The Dragon Queen (Death #4)

5. Calista

Chapter 5

Calista

There were a lot of maids in the castle, so when Talon said no one would question me, he was right. Whenever the maids were, I joined, keeping my head down and falling in line like I knew what I was doing. I expected the other maids to question me, ask for my name, complain about the unfulfilling work, but hardly anyone ever spoke a word. There was no small talk, no friendships or bonds between the girls.

They all seemed…scared.

I was young when my father was king, but I remembered the way we interacted with the servants. We greeted each other politely, had brief conversations, and treated them as people. There was always a distinct separation between our statuses, but that didn’t stop us from having a positive environment.

But the atmosphere here was just like it was in town—strained.

Inferno’s voice came into my mind. TALON WANTS AN UPDATE.

I’m fine. I stood at the mantel and dusted off the surface of the glass clock. The castle was clean, but the maids cleaned everything anyway. I’d been there for three days and learned that the maids cleaned different parts of the castle depending on the day of the week. The only thing we did daily without exception was the meals, which were served at the same time every day.

Place settings for four were put on the grand dining table for every meal, so I assumed King Barron dined with his wife and two sons, but I never actually saw them. King Barron had a butler, and that was the only person that came close to him. The rest of us weren’t worthy enough to even look upon the king. We served the food and cleared the dishes only when they were out of the room.

I’d never known some pompous arrogance.

I slept in the maids’ quarters with the other girls. There were several extra beds, so I was able to join the crew without question. The butler in charge seemed to speak only to the head maid, so I never interacted with him.

It shouldn’t have been this easy to infiltrate the castle, but who in their right mind would want to be in this line of work for no pay and no acknowledgment? As far as I could tell, all the maids did was work and sleep. They had no outside families. No outside lives.

But we were well-fed, eating all the leftover meals in the maids’ quarters, everything that was good enough for the king of the Southern Isles. Since all the people in the city were starving, being paid in food was a luxury.

HE SAID HE WANTS A BETTER UPDATE THAN THAT.

Talon remained in the secret passage near the waterfall, subsisting on the food we packed and the water from the pool. It must have been a boring and lonely experience for him, especially after he knew that I’d been accepted into the crew without question.

I still haven’t seen Barron. The servants are kept away from him, and I wonder if that’s for his own protection.

MUST BE EXHAUSTING KNOWING EVERYONE WANTS YOU DEAD.

I would assume so.

Inferno was quiet for a while, probably communicating with Khazmuda and Talon before he spoke to me again. TALON SAID YOU SHOULD HIDE IN THE DINING ROOM OR HIS STUDY BEFORE HE ENTERS. THAT WAY, YOU CAN OVERHEAR HIS CONVERSATION.

I can’t get to his study. It’s in the section of the castle that the butler patrols.

THEN THE DINING ROOM.

I would have to enter the kitchen and quickly do my part of the meal before I slipped away. There were so many girls on staff that it was easy to blend in and disappear. I’ll do that tonight.

I’LL LET TALON KNOW.

I’ve noticed something and wonder if he’s noticed it too.

WHAT IS IT?

I haven’t seen a single dragon. I pass by windows all the time, and not once have I seen one in the sky. Maybe they don’t have the dragons anymore?

TALON SAID HE’S NOTICED THE SAME THING.

What does that mean?

HE DOESN’T KNOW. BUT THERE’S NO WAY BARRON WOULD JUST RELEASE THEM.

If they aren’t in the skies, then where could they be?

Inferno was quiet for a while. GET CLOSE TO BARRON, AND YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT.

My heart was in my throat the entire day, my pulse pounding in my temples, the nausea in my stomach. I was scared to put myself at risk, especially in the presence of such a foul person, but I’d been in the castle for a week and had learned nothing. The only way I would accomplish anything was by getting closer to the king. So, it was either this…or become one of his concubines.

I appeared in the kitchen like I did every evening to prepare for dinner. The head maid usually had me prep the food that would be used in cooking, so I washed and prepared all the vegetables, the tomatoes used for the soup and the other vegetables that would be served with the meat.

