sight. He lunged for her. She slammed against another bookcase. It crashed into his body, allowing her a chance to ram her sword into the side of his neck.
Not deep enough, not by half. She withdrew the blade as he reared and shot off down another aisle.
“But have youactuallyseen it, or are you just… you know, guessing? Because it’s kind of extreme to exterminate an entire species based on a hunch.”
“When you live to be my age, youknowthings, girl! You don’t need to see them to believe them!”
His jaws plunged through a bookcase, snapping and snarling. Juliana stabbed his nostril and kicked over another shelf.
No one should live as long as he had. There was a reason most faeries didn’t, why they ‘returned themselves to the earth’ when the centuries grew too heavy. A madness would take over otherwise.
A madness had.
Ladrien reared. A bookcase fell, catching Juliana’s legs as it crashed to the floor. She wasn’t hurt—at least, not badly—but she couldn’t move. Her legs were trapped, and Ladrien’s huge jaws rose above her.
This couldn’t be it. She couldn’t die here, alone, trapped, her sword out of reach—
A book flew out of nowhere and hit the dragon squarely in the eye.
“Stay away from my books!” called a voice.
Juliana glanced upwards. On a balcony far above her was a small, barefooted figure, looking wilder and fiercer than ever.
