The Last Dragon King: Chapter 20

I’d wanted to marry Arwen the first time I laid eyes on her. She‘d been carrying a ninety-pound cougarin through the woods, with an injury bleeding down her back. She was alone, which told me she was a confident hunter, and even covered in dirt and blood she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Leaving her moments after the birth of our children was not something I wanted to do, but Raife knew Arwen was set to deliver any day now; he’d sent a gift basket. He wouldn’t just come in person to congratulate us.

Something was wrong.

Would he demand I go to war with the queen now? Moments after finally becoming a father? When Raife and I were six years old, our parents had us attend a “princes summer camp.” It was a yearly four-week camp where Raife, Lucien of the fae, Axil of the wolves, and myself all bonded. Our parents thought it would keep the supernatural kingdom strong should the queen ever come after us. Then at fourteen, when Raife’s parents were murdered, he sent a letter to Lucien, me, and Axil, begging us to help avenge them. We were just kids, and our parents had said it was an elven problem so we couldn’t get involved. Raife stopped talking to us then, and the yearly retreats stopped.

He became king at age fourteen… I couldn’t imagine.

When I finally became King at eighteen winters old, Raife came to my coronation ceremony and again asked me to help him avenge his parents. My first day as king and he wanted me to declare a war?

I couldn’t. Not with my own issues ongoing. My father dying meant the dragon magic fully relied on me, and without an heir of my own I couldn’t just charge into war.

That was over four winters ago. Now I had two heirs. If Raife asked me to go to war today, I would not deny him.

I opened the door to my office, ready to say yes to whatever it was he would demand of me. I would not forget he saved my beloved Arwen from certain death. I was a wise king now, with a powerful army at my disposal. There was a lot I could grant if he asked. I didn’t relish the idea of taking on the Nightfall queen when I now had two newborns, but I knew Arwen would support me after Raife had saved her life.

Had he gotten Lucien and Axil to agree already? That was hard to believe considering he was dealing with his own council’s insistence that he get married lest they unseat him. I’d hoped it would take several winters before he actually came to me ready to start this war. People would die on all sides, and I wasn’t keen to hasten something like that, but the Nightfall queen had to be stopped. This we agreed on.

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.”

Raife clapped me on the shoulders. “I knew I could count on you.”

Earning back Raife’s trust was important to me, and this world would not be safe for my wife and daughters so long as Zaphira and her evil machines still lived.

It was time to protect what I loved most. No matter the cost.