‘Look.’
I snapped my head up and looked in the direction I felt like he wanted me to stare. I gasped, blinking in confusion.
All the dragons.
All the Divines.
They were kneeling before me with their heads bent, not daring to move.
They were kneeling before me like they used to for the dragon king.
“Our Queen,” someone whispered.
“Queen Rayna Delian,” someone else whispered.
There were whispers slowly spreading through the crowd, coming from each Divine, yet none looked at me. Over and over, I kept hearing my name as a soft whisper, a simple acknowledgment.
“What is going on?” I asked.
No one moved. Even Zilon and Philit shared their confusion with me through our bond. This was the absolute last thing I would have expected. I figured they’d be arresting us for consorting with the Fae, for getting their precious king killed.
We were traitors, not people to be lauded.
“Tanja,” I said, spotting her kneeling next to Captain Corniz. Her hair was loose, falling around her face so I couldn’t see her expression. “What is going on?”
At the sound of her name, Tanja straightened and stepped forward, her expression not giving anything away. There was a scratch along her cheek. It looked like it should have been deep enough to be bleeding, but before my eyes, I watched as it closed up, her healing practically on par with a dragon’s. And how my chest felt so full of little connections—a tug here, a tug there, I had a feeling that Tanja’s healing was because of me.
For a brief moment, her gaze went to the dead dragon king and then back to me. That was when I remembered the king had been her uncle. I tried to feel guilty about getting him killed, but the relief was too much. He had terrorized me, my mates, and while they still didn’t understand it, he had terrorized everyone under him too, especially the Divines.
He had admitted as much too, all but confessed to devouring his mate. I never wanted to understand what that truly meant. And I hoped no other Divine would have to know that pain intimately either. Never again.
“We all feel it,” Tanja said. “Even more so than how we felt toward the previous king. You are our queen now, Rayna.Youflow through our veins, invigorate us. We are an extension of you.”
I could only stare at her as I tried to understand. It all sounded like a silly joke to me.
Her mate, Captain Corniz, came forward. “To think there would be a day when a rider took the throne. That it’s happening now.” He frowned hard, not seeming happy at all.
Tanja elbowed him. “Don’t be like that. It’s clear we are lacking, and Rayna now has the ability to lead us to our best selves. Did you see her fight? Or has your old brain already forgotten?”
They bickered for a moment longer, leaving me still confused on what was going on.
Me? A queen? What dream was I stuck in?
“Rayna, let me take him,” Philit said.
I looked down at Landers, giving his forehead a brief kiss and resting my hand on his chest to make sure his heart was still beating and his lungs were still drawing in breath. He was still alive. I nearly lost him to repeated foolishness. Once he woke up, he really was going to get an earful. And I’d make him sit there and shut up while I scolded him.
That shit—what he did—wasn’t okay. I got why he’d done it. He wanted to take care of me. Probably wanted his family’s name, so we’d have the funds too.
But that wasn’t an issue anymore. Not if I was a queen like Tanja said.
I leaned out of the way, letting Philit pick Landers up. He did it carefully, tenderly. When Landers’s weight was gone, I stood up on shaky legs with Zilon there to support me.
“I’m queen?” I asked.
“You’re queen,” Tanja said.
Only Tanja and Captain Corniz stood.