I stepped into the room and found him sitting in my chair, running his fingers over my desk.
He looked up at me and smiled. “Are congratulations in order?” His relaxed demeanor calmed me down. Maybe he really did just come here to give his well wishes. We had been sending letters back and forth, trying to rebuild a broken friendship.
I nodded. “Twin girls. Healthy.”
He stood, walking out from behind my desk. “Twins? Great news!”
My gaze fell to his hand and the ornate wedding ring he now wore.
“And congratulations to you as well. I’m sorry we couldn’t make the wedding, but with Arwen so heavily pregnant—”
He waved me off. “It’s fine. Listen, I have intel you need to know, and I couldn’t tell you about it via courier.”
I could feel the frown pulling at my lips. I was tired. I had been up all night worrying about Arwen. I still couldn’t believe she was alive and healthy and I now had two daughters. It didn’t feel real. I wished Amelia were here to see it. She’d been my best friend; she would be so happy for me today. Amelia and I had always known our fates were tied together since birth; we’d never been given another choice. She’d once asked me that if I weren’t betrothed to her, what kind of woman I’d desire. I was twelve at the time so I’d answered honestly.
My dream woman would have hair the color of moonlight, she’d want to hunt and shoot bow and arrow with me and my friends, she wouldn’t fuss over dresses and fashion, and she’d eat normal portions of food, not pick at salads like a bird.
Amelia had laughed and told me that woman didn’t exist. I didn’t know it at the time but I’d been describing Arwen.
“Drae?” Raife peered at me with concern, pulling me from my thoughts.
I shook my head, reaching up to rub my face. “I’m sorry. I haven’t slept. What is it?”
Raife ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I… don’t even know where to begin.”
Chills ran the length of my arms. This was worse than I thought. Raife was never at a loss for words.
“Is it the Nightfall queen?” I started.
Did she kill his new wife? He didn’t look like he was in mourning. More like he was afraid. The elf king feared nothing.
He nodded, looking up at me with dread in his eyes. “She’s… she has a new machine.”
That woman and her machines. For someone who didn’t like magic, she sure tried to replicate it with technology.
“What does it do?”
He let out a long-suffering sigh. “It strips a person of their magic, making them human. A magical castration of sorts.”
“Hades,” I cursed, a spine-tingling chill settling into my bones. This was it; this was how she would finally reach her goal of a human world, devoid of any magical creatures.
“My people don’t survive without our dragon magic. It feeds our human self,” I told him. “This would be death for us.”
Raife nodded. “That’s why I came to tell you as quickly as I could. We have to warn Lucien and Axil. We need to unite and ready for war.”
I swallowed hard. “You want to go see Lucien? I can fly to Fallenmoore and see if I can find the reclusive wolf king.”
Raife cleared his throat. “I tried that on my way here.”
I spread my hands wide. “What’s the problem?”
The elf king reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “He tried to kill me.”
I grinned, somehow knowing there was a story with this. “And why would he do that?”
Raife sighed. “I went through a few dark years, and I may or may not have slept with the love of his life while I was visiting Thorngate on business.”
I barked out in laughter, clasping my old friend by the shoulders. “Is that why he’s such a miserable fool now?”
Raife winced. “I need you to go with me to see Lucien. Then we can get him to go with us to see Axil. The wolves have grown in number. I hear them on my borders at the full moon. We need everyone. Axil always liked Lucien the best.”
It was true. Lucien and Axil were thick as thieves at our yearly retreats.
“My wife just had twins,” I told him, giving him a stern look.
Raife growled. “The queen tried to poison me again a few moons ago. Zaphira must be stopped before there are none of us left to fight her.”
I frowned. After poisoning his entire family, she was still trying to kill him?
I wouldn’t forget how she’d come into my own garden and killed Joslyn. Was she trying to take out all the kings? “Alright. Give me a week with my beloved new family and then I will meet you in Thorngate to talk to Lucien.”