Standing in a line on the bottom step leading up to the palace were Eli, Penelope, Luca, Tam holding his son’s hand, Kat, Harris, Annika the chicken, and Kraken.

  Below sat Wixim and Thomas Julian along with a handful of waterlogged witches all with chattering teeth.

  Eli took a fortifying breath, stepped down, and slowly strode over to Wixim. The two stared at each other for a while before Eli lowered her chin and once again shifted into her beast form.

  “Hello again, little one,” Wixim greeted her with a growl.

  “Hello,” Eli returned with a polite incline of her head.

  “I have come for the first witch and her companions,” Wixim rumbled.

  Eli shook her head. “Nothing has changed, Wixim. We will not loose Aradia to wreak havoc, and her companions have turned Duchess Ashowan into a chicken. So we aren’t going to be releasing Ansar and the chicken witch until that is fixed.”

  This new bit of information about Annika Ashowan made Wixim pause, his gleaming green eyes swiveling around Eli to the black-and-white chicken that bobbed its head and clucked indignantly at him.

  A stuttering choke sounded from Wixim that hinted at a laugh…

  Eli gave a loud huff out of her nose. She did not want the conversation dragging on. “The Daxarian queen does not tire. Aradia’s followers are exhausted. You cannot leave with all of them. You cannot protect all of them, either, should we resume fighting.”

  Wixim’s long head wove forward, his lips curling to reveal his long fangs, when a throat clearing interrupted them.

  Both Eli and Wixim looked down to see that Kraken had somehow approached without either of them noticing.

  He sat primly and stared up at the dragon, looking almost bored.

  “I am Empurror Kraken,” the fluffy feline announced.

  Eli was unable to mask her shock at hearing the black cat’s voice.

  His meows had always been chirps and squeaks; to hear his regal tones was a dramatic difference.

  Kraken glanced up at her and then he, too, jolted in surprise.

  “Good Gods! It’s like looking in a mirror!”

  Eli was vaguely aware that the flat look she gave Kraken was identical to one Wixim gave the smaller familiar.

  Recovering her senses quickly, Eli responded, “It is good to finally converse with you, Kraken.”

  Kraken sat back down, a quiet purr emanating from him.

  “You are the familiar to the house witch?” Wixim called out.

  The fluffy cat slowly blinked. “That I am.”

  “The one who was responsible for the death of the red dragon named Paiste?” Wixim lifted his head and chest, expanding his presence.

  Kraken watched, unbothered. “Yes, I am.”

  Fury flashed through Wixim’s eyes.

  “I protected my witch and a kingdom, as the Goddess would have expected. Someone as old as you should recognize how great my accomplishment is,” Kraken declared flippantly.

  Wixim’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing more on the matter.

  Eli’s attention shifted back to the small group of shivering people. “We can give you and these witches a head start, and we will not fight you or follow you for three days.”

  Wixim’s gaze flicked back to her, the air around him starting to simmer. “You will free Aradia, return the seer, and release the other companions first.”

  Kraken scoffed. “We have the upper paw, you dumb lizard. Take what this magnificent creature offers you. I would not be as kind.”

  Wixim lowered his head until his nose almost touched Kraken’s. “I can eat you in a single bite, and while the Daxarian queen may be able to battle me, my flames will reach far.”

  Every muscle in Eli’s body tensed. It was starting to look like they wouldn’t be able to get out of fighting…

  Kraken yawned in the dragon’s face, his breath making Wixim’s nostrils flare. “Your first witch will lose just about everyone left who follows her here. Your own life included. We offer you a mere chance of survival. Oh, and you and I both know the first witch will earn a hefty punishment from the Gods if a familiar is directly killed by anyone aligned with her.”

  Eli’s head snapped around. What was that about familiars not being allowed to be harmed…?

  She watched as Wixim twitched… almost as though he was hiding a flinch.

  “You forget, or you have scales for brains. I can freely roam the Forest of the Afterlife. I already know the divine laws.” Kraken plucked up his paw and began loudly cleaning between his toe beans.

  Eli looked back and forth between Wixim and Kraken, at an utter loss.

  Wixim’s voice rumbled. “The divine laws have already changed. Most witches are not even wielding pure elements—”

  “Those are laws the Gods themselves have bent. Do you really think you have that kind of authority?” Kraken asked wryly.

  Wixim fell silent, and Eli could tell her mouth was hanging open.

