“I never thought my life would have anything to do with the Fae or the dragon shifters,” I admitted.
It seemed insanely foolish now that I hadn’t asked more questions or even followed the Trials. But my mother had always reacted so badly to any curiosity about them. It had felt shameful. Somewhere along the way, being curious about my dragon mark or the dragon shifters themselves had felt like a rejection of my father—who knew I wasn’t biologically his but who had stepped in to raise me.
Now, ignorance seemed so damning. I had no idea what I was walking into.
“That sounds like a good life for a mortal,” Anayla agreed. “Were the mortals happy in your village?”
“Is anyone really happy?” I asked.
She whistled. “So cynical. No wonder you and Fieran connect. He’s the most jaded man I’ve ever met.”
He hadn’t seemed cynical. “Those don’t seem like his worst faults to me.”
“He can be hard to love,” she agreed, a phrasing that irritated me more than a little. “But only until you battle your way through the eighteen masks to the real Fieran.”
I didn’t want to talk about Fieran, so I fell back on her earlier subject. “If mortals in my village seem happy, I think it’s because they thought they might have a better life. It’s the thinnest sliver of possibility, but everyone seems convinced they’re going to be elevated amid the Fae. They’re all future kings and queens of the universe, waiting for their thrones.”
“The Fae give us all just enough to keep us serving them,” she said. “The shifters could be dangerous to them, but they found a way to keep us in line. We serve to keep the villages safe, we serve to keep the cities safe, and we serve by entertaining in the Trials.”
Her lips twisted. “And even if we ever thought to raise a rebellion…why would mortals follow us when we can’t make them into dragon shifters like us? But the Fae can offer them a chance at beauty, power, and immortality.”
“The Fae sound like monsters.”
“Who wouldn’t be, given the chance?” She clucked her tongue. “Those are the political things you need to know to understand the situation you’re walking into. The more important thing is that you’re going to face certain Trials before you’re claimed for a clan and before you are claimed by your dragon.”
So she knew. She knew I was dragon-marked. And she seemed convinced I’d be able to connect with a dragon—something I still doubted very much.
“We have to attend events—we’re the kingdom’s heroes, you know, even if we wouldn’t choose to be—and we’re expected to present ourselves a certain way. Fae benefactors can help us tremendously in the Trials, for that matter, so I hope you’ll manage to be charming.”
“That’s usually not a strong suit for me.”
“Well, it is for Fieran. Half of his masks are charming ones. So stick close to him.”
Just his name filled me with tension. “Why did he make me come with you all?”
“There’s no running from what you are, Cara.” She sounded genuinely sympathetic. “I’m sorry.”
“All the mortals admire you,” I said, feeling stunned by the discovery that the dragon shifters were not gods like they had seemed, but pawns. “They look up to you…they wish they could be like you…”
“Lucky you then, discovering that you’re not mortal at all.”
“I am.” We were flying steadily now, and I dared to release one of the horns to touch my dishwater blond hair. “I’m not special. I don’t understand how I ended up dragon-marked…it must be some kind of mistake in the magic.”
“A mistake or a miracle,” she said, giving me a smile. “Time will tell. Now let me tell you about the Trials. First, you’ll face the Recruits’ Trials, where you’ll prove yourself in three different types of combat: against other shifters, against the monsters, against the Fae—though they’ll claim that Trial is against your worst self.”
My head swam with questions, but she was already forging ahead.
“Then the claiming by a clan. Then your dragon will choose you, one of the dragons of that clan.”
“How long do we have to prepare?”
She patted my shoulder. “The Recruits’ Trials come once a year, andthe others have already gathered. We’re already late. But don’t worry…you won’t fail.”
The world tilted just then as Asrael banked, and as gravity tried to have its way with me, I let out a little scream.
Maura, in her dragon form, seemed to give us a skeptical look. I wasn’t sure if it was directed at me for screaming…or at Anayla for her cheerful lying.
Eighteen