I knew I couldn’t slip out of the kitchen like this on a normal basis, so if the conversation I overheard was uneventful, I’d have to wait some time before I made another attempt. Otherwise, the maids would grow suspicious.

When everyone was occupied, I left the kitchen and entered the dining room, which was vacant. The plates and silverware hadn’t been placed on the surface yet. It was a large room with a grand dining table down the center, big enough to serve twenty guests comfortably. There was a large mantel in the room, and against the walls were built-in bookshelves. Below were a couple of cupboards, big enough for me to fit inside.

I opened one of the doors and realized it was full of books.

I glanced at the door before I grabbed them by the stacks and shoved them into open spaces in the bookshelf, stacking them on top of the others and forcing them to fit. If anyone paid attention, they would realize it didn’t look as neat as it normally did, but I suspected no one would notice enough to question it.

I crawled inside the cupboard and closed it, light coming in through the crack in the door. I was crammed inside the small space as I waited, seeing one of the maids come in and set the table, and then, twenty minutes later, the food was presented.

I just had to wait a little longer.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

I’m in the cupboard in the dining room. The food has been served, so he should be here ? —

“Dinner is served, Your Majesty.” A man in a uniform similar to mine, except he wore pants instead of a dress, came into view through the crack in the cupboard. He pulled out the head chair at the table.

My pulse was loud in my ears, the anticipation heavy. I’d only known Barron’s character through tales, but now I would have a living being to go with the personality. I would know my enemy’s face, and if I saw it in battle, I would know to burn him.

He appeared in the crack, a man lean in the legs but heavy in the stomach. Dressed in a charcoal-gray uniform with gold ornamentation, he approached the chair and slowly lowered himself as his butler pushed in the chair.

He was accompanied by a woman I assumed to be his wife and two younger men who must be his sons.

They pulled out their own chairs and sat down.

In just one second, I already knew much about Barron. If Talon were king and I were his wife, he would have the butler pull out my chair rather than his. He would never sit before me, always sit with me as an equal. Now it didn’t surprise me that Barron had concubines, considering the lack of respect he showed his wife, the mother of his sons.

The men were in their own uniforms, both black with bronze ornamentation, designating them as members of the royal family but still beneath their father who was king. Barron had gray in his hair because he was a man in his fifties, when he should be in his seventies. He should be decades older—so he’s still fused with a dragon. His sons are Talon’s age as well.

INTERESTING .

They sat down, and in a silence full of quiet resentment, they ate their dinner without conversation. Silverware scraped over the delicate plates, the goblets were refilled with wine repeatedly, and the meal lacked the comfort and familiarity found among family members. When I’d had dinner with my parents, we discussed our day, and once dinner was over, we’d usually played a game together.

It seemed like no one liked each other.

A solid fifteen minutes went by before someone said something. “Father, there’s something we need to discuss.” It was the son on the left. He had dark hair like Talon, had similarities that showed the relation in their blood, even if it was distant.

The other brother stared at him from across the table, a slight warning in his eyes like he didn’t agree with what was about to be said.

I cracked the cupboard door a little farther, enthralled by the tension in the air. The queen sat in silence, hardly touching her food, like she didn’t enjoy it or she was too depressed to enjoy it. I made all these assumptions after staring at her for just a few minutes, but that scowl on her face looked permanent. She was surrounded by her husband and grown children. She should bask in the glow of pride and love, but she seemed miserable.

Barron finished his bite of steak before he leaned back in the chair and grabbed the goblet of wine. He took a long drink, finishing the entire glass before he released a sigh of both satisfaction and dread. Then he grabbed the bottle and refilled it, like that wasn’t quite enough. “I already know what you’ll say, Jairo.”

Jairo’s plate was clean because he’d eaten everything that had been served, but his body was fit under his clothes, his arms distinct in the sleeves. He continued to stare at his father with annoyance. “Then you know it’s a problem.”

“A problem without a solution, as I’ve already said.” He took another drink.

