The Dragon Queen

Chapter 27

Iris Wynn

Heart of the Realm

The castle groans with each blast, but Iris no longer cares. The entire structure could fall down on them, and she wouldn't move. She feels like she has been poisoned or paralyzed, but she knows the truth. She lets him carry her, feeling more dead than alive. Her head is tilted, and she can see behind them. The dark corridors now have light from somewhere ahead of them, but Iris can't bring herself to look. All she can see is that stone corridor that rocks with each step Theo takes to his escape, stealing her away like the thief he has always been.

One second she is being carried, the next blinking and struggling to breathe on the ground. Her ears are ringing, and the corridor is clouded in dust or smoke. She coughs, gasping for breath, trying to focus on her surroundings. She tries to will any bit of her Islander survival training, but she can't bring herself to plunge back into those memories. She becomes aware that someone is yelling and cursing. Theo, she realizes as her eyes focus on his form. A piece of the castle wall had been knocked down, but that isn't what this is from. She supposes his exit had been made when they were back in that dark room. She could hear stones falling but didn't realize it could have been a wall.

Having been standing in the opening, Theo suddenly ducks back behind the wall as arrows fly through the opening. Someone somewhere was trying to stop him. If she could conjure the energy, she would have laughed or smiled. She doesn't. She can't. Even if Theo was destroyed and Iris survived, she wouldn't have that one thing she was living for. She would have no reason.

"Iris!" Someone is shouting her name, and she looks back at the long corridor just when Dorian comes running around the corner. How he knew where she was, Iris will never know. He skids to a halt, taking in the scene: the capsized wall, Theo's fury, and Iris beaten. It only took half a glance at Iris to realize Dorian hadn't come looking for Theo out of revenge for the death of Caitrin. He came because of Iris.

Iris tries to call out to him, but her words fall on deaf ears. Both Dorian and Theo are in a fit of rage. Theo has yet another obstacle against his master plan, and Dorian isn't about to lose anyone else. She struggles to get up as they collide together, screaming at each other, and Iris realizes all she can do is watch. If she could only get her hands on a blade, she might muster one last burst of energy to plunge it into Theo, but she doesn't know where to find one.

Despite Dorian's fury to protect Iris, Theo has always been a better fighter and mastermind than anyone Iris ever knew before. Dorian plays right into Theo's hand. In a flash of a second, an arrow is embedded deep into Dorian's chest. Only then does Dorian realize his mistake. Iris cries out for her brother as he sinks to his knees in front of Theo.

Theo bends over, talking to Dorian nearly face to face. Iris can't tell what Theo is saying, but by the glance Dorian gives her, she knows he is taunting Dorian to save her. For the first time in a long time, Iris realizes she underestimated someone, Dorian. Dorian wheels back and slashes his hand out at Theo in another flash of a second. It knocks Theo onto his back by Iris, and he is clutching his throat, gushing red. Iris looks at Dorian and then his hand to see a sharp palm-sized rock falling from his fingers and stained with blood. Dorian had only gone to his knees to grab the rock, and he must have said something to Theo to get him to bend down to his level. It was a masterful plan, something Iris had never imagined, and it was done to save her.

Iris looks at Theo and feels nothing. She thought perhaps she would feel anger, but she is immune to him now. His grey eyes stare back at her, and Iris leans her head back on the wall while continuing to look at him. Though he tries, he can't speak, and blood has now run from his mouth. Iris feels the tug of her mouth and realizes she is smiling at him. "Checkmate." His eyes flash red for only a fraction of a second before they gloss over, and he is gone. Only then does Iris take a deep breath and let it out. She lets go of all pain she was ever caused by his hand.