Chapter 73

SEVEN.

My ascension to the throne. I never thought I would ever hear that, but here it is now, happening in front of me in real-time.

I thought that Vlad was lying when he told me about this, but now I confirm that it's true. Even then, I feel surreal. I almost want to touch someone's face just to make sure this is all real.

Professor Venetia clears his throat, and nearly everyone around the table breaks into applause. But I can see that others seem to be struggling to even appear present, much less enthusiastic. My dad is the only one who looks perfectly happy, and even Professor Venetia is allowing himself a little smile. It looks so weird on his face that part of me wishes he'd just go back to being grumpy.

Meanwhile, Vlad and Amelie look... reserved.

The clapping stops and eventually they all sit down. I nod, not knowing what to say or do now.

"Congratulations," Professor Venetia says, motioning everyone to settle down now. "The Crown and the leadership once again go back to the Konstantins. I would say that we are in good hands."

A low brush of murmurs sweeps through the entire table because of that statement. His gaze moves over them, but he doesn't say anything. He just looks at me like he expects me to carry on with this.

I clear my throat. Everyone looks at me. The gesture is so uniform that my voice shrinks into itself, but I just take a deep breath to muster some courage.

"I am deeply honored to be offered the throne," I say, and my dad smiles. But his face falls when he sees the expression on my face. "I mean no disrespect, but I just have to ask... how and why did all of you come to this decision?"

Silence rings in the room, I can tell that the others are already sneering because of my ignorance, but I don’t care.

When no one says anything, I continue, "It's always been the tradition to hold a search for the Crown of Flames and that will determine the identity of the King. I fail to understand why we're in a rush to crown someone when the hunt is only a few weeks away,"

"The boy is right," some man says.

The other heads of houses seem to be agreeing. "We do believe that it's rash. We should keep in mind our history so we don't end up repeating it."

“Consorting with these Humans makes us weak,” one of them says boldly. “He grew up in a school that mixes Humans and Dragons alike. You’re right, history has a funny way of repeating itself, especially in families—”

“No one will end up repeating anything,” dad suddenly says, getting to his feet and slapping his hands on the table. “My son has been given the ultimate sign of power, the sign of ruling. He summoned fire out of nowhere, a feat that we wouldn’t have thought possible without the crown. The Headmaster of this school and even some of your children all saw it with their own eyes. We can’t just deny that just because we feel so strongly about the past. My son will not make the same mistake. I trust him.”

He looks at me proudly, and guilt washes over me like a glass of cold water trickling down my back. I nod at him, but I can’t meet his eyes. How will this council even react when they find out that I marked a Human?

Vlad certainly feels uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one foot to another. But judging by the fact that no one got up to protest, then he really kept my secret well.

But my dad’s words seem to have an effect. At least, to those who are already pretty inclined to listen to me. Some of them agree.

“Fire-wielders have always been Kings and Queens,” one of them says. “They say that they alone have the divine right to rule.”

Murmurs go around the table, and at last, a woman speaks. She has golden blonde hair, and by looking at the insignia on her chest, I can read that she comes from the House of Anatoly. I don’t know much about them, but from what I experienced from the Anatoly boy competing is that he’s incredibly violent.

She looks at Professor Venetia. “What of the Human problem? Isn’t it rumored that more and more of them have been finding out what we are? So many of them have come close to knowing as well. There’s the matter of their execution, and the King must see to that himself. Tradition requires him to burn them alive in front of the council.”

My throat goes dry. Dad lowers his head like he knows something like this will happen but he can’t bring himself to believe it. Meanwhile, Vlad and Amelie both look shocked.

Even Professor Venetia looks appalled. But everyone is watching him. Surprisingly, many of the Dragon heads of houses seem keen on this execution. Not exactly excited, but curious.

While I do understand that their lives—our lives—depend on this, it’s just way off. The Humans are definitely not strong enough to fight us back. They would be decimated if they even try to fight back. It’s unkind and unjust. It’s going to be chaos….

And when it all comes down to it, I would have to kill June myself.

No. I will never do that.

“Humans are the reason we’re in hiding in the first place,” one man says, from the House Warren. “This is why we need to be in power once more. So we have the freedom that they so awfully enjoy!”

“We already hold power,” I say. “We are all rich. We enjoy a lot of luxuries that they will never see in their entire lives. I don’t support this tradition. We must create another and make peace—”

“They destroyed that peace the moment they started to burn all our houses when they found out we no longer have the power to do that to them,” the House Anatoly woman says.

They all begin to fight about the justification for killing so many Humans, and my ears start to ring. Suddenly my vision is blurry. I try to blink it away and be strong, but I feel as though I’m getting pulled out of reality and into a different dimension entirely.

“There has to be another way,” I manage to say, and when I stand to make my point, something strange happens.

Suddenly the room gets wrapped up in darkness. Flames erupt everywhere. I can see a man across the table where Professor Venetia should be sitting. It’s the first Salvatore, the one who looks a lot like me. He’s not dressed regally this time. He doesn’t even have his crown. His face is smeared with dirt and blood, and he’s staring at me with a blank expression.

“They are lying to you.”

His statement is cold, unemotional, and yet it hits me like a punch to the chest.

He steps forward, running his hand over the lit candles and letting the flames dance on his palms. I thought he was like me. I thought he wouldn’t get burned. But I can hear his skin sizzling and popping when the flames touch him.

“The Humans in our time were not bloodthirsty,” he says, still in that cold detached tone. “They burned our homes, yes, but it’s not because they hated us. It’s not because they were jealous. It’s not because they wanted power. In fact, in my time, they saw us as gods. But it all changed when Humans started to… disappear.”

My blood runs cold. I swallow hard, taking a deep breath and trying to be more rational about it. Perhaps he’s talking about something different.

But no.

“A House started to harvest them, hunt them like animals, feed on them like they’re common meat,” he explains, stepping closer to me. His skin is melting and I can smell it. “One of the Houses, sitting in front of you in your little council, has kept this tradition up for years and years. Now they have what they desired, a venom so strong they can kill with a kiss. What you need to do is not kill these Humans. What you need to do is find out who kept up the tradition. And make sure you kill them before they kill you.”

With that, I get pushed out of the vision. I come back to reality, standing with my hands braced on the table. For some reason, everyone seems calm now. No one is arguing anymore. I don’t know what kind of conclusion they arrived in and I’m too worried to ask.

“So that settles it,” Professor Venetia says. “We have to… train and guide our new King before we reinstate such a harsh and sudden punishment. There is still the matter of the solstice and what we could do to celebrate the coming of our new King.”

I heave a sigh of relief, sitting back down on my chair. Part of me wants to square it out right here and right now, to accuse the one that’s been killing and see the reactions. But I know that I have to play it safe.

“We can have a tourney,” Dad suggests, looking at me. When I nod, he smiles and continues, “That way we still have the spirit of competition, just friendlier and less hostile. It will be a lot of fun.”

Now everyone is nodding and agreeing. I can’t believe we went from the idea of killing Humans to celebrating the solstice with good old medieval jousting. They all look happy now too. Sometimes I understand Humans more than Dragons.

“That way we can also introduce the engagement,” Professor Venetia suddenly says, and my dad’s smile gets wiped off his face.

Shame replaces it. My chest grows tight with worry. “What engagement?”

“Your engagement.” Professor Venetia smiles. “To my daughter, Amelie.”