Page 67 of Only Flames Remain

Sorin’s hands were clasped calmly behind his back, his shoulders rigid. He raised a single brow in my direction. “Going somewhere?”

Words stuttered at the tip of my tongue, but nothing of meaning came out.

Sorin clucked in disappointment. “And to think, you weren’t even going to change? A gown as breathtaking as that one does not belong drowned at the bottom of the Saltale Sea.”

I remained quiet.

“Because that is exactly what would happen to you if you took that dilapidated skiff into the tide in the middle of the night,” he said through his teeth. “Did you forget that I have wings, Little Dove? You couldn’t hope to run from me.”

There was that nickname again.

Anger burned beneath my skin, but what right did I have to be angry? I had wagered and lost. My quarrel wasn’t with Sorin, he was merely another victim of Queen Dyata’s cruelty. But now I had pissed off the most dangerous dragon prince to ever exist, and I would need to face the consequences of that.

My gaze darted toward the bed frame, then the washroom. The only way out of this room was the doorway or the arched windows and risking the fall beyond. I wasn’t sure that would be any less miserable than whatever punishment Sorin saw fit.

I pressed myself against the cold glass of the window, closing my eyes and steeling myself.

I had believed that my last thoughts would be for Kallias. To have seen his soft, gentle gaze one last time. But the thoughts that engulfed me now were only those of survival.

I needed to do whatever it took to survive this. I could handle being imprisoned. Even the torture at the hands of Vireth.

But I needed to survive.

My eyes snapped back open, trying my best to mask my expression of fear. I pressed my hands against my sides so that he wouldn’t see them shake.

Sorin crossed his arms over his broad chest, his wings flapping behind him in agitation—or to intimidate me. I wouldn’t show him it was working. His lips curved into a sinister smile; his impossibly dark gaze locked on mine.

“What was your plan here?”

“Well for one, you still being awake was not a part of the plan,” I replied tritely.

“I gathered that.” He ran his tongue over his teeth, and the flash of sharpened canines sent a shiver down my spine.

“I wasn’t planning on needing to run from you at all.” I shrugged, but I could tell the movement looked forced. When I met his gaze once more, I could see that he wasn’t convinced of my false bravado. “You were supposed to be dead, and I was supposed to be alone in this castle with all the time in the world to secure travel to Myros.”

“Alone, except for Voirel.”

I nodded.

He laughed, running a hand down his face. It failed to extinguish his amused grin. “You, like many others, underestimate her. She might have the mind of a child, and she may appear younger than she is, but she has the body of a one-hundred-year-old fae halfling. And she loves her big brother.”

Despite his half human blood, he was stronger than all of them. Maybe because he had to prove himself at every turn. Maybe because he wanted to live up to his father’s expectations. Maybe because he was a bloodthirsty, greedy Vireth like I had been taught so many times before.

Whatever the reason, I would be wise not to forget it again should I live through this. The fact that he hadn’t already snapped my neck and chose to toy with me instead had hope swelling in my chest.

But somehow, after even only a short time in Gothryn, I didn’t think he was the soulless monster Myros had painted him to be. From what I could gather, Gothryn treated humans better than my own kingdom. The rumors and lies I had been told were merely a reflection of Myros and its rulers. They used this deceit to instill hate in the hearts of every Veytari and to enslave the humans without recompense.

I shook my head, anger brewing anew.

Did Kallias know? Had he willingly lied to me, too? Or was he naïve enough to believe his parents’ lies?

Sorin watched the thoughts unfold in my expression, my eyes darting back and forth as I realized everything I had ever been told was a lie. My gaze snapped up to his. “Is it true that King Mavros’s grandfather stole the princess from Myros? Abused her? Used her to breed and have his children, then abandoned her in the Veil of Shadows?”

Sorin reeled back. “Who told you that?”

“It is what everyone in my kingdom knows. The reason the war between Gothryn and Myros began all those centuries ago,” I replied, mouth dry.

Sorin shook his head, taking a step closer to me. “That is false. Gothryn never wanted to go to war with Myros. We never stole their princess. She never even made it here! We forged a political alliance, but she drowned in the Saltale Sea before she ever reached Gothryn’s shores. It was us they blamed. Your precious Kallias isn’t blind to the truth between our two kingdoms any more than King Faris or Queen Dyata are.”