Page 8 of Only Flames Remain

We passed the throne room, and it took everything in me not to glance inside to see if Kallias and his parents remained within. We had already been caught eavesdropping once.

We reached the main hall, and the guard gave Enora a dismissive nod before ascending the stairs toward Kallias’s personal quarters. He only bothered to stop and wait for me once he reached the landing at the top.

Enora grasped the back of my neck, pressing me against her chest in a fierce hug. I didn’t want to let her go, to let her disappear from my sight.

“I will catch up with you later?” she asked, her voice a question.

I gave her a nod, gathering my dirt-stained skirts to follow the guard in the opposite direction.

I stood there, skirts bunched into my fists, as I watched her depart. When she finally rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight, my stomach bottomed out and nausea rolled up the back of my throat.

I didn’t know how to explain it…but I had a gut feeling that I couldn’t shake.

That everything was about to change.

CHAPTER 3

Aveline

The guard and I both knew that I was well aware of the location of Prince Kallias’s personal chambers. Him escorting me there was merely a formality, and one I did not appreciate. It made me feel as though I couldn’t be trusted.

The guard stopped at the door, bowing his head as I pressed my hand to the brass handle.

“Thank you,” I said, turning my face toward his to offer him a soft smile.

If he hadn’t found us in the crowd, there was no telling how long it would have taken us to make it safely back to the castle. If we even could, amid the tumult.

“It was my pleasure, Lady Aveline.”

“I’m not—” But the guard was already off, trotting back down the corridor the way we had come.

I pressed the handle and the door to Kallias’s chambers opened beneath my touch. The familiar scents of cinnamon and clove filled my nose, and I took a deep, steeling breath.

Gothryn hadn’t brought war to our doorstep this day…not in truth. They had merely been trying to scare us. To show off their irrefutable power. If my own feelings held any merit, their little stunt had exacted the desired effect.

King Faris and Queen Dyata were rattled. I certainly was.

I took another deep inhale as I closed the door behind me and turned toward the room.

“Aveline!” Kallias was already here, pouring himself a drink at the gilded cart before the crackling fireplace.

I sprinted toward him, almost tripping over my skirts before falling into his arms. He pressed me against him, his hand weaving into my curls. I released a deep sigh against his chest, gripping his velvet tunic in my hands and pulling him against me.

He felt so familiar. So comforting. His strong embrace enveloped me, his honeyed breath stirring my hair. His blond stubble scratched against my forehead as he kissed my temple.

“I was so, so worried, Aveline. If it were up to me, you would never leave this castle.” His voice was hot against my neck as I leaned back to meet his gaze. “I need you by my side. Always.”

“Your mother would love that,” I jested.

The hand buried in my hair moved to tuck a stray lock of it behind my rounded ear. The sun was streaming through the bedroom windows, casting an auburn glow against the black lock trapped between his fingertips.

He leaned toward me—his kiss a whisper away—but I pressed against his chest with my palm to stop him.

“The city?” I asked, escaping his embrace and moving toward the set of windows at the back of the room.

Guilt still sat heavy in my gut that I had escaped and left the innocents above to their fates while I was safely escaping in the tunnels below.

I could see the city of Majur beyond the windowpane of Kallias’s bedroom. He had been right…the few fires that had started were already put out. The streets were now empty, devoid of the townspeople who had been filling the market square minutes ago. Street carts were toppled over. A few of the more dilapidated homes had been reduced to ember and ash. The cobbled streets were painted crimson and ink with stains of blood and char, smeared and burned across the worn stone. The preparations that had been underway for tomorrow’s summer solstice were either burned or torn, soiling the streets in a cursed reminder of the deadly beasts that had filled the skies with their dragon fire.