The Last of the Firedrakes (44 page)

I crept out of my room and past the sleeping guards. Kalen must have given them a strong dose, as they were all snoring away with happy looks on their faces.

The night was dark, and a chill wind had crept into the palace corridors. I adjusted my old brown cloak and covered my head. I wore riding breeches and leather boots with a long shirt under a fitted brown leather vest, belted at the waist. I carried the sword that Rafe had given me, and I had even strapped a knife in my boot, just like he did. I wanted to try and pass for a boy, and so I tied my long dark hair back and hid it under my hood.

“We will go through the servant’s quarters and out through the kitchen,” said Kalen in a whisper, as we moved silently through the dark hallways.

“Do you know where it is?” I asked, feeling foolish. I couldn’t even manage to get myself out of the palace. How was I going to get to Illiador?

Kalen nodded, and I followed.

“Going somewhere?” said a voice from the shadows. I jumped, but I knew who it was.

“Rafe,” I whispered, “you almost scared me to death.”

He pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning on and stepped into the moonlight. His eyes quickly scanned the scene in front of him as he took in my choice of attire and traveling satchel.

“You were leaving without saying good-bye,” he said. It wasn’t a question, and his voice had an edge to it that I hadn’t heard before.

I looked down at my feet. What could I say? If I had to say good-bye to him, I would never leave. It was better that I just went away and saved myself the heartache that would surely come when I saw him marry someone else. Either way I had to leave. Even if I went to Elfi, I would probably never see him again.

“Good-bye Rafe,” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t care.

Rafe ignored me. “Kalen, are you helping her in this foolishness?” Rafe said, turning slightly.

Kalen looked embarrassed. “She was going to leave alone,” he said finally. “I decided that someone should go with her.”

Rafe suddenly took two quick steps towards me, caught my arms, and pulled me towards him. Our faces were so close, our noses almost touching, but he didn’t kiss me. His breath smelled of alcohol.

“Have you been drinking?” I asked breathlessly.

I could never think when he came so close to me. I wished he wouldn’t do that anymore. It was getting harder and harder to resist him, and my conscience was slowly being bludgeoned to death by the persistent little voice that kept telling me not to give him up.

“Maybe,” he said roughly, “why do you ask? It’s not like you care.”

I wiggled out of his grasp, and he let me go.

“You’re right,” I said, lying blatantly, “I don’t care.”

I had to push him away. I had to make him think I didn’t love him, and then he would leave me alone.

“All right, then,” he said finally, straightening the cuffs on his half-open shirt. “Go then, I won’t stop you.”

“Are you serious?” I said incredulously. “And you won’t tell Uncle Gabriel?”

I was so sure he was going to try and convince me to stay and go to Elfi with my granduncle just like everybody else.

“He will find out soon enough without my help,” Rafe said, shrugging again. “In fact, I think I am going to help you instead.”

“You are?” I said, skeptical at his sudden change of heart.

Rafe nodded. “Yes,” he said simply. “Kalen, what was your plan so far?”

“Well,” said Kalen looking around the shadowy corridor to make sure no one else was coming our way. “We were supposed to leave through the kitchens, then out of the palace gates, telling the guards I had an errand for my mother to get some herbs from the apothecary, since Aurora is supposed to be her assistant.”

“And then,” said Rafe “how would you have left the city?”

“I hadn’t thought about that yet,” said Kalen, biting his lip.

“You hadn’t?” I asked, turning to Kalen, “but you said you would sort it out.”

“And I will,” said Kalen to me, as if he were talking to a child. “I just don’t know how yet.”

Rafe rolled his eyes, and I was tempted to do the same. Kalen was so infuriating sometimes.

“Follow me,” Rafe said.

We followed the prince through the palace corridors and into a closed room, which happened to be his bedroom.

