“That won’t be necessary,” he said quickly. The pronoun had been all he needed. It was Lana who wanted to see him, not the Prince or his council. Obediently, he climbed aboard the waiting dragon’s neck, trying to ignore the now-familiar lurching of his stomach as she took wing. After a mercifully brief flight, he found himself standing before what had to be the Palace, gazing up at intricate stonework that had his jaw dropping before the impatient messenger all but dragged him up the stairs.
He’d been expecting opulence, but this was something else entirely. Enormous, echoing stone hallways, the stone floors polished and gleaming, every available surface decorated or inlaid with rare metals or gemstones… at first glance, it put his pack’s rustic forest dwellings to shame. Still, Seth reflected as he hurried after the messenger, he wouldn’t trade places with the inhabitants of this palace for the world. There was something austere and cold about the place, something empty and deeply, deeply sad.
And nowhere was that truer than in the throne room, into which he was ushered by his irritable escort before being left to his own devices. This room took the ridiculousness of the rest of the palace and somehow managed toexaggerateit. The room was two stories tall to allow for a great, glistening throne to be installed at the top of an absurd stone staircase, each step inlaid with an arrangement of a different rare jewel. The walls were decorated with intricate art, paintings as well as carvings—portraits, perhaps, of the monarchs who had ruled here? There were no descriptions, no titles on any of the works… if one was in the throne room, one simply ought to know who they were looking at, he supposed.
“I see you’ve discovered my predecessors.”
He’d recognize that strange accent anywhere. Seth spun, a grin already spreading across his face before he could think to hide it. Careless, he scolded himself. What would his mother think of him, meeting the leader of the dragons with such a casual expression? But there she stood, and although he knew he should be controlling himself more strictly, he just couldn’t get the smile off his face. She’d changed the tattered clothing she’d been wearing when they’d met, and it seemed the dragons had wasted no time in providing her a new wardrobe—the elegant dress that clung to her body now made her look like royalty. He half expected to see a crown perched atop her head. Instead, her hair had been swept into an elegant updo that set off the sparkle of her pale blue eyes.
“Your Majesty,” he managed, not sure whether he intended it as a joke or not… but Lana laughed, and that set him a little more at ease. And then she was right in front of him, and as she moved in close, he automatically lifted his arms to embrace her. Just for a moment, her body burned against his as they hugged. He felt every inch of his skin tingle with electricity, for all the world as though he was about to shift. His wolf was wide awake, on full alert, as though he was under attack or something—he felt her lips brush against his face, lingering a little too long to be called a peck on the cheek, and for a moment he felt like he was going to lose himself completely.
But somehow, he wrestled himself back under control. Lana pulled away… was he imagining the slight flush in her cheeks? He found the strength to speak, every scrap of his will keeping his voice level, keeping his body language neutral.
“It’s good to see you looking well. How are your injuries?”
She glanced down at her shoulder, where he could just see the edge of a bandage, mostly concealed by the dress. “Yes, a medic patched me up. I should be flying again in a few days, thankfully.”
“Good. You do need wings in this place,” he agreed, feeling himself tense a little uncomfortably. “As we’ve been discovering.”
“Of course, it must be very difficult.” She frowned. “I assume that the dragons taking care of your quarters have been taking you anywhere you ask?”
He hesitated. It hadn’t actually occurred to him to ask to be taken anywhere. The surly dragons who’d visited them didn’t exactly seem like they’d be keen on taking a wolf for a ride… then again, the messenger who’d come to fetch him had been just as surly. Maybe dragons were just like that. “Not exactly.”
“I’ll send a message,” Lana promised, looking a little worried. “And the place where you’re staying? Is it comfortable?”
“It’s—fine.” He hesitated for a moment. It had become clear that all the tunnels behind their quarters led to dead ends. If Lana got them moved, perhaps the new place would be luckier? “We could do with more space.”
“I’ll make it happen,” Lana promised, heading across the throne room and gesturing for him to follow her. “And I’m sorry about this ridiculous meeting place, but the only sensible dining room in the building is back here.” Through a discreet door behind the throne, they found themselves in a large but comparatively modern dining room, where a meal was laid out waiting for them. He looked up at Lana, who was hovering by the table with an unusually hesitant expression on her pretty face. “I wanted to talk. And I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the last few days. And I wanted to apologize for what that’s cost you. And I wanted to tell you what the situation actually is, now that I’ve worked it out myself.”
“I see,” Seth said after a pause. “That’s a long list.”
“It’ll have to be a long meal,” she said immediately, her eyes dancing mischievously. “Now, I can’t offer you a fresh kill, much as I’d like to—”
Seth chuckled as he took the seat she gestured to. “The look on your face was … really quite something. Dragons don’t hunt much, hmm?”
“Not where I’m from,” she said, an odd look in her eye. “Here, I’m not sure. Maybe they do. I should probably find out, shouldn’t I? Given that I’m Queen.”
Seth had just taken a sip of water, and it was all that he could do to stop himself from choking on it. Lana giggled, looking equal parts amused and apologetic as he regained his composure. “So youareroyalty.” He could almost hear Elza in the back of his mind, shouting triumphantly. Surprise gave way immediately to suspicion. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Seth, I genuinely did not know. I hope you believe me. I was as surprised as anyone when Conrad greeted me like that.” Her pale eyes were enormous, and as he met that earnest gaze over the table, he gave up all hopes of figuring out whether she was lying to him or not. He was simply incapable of distrusting this woman. It was something about those eyes. Did she have this effect on everyone, he wondered? Not for the first time, he remembered the way that the Prince had looked at her, and felt something awfully close to jealousy stirring like a beast in his belly. He swallowed the mouthful of food he was working on with some difficulty.
“So how’d it happen? How do you become Queen without realizing it?”
“A prophecy, apparently. Conrad told me about it, even showed me all these ancient scrolls from hundreds of years ago. I was destined to—appear, to fix some big problem, and lead them all into a new era of peace and joy.”
Seth felt a cold chill run down his spine. “I suspect I can guess what the problem is.”
“What?”
“Us.” He gestured vaguely downwards, feeling his wolf stir in his skin, feeling the low burn of thousands of generations of wolves who’d come before him all growling a low warning at the dragon who sat across from him in her exquisite dress. “The wolf pack on your doorstep.”
“That’s not true.” She sounded almost confused by what he’d said. “Seth—where I come from, dragons and wolves aren’t enemies, not necessarily. I have good friends who are wolves, and they have other good friends who are dragons. Some of them even…” He saw her hesitate and cut herself off, found himself wondering what she’d been about to say. “There’s no reason that dragons and wolves can’t coexist here. There’s plenty of food for us both, right? Plenty of space?”
“You heard the Prince. They’re all convinced we’re kidnapping and killing dragons.”
“Forgive me, but weren’t you convinced of the same thing about them until yesterday?” She tilted her head curiously. “Something is wrong, and it’s affecting both of our communities. I think we should work together and fix it. Don’t you?”
“I do,” he said, trying to fight the creeping sense of unease that had been building in him. Did he want to trust her because she could be trusted, or did he just want to trust her because of this peculiar weakness she seemed to bring out in him? She was Queen because of a prophecy? Really? He was just going to accept that explanation without question? A wolf alone is a wolf in trouble, he thought to himself, sitting back in his chair. He ought to have insisted on bringing his people with him. He couldn’t be alone with this woman—couldn’t be trusted to keep his head straight when she was looking at him like that…