“You won’t be,” Cole promised.
When they stepped through the portal Cole created, Lexi stopped dead in her tracks as she gazed at the fence spikes. The first time she came here, it was night and the moons hanging over the palace cast a silver radiance over the land.
Now, the night sky was overcast and none of those moons were visible. The peaks and turrets of the palace stretched so high it was almost impossible to discern where they ended and the sky began.
Wings stretched out to the side of the building, and the structure went so far back the end of it vanished into the night. The golden light shining out of the towering palace’s numerous windows spilled across the grounds to illuminate the fence.
They also illuminated the remains stuck to the spikes on that fence. Remains Cole created.
He’d told her about the dragon, but hearing it and seeing it were two completely different things. The head was monstrous and enormous. It had to be at least eight feet long, and the thick sinew hanging from its severed neck revealed how heavily muscled the beast was.
It was a gruesome spectacle, and this thing had killed Cole’s father, but she couldn’t help feeling a little bad for it. It had only followed orders and died because of it.
Had it wanted to follow those orders?
Everyone saw dragons as merciless monsters now. But though they were known as dangerous and protective of those who ruled them, they’d never destroyed lands until the Lord commanded them to.
A part of her really hoped they were cruel creatures who enjoyed killing and not beasts enslaved by a vindictive master who made them do things they wouldn’t normally do.
That possibility caused her chest to tighten. No matter what they wanted to do, this dragon was huge and lethal, and Cole had destroyed it.
“How?” she whispered.
He didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. “It killed my father.”
That didn’t entirely explain the how, but she understood. Grief and wrath could compel someone to feats they never dreamed possible.
Beside the dragon head were the remains of the helot Cole killed. She hadn’t known his name then, but she briefly met Sindri when he introduced her to the king and his sons at the party the king threw to celebrate the end of the war. And now he and the king were dead.
It was a turn of events she never could have seen coming then. It’s all so short and fast, she realized as she gazed at the remains.
She’d always known that, but standing there, with a small breeze tickling her hair and the song of the night creatures filling her ears, it had never been more precarious or precious.
“Cole….”
He turned to look at her, but she had no idea what to say to him. Instead, she held out her hand to him. It was the hand Malakai broke, but it was fully healed.
When Cole took it, his fingers fit perfectly as they entwined with hers. As she gazed at his hand, she wondered how many more times she would get the chance to hold it.
She shook off her melancholy musings as Cole opened the gate and stepped back to let her enter the palace’s outer courtyard. The stables to her left were quiet, but a single lantern burned in one of the windows. She suspected it was the room of the stable boy who most likely resided there.
A couple of greenhouses and some gardens were to the right of the stone pathway they trod toward the stairs leading to the looming palace doors. Beyond those gardens were more buildings. Plates of armor hung on fences and posts outside some of those buildings.
“What are those?” Lexi asked and pointed to the structures.
“The homes of the king’s soldiers,” Cole said.
“How many are there?”
“Homes or soldiers?”
“Both.”
“There’s a little over a hundred soldiers now. We lost many to the war. And there are a few hundred homes with an option to house more in homes behind the palace.”
Lexi studied the buildings as they ascended the steps. It helped to distract her from her nervousness, but not much.
Things had changed so much in such a short amount of time. The last time she was here, she didn’t know the man walking at her side, and now she knew him in the most intimate of ways.
She was also falling in love with him.
“Since the council is already here, I’ll have to see them immediately, but I’ll show you to my rooms first,” Cole said as they climbed the steps to the doors.
“Your rooms?”
“Unless you prefer to stay somewhere else.”
“No,” she blurted and then started to blush. “I, uh… I didn’t know what to, ah… what to expect.”
“From now on, Lexi, you can expect to be by my side in all things.”
Her heart melted a little as she inwardly groaned. Yes, she was definitely going to have to figure out what to do about Orin and Cole soon. She couldn’t keep this big of a secret from Cole when he was saying things like that.
But could she trust him? And how was he going to react when he learned she’d kept this from him?
He wouldn’t do anything to harm her. She was certain of that.
She was also certain he was going to be pissed.
Chapter Eleven
Cole released Lexi’s hand to clasp her elbow as they ascended the stairs. The door opened before they arrived at the top, and Brokk stepped into the light spilling out of the palace. He smiled when he saw Lexi, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and it faded when he saw her bruises.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“Malakai doesn’t like the word no,” she replied.
“Is he alive?”
“Not by choice and not for much longer if I have my way, but he teleported away before I could finish him,” Cole said.
“Of course that coward did. Are you okay?” Brokk asked Lexi.
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
Brokk stepped back to let them enter. “The council is waiting for you in the great hall.”
“I’m going to show Lexi to my rooms before I meet with them,” Cole replied.
“They’re getting impatient, Cole.”
“I’m going to be their king; they’ll wait.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lexi offered.
“It’s a meeting for the dark fae,” Brokk said.
“Then I’ll wait outside the hall.”
“The meeting could take a while. I’d prefer to see you settled first,” Cole said.
She shifted her hold on the small bag of supplies she brought with her and rested her hand on his arm. “Don’t leave them waiting. I’ll be fine. Go on,” she urged.
Cole took a deep breath before releasing it. “I won’t have you standing in the hall. I’ll take you somewhere quiet.”
Brokk followed as Cole led Lexi past the main entryway to the great hall and through another doorway. They slipped into another corridor and climbed the stairs running up the side of the dais in the great hall. They stopped to stand in the shadows on the side of the stage.
It felt like years, but it wasn’t long ago that he’d stood in these shadows with Brokk, staring out at the crowd and dreading every second of the party to come. At the time, he hadn’t known Lexi, but that night changed everything for him.