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“Yes. By the king.”
“I’m glad to hear that, you have no idea how much.” Her expression was thoughtful. “It’s as if… sometimes destiny takes care of things.”
“Sometimes it doesn’t.”
“Indeed. I still can’t quite grasp what happened…” She shut her eyes. “Anyway, that staff was what brought us to Aluria, and that accident. Your father traveled with me and Risomu, and that’s why we know… so much.” She sighed. “And it turned out that it had been the noxious fae who’d stolen the staff, which, for us, was quite unbelievable. None of them should have been able to reach Fernick.”
“So that’s how they destroyed Formosa?” Fel had never been there, but he’d grown up seeing the pain in his adoptive father’s eyes at the briefest mention of that city. Just that thought made him hate the white fae, hate even River.
“Maybe. Maybe not. They claimed they didn’t do it.”
Fel would probably have rolled his eyes if he was in human form. He wasn’t sure what he did now. “Obviously.”
Tzaria’s eyes were distant, as if reliving past memories. “But they can’t lie—as far as we know. Of course, we could be wrong. Either way, we decided to listen to their word, and that took us to Ironhold.”
If Fel were still human, he would straighten his back at that mention. As he was, he tucked in his wings. “Where he met my mother.”
“Yes. We went there to speak to their king, but they did not know who we were, and sent us to see some mere lower advisors, as if we were commoners. But princess Ticiane was there, behind a curtain. Even then, Ircantari saw her. The thing with dragons is that they can see glimpses of their future, and sometimes they know who their partner is. Herecognizedher, and knew she was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with.” She sighed. “Of course, he had no idea how short it was going to be. The princess was trying to run away from her kingdom, her family, and she came to us in Cinaria, the city by their castle.”
Tzaria chuckled, her face amused. “Ircantari was thrilled, of course, except that he almost scared her away. He had never flirted with a human. In fact, I don’t think he had ever mated in human form. He had no grace, no manners…” She laughed again, a happy memory like a glimmer in the dark.
“What was she like? My mother?”
“In the beginning, she avoided Ircantari, which, to be frank, was totally understandable. I was trained as an ambassador, and as such I was able to gain her trust, also because I’m a woman too. I told her we could bring her to Fernick with us—even if she never spoke to Ircantari. She wanted to run away from her kingdom, so it was a good proposal.”
“Why was she running?”
“They wanted to force her to marry someone. Ircantari was furious. It’s against all magical laws to force someone to marry. Had it depended on him, he would have executed her parents or at least taken away their magic.”
“He could do that?”
“And more. She begged him not to harm her family, though, and he relented. To be fair, we hadn’t come to Aluria to interfere with human traditions, even if they were horrific. Ircantari and your mother ended up getting along, and were happy—for a few days. Your mother was shy at first—and sad—but once you cracked that shell, she was funny and very kind. She was also curious, and could hear the most boring magic theory, stuff only your father could care about, with bright, attentive eyes. He adored her, even if it was short.”
Fel’s heart warmed at hearing about his mother for the first time, learning that she had been loved. And yet, the shadow of tragedy darkened Tzaria’s words. Dreading what he was going to hear, and still wanting to know more about it, he asked, “What happened?”
“Her family was searching for her, probably thinking she’d been kidnapped. By that time, we were in Umbraar, to check the ruins of the fallen city. Ircantari was anxious, though, and determined to bring Ticiane back even if we didn’t find much, but before he could do anything—”
She turned around, startled.
Risomu appeared in his human form, a bleeding gash on his forehead. “Run.”
Tzaria turned to Fel. “Fly away and hide.”
He was turning to leave the cave, but then she sent him a thought, “No. Wait. Listen carefully to my instructions and don’t be afraid.”
“Who’s coming?”
“The order.”
* * *
Azir felthimself transported to another place, another time, to that strange celebration that he felt no reason to take no part in.
It was in the Wolfmark castle, and no amount of scowling kept the princesses or their parents away from him. He’d been feeling like a piece of meat surrounded by flies and at some point could no longer stand it. That was when he walked to the outside balcony, then climbed to the parapet above it, from where he could see the Aluria Mountains and the stars, and try to forget everything going on in his mind.
King. He was king and duty demanded that he return to that wretched ballroom to represent Umbraar, but for now, he could no longer take it.
His peace was short-lived, as soon he heard someone climbing the balcony. It was a young woman, who was now also standing on the parapet. How she had done it with a dress, he had no idea, but it was just proof of the lengths they would go to catch him.