Jairo looked at his brother across the table, as if he expected him to add something.

But the brother dismissed the look by taking a drink from his goblet.

Jairo pressed his lips tightly together before he looked at their father again. “You do have a solution. Tell them to leave. The curse they carry continues to poison the earth, poison our crops and livestock. The wine has gone to shit, and the only bottles that are drinkable are the ones in storage. At this rate, they’ll be gone within the year. The people are starving?—”

“As King of the Southern Isles, I’m well aware.” He didn’t raise his voice in a ferocious scream, but he stared down his son with a lethal stare. “But I can’t ask Astaroth to depart these lands. Only by their power do the dragons remain in submission.”

Jairo should have done a better job of keeping a composed expression, but the frustration seemed to get the best of him. “The dragons are locked in their prison with no chance of escape. We don’t need Astaroth for anything.”

“Until an army marches on our borders.”

“Father, with all due respect, the Kingdom of the Southern Isles is dead. We have to keep our own subjects as prisoners to stop them from fleeing. We can’t allow our people to be armed without fear of an uprising. No one wants this place.”

King Barron had no visible reaction to his son’s words, but his anger was so potent it felt physical. “My kingdom is not dead—and the Death King will come for it.”

A flush of adrenaline rushed through me. The edges of my vision turned black from the tunnel effect. So entranced by the conversation, I forgot that my joints were stiff from being stuck inside a cupboard.

Jairo dismissed his father’s claims with indifference in his eyes. “Talon Rothschild is dead?—”

“I disagree.”

My chest started to ache when my heart pounded right against the ribs.

“Father, it’s been twenty years?—”

“A reasonable amount of time to rise to power and challenge his enemies.” King Barron spoke calmly, like he didn’t fear the outcome that he expected. “He was taken by a dragon that could have preserved him in youth. The world has gone on for everyone else, but time has stopped for the two of us.”

“Talon Rothschild wasn’t a necromancer?—”

“This world is a big place with many secrets,” he said. “If anyone has the motive, it is him.”

Jairo exchanged a pleading look with his brother.

“Even if Talon Rothschild is the Death King…” He crossed his arms over his chest as he sat at the table.

The mother continued to sit and sip her wine like she wasn’t there.

“He’s not our biggest problem.” He stared at his father at the head of the table. “Jairo is right. Our kingdom has fallen into despair because those creatures have poisoned it. It was a powerful alliance that gave us the throne, but it came at too great a price. Astaroth and the others need to leave our lands if we want this kingdom to survive.”

King Barron remained quiet, looking down the table between his sons to the opposite end where other guests would be sitting at a dinner party. “Kael, we made a deal with Astaroth and the rest of his kin. Until that is fulfilled, he will not leave.”

Kael looked at Jairo again, like that was his best effort.

“Then let’s fulfill this oath,” Jairo said. “And rid their curse from our soil.”

For a man who sat upon the throne and safeguarded a city of people, Barron was deeply apathetic. “Until they find the Realm of Caelum, the alliance must remain.”

Blood rushed to my head like I’d stood up too quickly, when I was still confined to the cupboard. A jolt of terror and nausea flooded through me, and it was so potent it made me flinch. I nearly knocked the door open accidentally.

They didn’t hear the commotion or were so deep in the conversation they didn’t notice. “And when will that be?” Jairo asked. “Because our people are dying or starving. We’ll run out of food and will have no way to bribe the soldiers who serve us. I don’t think you understand what’s at stake here, Father. Your body hasn’t changed, but it seems like your mind has.”

King Barron flashed him a cold stare. “Astaroth believes they’re close in their discovery.”

“How close?” Jairo demanded.

King Barron didn’t answer. “And if the Death King moves against us, we need Astaroth and his kin to fight with us. The dragons are only submissive because of their dark magic. And without the dragons, we’re not strong enough to face a king that rides upon a black dragon and commands the dead.”

“ Talon Rothschild is not the Death King ?—”

“I believe otherwise.”

