dragon that you’ve all pissed off because you’ve forgotten that he’s the one who keeps you safe and rich.”
“Oh, we’ll pay tribute to him,” Jerl sneered, spittle falling on her face. “By truly sacrificing you.”
“Jerl,” the Prince said, stepping forward. There was alarm on his face, but he hesitated just long enough for Jerl to counter his protest.
“If Sevrrn does not come, we will all be dead anyway. What do we have to lose?”
Madja gasped. “If you kill me, you’ll all die.”
And that, she knew for certain. Yes, perhaps Sevrrn wouldn’t die for her, but he would most definitely kill for her.
“You are full of convenient things to say, aren’t you?” Jerl said. He looked to the captain. “Take her to the dungeon while the Prince and I continue this discussion.”
The Prince remained silent.
----
I don’t care if I die .
Who would have thought that she’d regret those words so soon?
It wasn’t her impending death that made her realize how inane the statement was. It was the fact that she had said it without any consideration for her child. When she died, so would he. Would Sevrrn ever even know that he would have been a father?
She sat on the floor of a dirty cell, perhaps the same cell her father had been in the night before he’d been executed. There was no window, which gave her no means to gauge the time, but she suspected that it would not be long before morning.
Her stomach growled loudly. They hadn’t bothered to feed her, or give her water, for that matter. She put her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. There was no light anyway.
“I screwed up so badly,” she said, talking both to herself and her child. “I just wanted to…” What had she wanted? To save everyone? To be a hero? Perhaps that was part of it.
“I wanted to be in control for once,” she admitted. “I wanted to feel powerful for once in my life.”
Her struggle for power had not begun with Sevrrn. She realized that now. Her entire life, she’d been at the mercy of others. Her mother had died, and then her father had been executed. After that, she was a ward of her aunts: women who had never appreciated Madja’s mind or talents. All they had wanted was to turn her into a proper lady and marry her to someone from a noble family. If her aunts had had their way, they’d have married her to the Prince himself.
Truth be told, she’d had more freedom with Sevrrn than she’d ever had before. Even though he played the part of a slave driver, making her appraise things and demanding her attention, she had loved appraising for him, almost as much as she loved him. Sure, he’d been overbearing, but it was only because he’d been fascinated with her—not just her body, but her mind as well. He had cast aside however many thousands of years of dragon etiquette to take her as his lover and place her life above everything he owned.
“And I couldn’t appreciate any of it, just because he wouldn’t say that he loved me,” Madja said, the words acrid in her mouth.
What was that old saying? A wise man could see more from the bottom of a hole than a fool could see from a mountaintop? That was ironic. Two nights ago, she had been on a mountain, and when the sun rose tomorrow, she’d take her wisdom to the grave. She was sentenced to die the same way all traitors in Erda did: buried alive.
8
Chapter Eight
S evrrn had several promising leads . An eagle spirit told him of a spring in a Mandurian desert that was said to grant its drinker immortality. A fox goddess informed him of a chalice, possessed by his brother Kael, that was said to be able to transfer immortality from one being to another. Most promising of all, however, was the initial lead.
Various sources had expanded upon his knowledge of the Dvorian king. He had actually lived for nearly six hundred years and was indeed a human. Sources said that during his reign, he never aged, never fell ill, and had never suffered any injury. The
“Oh, we’ll pay tribute to him,” Jerl sneered, spittle falling on her face. “By truly sacrificing you.”
“Jerl,” the Prince said, stepping forward. There was alarm on his face, but he hesitated just long enough for Jerl to counter his protest.
“If Sevrrn does not come, we will all be dead anyway. What do we have to lose?”
Madja gasped. “If you kill me, you’ll all die.”
And that, she knew for certain. Yes, perhaps Sevrrn wouldn’t die for her, but he would most definitely kill for her.
“You are full of convenient things to say, aren’t you?” Jerl said. He looked to the captain. “Take her to the dungeon while the Prince and I continue this discussion.”
The Prince remained silent.
----
I don’t care if I die .
Who would have thought that she’d regret those words so soon?
It wasn’t her impending death that made her realize how inane the statement was. It was the fact that she had said it without any consideration for her child. When she died, so would he. Would Sevrrn ever even know that he would have been a father?
She sat on the floor of a dirty cell, perhaps the same cell her father had been in the night before he’d been executed. There was no window, which gave her no means to gauge the time, but she suspected that it would not be long before morning.
Her stomach growled loudly. They hadn’t bothered to feed her, or give her water, for that matter. She put her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. There was no light anyway.
“I screwed up so badly,” she said, talking both to herself and her child. “I just wanted to…” What had she wanted? To save everyone? To be a hero? Perhaps that was part of it.
“I wanted to be in control for once,” she admitted. “I wanted to feel powerful for once in my life.”
Her struggle for power had not begun with Sevrrn. She realized that now. Her entire life, she’d been at the mercy of others. Her mother had died, and then her father had been executed. After that, she was a ward of her aunts: women who had never appreciated Madja’s mind or talents. All they had wanted was to turn her into a proper lady and marry her to someone from a noble family. If her aunts had had their way, they’d have married her to the Prince himself.
Truth be told, she’d had more freedom with Sevrrn than she’d ever had before. Even though he played the part of a slave driver, making her appraise things and demanding her attention, she had loved appraising for him, almost as much as she loved him. Sure, he’d been overbearing, but it was only because he’d been fascinated with her—not just her body, but her mind as well. He had cast aside however many thousands of years of dragon etiquette to take her as his lover and place her life above everything he owned.
“And I couldn’t appreciate any of it, just because he wouldn’t say that he loved me,” Madja said, the words acrid in her mouth.
What was that old saying? A wise man could see more from the bottom of a hole than a fool could see from a mountaintop? That was ironic. Two nights ago, she had been on a mountain, and when the sun rose tomorrow, she’d take her wisdom to the grave. She was sentenced to die the same way all traitors in Erda did: buried alive.
8
Chapter Eight
S evrrn had several promising leads . An eagle spirit told him of a spring in a Mandurian desert that was said to grant its drinker immortality. A fox goddess informed him of a chalice, possessed by his brother Kael, that was said to be able to transfer immortality from one being to another. Most promising of all, however, was the initial lead.
Various sources had expanded upon his knowledge of the Dvorian king. He had actually lived for nearly six hundred years and was indeed a human. Sources said that during his reign, he never aged, never fell ill, and had never suffered any injury. The
Similar Books
