Facing the Fae [BOOK TWO]

Chapter 14

Ferro was the first person she saw the next morning when she stepped out of her room. He was in the hall, talking to another person. The conversation looked serious, so Rebecca hedged off interrupting.

She was aware of the fact that she looked half dead, the bags under her eyes severe. As usual, someone had tried to force her into letting them style her hair and help her get dressed. And, as she always did, Rebecca refused, simply knotting her hair on the top of her hand and grabbing the simplest clothes she could find.

She'd avoided the mirror on purpose. Nevertheless, judging by the fact that others were avoiding eye contact with her more than usual, she knew she had to look worse than she thought.

Then again, barely escaping being eaten by a dragon did that to you.

Hovering awkwardly at her doorway, Rebecca waited for Ferro to finish talking. Finally, he stepped away from the man he was talking to with a nod. He looked around the room, until his gaze finally met hers. She held it, raising an eyebrow—unsure of how else to communicate how urgent it was.

That done, she stepped back into her room, shutting the door. Then she went and sat on the chaise lounge in the corner of her room—which, unbelievably, was essentially in another room of its own.

Ferro came in moments later.

"Are we alone?" she asked. She had a feeling that door had been barred for a reason—and announcing aloud there was a dragon would make the secrecy completely redundant. "Completely alone?"

He nodded. His face was like sculpted marble, as cold as the black, heavy plated uniform he wore.

Only when he sat opposite her did Rebecca actually talk aloud, fighting to keep her voice rational, far from the hysterics raging. "When exactly were you going to tell me there was a dragon in a basement?"

His face went from stone to vicious in a second. "How do you know that?"

She shrunk back, though she was aware he wouldn't go near her. "I went for a walk last night," she admitted, feeling like a toddler being chastised. "I found a door. There was chains across it. I broke through..."

"How did you get through the door?" he asked, sounding like he was holding back wonder. "It's impenetrable."

Nervously laughing, she said, "Clearly not."

He said nothing for a second. Then, "No one can see the door—that's why it's impenetrable."

"What?" If he was right... "But I saw it!"

Sitting forward, he rested his elbows on his knees, dead serious. "You're a direct descendant of the royal lineage—it's your bloodline. That's that reason you saw it. The chains were sworn in by the same blood."

That was too much to handle all at once, so she didn't even begin to try wrapping her head around it. At the moment all she wanted to know was how dragons were in existence. So she said, "Dragons. Why are there dragons? How are there dragons?"

"Dragons have existed for thousands of years," he said, as though it should not have been preposterous. "They are a hidden species, nearly hunted to extinction. Few have survived—and few have been recorded. Nearly a thousand years ago, eggs were gifted to your mother as a sign of peace between kingdoms. Eventually, with the dead of the king, war arose. The eggs were still here however—and have been through that door since."