“Your guilt has festered into paranoia?—”

“I feel no guilt for taking what is mine. ” King Barron raised his voice slightly, giving his first sign of emotion all evening. “Bolton Rothschild’s line never should have had the throne in the first place, not when their ancestors broke their oath to the Ascension of Kings.”

“If you believe Talon Rothschild is the necromancer, then why not fly to the Death King’s lands and burn him?” Jairo questioned. “We take our army of dragons across the sea and confront him with an army he can’t defeat. An army of the dead can’t touch the sky. Whether the Death King is who you suspect, let’s be rid of him.”

King Barron stared at his goblet before he grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled the glass. He took his time, drawing it out as he considered his answer.

“Once that’s done, we aid in the search for the Realm of Caelum. Astaroth and his kin get what they want, and we get what we want. Our soil will heal, and our people will flourish. You’ll be regarded as a hero who defeated the famine.”

King Barron took a drink before he licked his lips. “Perhaps you’re right, Jairo. Maybe it’s time we took matters into our own hands.”

Jairo looked at Kael, who stared back with a renewed vigor in his gaze.

Their mother remained indifferent, like this eternal life had only imprisoned her in misery.

King Barron took another drink and stared down the table like the conversation was done.

I’d learned so much that evening. If I’d tried this the following night or the one before, I would have missed all of this. Just watched a silent table.

The butler returned to the room with his hands behind his back. “Your Majesty, Astaroth has returned from his travels and wishes to have a word.”

Jairo looked at his father. “Perhaps he has good news.”

“Perhaps they’ve found their beloved tree,” Kael said.

The mother appeared numb to all of it.

“Leave the room,” King Barron said. “I will speak with him here.”

The sons gave no protest. The mother rose from the table with cheeks the color of snow. They all walked out and left King Barron alone at the head of the table.

I felt nervous, like I was the one who was part of the conversation.

Several minutes passed, and in that time, King Barron sat there alone, the fire in the hearth against the wall burning with a gentle flame. There were portraits on the wall, him in his king’s uniform, along with his sons in their own portraits.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

So many things. I’ll tell you when it’s done.

A moment later, the butler opened the double doors and stepped aside.

Then he entered…skin dull gray with sickness, ears with a pointed tip, a smile that looked more like a snarl. He wore a full armor set that was black like Talon’s, but there was no sword across his back or dagger at his hip.

He took his time as he crossed the room and the plush rug. Instead of taking one of the seats that had been occupied by Jairo and Kael, he chose the chair at the head of the table, far on the opposite of King Barron.

He sat with a straight back that didn’t touch the chair, but he rested one arm on the table, his fingers covered in a black leather glove. “Enjoy your dinner?”

King Barron didn’t answer.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed something.”

I wanted to crack the door farther to get a better look at Astaroth, but since he directly faced me, I had to be careful in my movements.

King Barron took a drink from his goblet. “How were your travels?”

He drummed his gloved fingers on the table. “Fruitful.”

“How so?”

Astaroth took a long time to answer, that same smirk on his mouth that was permanent like a scar. “There’s more to our world than what the map shows. Much more. Far to the east is a land with snow and mountains and monsters and vampires. I found a witch there, and she said there’s a second door to Caelum deep in the forest.”

“You found what you wanted but speak with a tone of disappointment.”

The smug smile remained. “Because it’s home to the Ethereal.”

King Barron gave no reaction, like he didn’t know what that was but didn’t want to show his empty hand.

“It’s unclear if they’re aware of the gateway, but whether they are or not, they’re still a problem.”

“At least you’ve found what you’re looking for, Astaroth.”

“Yes, I suppose.” The gray to his skin resembled stone, making him look dead when he was clearly alive. His other arm moved to the table, and he leaned closer to King Barron. “Your men will join us in this fight, and then our deal will be completed. I know when my presence is unwelcome.”

“It’s not your presence but the curse that you bring with you.”

He cocked his head slightly, amused. “I don’t bring a curse. I am a curse.”