I looked around. It was neat and cozy, but not overly plush or ornate like some of the other bedrooms in the palace. A large, wooden four-poster bed was placed in the center of the room, the carved headboard resting against one wall, which was hung with a worn tapestry. A warm, tan skin rug covered the floor and a dressing room was situated through a velvet-curtained doorway. A large writing desk and a high-backed chair lay along one side, next to a wooden chest ornately decorated with intricate carvings of magical fae creatures.

Rafe put on his cloak and took out his mask, which he had hidden in the locked wooden chest. He also filled a leather sack with a few things and belted his sword around his waist. Various knives were strapped on, and he snatched up a worn-looking satchel.

“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

Kalen’s eyes widened. “Are you coming with us?” he asked, grinning.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Rafe. “You said yourself she is going to need help. So I’m helping.”

“You can’t come with us,” I said, horrified at the prospect of spending who knew how long with him.

“I can get you to Illiador and help you get the dagger,” he said, turning to me.

“Why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this? You don’t have to come with me. I can do this on my own.”

“Aurora,” he said, more gently this time. “I understand how you feel. If I were you, I would also be out trying to find my mother, no matter what anyone said.”

I was elated. Finally, someone who actually understood how I felt.

“I know that we cannot be together,” he continued, taking my hands gently in his. “But I would really like for us to be friends. We are friends, right?”

I didn’t know if being friends would ever be possible, but I was willing to give it a try. I knew that I should say no, that I should go with Kalen and never look back. But of course, my tired conscience was not even trying to wake up and chastise me for my stupidity. Secretly I was relieved. Rafe knew these lands like the back of his hand. He would get me to the Star Palace in Nerenor, of that I had no doubt.

I nodded weakly. “Friends. Yes, absolutely,” I said, my heart breaking for the thousandth time.

“So friends help each other,” he said, as if it was all settled.

I had no choice, and having Rafe come along suddenly made me feel like maybe I could actually succeed in this, perhaps together we really had a shot at finding the dagger. That was my main focus now. Find the dagger, and then I would worry about the rest, as it came along.

“But what about Leticia?” I still had to ask.

“The wedding can be postponed for a while,” he said, grinning like he had just come up with a brilliant plan.

So that was his game, I mused. He wanted to come with me so he could get away from Leticia and postpone the wedding indefinitely. If that was his reason, fine, I could live with it. It was foolish to suppose he was coming because he wanted to spend more time with me and really did care about helping me find my mother. But I took what I could get; at least with him accompanying us, I had a real chance of succeeding.

“And what about your father, the king?” I asked. “Won’t he wonder where you are?”

“I will leave a note for him that I had to go away on some urgent errand,” said Rafe shrugging. “He will be angry for a while, but he’ll get over it. After all, it’s not like he’s going to disinherit me and give the crown to the Blackwaters.”

It sounded like he had it all sorted out. Rafe was very resourceful, and I didn’t even know half of what he was capable of.

“So what’s your plan, Rafe?” said Kalen. “Do we still leave the palace through the kitchen?”

“No,” said Rafe, putting on his mask. “I have another way.”

“Which is?” I enquired.

I was happy Rafe was in charge. Kalen was sweet, but his plans were really not properly thought out.

“How do you think the Black Wolf gets in and out of the palace at night with no one ever noticing?” he said, grinning behind the black mask and pulling on the hood of his shadowy cloak.

I grinned back at him. “Secret passage,” I said without hesitation.

“Looks like you know me quite well,” he said chuckling. “I do happen to know of many secret passages in and out of the palace, but only one leads outside the city gates. Follow me,” he said, and we accompanied him down the silent corridors of the Summer Palace to the council chamber.

“So where is this secret passage?” I asked looking around the vast room but still smiling away.

Suddenly the door to the council chamber burst open, and two palace guards charged into the room, their swords flashing silver in the moonlight.

I whirled around. How did they find me? I couldn’t let them stop me now. I had to leave the palace tonight. “I thought you said you gave them the potion?” I said to Kalen, panicking.

“I did!” said Kalen, flinging his arms into the air.

The guards’ eyes widened when they saw Rafe in his black mask and cloak. “The Black Wolf,” said one Guard, recognizing the infamous outlaw.

