Reluctant to take one step nearer the beasts or to let Crow near it, she objected again, “Won’t whatever we’re fleeing from be able to track those things?”
“No.”
“Mama, what’s going on?” Crow whined as he and Suvesh joined them, the castratus lugging two satchels slung over one shoulder. He held onto the youngling’s hand with his free hand. Crow rubbed his eyes. Suvesh dropped the satchels to the ground.
Zul crouched down to look at the youngling eye to eye and did not attempt to dissemble. “We are in danger and must flee.”
Crow jutted out his chin. “I will fight.”
Zul nodded. “You may have to. It is your duty to defend your mama at all costs.”
“No!” Ursula protested. “I’m hismother. It’s my duty to protecthim.”
Zul ignored her and handed the child a small knife in its leather sheath. “You are a golden warrior breed. You will not shame your lineage.”
The child clutched the sheathed knife and nodded. “I will uphold the honor of my ancestors.”
Zul nodded then rose to his full height as Suvesh gently took the knife from the child and attached it to Crow’s belt. More castrati darted forward to pick up the satchels and attach them to the beasts’ harnesses, positioning the bags so they lay smoothly against each animal’s hide and did not protrude too far or hinder movement.
“If you’re giving achilda weapon, you’d better give me one, too,” Ursula hissed.
“No.” He reached back to grasp Ursula’s hand and glanced at Suvesh. “Mount up.”
She gasped as one of the restive beasts snapped out a leathery wing. She squeaked, “That’s a fucking dragon!”
Terrified and desperate to grab her son and flee, Ursula tugged her hand, but she could neither break Zul’s grip nor slip from it. She shrieked when he tossed her up into the saddle and huffed when he settled an instant later behind her. She glanced at the other beast to note that Suvesh had mounted the beast with Crow seated in front of him, sheltered by the castratus’ body as she was sheltered by Zul’s.
“Hold on to the pommel,” Zul ordered.
Ursula’s hands shot out to clench the padded ridge in front of her. Her knuckles whitened with the tightness of her grasp. Zul and Suvesh picked up the reins, and the servants handed each of them a goad.
“Have they fed recently?” Zul asked the nearest servant.
“At dusk,” the servant replied.
Zul nodded and gave the rein a sharp tug. The beast snarled. Suvesh did the same, and the beast he and Crow rode turned its head to deliver a baleful glare. Ursula looked over to her son who clutched the pommel and stared at the dragon with wide-eyed awe.
“You know where we’re going?” Zul asked.
“No!” Ursula snapped.
“I know our first stop,” Suvesh replied, indicating that he understood wherever they landed would not be where they stayed.
“If we are separated, you know what to do,” Zul said.
“Yes, my lord,” Suvesh replied. “My honor is yours.”
Ursula opened her mouth to object once more, or perhaps demand just what the hell was going on, but her words raced back down her throat in a shrill gasp of terror as the dragon roared and darted forward. Her eyes squeezed shut as the great beast ran several steps. She whimpered when she heard the snap of leathery wings and whimpered again when the beast leaped into the air with a grunt.
Bowing her head against the rushing air, she wheezed, “Please, where are you taking us?”
Zul’s grim answer did not reassure her: “To safety.”
Ursula shrank against him and lowered her head even more. She ducked to look beneath Zul’s outstretched arm and felt her gorge rise. She gagged and swallowed, managing not to vomit as she peered past the huge flapping wings to see the other dragon flying behind them. She could not see her son cuddled against Suvesh’s body, but she did catch a glimpse of the castratus who appeared to be handling the dragon with skill and confidence.
Her wordless surprise reverberated across the mate bond. Zul addressed it with a calm reply,Suvesh’s family raises and trains wyverns.
Wyverns? What the hell is a wyvern?Thoroughly discombobulated, Ursula forgot her resentful anger.And won’t they be tracked?
