A few clapped for their king, but most stared at Rendicryss, mouths hanging open, clutching their heaving chests or holding their children against them.
The dragon’s throat rumbled a growl. She lunged once more but the Phantombronze chains would not yield an inch. Umbert laughed, shaking his head at her as if to say, You will never win. By the look in her eye, Rendicryss took that as a challenge. The gauntlet thrown. And Griffin would never bet against that dragon.
She chuffed.
“A mocking lizard for sure,” King Umbert yelled, stepping away from the spectators’ view.
King Umbert yanked Jori beside him. He nodded for Xavier to stand by his other side. Jori gestured for Griffin, but Griffin refused. He remained with Maggie.
Rendicryss reached back, biting down on Cornwall’s blade still stuck in her hindquarters. Without flinching, she ripped it out, hurling it at her enemy. The sword should’ve hit the king, but a guard jumped in front of him, blocking it with his shield, sending it spiraling downward on the Bottom’s rows.
Rendicryss roared.
“This is madness!” a woman wailed. “Let us out of this place!”
“Silence her. Throw her to the beast,” King Umbert ordered.
Griffin couldn’t believe his ears.
The woman sprinted up the aisle toward the exit, only to be captured by the king’s soldiers. Three from the Bottom’s rows came to her aid, trying to fight them off, only to be seized by other guards, dragged to the edge, and thrown over with her.
It was only then Griffin realized that one of the brawlers was Thoma.
“This can’t be happening. . . . Get out of my way!” Griffin ordered the guards at the door, but the king shook his head, and they refused to let him leave.
“Do you wish to save them, Sir Griffin?” King Umbert bellowed. He held his hand over the rail. “Go on, then. I grant you permission to jump.”
“What?” Griffin would die from the fall.
“If those Bottom feeders mean more to you than your king, go ahead. Jump to save them, and I’ll let the draignoch feed on you as well.”
Thoma helped the woman to stand, yelling, “Run!”
The four sprinted toward the lift, but the dragon beat them easily. Rendicryss swung her head, crashing into their only way out. The lift flew into the air a few feet off the ground. The dragon’s hind leg caught it midair, slamming down, crushing it. She roared then, thrashing her head from side to side.
A tear fell down Maggie’s cheek. “She’s in pain, Griffin. The chains are burning her.”
“Maggie . . . please . . .” He said her name in prayer.
She looked down at the four. Thoma stood with his back to the other three, trying to protect them. As she had so many times the night before, Maggie closed her eyes, stretching her hand ever to the sky. From a point Griffin couldn’t see, the moon answered her call. A light beam as long as a sword was all that was visible.
“By the gods!” someone called.
“Look!” another yelled.
And they all did.
“Is she doing that?” King Umbert cried.
“No, sire.” Xavier remembered his staff beside him and held it aloft.
His stare fixed on Maggie, the king pushed Xavier out of his way and started for her, but made it only three steps before slipping in a pool of Cornwall’s blood.
“Father!” Jori gasped, looking for help. “Get my father out of here!” he yelled at the guards left. Three guards rolled the king to standing and rushed him off the balcony. The prince headed for Maggie. Griffin put his back to her, arms stretched, refusing to let the prince near her.
“Griffin, you’re making a mist—”
Griffin kicked him. He fell into the guards behind him. The prince recovered, returning, turning red with fury.
“Take him,” Jori ordered.
The guards advanced. Griffin heard the snap of Maggie’s power coming closer. He ducked.
She whipped her arm back, striking the guards. Their bodies went rigid, as if struck by lightning. They crashed to the floor, and never got up. Maggie threw her arm out, the beam expanding. She drew more power than Griffin had ever seen her do before. Like Phantombronze in daylight and tilted on edge, the moonlight was rendered invisible, but Griffin could feel the cold power emanating off her. It was most definitely still there.
Frothing at the mouth, her fiery red eyes sparking with sun, the dragon tossed her head back and forth, working into a frenzy.
“Rendicryss!” Maggie swung overhand. A thunderous snap shattered the crowd’s awed and terrified screams. Moonlight struck the ground beside the dragon. If she was trying to hit the chains, she missed, badly.
The dragon stopped roaring. Jori, Xavier, every single person in the arena stopped too. Rendicryss craned her neck to look at Maggie.
Maggie shook her head. She held out her hand, her palm up. Rendicryss lowered her head so it was on the ground. Her eyes closed. When they opened again, they were no longer red, but blue, like Maggie’s.
“Raise the keep’s gate!” Griffin called. “Get them out of there!”
The throngs joined in, transforming Griffin’s orders into a riotous demand. Before the prince could say yea or nay, the marshal’s voice yelled, “Raise it! Raise it now!”
Pulleys creaked. The heavy metal rolled up.
Thoma’s wide-eyed gaze flipped from the opening to Maggie.
“What are you waiting for?” she shouted at him.
The woman pushed the others, crying, “Hurry!”
They sprinted across the ring, skating around Rendicryss and through the gate. All the while, the dragon stood still, as if waiting for Maggie’s next command.
Rendicryss lowered her wings, tucking them to her back. She opened wide, squeaking, then her three sharp claws stabbed the dirt. Then again, scraping. She stepped closer to the keep, so all could see. A symbol. She’d drawn it in the dirt. Xavier’s gasp was so loud, Griffin heard it from the other side of the balcony.
The symbol. It was Maggie’s.
Seventeen
Maggie
Soldiers flooded the balcony, Raleigh leading the charge. I glanced at Griffin. His jaw clenched. He spun to attack at the same time I stretched, reaching for a blessing from the moon. Two men grabbed my arms, pinning them behind my back.
Four more wrestled Griffin to the ground as they yanked me away from the railing.
Rendicryss screamed, running across the ring until her chains would allow no more. She reared, thrashing her head from side to side, flailing her front legs, claws extended.
Soldiers manning the exits refused to let panicked attendees leave. The fleeing masses stacked up, climbing over each other, the small and unfortunate falling underneath, trampled.
“Get her out of here!” Jori ordered.
They dragged me into the dark stairwell. Two sets of iron cuffs locked my arms behind my back at elbow and wrist.
“Griffin!” I screamed.
“Shut up!” Moldark shouted. He threw me over his shoulder, carrying me down the stairs.
“Put me down!” I squirmed and rolled. He bumped into the wall, but he was too big for it to be anything more than a slight irritation.
We exited the stairwell, Moldark stumping into the tunnel where he tossed me into the back of a waiting wagon. I kicked, scooting as far away from him as possible. He got one ankle, then the other, holding my legs together while another soldier added leg irons to the mix. A third gagged me and covered me with a thick gray blanket. Weight shifted with soldiers getting in, sitting on the blanket. I wasn’t going anywhere.