Rafe took a step forward, and the Guards shrank back instinctively. But this was my fight and my only chance to find my mother. I wasn’t going to let a pair of foolish guards stand in my way.

“I’ve got this,” I said to Rafe, moving in front of him and raising my hands, palms facing the guards. This time I didn’t need to make an effort; my magic was a part of me. The white light coursed through my veins and exploded in two perfect beams, hitting the guards in the middle of their chests. The force of my stun was so strong that they flew backwards hitting the wall as they fell to the floor unconscious.

“That was one fantastic stun strike,” said Rafe coming up to me and grinning. “You combined a stun and push strike together even with your amulet on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that done before. Maybe I should hire you to protect my kingdom from now on.”

I laughed and beamed at the praise, especially coming from him. “Anytime,” I said. “But first, I have my own kingdom to defend.”

“I’ll wait,” Rafe said, still smiling as he walked over to the mantelpiece above the fireplace and bent one of the candlestands forward. The wall behind the fireplace moved backwards, leaving enough space for a person to pass through on both sides.

“The Summer Palace was built over an ancient ruin,” said Rafe. “This passage is as old as Auraken himself.”

The passage beyond looked dark, and Rafe went first. His hand lit up with a tiny white ball of light that illuminated the grey stone walls. Magic had now become second nature to me, and I pushed some light into my hand, whirling it around with my fingers until it formed a ball.

Rafe silently took my hand and entwined his fingers through mine. This was it; I was really going to do this. From now on, I would not run from my destiny or my responsibilities. My mother was alive, and I was going to get her back. Morgana had better prepare to defend herself, for I was the last of the Firedrakes, and I was not afraid of her anymore. My life was my own and so were my choices. I just hoped I had made the right one.

I gathered my courage and walked forward into the dark passage that led from the Summer Palace of Eldoren out into the fascinating, magical, and dangerous world of Avalonia that lay beyond.

Acknowledgments

First I want to thank God, with whose grace and blessings nothing is impossible.

My wonderful mother, Zinia Lawyer, who has always supported and empowered me to do what others thought I could not.

My amazing husband, Riyad Oomerbhoy, my pillar of strength and love of my life who has always believed in me and told me I could write, even though he has had to endure hearing me ramble on about my characters for the past ten years, and knows them nearly as well as I do.

My precious children who have always been my biggest supporters.

My wonderful family, my brother Rustom Lawyer, my sister and brother-in-law Roohi and Chetan Jaikishan, my father-in-law Rashid Oomerbhoy, my niece and nephew Amaan and Jehaan, my sister-in-law Shazmeen, and Shiraz Austin for their constant encouragement.

There are so many others I want to thank who have helped me bring this book to this point, so here it goes. To Hannah Dierker Cortese for all her help beta-reading. Basanti Didwania, Shweta Nanda, Navya Nanda, Farida Irani, Shernaz Vakil, Priya Nathani, Gayatri Shah, and Anita Vaswani who read a very rough first draft of the book and actually liked it.

My super-efficient assistant Kate Tilton, without whom I would not have met the wonderful women at Wise Ink Creative Publishing, especially Laura Zats for all her enthusiasm and unwavering support, and for giving me the chance and expertise to publish the best possible version of my book. My superb editor Amanda Rutter, who guided me throughout the editing process and helped create this final version. Thanks to the amazingly talented cover designer Scarlett Rugers for all her patience and wonderful creativity in designing this beautiful cover. I must also thank Jade Zivanovic for her beautifully detailed depiction of the map of Avalonia. I also want to thank Patrick Maloney for his meticulous proofreading and Kim Morehead for her beautiful interior design, which has enhanced the written word and made the book more enjoyable to read.

There are a few more people I must not leave out who have all contributed in some way towards me publishing this book. My wonderful Wattpad group, the Wattpad Class of 2014, consisting of twelve talented authors who have been so kind, helpful, and supportive. I am honored to be one of you. And last but not least, my wonderful Wattpad readers who made me believe anything is possible.