“You’ve still not given us reason to believe that asking him to hunt down the princess, who is also a mardushka like yourself, is safe.” Trugg glared at the queen.
“The princess is a mere fledgling mardushka, and I will give him a means to protect himself from her magic,” Irina said as she bent to retrieve a wooden chest from the floor. Placing it on the table in front of her, she lifted the lid. There were two items inside the box—an oval mirror with golden serpents and brambles surrounding the glass with swirling gray clouds on its surface and a circular collar made of thistle and bone. Irina picked up the collar and laid it on the table next to Kol.
“He will wear my magic—my protection. This collar was created years ago and has been bespelled by my strongest magic.” Irina looked at Kol. “No harm will come to you while you are in my service. Simply retrieve the princess, and I give you my word I will destroy every ogre within Eldr’s borders. In fact, I will make a sacred blood oath to you so that my magic will be forced to keep my promise once you keep your own end of the bargain.”
Viktor made another sound of protest and gripped his quill with white-knuckled force. Irina picked up the mirror. “Shall we check on Eldr for you?”
Kol leaned toward the queen as she said, “Mirror, mirror in my hand, show me the state of Eldr’s land.”
“Why does it have to rhyme?” Trugg muttered. Jyn shushed him as the mirror’s surface swirled, the gray clouds moving faster and faster until colors began to bleed through, and then Kol was looking at Eldr.
Or more specifically, at the sizable city of Frenellskyre, a city Kol and his friends had flown over in their quest to see the war front. Frenellskyre had been safe and whole, far north of the war front.
But not now.
Now it was overrun with ogres. The brutish creatures loped through the streets and smashed through storefronts and workshops. They scaled homes, ripped off the roofs with one swift movement, and dove inside.
Kol gripped the edge of the table and then sank slowly into his chair as Eldrians—many of them children or the elderly left behind to care for them while the able-bodied joined the war effort—spilled out of the homes, their mouths gaping in terrified screams the mirror wouldn’t allow him to hear. His throat closed in horror as children too young to fully shift tried anyway, desperate to flee. Elderly Draconi shifted and tried to scoop their young charges in their talons, but the ogres smashed wings, broke spines, and tore his people limb from limb.
Kol made a strangled sound as he tried to breathe, tried to think beyond the tragedy playing out in front of him.
Where was his army? Why hadn’t the city been evacuated?
The answer hit him like a swift blow to the stomach. The only reason his army would fail to defend Frenellskyre was because his army was gone. His army was gone, and since Kol hadn’t received word from the royal council, the ogres must have destroyed the army so swiftly, none survived to get a message to the castle.
Nothing stood between the capital and the ogres but rivers, rough terrain, and more villages full of innocent Draconi who had no warning that ruin was about to reach them.
How long did his people have? How long did Brig have?
Irina laid the mirror back in the box and pushed the collar closer to Kol. “Do we have an agreement?”
Kol stared at the collar while his pulse roared in his ears and his hands shook. He wasn’t a predator. The princess wasn’t prey.
But Eldr was falling, and Queen Irina was its only hope. Could he really balk at hunting down the princess when the alternative was the destruction of his kingdom?
He tore his gaze from the collar and found Irina watching him intently while the snake around her neck met Kol’s gaze and hissed. Behind him, his friends, who hadn’t seen the surface of the mirror, were talking over the top of each other, their voices rising as they argued.
“He can’t go up against a mardushka, I don’t care what protection he has. That’s madness.” Jyn emphasized her point by slamming her fist against the table.
The ogres were already in Frenellskyre.
“The queen has nothing to lose if Kol fails or if the princess kills him.” Jyn glared at Irina.
His army was gone.
“She said she’d make a blood oath.” Trugg’s voice was sharp. “That means she’s bound by her magic and can’t break her promise.”
“It also means Kol would be bound by her magic. What if he can’t find the princess? What is the penalty for failure?” Jyn demanded.
The brutes tore his people limb from limb. No one in their path stood a chance.
“He won’t be paying any penalty for failure, because he isn’t going to do it,” Trugg said. “Queen Irina, one of us will take our king’s place.”
Irina never looked away from Kol. “Such loyalty. Admirable. But Eldr is his to save. He has the most to prove.” She leaned forward to press her hand lightly on Kol’s hearts, and he felt a jolt of almost pain. “His dragon heart won’t allow him to fail.”