thing they loved most in the world had been torn from them. They cracked and burned, screaming, still screaming, while flames exploded around Aurora, whirling, dancing against her skin. She fell to her knees, the fire scorching her throat. The world was burning and red.
Then the flames were gone, and the dragons, too, all but the one she had rescued and brought across the sea. For a breath, everything was still.
Ashes floated on the breeze across the empty square.
THIRTY-THREE
THE REMAINING GUARDS LAID OUT KING JOHN’S BODY in the throne room. Iris stood over it, eyes fixed on her husband’s face. She seemed, at most, vaguely satisfied, like she had been proved right about some inconsequential matter.
Rodric paced the room, reaching the thrones and then turning on his heel again, all restless energy and confusion.
Aurora could still sense her dragon, circling the castle. The one remnant of their power, unless more had remained across the sea. A legend that Aurora had bent to her will and then torn apart.
Aurora could not think about it now. Not when the kingdom lay broken at her feet.
“Rodric,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“Am I all right?” He shook his head, as though astonished by the question. “My father tried to kill me today. Twice. My mother killed him. My home was attacked by dragons. And you reappeared out of nowhere and used magic to fight them. Am I all right?”
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. “I shouldn’t have abandoned you.”
“Abandoned me?” Rodric stopped pacing, only a few feet from her. “You didn’t abandon me. You did what you had to do. And things worked out, didn’t they?”
“The city is burning,” she said. “People are dead, dragons attacked—”
“But it’s a start,” Rodric said. “The start of a new world. Like we said we wanted.”
Aurora suddenly had the overwhelming urge to hug him. Her arms twitched. She could not find the energy to take the step, but Rodric seemed to understand what she meant. His arms slipped around her. For once, his embrace wasn’t stiff or awkward. For a moment, she felt safe.
“Why did you come back?” Rodric said into her hair. “You had escaped. You didn’t need to come back.”
She looked up at his earnest face, filled with concern for her, the face she had run from, the prince she cared for but could never love, could never feel for in the way people expected. The prince who genuinely believed that she should not have helped him. “Of course I came back,” she said softly. “Your father . . . he had to be stopped.” She squeezed tighter, just for a breath, then stepped away.
“Do you think Celestine will still be a threat? Will she bring more dragons to attack us?”
“I don’t think she’ll attack again,” Aurora said. “And I don’t think she intends to be malicious to us, not yet. But who knows what trouble she’ll cause, when people go to her with their wishes?”
“It does not matter. She is not your greatest concern.” Iris was still standing by her husband, still staring at his body, but her voice rang out across the room. “She can be fought with magic. The people won’t be dealt with so easily.”
“Dealt with?” Aurora said.
“Do you think you can control them? Things have been on the brink of revolution for so long. Chaotic for decades. And now they have been attacked by dragons, now the king is dead and two witches claim to rule. My husband called you a traitor, and you might well be, as Vanhelm provided you support. You are a foreign invader now, claiming to be a princess. And trust me, they do not take kindly to foreigners.”
“Then Rodric can rule,” Aurora said. “Someone they can trust—”
“Oh no, Aurora,” Iris said. “You cannot overthrow the king, call him a usurper, and then put his son on the throne. If you are who you claim to be, it has to be you. Or else things will fall apart again.”
“Things have already fallen apart.”
“And you have made it your job to put them back together. No one else can repair this now.”
A figure at the side of the room laughed. Aurora had forgotten that the false her, John’s decoy, was there, seated on the floor, dressed in tatters. She had a fierce look in her eyes. She stood now, still laughing. “Would you like me to do it, Your Majesty?” She swept into a mocking curtsy. “Princess Aurora, at your service. But you can call me Eliza.”
“Eliza,” Aurora said.