The Dragon and the Queen by Kaitlyn Davis
Cassi
Cool detachment coursed through Cassi as she watched the ship transporting her body make port along the docks of Da'Kin. Two men carried her up from the depths of the interior, one holding her shoulders and the other her calves, leaving her wings to drag helplessly along the floor. It hardly mattered—she couldn't feel them.
In a richly adorned boat nearby, Malek waited out of sight. The entrance was heavily guarded by his favorite mages, making it clear he was onboard. People watched as she was delivered into their hold, wondering who this mysterious woman was, to be treated with such honor. If they only knew the truth, they'd understand being close to the king wasn't as glorious as they imagined. She'd do anything to dive into her body and take to the sky, to leave him and all of this behind. Instead, she continued to float mindlessly along as she was deposited belowdecks. The men arranged her flailing limbs on the pillows across from him, then quietly took their leave.
"Kasiandra." Malek sighed. "Are these dramatics really necessary?"
Dramatics?
The truth hit her so suddenly she would have laughed if it were possible. He thought she was sleeping. He thought she was being stubborn.
The king rolled his head toward where her spirit hovered in the corner of the cabin, his stormy eyes darkening as a wave of blond hair fell over his brow. "You’re finally home after fifteen years, and this is how you greet me? Wake up so we can speak like adults."
Oh, we're acting like adults now?
A snort rifled through her thoughts, not reflected on her immobile lips. Malek had never wanted her to act like an adult—someone with a mind and opinions of her own. When she followed his orders, she was mature. When she disobeyed, she was childish. Little did he realize standing up to him made her feel more adult than heeding any of his commands.
"Kasiandra, must I do this myself?" He stood and crossed the room. "Kas—"
Months ago, it would have made her heart stop to feel his real hands upon her flesh, but now it was Malek who paused as he gripped her shoulders. A wave of confusion passed over his features. Golden magic emanated from his palms. After a moment, he snapped his face toward her hovering spirit.
"Who did this to you?"
Concern softened his tone, but it just elicited questions. Was this a ruse? A trick to lure her back into trusting him again? Could it possibly be real? Therein lay the problem. She didn't know which Malek to believe in anymore—the boy who'd once filled her dreams with wonder or the man who'd turned her life into a nightmare. Could one person truly be both? And if not, who was the lie? She'd spent her entire life learning to tell half-truths, and still she couldn't decipher this one.
Malek eased onto the cushions by her side, moving his hands to her cheeks and shutting his eyes. A shiver passed through her as she remembered how much she'd once yearned to have him so close, how many times she'd imagined a scene just like this. Now, though, the shiver was one of disgust as the magic around his fingers brightened.
"This must be why Lyana sent you to me," he murmured, still deep in his power. "She doesn't know how to fix you."
Her hope spiked at his implication.
But I do.
Truth? Lie? With him, she never knew.
Malek eased back, sliding his fingers from her temples, and just like that, whatever vulnerability she thought she saw on his face vanished. The king returned, the gaze lifting toward her as opaque as the fog.
"Come to me tonight and tell me what happened," he said, his voice like iron. "Lyana has stonewalled my attempts to communicate, but you can get through to her in a way I can't. I'd like to give you a message for her, and in return I'll do what I can to fix you."
An order.
An arrangement.
A deal.
She'd given fifteen years of her life in service to his cause, and still it wasn't enough. She'd given pieces of her soul, honest and good pieces she would never get back, and still he wanted more. But Cassi was tired of giving. For once, she wanted him to act out of the goodness she knew existed somewhere in his heart, expecting nothing in return.
She forced her spirit through his head and used her magic to grab on to his thoughts for the briefest instant.
No.
Malek flung her from his mind, but the dark look in his eyes said he'd heard. "Kasiandra, I am the King Born in Fire, and you will do as I say."
Not anymore, she thought, letting him make of her silence what he would.
"Kasiandra."
A slightly unhinged spark fired to life deep in his pupils, burning in a way that made her pause. In all the years she'd known him, he'd never lost control. But now she could almost see him teetering on the edge—the edge of what, she didn't know.
"Kasiandra!"
A knock sounded. "We're here, my liege."
Gritting his teeth, Malek released a slow breath. His fists clenched and unclenched by his sides as he cracked a bone in his neck. Two steps later, he was across the room.
"Take her to the dungeons," he said as he stepped through the door. "Leave her with the boy."
Cassi watched him go, done with his commands, and remained with her body. Soldiers carried her from the boat, up into the castle, then down into its depths. The walls turned slick with moisture and the air thickened. Outside the halo of mage light, the halls were eerily dark. In the silence, every drip of water became a rushing river and every unseen scuff a spirit. This was a place people went to disappear. Malek's message was clear—give him what he wanted, or her body might be the next to slip away.
Why?She sighed internally. Why must you be like this?
Images of the shadow creature flitted across her thoughts. Before meeting with Malek, she'd been fully prepared to tell him what had happened to her in the sacred nest. He needed to know, if not for her sake then for the world's. But now stubborn refusal tightened her gut. She wanted to prove a point, perhaps the same point Lyana meant to prove by leaving—he needed to learn to bend or they would all break.
If he came to her with an apology, with any sort of remorse, she would relent. But until then, he would live in his own darkness. Let him wait. Let him wallow. Let him wonder about her plans the way she had spent so much of her life wondering about his.
"Cassi!"
The name pulled her back. Elias sprang from the bed in the opposite corner of his cell and ran toward her body, which had been deposited on the cold stone floor. He was thinner than he’d been the last time she'd seen him, and his rich sepia skin was drawn and pale from too many days without the sun. His tan wings, though, were just as soft and comforting a sight as she remembered.
"What did you do to her?" he yelled as he dropped to his knees beside her still form. "What did you do?"
The resounding bang of the door slamming was his only response. Elias gathered her into his arms and carried her to the bed, then took the time to gently fold her speckled wings behind her back as he settled her on the lumpy mattress.
"Oh, Cassi," he murmured, grief sharpening his tone. "What did they do to you?"
The dove lifted her head onto his lap and brushed the damp hairs from her cheeks while she watched from her spot on the other side of the room. An unfamiliar burning sensation filled her spirit, hot enough to make her want to cry yet soothing enough to warm her soul. In some deep, hidden place, a thud echoed through her, as though the lost connection to her heart were trying to re-form. Memories of her former life flickered by—of days spent flying with Elias, Luka, and Lyana beneath crystal domes and nights filled dancing with them across glittering mosaics, of the hours spent beating each other in the training yards followed by the minutes spent laughing until they could no longer breathe. Luka had been the man to share her bed, but Elias had been the one to understand what living in the shade of royalty was like. He'd been a dear friend, and perhaps he still might be.
"I'll get us out of this," he whispered roughly into the silence of their prison. "Somehow, Cassi, I swear I'll get us out of this."
No, I will.
She wasn't sure how or when, but eventually, she'd help Elias escape. He didn’t deserve to be here. He didn't deserve this terror. And after a lifetime of duplicity, she had a few tricks up her sleeve—with or without her body.
Tonight, though, difficult as it was to pull herself away, she had more important duties to focus on. Instead of drifting deeper into the castle, Cassi forced her spirit through the thick stone walls and into the misty air above Da'Kin. Malek could wait for her all night if he pleased. She wasn't going to visit his rooms or his dreams. Instead, she ventured out in search of news to tell her queen.