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That blow knocked me back a step or two. This was all about my father. My last name. Never mind the fact that I got her back to her human form. I saved the crown from being taken out from under her. Everything I had done to help Dra Skor. None of it would ever be enough because I still had Valanova at the end of my name.
I would never be enough.
I turned away from her to look out the balcony. “Leave me, then.”
“I did not mean?—”
“Leave.”
As my door clicked shut with her departure, all I could think of was my father. Would I ever be rid of his claws in my life? It was almost as if I could hear his cruel laughter from the grave, his telling me I should have known better. I was nothing but the casualty of his crimes.
CHAPTER42
Esta, Amory, Whit, Zaccai, and Malachi landed on the balcony of my room, which I had never ended up moving from. It was still dark out, but early this morning was when I would be trying to change Amory back. For a week I had rather successfully avoided Esta while the lottery was planned and they arranged for a safe time for us to attempt this on Amory. Twice over the past few days Esta had tried to speak to me. Twice I didn’t want to hear it.
To Esta, I could be her lover. To the queen of Dra Skor, I was simply a Valanova helping with an issue that needed fixing before I would be on my way.
“You good?” Emric asked as I leaned up against the balcony door.
I gave him a nod. “Yes.”
Esta’s voice rang out, “Everyone be on guard today. Until the lottery is officially drawn, all of Dra Skor is jittery.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Emric said, though I sensed a trace of coolness from him.
My foul mood these past few days must have rubbed off on him.
Ready, My Pretty Prince?Malachi sent to me.
I sent him a glare in response.
He turned to fly away without me, but I was not about to be outdone like that. I took off, using my magic to give me steps in the air to launch myself toward him.
It took four steps of my magic and then I jumped, landing onto Malachi’s back.
Malachi whinnied his approval, and I could hear the laughter in it.
“We likely should have practiced that before now,” I stated.
He banked back around, and I reached a hand down for Amory, knowing that wrapping my arms around Esta for a trip would be too much. I didn’t know if she planned on shifting or not anyway.
The answer was evidently not, as she was already sitting astride Zaccai.
I was quiet the whole way there, thinking of the task in front of me. How many tries would it take to get Amory back to her shifted form? Would it be the same, trying to get the poison out of her, and releasing it into the water, or would she have to try to shift or something while in the water? This was our last task to prove that we could undo what was done to Dra Skor by my father. Once we have a human Enchanted shifted, we will have proven ourselves worthy of the task.
By the time we landed, I was ready, magic already buzzing beneath my skin as if it knew the drill. The orange surroundings of The Taaka set me at ease. Even if we didn’t get this figured out today, we did already know how to change the shifters.
“Keir,” Esta called as we dismounted.
I hung back from the lake where Emric was walking. “Your Highness?”
Her green eyes pierced into mine. As if she owned them. “No pressure. Please don’t feel like you have to do this today. Stay away from burnout if things don’t work right away.”
But I did have to do this. Because I was here to fix this and leave. That was what she wanted. I looked to Emric and Amory where they waited in the water. “Yes, Your Grace.”
“Keir,”she snapped.
My eyes went back to her.
