“If Addolgar’s sons weren’t so dumb, I wouldn’t have to do such things.”
“It was a simple question, though.”
“A question he kept asking.”
She laughed, sounding just like her mother. “Sure we shouldn’t wait until morning? When cooler heads can prevail?”
“You and your fancy words and ridiculous logic.”
“You insisted on my education—I promised to use it when I could. Besides, I know that my dear, sweet cousin Brannie does have a tendency to be very sensitive about dragons who don’t show the queen the level of respect she thinks Rhiannon deserves. This is probably nothing.”
“It probably is. And once I slap that snobby bastard around, we’ll leave him and his family alone, but with the additional understanding that if he thinks he rules any part of the Southlands, he’s horribly wrong.”
“But an entire battalion of dragons? Seems excessive.”
“I like excessive. It works for me.”
She curled her forearm around his and pulled him close to her side, but her laughter abruptly stopped when one of Rhys’s younger sons, who Rhys had sent out to scout ahead, landed in front of them.
Rhys stepped away from his daughter and held up his fist, the battalion coming to a halt behind him.
“What is it?” he asked his son.
“It seems, Father, that we have a bigger problem than moody royals.”
Kachka had to admit . . . she felt a little trapped.
The farther down they went, the more the walls seemed to be closing in. The dragons and poor Zoya eventually had to stoop over in order to clear the ceiling. No wonder the dragons here spent a good amount of time in human form. There was no way a dragon in its natural form could maneuver down here.
Kachka had thought Annwyl’s castle was too closed in for her, but she was wrong. This was much worse, and she was working hard not to allow herself to panic. As it was, the more they traveled, the more she seemed to have trouble breathing.
As they continued on, Kachka realized she was falling behind the others. She should be the one leading, but her labored breathing held her back until she knew that she couldn’t go any further.
She stumbled to a halt, one hand pressing against the stone wall that was just too close and the other against her chest.
In a moment of pure panic, she actually thought about running back. She’d rather face an entire horde of crazed Chramnesind fanatics than spend another second in this crypt.
But before she could bolt, before she could spend her life in shame, he was there. Gaius was there, standing in front of her, blocking the others’ view of her.
“She’s fine,” he called back to the others. “Just banged her foot. Go and we’ll catch up.”
The others kept moving forward and Gaius waited until they disappeared around a corner before he crouched in front of Kachka.
Kachka shook her head. “I . . . um . . . uh . . .”
That’s when Gaius suddenly gripped her chin tight, and lifted her head up so she was forced to look at him.
“You are the Scourge of the Gods, Kachka Shestakova. And Daughter of the Steppes. Do you want your mother and ancestors laughing at your weakness from the Great Plains of the Skies? Do you want your mother saying it was the wrong sister she tried to kill? Then suck up the pain, ignore the panic, get off your ass, and let’s move.”
Without another word, Gaius stood, yanking Kachka to her feet with him. As soon as she was standing, she shoved him back, and pressed one of her daggers against his throat.
“Speak unkindly of my sister again, lizard,” she warned, “and there will be one less royal in the world.”
She turned away from him then, setting off after the others. But only a few feet later, she stopped. Her breath came easy now. Her heart no longer racing.
Kachka faced him, went up on her toes, kissed his mouth.
Thank you,” she said softly, then added, “Bastard.”
Gaius grinned, but it soon faded, his head turning, his one eye briefly closing. “They’re coming,” he finally said.
There had been little doubt that the fanatics would come looking for the royals who resided in the castle, but Kachka had been secretly hoping that they’d follow the tracks of the others. With the siblings, Nina, and the Mì-runach protecting them, Kachka had little doubt that Aidan’s sister would be safe.
But whether they’d sent two groups or the one had just happened to follow them, Kachka didn’t know. In either case, the fanatics were quickly approaching.
“Move,” Kachka ordered the king, pushing him ahead of her so that she could protect them all. “Now.”
Rhys stood on the mountain, staring down on the attack taking place at Stone Castle.
He had to admit, the castle itself was holding up quite well. Boulders smashing against it were causing damage, but it was minimal. It seemed strange that the attackers would continue even so.
“What is it?” his son asked.
“They just keep hitting it. Why?”
“Distraction,” his daughter said. Even with her fancy education and her upper-crust thinking, she still had one of the best down-and-dirty battle minds he’d known. And he had known the best. She outdid them all.
“They’re keeping the soldiers distracted,” she said, pointing at Lord Jarlath’s military force trying to keep the attacking enemy out.
“Distracted from what?”
“The attackers aren’t after something in Stone Castle. They’re after something in the mountains.”
“So we go in?” Rhys asked.
“My suggestion, we wipe this lot out. I’m guessing they already have someone inside.”
“Then shouldn’t we go in and stop them?” his son asked.
“No. You forget, brother, our Brannie’s inside. This is the sort of thing that She-dragon was made for.”
“She’s on her own.”
“Hardly. She’s got the Mì-runach with her.”
“And King Gaius,” he reminded her.
“I fought in that last battle against Thracius.” She turned and motioned to the battalion, sending them off in different directions with a flick of her talons. “So trust me . . . the Rebel King can handle himself.”
They continued on, but the troops behind them kept getting closer until Gaius realized that Kachka was no longer right behind him.
He turned and went back and found her with Zoya Kolesova.
“What are you doing?” He could hear the zealots and he was now guessing they were dragons.
“There is other way out, yes?” Kachka asked him.
“I’m sure the dwarves have many ways out of—”
“Good.” Kachka waved at the tunnel walls. “Go, Zoya.”
“What’s Zoya going to—”
Zoya began hitting the walls and low ceiling with her fists until she’d gone from one side to the other.
“There,” she said.
But Gaius didn’t see what she was talking about. There were spots where her fists had damaged the stone—impressive enough—but he didn’t see how that helped them.
“Go,” Kachka now said to him.
“Go . . . what?”
“Use your flame.”
“It needs the extra pressure,” Zoya said to him, although that didn’t really explain anything.