We’re closing out day four of our 2026 Halloween Flash Fiction event with a sneak peek into a brand new series from Monica Burns!
Of Fire And Ice is a romantasy series that draws on her D&D gaming experience, and will be a trilogy coming in 2027!
Check the end of the post for the cover reveal, and a fun contest!!

The Golden Flame

“It’s ludicrous to even think such a thing, let alone suggest it.”

For not the first time since they’d met, Trevan was bewitched and awed by the woman whose subjects called the Golden Flame. Soft curls of richly colored sable tumbled down over her shoulders in a glorious wave of hair. Dark brown eyes shimmered with specks of gold, while her full, luscious mouth was the dark pink of the dragon heart blossom when it was in full bloom. She was beautiful, and when she shifted into her golden dragon form, she was equally breathtaking. In all things, she was the beauty to his beast. He shook his head at her protest.

“No, I simply refuse to leave your side again, my beautiful, stubborn drakaina,” Trevan said with a patience he’d learned to master whenever Aureus was irritated or being hard-headed.

Aureus glared at him. Beneath her luminous skin, the golden color of a morning sun glowed bright. It was the dragon stirring inside her, demanding to be released so it could roar with anger as she flew up into the clouds, returning exhausted hours later. There were only two times when she would release her dragon, and that was when she was in Mount Pyr’s stronghold or engaged in a battle.

The one thing Aureus never forgot was the expectations that came with her responsibilities. It was unfitting for the Fire Court Queen and High Chancellor of the Sentrum of Crowns to display such unrestrained emotion. It would only strengthen the efforts of the dark forces planting seeds of discord and rebellion within the Sentrum. Dissenters he’d not yet been able to unmask and expose.

But even a queen had limits. For all of Aureus’s kindness, patience, logic, and her skill for strategic planning, she wasn’t without flaws. Issues of a personal nature could make his beautiful dragon shifter unreasonable and rigid when resolving them.

“Damn all thes gods, Trevan. You know what will happen if we marry,” she snapped. “You will lose everything—your crown, your lands, your family will ostracize you.”

“Not everyone will renounce me,” he said with a laugh as an image of his sister’s indignant frown formed in his head. “Lurinda has never allowed anyone to dictate what she does. She will not start now. Others will follow suit.”

“You jest as if it were a trivial matter,” Aureus exclaimed with outrage. “What about your lineage? Without children, your bloodline will end.”

Her words were sharp and clipped as she referenced the one thing he’d never been able to convince her to ignore. Annoyed with her tenacious refusal to dismiss the premonition, he folded his arms across his chest, trying hard to be patient. The subject was a contentious one, and his jaw hardened in his effort to remain calm.

“To believe with such certainty a single vision foretelling you will never bear children is illogical, especially for you,” Trevan said quietly, but when she scowled at him, his patience failed and frustration sharpened his tone. “A vision, I might add, you had years before we ever met.”

“And in the past three years of our time together, have I ever shown any sign of the Blessing of Hecate?” she said with harsh anger. Yet Trevan heard the pain beneath the bitter note in her voice.

The acute anguish and intense sorrow she projected was an assault on his senses. It was the torment of a woman who believed she would never be a mother. Trevan wished with all his heart that he could take the pain from her, but he couldn’t. All he could do was feel it. His ability to experience every emotion she felt was both a blessing and a curse at the same time.

With a small sound of agony and defeat, Aureus turned away from him and began pacing the red marble floor of her bedchamber, as was her habit when she was trying to solve a problem. Soft reds and gold decorated her private rooms, but they faded from view as he watched her pace the floor. Every step she took was elegant and sensual. It wasn’t rehearsed. It was innate.

That such a beautiful creature could love a knight whose face and body were so badly scarred and hardened from battle was a mystery to others. But from the day they’d met, Trevan had never questioned their love for each other. It was rooted in the many lives they’d shared in distant, unknown pasts.

Whenever Aureus heard others question how she could love the beast they saw, she harshly rebuked them for being blind to who he was beneath his beastly appearance. Not even the first time they’d met had she shied away from him in disgust.

The vivid memory pushed its way into his thoughts. Aureus had just been elected High Chancellor of the Sentrum of the Crowns. With his father ill, Trevan, as heir to the throne, was forced to represent Heracleion at Aureus’s installation. The minute he entered the Hall of Crowns, he regretted coming. He’d never been a politician. He was better suited for battle, a point his physical appearance emphasized.

Now, surrounded by opulent brocades, silk, and jewels, he wished he was facing a horde of orcs instead. His simple black attire, designed to make him blend into the shadows, did the opposite. From the rear of the room, he noted the seven flags hanging on the wall behind the dais, representing every realm in the Sentrum.

Behind the High Chancellor’s ornate chair, the Mount Pyr flag dwarfed the others in deference to Aureus’s position. Excitement stirred the crowd, and Trevan watched the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen ascend the dais to sit in the chancellor’s chair. Panic knotted his gut. Gods save him. Forcing this splendid creature to put her hand in his as he pledged Heracleion’s fealty to her and the Sentrum was a sin none of the gods would willingly forgive.

