He inhaled my truth, then let out a long suffering sigh, watching me closely.
“She was right. I should kill you.”
I wasn’t prepared for his words, for his truth, and it caused a ripple of shock to run up my body.
I gasped. “Why? I’ve done nothing wrong to you!” My gaze flicked to the exit as I dreamed of escaping, but there was no way I could get past him, and if I did, Regina would be waiting for me just outside the door.
He shook his head. “You truly don’t know what you are? What your magic can do to me? To any dragon-folk?”
“Obviously not! I just found out I had wings yesterday. And then I was thrown in jail! I’ve had no time to run to the library and research!”
He shot me a glare that warned me that my attitude was not welcome.
This man is infuriating!
He stepped closer and then leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of my chair so that his face was inches from mine. Being this close to him robbed me of oxygen and filled my body with a pulsing heat I wasn’t prepared for. My mind went fuzzy, and as I stared into his ember gaze I wondered if he was going to kiss me.
“Arwen Novakson, you are the lost queen of the Eclipse Dragon clan, and your magic is so powerful that it can devour mine, killing me and all of the dragon-folk people that are connected to me. You, Arwen, are the king killer.”
I went stock still, not even daring to breathe. Pain, shame and fear rushed through my system in equal measure. Unshed tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision. Narine was right.
“No,” I finally managed, and he pushed off the chair and started to pace the room.
“Yes. Your kin made an agreement with the Nightfall queen centuries ago to kill my father and drain our people of magic, fulfilling the Nightfall queen’s dream of a human utopia devoid of magic.”
“No,” I argued, though I didn’t even know anything about my kin to know if it was true or not.
“Yes,” he growled, black curls of smoke coming out his nose. “We have detailed records. Spies that my great-great grandfather sent who witnessed meetings between the Nightfall queen and the Eclipse Dragon queen.”
My heart hammered in my chest at his words. “So your great-great grandfather killed the Eclipse clan queen?”
“Kill or be killed.” He crossed his arms and stared me down.
“But the people tied to her…”
“Eclipse Dragon magic is not tied to a people like mine is. Their queens do not need heirs for power. They are unique in that way.” He sounded absolutely pissed off about that.
I frowned. “Then where are the Eclipse Dragon folk today, the ones with blue magic like me? If not tied to her, they wouldn’t have died with her.”
He sighed. “The Eclipse clan queen killed nearly all of them. She wanted her family to be the last dragons left in the realm. She absorbed their power, making herself virtually immortal.”
Immortal.
A person with at least a quarter dragon-folk magic lived about a hundred years, a full-blooded royal about a hundred and fifty. If she consumed magic from hundreds of dragon-folk… I shook my head, trying to process it all.
“But the Eclipse clan people… she killed them? Wouldn’t it be in our history books?”
A realization hit me.
“The Plague… it wasn’t a plague, was it?” I thought of the stories of people shriveling up and dying, being found in their tents dry as a husk. It was about two centuries ago… probably right when all of this happened.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t a plague. That was a cover story to keep the people from panicking. The king killer can take magic from any dragon-folk, absorbing it and leaving them to ashes, making herself more powerful.”
I jumped to my feet, startling him.
“All of those children,” I sobbed, suddenly feeling sick, remembering the stories of the little children who died in the “plague.”
“The queen of the Eclipse Dragons killed them. They all died.” His tone was resolute.
An immense sadness smacked into me, taking my breath away and causing my knees to go weak. I fell to the ground as a sob ripped from my throat.
I couldn’t stop thinking of the little children that the plague took… but it wasn’t a plague. It was my great-great grandmother. I didn’t have anything to do with that genocide, and yet it stained my soul, seeped into the very core of my being, and I accepted that I had a role in it even if just by birthright.
Anger rushed through my veins. I had more questions than answers, and everyone in my line was dead, so I would never get those answers. I was so mad my skin felt hot.