longer. “My eyes are and have always been blue.” It was one of the only traits she inherited from her mother. “You’re the one with the yellow eyes.” Dragon Queen, she called her in her head.
Lochlan and Finn trusted this woman, but Brea barely knew them, and she’d been burned before.
Queen Faolan moved closer to the bed. “My eyes turn yellow when I am controlling my magic—which I’m trying very hard to do right now despite the sun not being out at this hour.”
“Right, well I won’t be your prisoner. Been there, done that.” She shoved the fear she felt away. There was nothing to lose anymore because everything had already been taken from her. “I am only here because your dog Lochlan tied me up, took me into battle, and said some very grumpy things. The human world sucks, but it’s better than this place, and I expect you to take me back there.”
The queen’s eyes flashed, and she turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I sent Lochlan to bring you here from the human world. Do you know what that cost? My most trusted man wasn’t here to protect my daughter when she was taken.” She looked back over her shoulder. Tears shone in her eyes, but she blinked them away and strode from the room.
Kicking the thin sheet off her legs, Brea scrambled from the bed, half expecting her door to be locked.
When she pulled, it clicked open, revealing a long, dark hallway, deserted in the dead of night. Starlight spilled across her path under archways leading to the outside. In the still of the night, everything was quiet save for the slow trickling of fountains.
As her feet hit warm bricks, she realized she’d forgotten to put on anything other than the pale pink silk sleeping gown draped over her shoulders. She stared down at her legs peeking past the trim, remembering what Lochlan said about her human modesty. The fae didn’t care if she revealed herself here at court because they wouldn’t look. A body was not the fascination to them that it was for humans.
Still, she’d have killed for a razor and gigantic bottle of shaving cream so she didn’t feel like a woolly mammoth in the short gown.
Archways led from courtyards to doors she hadn’t yet seen behind. The Eldur palace was larger than the one in Fargelsi and even more grand. Everything seemed to be centered around the outdoors—something she hadn’t expected in a desert kingdom.
Stepping into one of the many courtyards, a grand fountain depicting two male fae in a state of… erm… bliss had her face heating again. She averted her eyes from their naked bodies and lifted them to the clear sky above, wondering if they were the same stars hanging above her home in Ohio.
She expected to see dragons flying overhead, their giant wings silhouetted against the moon. Okay, expected was probably the wrong word. She’d hoped to see them, for them to be real.
“What do you think you’ll find in the stars?” Finn’s voice startled her out of her dream of dragons.
She looked back over her shoulder to where he stood leaning against the doorway into what looked like a library. “Dragons.” It sounded stupid after she said it.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly what a dragon is, but I hope you find it.”
She laughed at that. “Well, there’s my answer. No dragons. They’re these giant winged reptiles that breathe fire and destroy cities.”
“Ah, now I remember. Alona was obsessed with such creatures. She read about them in Lochlan’s human books he brought back and always said a desert kingdom should have such animals.”
Brea crossed the courtyard to him. As she got closer, she could make out the tired expression on his face. His lips drew down into a frown, but it was his eyes that spoke of hidden pain. “Are you okay, Finn?”
“I should be asking you that. You’ve arrived at yet another palace—injured I might add. Are you feeling okay? I wanted to make sure you don’t take anything the queen says personally. She isn’t in a good place right now, so she’ll come see you soon, I’m sure.”
“She already did.” She’d never forget the queen’s desperate words or incoherent babbling.
Not giving him a chance to respond, she walked past him into the library, her breath rushing out of her lungs at the sight before her.
Finn lifted a hand, illuminated the room, revealing bookshelves as high as she could see. Painted ceilings depicted grand