AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Damian,” Aika cuts in, dealing the cards.
Zaina nods.
Aika makes a thoughtful noise. “If we kill him, she will assume we’re working against her, or that someone is. If we keep working to turn her against him, though…”
“Then your place is secure,” Zaina finishes. “And she’s off her game, suspicious of everyone.”
“Which is where I come in,” I add. “She doesn’t want to come near the castle, and she’s already making mistakes because I’m here.”
“And as for what we know.” Zaina looks pointedly at her sister. “Not as much as we would like to. We know she wants power. We suspect she wanted something with the dragon, though we’re looking into why.”
Remy looks sharply at Zaina before he masks the expression with polite interest.
Aika narrows her eyes at him, but comments about something else. “We know that she wants to be connected to the royal families, obviously. But…” she hesitates, visibly warring with herself.
No one pushes her, though, and she finally speaks. “I don’t think she actually planned on me marrying Remy. It was more like it was a back-up plan. She had me actively working as The Flame up until a couple of weeks before the ball, and she didn’t tell me until the last minute what her plan was.”
“She didn’t tell Zaina until the day she left,” I counter her logic.
Aika gives me the closest thing to an apology I’ve ever seen on her features. “I think she thought that would be the last straw for Zaina, leaving us...and marrying you. Zaina might have rebelled, but she knew I would never question her.”
The last words come out bitterly.
“I agree,” Zaina says. “She also kept me in pristine condition, while she let Aika go out and amass scars. So it makes sense that she didn’t necessarily plan it.”
“So, she only needs one royal connection?” Remy surmises, then his face darkens. “Or one royal heir.”
The horror in his features is quickly masked by an expression just a shade too neutral. Aika is looking at her cards rather than at him, but responds anyway.
“I told you, that won’t happen,” Aika assures him. “In the extremely unlikely event that we live through this, I can follow my sister into a fake demise and you can marry a real courtier, one who won’t devour your precious heirs.”
She bares her teeth in a smile, and he shakes his head.
Still, I see something churning in his gaze, something that has nothing to do with how clearly he doesn’t want his wife to abandon ship.
“You know something,” I say.
He tilts his head to the side, gesturing vaguely. “Nothing you don’t know.”
It seems like he believes what he’s saying, but I shake my head, unsure what he’s referring to.
“If she wants a dragon, and she wants an heir…” he leads.
I blink at him, nonplussed.
“The connection between the dragons and the royal family,” he adds before understanding dawns on his features. “Which your parents clearly did not have time to pass down to you.”
He winces as if understanding something for the first time and Zaina speaks up.
“Dragons? As in, more than one?”
“Every kingdom has one.” He nods. “Or at least, did. Some have died. Some have gone into hiding. But they’re dangerous, impossible to control. The only humans who have any kind of sway over them are—”
“The royal line,” I surmise. “Which is why it didn’t harm me. But why Zaina? Why was she safe?”
Remy coughs uncomfortably, studying his cards a little too closely. “Well, it’s possible the dragon, perhaps…sensed you on your wife.”
A rare blush blossoms on Zaina’s cheeks, and I nod curtly.
