“Good.”
I leaned closer and whispered, “You don’t seem to like Lyanner.”
“I like him well enough, but he’s too meddlesome for his own good. It’s best to remain mum around him.”
“Yes, I got that impression.”
“He’s good at what he does. The few tame dragons that can be found in Elf-Hame were trained by him, and other rich and powerful people have made Lyanner rich and powerful in his own right. But I believe dragon training isn’t his only source of wealth. I think he deals in secrets too, which, depending on their magnitude, can be sold for more profit than the biggest of dragons.”
I shivered at that. If someone like Lyanner learned about Kalyll’s ailment, I could only imagine what they would do. The secret I knew was of major magnitude for sure, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. There was more they hadn’t told me, something spies would sink their teeth into like a juicy steak. Another shiver ran through me.
This topple-a-kingdom kind of intrigue wasn’t for me.
As I walked with Jeondar toward a raised dais where the king and queen sat, I did my best not to gawk at everyone we passed. This realm was overwhelming, and it would take some time to get used to it.
We were almost to the dais when Queen Belasha noticed us coming. Immediately, her eyes flew to the necklace at my throat, and the way her mouth turned upside down made me realize that wearing the jewelry had been a mistake, after all. I wanted to disentangle myself from Jeondar and melt back into the crowd, but he led me toward the king and queen, who had started descending to meet us at the bottom of the stairs.
“Lady Sunder,” King Elladan greeted me. “You look lovely in that gown.”
I bowed respectfully. “Thank you. It appears your palace has magical closets with gowns that fit their guests perfectly.”
He chuckled and gave me a knowing smile.
“And jewelry as well,” the queen said. “That is a lovely necklace. Of Ye’narian make, if I’m not mistaken.”
Jeondar glanced down and frowned at the necklace.
Self-consciously, I placed a hand on my chest, fingers brushing the necklace. Crap. “Um, I don’t know. I was—”
A terrible roar broke through the din of the party. My blood turned to ice at the timely interruption, though I would’ve rather explained where the necklace had come from. Instead, I whirled to face the crowd as it erupted into chaos.
People stampeded out of the giant ballroom, some finding the exits quickly, and others tripping on the trains of long gowns and on each other.
“What is happening?” King Elladan demanded. “Guards!”
The guards who had been standing by the dais were already moving, heading toward the commotion. Jeondar and I exchanged a heavy glance. His eyes seemed to say, “It’s him.”
This was bad. Really bad.
How had Kalyll woken up from all those heavy elixirs? And more importantly, how had he broken the Qrorium chains?
The ballroom had gone from paradise to bedlam in under a second. A royal fight was taking place at the opposite end of the long room, and from the looks of it, it involved luminous bursts of magic, splintering wood, clashing metal, horrified screams, and those terrible, terrible blood-curdling growls.
Jeondar turned to face the king and queen.
“You two, get out of here,” he ordered.
“I’m not going anywhere.” The king unclasped the brooch at his neck, and the cloak he wore slipped to the ground. “Whoever dares disturb our peace will pay for it dearly.”
“Father,” Jeondar protested as fire crackled on the king’s fingers and he marched toward the fray. Jeondar jumped ahead of the king, the same fire magic appearing in his hands. “My queen, you and Lady Sunder go to a safe room,” he called over his shoulder.
I glanced toward Belasha, who seemed to have no intentions of going anywhere. Instead, her gaze was intent on the chaos, and her neck flexed in every direction as she tried to get a better view.
“We should do as Jeondar said,” I suggested, but she looked at me as if I were an annoyingly distracting gnat.
Jeondar and the king hadn’t gotten far when there was a collective scream and something large came slashing and barreling through the retreating crowd, sending them flying outward like hollow bowling pins. A couple fell limp and bloodied, their eyes staring emptily.Oh, God.
The blood froze in my veins as the huge beast I’d seen that day in North Crosswood came face-to-face with Jeondar and the king.