‘There has to be another option,’Philit said.
‘And when you can think of one that means we are absolutely free, and I will listen then. But for now, these are risks I’m willing to take. For the Divines here, for the truth, and for our freedom. Will you stand by me?’I asked.
I knew I was being unfair posing that question to him.
Philit didn’t like it, and that unhappiness kept being pushed through my bond with him.
“We do not have much time. If this is not a deal you agree with, either leave or die. Those are your only options right now. And even the time to choose between them narrows down,” Neyil said.
“We will help you,” I said, glancing at my mates. They didn’t like where I was going with this, but they did remain silent at least. “But only to fight against the dragon king. The students at Luxose have nothing to do with this battle. The citizens of Fyre too. Only the dragon king and any who wish to fight with him. That is it. We will not stand by and watch you murder innocent people.”
“They would never do that,” Kilven stepped forward scowling at us.
“Say that again when you see my father’s dead body,” I snapped back. His eyes widened and his mouth clamped shut. “And his death had absolutely nothing to do with us getting in the middle of a battle. The Fae outright murdered him. Do not forget where some of you came from.” I spotted Aylia tucked behind Kilven, her cute face pale, eyes bugging out as she stared at me.
“Very well, but you must follow my orders. I refuse to let you destroy decades of plans that have been in the works. We are both in agreement that the dragon king is our enemy,” Neyil said.
“He’s a common enemy,” I said.
Neyil stared at me long and hard. He turned to the side but still looked toward me. “Rest for today. You look dead on your feet. We will continue this discussion later and iron out the details. For tonight, rest peacefully.”
His gaze went to my mates. “And if you touch any of the Divines here, hurt any of them, then be prepared to suffer the consequences. They are under my care and protection. You may be a part of a prophecy, but I have other plans I can utilize if you are deemed to be too much of a threat. I have no problem destroying you.”
“The only Divine I’ll be touching is Rayna,” Landers growled out. “Fuck the rest of them.”
“I would never do anything to disrespect a Divine,” Zilon said in a low voice, appalled by the idea. At least, they were honest about that.
“Behave,” Neyil said. “Show them to a room they can use for their stay here.” Then, he turned on his heels and stalked away, guards filling in the space behind him.
While I watched him disappear into the crowd, I worried my lower lip.Had Imadea mistake? That was the Neyil I expected as the bad guy and not the Neyil I’d been learning from and talking with for the last week. The dueling versions of him left me confused and scared. He was like an explosion about to erupt, and any damage he caused would be irreparable.
Aylia used this chance to duck from behind Kilven, ignoring his call for her to stop. She ran over to me and practically pulled me into a hug, ignoring the growls of my mates.
“I knew you’d come back! I’ll show you to a better room. It’ll be bigger to accommodate your mates.” Aylia yanked me through the crowd that couldn’t stop staring at us.
Kilven even followed, obviously too uncomfortable to leave her with me and my dragons.
‘We did it. We got permission to stay,’ I sent to my mates.
‘But at what cost?’Philit asked.
I tried not to think too hard about what I’d just promised, but there was one thing I did know. My instincts told me we were on the right track. The dragon king wasn’t on my side. I didn’t think he was on anyone’s side but his own, only wanting to feed his greed for power. His lust. A dragon like that didn’t deserve to be king. I just wasn’t sure if this was the right solution.
20
Since I already knew the castle and the shock factor no longer existed for me, I used the chance to watch my mates react. They were absolutely fascinated by what they were seeing. Aylia and Kilven were more than happy to prattle on about the castle, the other Divines, and the Fae. The guards who followed us kept their distance, but I could see their disgust whenever they looked at my mates.
‘Leave it,’ Zilon said. ‘They won’t hurt us.’
‘Still, I want to claw their eyes out,’ I said, feeling overprotective. If we did one wrong move, these Fae would be more than happy to kill us for it.
Aylia led us by one of the training grounds, and we all stopped as Philit, Landers, and Zilon gaped at the scene before them. They got a taste of what the Divines were learning, but it really hadn’t settled until this moment. I could see that change in them as they stared in wonder at the view before them.
“I told you so,” I said, unable to help myself.
“This…riders can do all this?” Landers asked.
“Yes,Divinescan,” Kilven said. “We’re powerful, and we don’t need a dragon either.”