Deny Me, Dragon King novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Blood Trial

Linnea notices Hesper's ember-stone is cold and says so before the court; Torren's fire proves Posy is his, and then he repeats the Denial.

The Hearth Court was open to the sky, and the stars looked down on a pit of living fire.

Lords stood on stone steps around it, circle above circle.

Torren stood on the pit's rim in his black coat.

Rosamund stood two steps behind him, smiling at nothing.

Hesper held a silver dish with a red stone in it, about the size of a hen's egg.

"The ember-stone of Ashhold," she said to the court. "It wakes for blood that belongs to the king."

I held Posy on the rim, wrapped in Odo's blanket, with her fever burning through the wool.

"This won't hurt much," I told her. "Just a pinch, like the bees."

"Bees are nice," Posy said. "Can I keep the stone?"

"No, love."

I pricked her finger with the needle I kept in my sleeve for splinters.

One bright bead of blood rose.

Hesper tilted the dish, and I touched Posy's finger to the stone.

The court was silent.

Nothing happened.

The stone sat in the dish, red and dull, and the bead of blood ran off it onto the silver.

A low sound went around the steps, half laughter, half relief.

"There," Rosamund said. "A lowland brat with a bit of moss in her tea."

Hesper lifted her chin.

"The stone does not wake. She is not of the king's blood."

I looked at the stone.

I looked at it for much longer than they wanted.

I had ground ember-stone dust into poultices since I was fifteen, because it was the only thing that eased a burn.

Real ember-stone is warm.

Warm as a loaf from the oven, always, even in the dead of winter, even in a jar in my cellar.

My hand was beside the dish.

I could feel the silver, and the silver was cold.

"That stone is cold," I said.

Hesper's smile didn't move.

"It sleeps, child. It is not a thing for a village girl to judge."

"It doesn't sleep," I said. "Ember-stone burns, or it's ash."

"I have a jar of it in my kitchen that has kept my hands warm for ten years."

The court was silent now.

I turned to Torren.

"Hold it. You're the king. It's meant to know you."

Torren looked at me for a long moment.

Then he took the stone out of the dish in his bare hand.

His face changed as it settled into his palm.

"It's cold," he said slowly.

A ripple went through the lords.

"Majesty," Hesper said, quick and smooth. "The Flame tests us in strange ways. Perhaps tonight it is weary."

"Odo."

The captain stepped out of the dark behind him.

"There is a stone in the Ember Throne's brazier," Torren said. "The old one my grandfather set there. Bring it."

For the first time, I saw Hesper's hand tremble against the silver dish.

Odo was back in a minute with a red stone held in a leather glove.

It glowed.

It glowed, and the air above it bent with the heat.

Torren took the glove off it and held it out on his bare palm.

It leaned into his hand.

"That is the king's stone," he said quietly. "The one in your dish was a cold copy."

Nobody breathed.

"Lowland blood," Hesper started, "has been known to..."

"Be quiet," Torren said.

He turned his gold-flecked eyes to me, and then to Posy.

"Her finger," he said.

I held it out, with the bead of blood trembling on the tip.

Posy touched the stone.

It flared.

The whole court lit gold, with a light so bright I saw the shadows of the lords' hands thrown on the steps.

The flame rose from the king's palm in a spiral and wrapped Posy's finger as softly as a hand.

She gasped.

"It tickles!"

The lords were on their knees, rows of them, hundreds, bending toward the child in my arms.

Torren stood still with the flame shining on his face.

His eyes had gone full gold.

"This child," he said, and his voice carried through the whole court, "is of my blood and my fire."

The ache in my chest finally eased.

Then he looked up and found Rosamund's face among the crowd, white and furious, with every lord around her watching.

I watched him see her.

I watched him see the treaty, and the south, and the wedding in three days.

"The child is mine," he said, hard and clear. "The mother is nothing to me."

In my arms, Posy screamed.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend