The Story of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book One

Chapter Twenty-Four

I took the stone from him and stared at it. As my brow tented in worry, I asked, "God, Dominic, are you okay? How did that stone get in your mouth?"

"I have no idea, Matt." He put his finger on the stone in my hand, then closed my fingers over it and kissed my knuckles. "It's pretty, at least." He winked at me. "I feel like I've given you something of myself, which makes me even more deliriously happy."

His outrageous behavior elicited a nervous laugh from me, which rose in a small icy plume as the air grew frigid. Each circular, brass firepit on each end of the balcony had its flames snuffed by a layer of ice. Frost crawled along the floor until it just reached our feet. We shuffled backward until we pressed against a wall. I tucked my arm around Dominic's and scooted closer because the cold was numbing my brain. Then he encircled my shoulders and drew me closer as we gazed at each other in surprise.

"Ahem!" a feminine voice sounded behind me. I stuffed the stone in my pocket and turned my head. Emerlee was in the doorway, blocking it, and she regarded us impassively. "I thought I might speak to you alone out here, Madeline, but I see you have one of your humans out here." She made a sniffing noise at Dominic.

I put myself in front of Dominic, who protested by laying his hands on me to pull me back. Next, my birds made an appearance and flew to my shoulders. She glanced at them with interest, then returned her focus to me. Her pupils were thin slits within dark orange eyes that had no eyelids. Scales surrounded them. She smiled, showing gleaming fangs, and I thought of Joseph's fangs. Finally, a shiver formed at the base of my spine and traveled up my back as I realized she meant to do more than talk.

"What can I do for you, Emerlee?" I tried to quell the rapid beating of my heart. All thoughts that I might have mistaken Emerlee's desire to assassinate me fled.

"I'm here to congratulate you since the priestess has refused my claim. I wonder what you said to her." With a hiss, she took one step forward.

"Look, Emerlee, none of this is my fault. I get you're angry, but get angry at the people that decided all this, not me." I folded my arms to conserve my warmth while Dominic tried to pull me behind him. After I elbowed him, our whispered, back-and-forth bickering about who would protect whom upset Emerlee. While we argued, two frills of scales on each side of her neck unfurled and her jaw unhinged. The inside of Emerlee's mouth was as orange as her eyes, and her tongue was forked and black. Dominic won the spot in front for the moment as I peeked around him.

She curled her lips into a sneer and re-hinged her jaw so she could speak. "You must have seduced my Luke somehow; that is why he broke our engagement. I mean to expose you for the harlot you are!"

"Harlot? How old are you, Emerlee? Like.. seventy?"

"Matt, where's your filter?" Dominic mumbled. "Mortal danger here!"

I smacked his leg in outrage. "No filter needed for a B--"

Emerlee cut me off by saying, "I despise you because you are rude, loud, and oafish. You're nothing but a commoner despite your parentage. Luke will have to see reason once the Goddess rejects you. I plan to petition her."

"Hey, if that happens, I'll throw a party. You're invited, of course." Then I laughed, feigning bravery. I wasn't a big fan of snakes. They're not as scary as dolls, but they come in high on my list of things I would not want to touch in the middle of the night. "Can you move? I need to get in line."

 I must have finally broken the last straw because this was the point where she spat at me. A section of the balcony floor melted away from her spit, so I cringed, and I was climbing up Dominic with a yelp to avoid the hole left behind. Before I could stop them, my birds darted towards her.