“He had no choice. Not really. Irina twisted her words—”
“I can speak for myself, Trugg.” Kol put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and then slowly climbed to his feet, his eyes still on Lorelai. Still full of regret. “But if it’s okay with the princess, I’d really like to put on some pants before we have this conversation.”
For the first time, Lorelai realized that she was facing two boys who didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. Her cheeks warmed. “Yes, please put some pants on.”
Kol turned toward a bag that was still strapped to the back of the silver dragon, but Trugg stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, staring her down as if convinced she would hurt his king the second Trugg turned his back.
“Pants.” She flapped her hands at him.
“I’m good.”
She glared. “I’m not.”
“Trugg, get dressed. We need the princess’s mercy, not her wrath.” Kol returned with clothes for his friend while the silver dragon began to shift into the girl with the short dark hair and narrow green eyes.
Lorelai took a step back and looked at Sasha, still perched on a branch, her thoughts a steady litany of death threats toward every Eldrian in the clearing. Just behind the Eldrian girl, Gabril limped toward them, his sword out, his expression the kind of icy calm that meant someone was about to die.
“Why are we worried about her wrath? We can shift and kill her if she becomes a threat,” the girl said.
“If she becomes a threat?” Gabril reached the bottom of the hill. “Do you have any idea whom you attacked? There isn’t a single moment that she isn’t a threat. The only thing keeping her from bringing this entire mountain down on your miserable heads is her commitment to becoming a just queen.”
Trugg and Jyn bristled, but Kol inclined his head toward Gabril. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to explain my actions.”
Gabril gave Kol a long, cold stare. “You’d better pray she accepts your explanation. Dragon or no, I will kill you for putting my princess in danger.”
“Understood— Hey!” Kol whipped his arms above his head as Sasha swooped low and yanked at his hair with her talons.
Let him speak, Sasha. I want to hear what he has to say, Lorelai sent, and Sasha reluctantly left Kol and perched on the princess’s shoulder instead, her black eyes locked on the king.
“Thank you,” Kol said to Lorelai.
“I don’t want your thanks. All I want is an explanation for why you tried to kill me and why you’ve asked for my mercy for Eldr.”
He straightened and met her eyes. “Eldr is overrun with ogres—ogres that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The dark enchantress who has ensnared the kingdom south of ours let them out of the mountain where they were imprisoned, but it also changed them. They’re huge, bigger than our biggest dragon, and nothing we do stops them. Their skin is impervious to fire, to boulders, and to blades. My army was simply slowing them down, not stopping them. Even our best warriors—like Trugg, who is a beast in the sky—”
“Ladies.” Trugg raised his brows and gave Lorelai and Jyn a little smirk.
“This is not the time,” Lorelai said as Jyn muttered, “You’re a pig.”
Kol took a step toward Lorelai, and she raised her hands.
“So your kingdom is in trouble,” she said. “That doesn’t explain why you got in bed with the devil.”
He flinched, but held her gaze. “Here’s the truth.” He swallowed hard, and closed his eyes for a long moment before finally looking at her again. His voice was quiet as he said, “I was never supposed to rule. My father was a strong, fair ruler, and he was training my brother to follow in his footsteps. I wasn’t even a very good prince. I spent all my time pulling pranks and skipping school. But now . . .”
His voice broke, and he looked at the sky.
“Now I’m all that’s left. Me and my little sister. I’m all Eldr has, and I can’t save my people. I can’t stop the ogres. Every week brings a new flood of refugees from southern Eldr into the capital. Every day brings the ogres closer to the capital as well, and we have nowhere left to run.”
Despite her anger with him, a small thread of compassion entered Lorelai’s heart. She knew what it was like to be desperate. To see the people you were supposed to protect lose everything and to be powerless to stop it.
Kol looked at her again. “I was out of options. I can’t fight magic. So I came to Ravenspire to offer Queen Irina a deal—enough of my kingdom’s treasure to buy food for her people for the next ten years in exchange for using her magic to seal the ogres back into Vallé de Lumé.”
Lorelai’s voice was grim. “You made the mistake of believing Irina cared about the fate of her people.”
“Yes.” Kol reached up and ran a finger along the thistle and bone collar that wrapped around his throat. “She made a counteroffer.”