  She had heard that Kraken was fearsome and impressive, but really it had been hard to see or think of him as anything but a fluffy cat. Truthfully, she had secretly suspected that Duke Finlay Ashowan had merely used his familiar as a cute shield for his own machinations…

  She was not too proud to admit that this assumption was completely wrong.

  “I will take Ansar and anyone else that follows Aradia, and we will leave,” Wixim declared.

  “You will leave the chicken witch unless she agrees to return the Duchess Ashowan to her former state,” Kraken persisted crisply.

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  Wixim shook out his wings with a disgruntled snap. “Bring them.”

  “Not until I have your promise.” Kraken slowly rose then sauntered over to stand in front of Eli, his fluffy tail swishing back and forth.

  Wixim snarled. “I can still burn this palace to the ground.”

  “And the Daxarian queen can still cut your throat. Are you going to keep throwing a tantrum like a human toddler? I have yet to be given a proper meal since arriving here,” Kraken wondered with a clear note of annoyance.

  Wixim gnashed his teeth. “Bring Ansar.”

  “So that’s a promise then?” Kraken asked with a satisfied twitch of his whiskers.

  Wixim’s forked tongue darted toward the fluffy empurror.

  In a flash Kraken’s paw shot out and swatted it.

  Wixim reared back in alarm.

  His furious glare bore down at Kraken, who was looking even more impatient with the conversation.

  The dragon shook his head disapprovingly. “Cats… All the same.”

  “If I hadn’t just clawed your tongue, I’d tell you to bite it. I am empurror of all. You will not forget it. Now make the promise. I’m tired of you,” Kraken lectured gruffly.

  Eli was relatively certain Wixim was imagining Kraken roasting on a spit with a crackling fire turning him into a seared snack, but he still conceded, “You have my word.”

  Kraken leaned back to look up at Eli. “You need to shift back to tell the others.”

  Eli bristled a little. She had been in shock thanks to the ongoing stress.

  Once she had returned to her human state, she turned and faced everyone who waited. “He will leave, but he has asked that Ansar be released into his care. The chicken witch will stay unless she turns the duchess back.”

  Tam raised an eyebrow, then looked over at Harris, who nodded in understanding. The duke then retreated up the palace steps to tell the guards. They had all been sweating profusely as they watched the giant dragon and winged cat stand off in the courtyard.

  For a few moments everyone waited, and Eli rejoined the group on the steps.

  The sun had fully risen, and the witches Wixim had saved were gradually shivering less as the heat of the day continued to climb.

  Penelope waved nervously at the man she referred to as Uncle Thomas. He gave a tight half smile back.

  When Harris returned escorting Ansar, the Zinferan emperor followed behind in his wheelchair.

  The monarch already looked exhausted, but his eyes still glinted with interest at the dragon in the courtyard.

  Everyone watched as Ansar cast one final dark look at Tam, then proceeded over to Wixim.

  When Harris returned to the step, Tam leaned forward. “I take it the chicken witch didn’t agree to turn Mum back?”

  Harris shook his head, and Annika clucked irritably on the ground.

  While this took place, the other witches climbed onto Wixim’s back, with Ansar seated at the front, and Thomas Julian at the back.

  “This isn’t over!” Ansar bellowed at Tam.

  “If you were smart, you wouldn’t be saying that,” Kat returned with a bellow, her golden eyes sparkling with violent whims.

  Ansar didn’t have a chance to retort before Wixim launched himself into the air—albeit at a much slower rate than he had the previous night due to the additional burdens he carried.

  Everyone watched as his gilded scales flashed overhead, then disappeared in the direction of the mountains. Most likely he was taking everyone to the cave.

  Eli leaned into Tam, exhaustion overtaking her as she dully noted that Kraken was already darting up the stairs.

  Tam dropped a kiss atop her head before murmuring, “Let’s all go find a place to sleep, hm?”

  “That would be appreciated,” Eli returned thickly, her eyelids heavy.

  Tam wrapped an arm around Eli’s shoulders as they all turned to make their way back up the stairs. At the landing before the great doors, they found that the number of guards had increased from six to two dozen.

  Everyone paused.

  Something was odd.

  Jiho was still present pushing the emperor’s chair closer, but he looked pale and uneasy…

  “Princess Elisara, welcome home,” the emperor greeted her, his hands lightly clasped over his belly as he peered up at her.

  Eli tensed, and she could feel Tam do the same.

  “Your Excellency.” She curtsied, and Tam bowed.

  “Have you been told of my decree?” The emperor’s eyes drifted over Tam appraisingly.