When it was his turn to pledge Heracleion’s loyalty, he heard the murmurs of horror and shock at his battle-scarred appearance as he walked forward. At the foot of the dais, he bowed deeply, then climbed the steps to where she sat. His head bowed, Trevan gently took the hand she extended to him, promising Heracleion’s fealty to her and the Sentrum. As his mouth brushed over Aureus’s hand, she uttered a soft gasp.

Without thinking, he tugged his hand from hers, believing she was repulsed by his touch. Before he could apologize, she extended her arm to show him the inside of her wrist. Shocked, he saw something writhing beneath her silky skin. Bones of the gods, he’d unwittingly injured her.

Trevan froze as he stared at the sigil materializing on the inside of her wrist. The raven, shield, and sword of his house crest glittered in gold on her skin. Perplexed, he met Aureus’s gaze when she inhaled another quick breath, and a golden thread of fire danced out of thin air to spiral downward, encircling her wrist and then his.

Staring at the thread of light, Trevan knew they’d experienced moments like this in the distant past. A time known only to scholars who knew the ancient texts. Suddenly, disbelief, excitement, and a tentative flare of happiness flooded his senses. Trevan knew they weren’t his emotions, and yet they were. A joyful laugh escaped her. He remembered the sound from other times their souls and hearts had been separate before they became whole.

Now, just as he had that day in the Hall of Crowns, he could feel the strength of her emotions surge through him. Anger, frustration, and even fear emanated from her like a heartbeat pulsing over his body. His proposal frightened her. Not just because she knew what he was giving up to marry her. This was something different, darker.

Whatever weighed so heavily on her, he knew this was one time when she would keep her own counsel. Aureus halted her pacing and crossed the red marble floor to stare out at the fertile fields that surrounded the castle. Trevan moved to stand behind her, his gaze seeing the brilliant green pastures dotted with softer colors that heralded spring. Sadness and fear drifted off her, and it alarmed him. Sensing his uneasiness, she turned to face him. Her beautiful mouth was tight with tension.

“You’re frightened.” His quiet words made her shake her head as he pulled her into his arms. “Tell me what you’re afraid of, my fiery drakaina.”

At his quiet demand, a tremor shook her body. The fear radiating off her and pounding its way into his body would have crippled a weaker man, and his concern deepened. Aureus buried her face in his chest, still trembling. Whatever troubled her, it terrified her too. She suddenly lifted her head and cupped his face with her hands.

“If I agree to this madness…you may…I cannot bear to lose you, Trevan.”

“Lose me?” Trevan arched an eyebrow. “If you’ve had a premonition, I can assure you the gods will take me when they are ready whether you try to prevent it or not.”

“I don’t think you’ve considered this path as carefully as you should,” Aureus whispered as she met his gaze. He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger.

“Have you not yet learned that I am always thorough when I need to make a decision?” Trevan eyed her with amused disappointment, and she frowned.

“If you had, you would have seen it as folly to even suggest our union.”

“Is it folly to marry the woman I love?” The question made her features soften as she met his gaze.

“And I love you too, but you’ll be giving up so much.”

“But look at the rare beauty I will be able to publicly claim as mine.” Trevan bent his head to caress her forehead with a tender kiss before she strained against his embrace.

“One does not claim the Fire Court Queen or the High Chancellor,” she sniffed with indignation.

“Perhaps claim is not the best choice of words, but don’t forget you wear my mark.” Trevan grinned as he pressed his mouth against her wrist, before he grew somber. “But I want to be here to keep you safe, and I can only do that as your husband and consort.”

“I’m guarded day and night, my love.

“Do not underestimate the dark forces at work in the Sentrum. The fractures are already beginning to show. Various factions between the old guard and the new are forming almost weekly.”

“Marrying me doesn’t solve those problems.”

“No, but as your consort, the Sentrum cannot object to my expanding your army with mine when our houses align with each other.”

“You will have no house, Trevan,” she exclaimed with more than a hint of aggravation. “You will have to return control of your army to the new ruler of Heracleion.”

“I have more than two thousand men serving in my personal guard. And I will have a house. I will be a part of yours.”

“Must you have an answer for everything?” she said with a small laugh.

“I did tell you I am always thorough when making a decision,” Trevan said with a chuckle, then tightened his arms around her. “I am weary of leaving you for weeks at a time to manage my realm. My advisors have been telling me I need to take a wife. I am simply obliging their request, just not in the way they thought I would. However, the woman in question has not yet agreed to my proposal.”

Aureus studied him for a long moment before she sighed and shook her head in obvious exasperation. Laughing at her expression, Trevan arched his eyebrows, silently demanding her answer.

“Yes, I accept your proposal. I only hope you do not live to regret it.” “Never. The consort to the Golden Flame will dutifully serve the High Chancellor by day, but her nights will be his to command.”