“Seriously? I wouldn’t miss it.” He saunters past me and yanks the bone dagger from the stone. “The last time we had one, Rivon toasted it and ate it before he even made it across the border. I was disappointed. But I saw you this morning, flying with it. I know it’s here.” He sniffs. “I can smell it.” He turns his nose up a bit more, his forked tongue darting out and tasting the air. A grin spreads across his stupid face. “A female.”
“Don’t.” I give him an irritated glare.
“What? You won’t share?”
“You know this Bargain is mine. You had your chance, what was it, forty years ago?”
He smirks. “Yeah, they gave me a male who thought it was a good idea to wriggle free from my hold before we even made it to the border.” He shrugs and takes his seat at the long table. “So I let him.”
“And that’s why we’re cursed.” Rivon walks in and takes his seat, his dark skin lit by its usual inner glow, fire dancing in his irises.
“That’s not why.” Fyan rolls his eyes.
“It certainly didn’t help,” Rivon says with his usual unruffled tone.
“What are you chickens arguing about now?” Faraday’s ice blue gaze lands on me. “A female, eh? And she made it all the way to the keep? Maybe our chances are finally looking up.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I nod at the servant hovering in the doorway from the kitchen. He scurries away and other servants show up bearing trays laden with food. “She’s from that backwater village, Rainapple or something like that. She barelyspeaks. It’ll be a wonder if she knows how to read or brush her teeth.”
Fyan’s face falls the slightest bit though he tries to hide it with another knife throw that barely misses Faraday. “More of the same then, I guess.”
“It could be worse,” Rivon says. “We have the DragonKeep, and we’ll just keep trying with the mortals.”
As with every Bargain, at the very least I hope the mortal I’ve claimed will survive. But that hope has been dashed again and again. I picture this female’s heart-shaped face, the almond shade of her hair, and her pale skin. She’s beautiful in her mortal way. Breakable, too. I tried to be as careful as I could with her, her soft skin so easily shredded. Keeping the mortals alive has always been difficult, and she will be no different. Even so, Iwanther to survive. I’ll continue to treat her gently. No accidents. Not on my watch.
“The next Bargain is mine.” Faraday sits and brushes his long white hair from his shoulder. “I hope I get a young maiden with round tits and a fat bottom. She’ll be begging me to take her before we even make it back to the Keep.”
“Most likely they’ll trade you a leper,” Fyan cracks.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Rivon intones morosely.
They continue chattering as more plates are delivered to the long table. The Firefolk don’t disappoint when it comes to feasting, their longstanding service to the DragonKin giving them an insight held by no other creature—mortal or immortal.
Fyan and Faraday chatter about maidens and their recent visit to Hainton while Rivon hums some sort of dirge.
I’m trying to listen to my brothers, but I can’t, not when I’m straining past their voices to hear the noises in my chambers. She’s out of the bath now, her tentative footsteps sounding as she investigates our rooms. I couldn’t read her when I showed her the bed and the bathing chamber. She only gave off the acrid scent of fear, nothing more substantial than that. But I could swear I saw curiosity in her eyes, though that may have been solely for the windows. The little mortal is still looking for a way out of her Bargain.
I rub my chin, smirking at the thought of her ever escaping me. I’m the fastest DragonKin in centuries. Fyan can track a pixie through a glitterstorm. Rivon is unmatched in stealth. And Faraday’s sight can pick out a brownie coated in mud underneath a willow tree. There’s nowhere for her to go. She either lives with me or she dies. That last thought sits ill with me. She made it all the way to the keep. It would be a shame for her to give up now.
Fyan turns to me sharply, gaining my attention. “What’s her name?”
“Hmm?”
“Hername.” He tosses his dagger in the air and catches it. “Did you even ask her what her name is?”
Damn the gods. I didn’t. After chiding her about her mortal manners, I failed to even get the most basic details.
“Making a Bargain is draining. Flying through the non-magic lands and having to deal with the mortals—” Rivon shrugs. “—you can’t be on top of everything all at once, especially not after we’ve been spending all our time defending the eastern border. Sela is relentless.”
“Sela.” Fyan says her name like a curse. “Our cousin is always testing her limits. One of these times, she’s going to take it too far.”
Faraday nods. “Agreed, but the combat keeps us sharp, no matter how unnecessary it is.”
“She thinks she’ll be the one to retake the Realm.” Fyan scowls. “Snatching whatever foolish mortals she can. It’s a shock she hasn’t ruined the Bargain for all, given the way she flouts the Peace. If the Arbiter were to ever find out …”
“She’ll keep taking mortals with or without a true Bargain,” Rivon says solemnly. “The mortals don’t value the lives of their brethren. They’ll continue giving away their brothers and sisters as long as it comes with a hefty payment of treasure.”
“The DaySilver clan won’t take the Realm.Wewill.” I’ll never give up on reclaiming our homeland.