  Eli’s free hand briefly gripped into a fist. “The one about naming me the heir to the Zinferan empire? Yes, I have. However, as honored as I am that you would consider me, I must decline.”

  “Ah, you have not even had a good night’s rest to consider this offer.” The emperor waved his hand, and two lines of maids appeared from the flanks of the palace.

  Eli drew backward. “I do not need to consider the offer, Your Excellency.”

  The emperor opened his mouth once again, but Tam spoke before he could. “Lady Elisara and I are going back to Daxaria. We need to attend to my mother and ensure she can be returned to her human form. The princess has been placed under my family’s care by order of the Daxarian and Troivackian kings, and Daxaria is where she wishes to reside.”

  The emperor’s expression sharpened. “With all due respect, Lord Tamlin, even if she rejects the offer of the throne, she needs to remain here in Zinfera. She must legally proceed with the paperwork. And if she wishes to leave the imperial family, she will also be required to forfeit her name of Taejo.”

  “Not if she’s already married she doesn’t,” Harris announced breezily.

  Every eye slowly turned to the Daxarian duke, who smiled pleasantly.

  Eli’s stomach roiled. Lying to Soo Hebin would have been one thing. Lying to the emperor himself was another altogether. He would find out the truth in a matter of days…

  “Oh? And are you suggesting that Princess Elisara has already wedded Lord Tamlin Ashowan under the authority of a magistrate?”

  “Ship’s captain, actually,” Harris supplied seamlessly. “Besides, Your Excellency, these people have been through hell the past few months, and the divine threat of the first witch is no longer Zinfera’s alone. We should go and alert Troivack and Daxaria and prepare for whatever attack is to come.”

  “I do not believe Daxaria and Troivack are facing the direct threat of the first witch and a dragon on their shores,” the emperor pointed out icily.

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can bar anyone from leaving. My niece also happens to be Tamlin Ashowan’s familiar in her beast form,” Harris pointed out.

  The emperor did not yield. “I’m not barring anyone but Princess Elisara. She has her duty to her empire. Familiar or not.”

  “My duty to this empire?” Eli felt rage course through her veins in an instant, chasing away the shadows of sleep from her mind. “The empire that couldn’t be bothered with me? I was abducted and sold. Most of your children were! And you think you can just pick and choose when you give a damn about our lives?” Eli released Tam and stalked toward the emperor, her ire steadily rising.

  The emperor’s expression hardened.

  “No, Your Majesty. No efforts were made to recover me when I was abducted. Soo Hebin was not punished for harming thousands of people and leading the first witch to your shores. This is your own damn mess. You clean it up and keep me out of it, or so help me, Gods, I will drop your body in the middle of the Alcide Sea for the kraken to rip apart.” Eli bore down over the emperor as the guards behind him shared nervous looks.

  The emperor’s brows lowered as he stared up at her. “Threatening me is a crime worthy of death.”

  “Oh, there will be death if you try me, Your Excellency. Just not mine. Now we are all going to get some sleep, and then we are leaving on the first boat out, returning to Daxaria.”

  “I will not let you—” the emperor began to shout, but Eli abruptly shifted back into her beast form, forcing Tam and Harris to launch themselves away from her to make room. Tam barely managed to wrap his arms around Luca to protect him from the move, and luckily Kat seized Penelope in time as well.

  Eli roared in the emperor’s face, her fangs inches from his neck.

  She could smell his fear, and she didn’t care.

  No one was ever going to imprison her against her will ever again.

  “Couldn’t have handled that better myself,” Kraken purred from the sun spot he had flopped into off to the right.

  Eli didn’t acknowledge his words, instead shifting back to her human form.

  She looked over her shoulder at Tam, Luca, Kat, and Penelope and said, “Sorry about that.”

  Tam nodded and approached her carefully, gently touching her back before they proceeded into the palace. The maids had scattered upon Eli’s initial transformation, and they cowered away now as the couple passed, Eli guiding them to where she recalled the guest quarters being.

  Katarina Ashowan jovially called out behind her, “I’ve really been enjoying getting to know you better, Eli!”

  Eli gave a subtle grumble.

  She didn’t want to talk or deal with anything until after she’d slept and eaten.

  Though when she glanced up at Tam—who still looked dreadful following his concussion—she couldn’t help but feel a spark of anticipation. They could once again sleep in a comfortable bed together, and whatever trials lay ahead, Tamlin and his eccentric family were going to be right at her side.

  Hell, she was even happy to have the arsonist Lord Oscar Harris in her corner.

  And with allies like that?

  What was there to worry about?