Chapter 9
Lorien
Why didn’t you let me eat that dragon?‘Fang said.Then those ‘Royal Riders’ would never dare enter our territory.
I let out a sigh. We’d been in the saddle for hours and my bum was aching. Shifting yet again eased the pressure for just a second, but not for long.
And how would the rest of the Riders know that?I replied.If you’d killed the only one capable of sending back a message. My hand rubbed along Fang’s scales.Kael did the right thing. The speed with which that little blue dragon took off? He’ll be babbling to his masters about what happened the minute he lands.
I felt a wave of smug satisfaction from Fang.
It will make him look very weak in front of the queens. They will never accept one like him as a mate.
Each dragon had pestered us about where the queen dragons were since the moment they matured. I figured it was like when a human boy went through puberty. Suddenly, every pretty girl you thought was annoying before became all too alluring. Breaking it to our dragons that queens were few andfar between, and protected fiercely by the crown, had not gone down well.
The three of them had hatched an entire plan to bring down the king and the government, presenting it to us when they were done. We were forced to explain what wars were and what damage that did to the world and innocent people. One look at the foster children that Elsie cared for and that had them reconsidering that plan.
It is good we are going to this keep, he continued.We will ensure these riders keep away from our territory and then their queens will see us and know that we are the strongest dragons in Nevermere. One is sure to want to mate with us.
You don’t want your own queen?I asked, unable to stop myself from smiling.You don’t like to share kills with your brothers, so why would you want to share a mate?
Silver mates with gold.
Fang had told me that more than once, but I didn’t know what that meant. With a shake of my head, I looked up and then noticed a shape on the horizon.
Tell Kael there’s a city ahead,I said.
He already knows, Fang replied.Dain saw it some time ago.
Saw it?I squinted, wondering if there was something wrong with my eyes. It was just a blurry mass right now.
With his internal eye. Fang sounded completely confident in that statement.The way he sees everything.
He doesn’t see everything…I grumbled, but I knew what he meant. Whatever strange power Dain possessed, it sometimes meant he knew what would happen next. Not enough to help us win at poker when we drank at the local tavern.
And he didn’t foresee this.
We knew from our patrols that royal dragons were far smaller than ours, so to see a massive form swoop down fromthe clouds above had me instinctively shrinking against Fang’s back.
What the?—?
The spawn of Drathnor?A massive brown beast came to hover before us, his wings circling lazily through the air.I never thought to see the likes of you flying the skies of Nevermere again.
Hadrian.
I watched in shock to see all our dragons both recognise this dragon and lower their heads in response as they hovered on the spot.
What is your business here?he asked, his voice booming through my head.
To declare our territory outside of crown control, Fang said.
And to find our mate amongst your daughters, king of the dragons.
We all turned to stare at Argent. He was the only dragon amongst us who could communicate with whoever he chose, though often it was only Dain.
Have you, indeed?I braced myself against Fang’s spine, sure the massive dragon was going to launch himself at us, but instead he turned with a flip of his tail.Then you best present yourself at the keep.
How do somany humans live in such a small space?Fang craned his neck to try to take the entirety of the city of Wyrmpeak in with one long look.What kinds of dens are they? And what are those things on the water?
