Girl of Iron and Magic

34.

34.

PRESENT DAY

Screaming didn't really help Lotte, but she did it anyway. It may have hurt the prince's ears, but his arms held her firmly and he made no signs of letting go.

With every flap of his wings, she could feel the sky dragon inside him, circling, always circling, never still. It hadn't been like that with Blue.

The trip was over in mere moments when the Dragon Heir hurtled them through the open window of one of the towers, depositing her on the stone floor.

"Talking in private doesn't include manhandling," Lotte snapped.

"You earned that," he said with a slight roll of his eyes, as he ambled towards...

Lotte looked around herself. It was a round room with several windows, a worn grey stone floor and a hearth fixed into the ground. There were expensive rugs on the floor, with cushions scattered by the hearth. On the far end was a gigantic round bed with heavy white curtains embroidered with a silver cubic pattern.

This was definitely a bedroom.
It looked different, more solid, but it was also Blue's tower room.

Prince Fintan was watching her closely. Then he put on that sneer again. She hated that sneer on that face. She hated her he used Blue's face.

"This is my bedroom," he said. "And you've been here before."

She didn't know what to do. Rowan had told her to give him what he wanted but not show him the mark on her chest. What did he want? He looked like he hated her.

He took a step towards her. "Speak."

She looked away. She couldn't bear that expression. "It was only a dream."

"Only a dream?" he asked, icy fury and naked malice. "Only a dream? Half-breed, you expect me to believe something like that?"

Lotte's throat felt tight, as if she might cry. "I don't know what you think happened."

He advanced and she backed away. She didn't know how sorcery worked, but it was probably more immediate than enchantment.

"You speak Vitulos surprisingly well for someone who lived in Raidox her whole life."

"My Poe taught me. He also taught me elvish."

"Your Poe? Who? Vanshu?"

Lotte blinked up at Fintan, finding him imposingly close. "Who?"

He laughed drily at her question. "Vanshu doesn't speak Vitulos."

"I don't know who this Vanshu is," Lotte said. "But how about you tell me what exactly you want from me?"

He pushed her against the wall, and suddenly there was a knife at her throat and a deadly gleam in his cold sapphire eyes. "What are you doing in my head?" he demanded. "What are you doing in my dreams? Who are you, really? Which one of them sent you? Was it Briaad? Or maybe Akeaf?"

Lotte pushed the knife aside. To her surprise, he wasn't holding it with much conviction. "You remember the dreams?" she asked, feeling ashamed at the hope that wormed its way into her voice.

"I'm the one asking the questions here."

"I've got no way of answering these questions," she said. "I'm really who I am. A Leilan Lotte enchantress. My story is as you've heard it. Everything is true. I did everything with enchantments. The train, the Rugar, even my command of your language. Enchantments and more enchantments. I'm more powerful than I've ever known. It was all me, except the dreams."