Chapter 119: Aella’s Journey
Aella thought the Stars Dragon might explode out of his stolen skin as little Egaz spoke. His face went a terrible shade of red. He opened his mouth to scream at the boy, but closed it quickly enough.
“Fanciful nonsense,” he said dismissively, waving his hand as if that could end it.
“The men who died screamed of dragons,” Caleb said quietly. His voice carried through the room with a heavy certainty that could not be ignored. “Your shirt was destroyed, and there was no mention from you or Nereida or Aella as to why.”
“They attacked,” the Great Dragon roared. “I will not be questioned! Tell them, Aella. Tell them what truly happened.” She felt as if she had been punched in the gut, her air left in a rush and she looked away. It was clear that he thought she would back him up. Nereida stiffened beside her. She could end this now, end his hateful reign of terror, break the chains around her neck. She looked into Nereida’s stormy eyes, and saw the love her wife had for her shining brightly. The Stars Dragon was beyond being reasonable, beyond being reasoned with, and beyond angry. He was a monster.
But so was she, when she had to be.
The Grand Admiral wrapped herself in her title. Her crew, her tiny little family, needed her protection. Today, she would bear the weight of her choices and walk head held high to the executioner… even if it meant losing her wife. She could not lie for this Dragon. Not when brave little Egaz would suffer. How long until he came for their daughter, their sons? No one was safe.
“The men saw a dragon.” The room went deadly silent. “As did the King.” Nereida flinched, as if waiting for the ax to fall. “I am a shite liar. Everyone knows this. The men saw a Dragon, but only one of the three that were present.”
“Stepmiral, no!” Egaze whimpered. He reached for her with his little hands. He was trembling, poor boy. She flashed a smile at the boy, hoping that her face could be reassuring. She was never sure if she was making the right face to make him feel better.
“I house a Dragon, but she sleeps,” Aella declared. Someone behind her drew in a breath sharply. She did not turn to see who. “I house the Moon, in grief and madness and in her bright love.” She stood, and took her wife’s hand. “I accepted her. Basiano carries the Dragon of the Stars; he did NOT consent, and the Stars themselves puppet him instead of letting him speak.” She squeezed Nereida’s hand. The Dragon in Basiano’s skin threw fire at her, but Leevan and Caleb in perfect unison did some complicated battle maneuver and redirected the fire to the ceiling. They moved with the grace of dancers, not warriors, but it was enough. The scent of ash filled the air. “Nereida, too, houses a Dragon.” She felt Nereida squeeze her hand. Her beautiful siren was trying to calm her. “She houses the Ocean.”
“Father saw me,” Nereida said softly. “His heart stopped. He died calling me a monster.” She had a tremble in her voice and was clearly near tears. The Dragon suddenly stopped channeling his fire and looked down at her, his face fully Basiano again.
“Nerry….” But the moment was short lived, and the Dragon took back the helm. He started to speak, but Aella spoke over him.
“I made a wish,” Aella said, glaring at the Dragon. He tried to speak, but Basiano was clearly fighting him for once. He looked for all the world as if he were choking on air. She silently thanked her brother-in-law. “I wished for the King’s heart to stop. And it did. And I wished for Nereida to be safe, and his men descended into madness.” She dropped Nerieda’s hand and turned toward the hearth at their backs. She did not want to watch Nereida’s heart shatter, did not want to see the precise moment when her wife stopped loving her. “It is my fault the King is dead. And the Dragon knew, and planned to make me his puppet so that Nereida and I would toe the line.”
From out of nowhere, a fist slammed into her cheek. She dropped to the floor hard and looked up to see Leevan standing over her, his fist bloodied. There was such pain in his expression, grief, not anger. His sword was in his right hand. He had struck her with his left. She lowered her gaze to the expensive carpet, waiting for another blow, this one more permanent. But none came.
“Well done, pet,” the Dragon cooed. “But I am still Crown Prince, and you, child, have just admitted to regicide. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Oh I heard her quite clearly,” Leevan said. His voice was deadly calm. “She made a wish. We’ve all made that wish at least once. And you have no proof. I stand beside her, I will protect her. I will not bow to a thing inside my brother.”
“She lied to you.”
“And I punched her. Seems fair.” He laughed, but it was a cold, bitter laugh that stole the heat from the room. The light caught his blade and made patterns on the carpet.
Aella dared to look up, and saw that both brothers and their spouses stood behind her, their expressions mutinous. All but one of Basiano’s wives, the one who was pregnant with the Dragon’s Scion, moved to her side as well. But the pregnant wife moved behind the dragon, holding her head high, her hands resting on her still-flat stomach. Nereida moved in front of her wife, but it was not Nereida’s voice that rang out. From her spot on the floor, Aella could see that Nereida’s lizard leg had no shoe on, and her talons dug into the carpet.
“Stars. You will stop this, now. This is not the way to lead them. This is how it began the first time. Do not repeat your folly.”
“Ocean,” he sneered. “You are not the peace-keeper you think you are. Your mate’s human pet killed the king, my descendant.”
“If you can name him, Stars, without the help of your human host, I will let you take revenge. What was his name?” There was a long moment where neither of them moved, until Stars let out an inhuman snarl. “I thought as much.” The Ocean Dragon, still wearing Nereida’s form, raised her hands and began to sing in a haunting, deep voice that shook Aella to her bones. The sheer power of the magic stole her breath for a moment. Ice formed around Basiano’s form. He tried to flee, but there was a strange conflicted expression on his face. Basiano was in there, fighting for control. And so the Ocean Dragon encased her foe in a crystal of ice.
The Grand Admiral staggered to her feet. She reached for her wife’s hand, but the hand was wrenched away. The Ocean eyed her from within Nereida.
“I cannot, alone, hold him. Let me have your magic, child, for a moon’s turn, and you shall have that time.”
“Absolutely,” Aella replied, not even taking a breath to consider if this was the correct path. She didn’t need the bloody magic. “Will you let go of my wife?”
“Once he is sealed. She will have no magic either, until he is fixed or the moon turns. Find the sword, Scion of my wife. Find the sword or take him to the sea and drop him in. But be warned. Should the Dragon of Stars die in water, his people will lose their magic.” The scales shimmered on her face as she spoke. Aella placed her hand in the claw of her half-dragon-form wife, and let the dragon take what she would. No magic was a small price to pay.
She had not been prepared for how exhausted she was as the power drained from her. Spots swam before her eyes as if she was about to pass out, but she willed herself to stay awake, to stay present. Nereida’s hand slowly became more human, losing the scales and returning to soft, warm flesh. Basiano was frozen in some kind of icy-looking crystal, his eyes narrowed in anger.
Nereida turned toward her, her face her own now, her anger and pain clear in her stormy eyes.
“Take the kids to the room,” she whispered, her voice coarse as if she was fighting tears.
“But…”
“No! You owe me a long talk, Aella, but I can’t right now. Take the kids. Stay in the room. I will come back later. But I need air.” And she turned and stormed out. Aella watched her leave, her mouth dry. But she gathered their children, and left the royals to deal with Basiano’s frozen form.