King Barron held his stare across the table, the two evil men locked in a battle of restrained diplomacy. “I can’t leave my lands while the Death King remains a threat across the sea. We destroy him first, and then I’ll join you in the battle against Ethereal.”

“That wasn’t our agreement.”

“I need the dragons to win this war.”

“You have the dragons.”

“They won’t serve me without your magic, Astaroth. Once their minds are free and their chains broken, they’ll turn on us.”

Astaroth sat back in the chair and propped one elbow on the armrest. “That’s a shame…”

“I can’t leave my lands vulnerable to the Death King,” King Barron said. “This is how it must be done. We win my war, and then we win yours.”

Astaroth propped his chin on his closed knuckles as he thought it through, his eyes locked on King Barron across the table. He was too rugged to be an elf, but he was too pretty to be human. He was somewhere in between. But his eyes were strange, green with intense flecks of yellow, a color I’d never seen before. “Then we have a deal.” He grinned. “Your Majesty.”

When the maids were occupied, I went to the storage room and let Talon know I was there.

Like last time, he moved the shelf aside just wide enough for me to fit through.

I squeezed through the crack then watched him pull it back until it blocked the crack in the cliff once again.

Instead of hitting me with all the questions so close to the storage room, he headed down the path back toward the waterfall, and the second we were near the pool with the falling water as a sound buffer, he turned on me. “What did you hear?”

It was so much information that I didn’t know where to begin. I paused as I tried to find the words. We’d been apart for ten days, and my heart and body missed him like a parched mouth missed water, but it was obvious that he was more desperate for answers than he was for me.

“Calista?”

“I don’t know where to begin?—”

“Just start.”

“I saw your cousins Jairo and Kael. They told their father that the kingdom is dead and if they don’t do something soon, then the citizens will die…or kill them.” I started there and shared all the details that came afterward. I told him about the deal King Barron made with Astaroth and everything else they’d discussed.

Talon’s expression was intense the entire time, full of rage that built with every passing second. His breathing was elevated, and his skin was flushed with the blood that pounded in his temples.

I thought when I finished the tale I would feel better rather than worse, but now, I felt the stress from his body, the ferocity that burned like an eternal flame.

He hadn’t blinked the entire time, just staring in a mixture of anger and horror. “He killed my family and damned my people…just to destroy the kingdom.” His eyes flicked away first, then the rest of his body followed. He paced in the cave near the waterfall, rubbing his hand up and down the back of his head, the veins in his temples popping from the tightness in his entire body. “He burned my entire family…for this?” He turned back to me and threw his arm out in the direction of the city. “For this?” This time, he yelled, his scream echoing off the rock that comprised the cliff.

The kingdom was gray like the dark elf Astaroth, a hollow shell compared to what it’d been. I’d never witnessed the spectacle with my own eyes, but I knew Talon’s family had ruled it with an altruistic passion. “He knows you’re the Death King.”

“He suspects I’m the Death King. He was dumb enough to run this kingdom into the fucking ground, but he’s not dumb enough to be fooled.” His hands went to his hips as he stood there before me.

“What do we do now?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and fell into silence, one that was as heavy as rain clouds. “They’re preparing for war, so the timing isn’t ideal. But we can’t retreat because he’ll be at our backs the whole way. We have to move in—and move in now.”

“Now I wish we would have waited for him to come to us.”

“He’ll still be surprised by the dragons we have in our army. And as much as I hate to say this, the fact that his people are hungry works in our favor.”

“It sounds like the soldiers are well-fed. That’s why they continue to serve him.”

“That’s still better than the rest of the citizens of the kingdom. If we give them weapons, I’m sure they’ll fight for us.”

“And I’m sure some of them will know your face, and if not, they’ll know your name. Tell them you’ve come to reclaim what’s yours and free them from their oppression. They’ll fight harder than any trained soldier.”

He was so angry he didn’t seem to care about those words. “It seems like this fight was inevitable for Queen Eldinar and the elves.”

“It was inevitable for all of us. Why do they want to reach Caelum?”

