Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“It just seems barbaric—”
“I don’t care how it seems. You’re a queen now. Act like one.”
“A queen is merciful—”
“And you will be merciful to all the subjects of Eagleton.”
“Can I exile the duke instead?”
He inhaled a slow breath, his anger simmering on the surface of his eyes.
“I can’t just kill someone unless they deserve it.”
That breath he sucked in released as a heavy sigh. “You aren’t going to listen to me, are you?”
“Have I ever?”
He moved in closer and grabbed me by the wrist, jerking me close. “I don’t give a fuck about the duke. I don’t give a fuck about his wife. His children. The only person who matters is you. It’s not worth the risk. If you can’t put him to the sword, then Commander Brutus can handle it. I’m not letting my wife, my queen, be in danger. Is that understood?” He released me and stepped back.
I gave a slight nod.
“Good.” He nodded back. “It’s time. I’ll take my forces northeast. You head east. I’ll meet you in Eagleton once I’m finished.”
The longer I drew this out, the longer it would take to be reunited. “Please be careful.”
“Baby, I have two forces at my back. They don’t stand a chance. They’ve no doubt heard rumors about the dragons too. They’ll surrender the second I arrive.”
I nodded.
His hands cupped my cheeks in his gloves, pushing my hair out of my face, and his eyes locked on mine. “Nothing is going to stop me from returning to you. I promise.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead then abruptly let me go. He turned his back and walked away, careful not to look at me again.
If he did, it would be too hard.
I sat upon Pyre, soaring through the night as we approached the lights of Eagleton. It was slow progress because we had to let the horse and foot soldiers keep their stride, so we glided in circles, flew to the rear of the army, and then flew back to the front just to waste time.
But then we drew close, finally seeing the details of Eagleton. Like Delacroix, its gates were not guarded. The Kingdoms had never been at war with one another. The citizens were simply spread out among the different territories, all united under one banner. There was no need for military protection, not when the only enemy was at the bottom of the cliffs.
Storm wants to burn everything.
“We won’t be burning anything.”
When he agreed to fight in wars, he assumed he would be burning things.
“He’ll get his chance. Trust me.”
What do we do now?
“When we conquered Minora, they immediately surrendered. But I don’t see that now.”
Then I burn?
“No. Fly over the city.”
Pyre dropped down low and glided over the settlement, seeing the soldiers on the ground, all looking up to see the mighty dragon in the sky.
“Roar.”
ROOOOAAAAAARRRR. The power of his voice shook the air around us, made the ground vibrate with the force of an earthquake.
A large crossbow was fired, and the sound of metal hitting metal was so loud it hurt my ears.
ROOOOAAAARRRRR.
“What happened?”
Pyre jerked away then righted himself, his eyes down on the people below. They shot me.
“Gods…are you okay?”
It bounced off my armor.
“Thank you, Elora…”
Pyre opened his snout and released the stream of fire, roasting the soldier stupid enough to declare war on an armored dragon. The fire was so thick and hot that I couldn’t see anything past the inferno. Then another stream of fire joined, coming from Storm across from us. All the houses in the vicinity burned, and the culprit had been dead for minutes.
“Enough.”
The dragons closed their snouts.
“Get lower.”
Pyre dropped down and glided directly over the town.
I raised my voice, calling out to all the people as we headed to the castle. “Surrender, and I will spare you all. In the name of King Rolfe, I seize your Kingdom for my own.” No more crossbows were fired. Everyone below screamed and fled, trying to get away from the two dragons.
When we reached the entrance to the castle, Pyre hovered, ready to open his snout again and release the blaze that would engulf them all. “Surrender, or I will burn this place to the ground. What say you?”
Soldiers continued to stand guard in front of the castle even though it was a pointless exercise. Their arrows would do nothing to Pyre, even if he didn’t wear armor. But they kept their arrows trained on us.
The doors finally opened, and the duke emerged. He seemed to be the one in charge, based on the fine clothes he wore. He looked up at us, and he had the good sense to appear terrified.
“What say you?” I repeated.
“Eagleton is yours, Your Majesty. Spare my people.” He lowered himself to his knees, begging for his life with his hands clasped together. “And if you have it in your heart, spare me as well.”