Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (free novels to read TXT) 📗

many years for someone to see him, the real him, and now thousands of people knew what he was. He’d take it all back if he could.

He looked over the soldiers with their hands forcefully gripping the hilts of their swords, ready for any attack, and then snorted. “You’re not bringing your soldiers into my private chambers, Your Majesty.”

“You can hardly expect me to go anywhere without protection.”

Nadir arched a brow. “Yet, you want me to allow your men entrance with blades that can easily kill me? I think not. This conversation should be made king to king, and that is my final offer. You wished to speak, Hallmar. I’m offering you a conversation.”

“I have no wish for prying ears to hear what I have to say.”

“And there will be none.” Nadir pointedly looked at the door to his room, a solid oak structure they’d pulled up from Wildewyn a long time ago. It was the only room thus far which had a door for a reason.

Hallmar’s shoulders sagged and finally he nodded. “If that is what it takes.”

A soldier stepped up. “Sire—”

“I’ll have none of your arguments. If the sultan wishes to speak with me privately before we have an official attendance with his advisors, then this is what we shall do.”

The king of Wildewyn walked toward him with a set to his shoulders that suggested he thought Nadir was going to attempt to kill him. Strange, really, because Nadir hadn’t done anything thus far which would make the man think that.

Arriving in the form of a dragon certainly wouldn’t have been seen as that much of a threat. He hadn’t tried to kill anyone, and he certainly hadn’t eaten any of the soldiers no matter how enticing it seemed.

Once inside his personal room, Nadir cast a glance around to make sure everything was in order. The crimson blankets covering his pillow strewn bed were as haphazard as always. The hand-carved desk was piled with vellum and parchment he hadn’t looked at yet. The pools in the corners of the rooms shifted as the fish inside them struggled to catch the bugs he threw in every morning.

Silence rang true and loud as the door shut behind them. The shifting of metal armor behind it suggested Hallmar’s men hadn’t gone very far.

Nadir pointed at the noise. “Will they press their ear to the surface?”

“Are your doors not thick enough to discourage snooping?”

The king had a point. Nadir sighed, then stalked to his table and pulled out a drink. “One for you?” he asked.

Hallmar shook his head.

Did the king think Nadir was planning to poison him? There were far easier ways to kill someone, and much less messy than watching them foam at the mouth. Shrugging, he poured himself a glass of the carefully curated wine and drank deeply.

Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he finally let out a frustrated sound. The question which burned in his mind finally burst free from his lips. “How is she?”

Hallmar met his gaze with a bemused smile. “Who?”

“Don’t play with me, Earthen King. You know of whom I speak.”

“I have no idea why you’d be asking about the creature who tried to kill much of your people, unless you want to know whether we put her down.”

The glass in Nadir’s hand shattered. When had he grown so angry? The king was only saying the same thing that his own advisors had said. There was no reason for Nadir to still be attached to the girl. She’d done enough to prove that she didn’t care for his kingdom.

Or him.

But he still dreamt of her at night. The way the firelight had played across her face the first time he’d seen her. The arch of her neck when she tilted her head just so, to see the smile in his eyes that he always had hoped she saw.

He blew out a breath, trying to dispel the ghost of her memory. “Just tell me.”

“She’s doing well,” Hallmar finally relented. “The kingdom she has created flourishes, as far as I know. Although, she seemed tired the last time I saw her.”

“Aren’t we all?” Nadir replied with a scoff. “I don’t remember the last time I got a full night’s sleep.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Hallmar strode to the chair in front of Nadir’s desk and sank down into its plush pillows. “You seem to have taken much more control than I remember you having.”

“Someone told me that a ruler chooses, but a slave waits for others to tell him what to do.” Nadir tilted the glass in a mock toast. “I took that to heart.”

“As much as I wish to take credit for this change, I have a feeling it has very little to do with me.”

“You might be right about that.”

Hallmar cleared his throat and leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs. “You are a Beastkin as well?”

“I thought rumors of that would have reached your kingdom by now.”

“Hearing it and seeing it are two very different things. Rumors always hold a fraction of truth, but I never guessed these tales were entirely truthful.”

Nadir spread his arms wide and let the king look his fill. “Then see the Beastkin for yourself, Earthen King.”

“That must have been difficult for you,” Hallmar murmured. “Considering how adamant you were that there was no such thing as a dragon Beastkin.”

“Can you not understand why? I hardly wanted to believe that I was even capable of this madness. Seeing another person who was the same as I was? Afflicted by the same plague which had always made me hide in the shadows? It’s not something I ever wanted to face in my lifetime.”

Hallmar leaned back forcefully in his chair, then hooked his ankle over his knee. “Is that what you believe? That being a Beastkin is something like a disease or an illness?”

Nadir watched the king’s foot bounce and pondered his words. If he’d asked them years ago, then his response would have been a very swift and