I glanced around the room as if taking it in as I continued my thoughts internally. If I’d grown up here, who knows what I might have become. Ryhl taught me more in seventeen years than I could learn in seventeen hundred years from this second-rate loser with wings.
His face contorted, but before I could continue to insult him, one of the female Drae stepped forward. She appeared a year or two older than me, and this close, I could see that her hair was dyed, the blond roots a sharp contrast to the black. Her skin was pale, and her eyes were a warm honey brown. She was maybe an inch taller than me but way curvier. Beautiful. She passed behind the other chairs until she stood before me. “I am named Draesi.”
Indignation burned hot in my chest. That wasn’t her real name. Draesi was her slave name.
Another growl, this one louder, slipped through Draedyn’s teeth, and the women froze. One of them whimpered, and two of them exchanged fearful glances. Draesi smiled tightly.
I tried to appear unbothered. With the crushing force of emerald power in the room, that was no easy feat, but I took the extra moment his temper provided to engage my full senses and look at the energy of the Drae women. Unsurprisingly, most of them were drenched in the oily emerald green, but a few of them had other colors peeking through: gold, red, purple, and a rich royal blue.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied, omitting her name from the end. It wasn’t the first time I’d used this plot to undermine someone in secret, and it wouldn’t be the last. Except I guess Draedyn was in my head, so the secret was missing the secret part.
The strange connection between the women and me intensified with Draesi closer. Acting on instinct, I reached out a hand and touched her. The smile fell from our faces as we stared into each other’s eyes.
Scales rippled up my neck, and my shoulderblades ached with the need to allow my wings to burst forth. Fierce determination pulsed within, and I clenched my fists. No one would harm my kin.
“You’ve never met another Drae?” Draesi asked, her expression softening.
I inhaled deeply and pushed back the stunted start of transformation. “Not since coming into my powers. No one but my mate. He’d spoken about the kinship between Drae, but—”
I hadn’t expected it to be so strong. I wanted to do whatever I needed to help them.
She flipped my hand over in a blur and squeezed it. “It is a beautiful feeling. I’m very glad to have met you.”
One of the others stood, the scarred mistrustful one, although she was just as beautiful as Draesi, just in her own way. “You have a mate?”
I nodded, aware from Tyrrik that they would never find their mates because the emperor had Irdelron kill all male Drae.
“He must be going insane right now,” the same woman said, her blue eyes narrowing.
I nodded. He would be going insane. I was going insane. My chest was going to explode from the ache. I was unreasonably glad that we had gone our separate ways a few times in the last month or I’d be freaking out right now.
“Heir,” Draedyn said, rising, “Join me on the balcony.” He dabbed at his mouth with a plain napkin, same bland color as all the other fabric in his lair, and then walked sedately to my side.
The balcony? There was no place I’d rather be, even if I had to suffer daddykin’s presence.
I threw one last look to the female Drae, wondering how often I’d get to see them.
“As often as you like, heir,” Draedyn answered.
“If I stay here, right?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
The female who’d first approached me lifted a hand in farewell before leading the others from the room. It was just me and the ruler of the realm, stepping out into the sunshine for a balcony chat. At least I was fairly certain we wouldn’t get interrupted by Druman coming to beat me.
Up and up.
I dragged in a huge breath as soon as we were outside, but the briny smell made me wrinkle my nose. Draedyn and I stood on a jutting triangle of black graphite, no railing, just like Tyrrik’s balcony in Verald. I lifted my gaze, and the uninterrupted view of Draedyn’s realm was—I was loathe to admit—breathtaking.
These cliffs protruded into the middle of the realm’s western most point, and the area in front of me, facing south, was a large flat plain until land met ocean. Low, white houses were arranged in neat rows covering most of the plain, leaving a wide berth as a barrier between Draedyn’s palace and his people.
“Is it the same on the other side?” I asked.
The emperor nodded, not paying attention to me as he stared southeast.
“Are all your people Druman?”
“No,” he replied flatly.
Obviously I wasn’t going to get any more information from him, so I followed his gaze. I blinked; the edges of land around the Azule kingdom were blurry.
I sighed. “Can I have my Drae eyes for a sec?”
“I permit it,” he answered. “Don’t do anything foolish.”
Oh great. That was so nice of him. And I wasn’t that stupid. Yet.
I focused, and using a tiny gap in Draedyn’s power around my mind, was able to draw my Drae eyes forward and look afresh. I gasped. “Smoke. There’s smoke coming from the Azuli kingdom.”
I moved to stand by Draedyn’s side, barely able to contain my glee and then fear. I wanted to jump, shout, scream, and cheer. The army attacked. They were still doing what we’d set out to do. Except I wasn’t there to help, and maybe they’d attacked too early. My friends were there, my family. I might not have kinship hoo-ha with them, but these were people I loved, who chose to love me, and I loved them too. They meant more to me than any of the female Drae I’d just met.
Draedyn half turned to me, his features pulled down in confusion. “You . . . love the humans?”
Was Tyrrik there fighting? Would they come to Draedyn’s realm next? After they won? Azule wouldn’t present a major barrier, especially with Lani and Tyrrik there. And their new queen seemed far cannier than Mily, but the people were the same.
I arched a brow at my father’s callous question, ignoring the rapid beat of my heart. “You obviously don’t.”
“They are like cattle,” Draedyn said after a beat. “Their existence is necessary. They serve a purpose. I even appreciate what they can do. But love? I do not love them; they are animals. Animals which need tending in order to do what I need them to do.”
Un-freaking-believable. Draedyn’s warmth and humanity clearly set him up to be beloved by all. He was a shepherd to a flock of none. A curved staff would complete the twisted image he’d put forward. And he wanted me to be his heir? Heir of what? Savagery and deceit? Had he always been so vicious? Sick-o.
“I grow weary of your rambling,” the emperor said, his chin jutting forward.
I smiled sweetly. “Oh, pardon me. You don’t like my thoughts? Then feel free to stop listening.”
Through our bond I felt his irritation spike, and then oily darkness oozed from him to me. I lost my Drae vision immediately, and my adrenaline spiked, causing my mouth to go dry and my heart to race.
His demeanor shifted, no longer patient parent but ruthless ruler.
I reached for my tendrils on the other side of the emerald barrier in my mind, but it was futile. I couldn’t reach my lapis Drae power. Turning, I studied the edge of the graphite platform with new awareness; if I fell here, I’d be utterly at the emperor’s mercy during the fall.
“Yes, daughter,” he said, stepping closer, a predator coming at his prey. “You are subject to my mercy, but it does not have to be that way. Be my heir, and I will relinquish my control.”
“Never,” I spat. I’d die first—except I was immortal. I’d had pain before, and while I would do almost anything to avoid sadistic torture, I would not bend my will to Draedyn’s.
“Seventeen years is the blink of an eye, if you recall,” he said, stepping back. “I expect you will change your mind one day. They all do.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but his power flooded through the crevices in my mind.
I smiled widely at him, bowing in obsequiousness. “Anything to please you, Father.”
31