“The same reason as the other dark elves.”

“But why would Barron help him?” I asked. “Why would he let those fiends control the afterlife?”

He considered the question with the same hard gaze. The silence started off small then slowly grew into a crescendo of emptiness. “Because they expect to live forever. They don’t care what happens to mortals.”

It was the most selfish and despicable thing I’d ever heard. “Have they no friends? No family?”

“They only care for themselves—and no one else.” He turned to his pack on the ground and threw it over his shoulder. “We need to return. If we launch our attack after they’ve sailed to the north, then this will all be for nothing.”

I opened my pack and retrieved the clothes I’d arrived in. I made a quick change and stuffed the maid’s outfit into the pack because I felt bad just leaving it there. My heart hadn’t slowed since the revelations I’d overheard. Our mission had felt real every step of the way, but now it had reached a new level of seriousness. “Then let’s hurry.”

We climbed down to where the boat was hidden along the cliffside, and then I rowed us out to sea where the galleon was anchored. It had sat there for ten days and may have looked suspicious to anyone who watched, but since there was nothing on the ship to loot, it seemed safe in the cove.

We climbed aboard and began the three-day journey back to the Hideaway. That time was spent in mostly silence, Talon burdened by the revelations I had shared. His eyes always seemed distant, and his mind seemed to be in a whole different place.

Whenever I woke up in the middle of the night, he was already awake, staring across the room in the dark. Whenever I joined him on deck, his eyes were out to sea like there was something there, when it was just the open ocean.

I felt closer to him than I ever had…but also further apart.

On our last night on the ship, we sat together at the small table with two chairs. Talon had spent most of his time drinking the rum and scotch in the storage bins, and he continued that now, a drunk glaze over his expression.

Even with no light behind his eyes, even when he looked only a couple feet from rock bottom, he was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Whether he was angry or happy, on a high or at the lowest low, something about him remained irresistible.

But I couldn’t enjoy him the way I wanted, not when his depression acted as a barrier between our souls. It hurt to see him hurt, but there was no gesture of affection that could ever make that stop. “Based on the way Jairo and Kael spoke, they don’t seem enamored with their father.”

His eyes remained on the empty glass he clutched in his hand. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“I’d say their loyalty could be swayed, even.”

He lifted his chin to look at me.

“I can’t describe it, but the family dynamic between them was…empty. His wife didn’t say a word the entire time. Didn’t even look at anyone. Seemed like she didn’t want to be there—or even be alive, for that matter.”

He continued to watch me, his eyes heavy in their sadness.

“And Barron didn’t really seem to care about them either. When he argued with his sons, there was no affection behind it. Whenever my father punished me for being a brat, there was still love there. But with him, it’s indifference. He did so many horrible things to be king, and now he doesn’t even seem happy.”

“And you’d think all of that would please me, but it doesn’t.” His eyes dropped down to his glass again. “It just makes everything in vain. My father died in vain. The dragons have been enslaved this entire time…for fucking nothing. I’m sure he’ll never admit that to anyone who’s close to him, but it’s all just a waste. He wanted the glorious kingdom that my father had, wanted the love everyone gave our family, and instead of all those beautiful things, he inherited a dead realm.”

I gave a slight nod in agreement. “It must suck to get what you’ve wanted for so long…and it’s a disappointment.”

“If he defeats us and gives Astaroth what he wants, he will have what he’s always wanted.”

“There’s no way in hell that’s going to happen. We’ll arrive with our army of dragons and soldiers and defeat him swiftly.”

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Calista.”

“I know we’ll prevail.”

“Even if his kingdom is on the brink of starvation, he still has an army of dragons that outnumbers ours. He still has an army of dark elves, the number of which we don’t know. He still has his army, which, from what I can tell, is still substantial. I want this as much as you do, but wanting it and hoping for it simply isn’t enough. We need to go into this battle like our chance to succeed is slim to none.”

I watched him, seeing his hollow cheeks and eyes. “Then let’s come up with a plan—a good one.”