More people came running in through the doorway, then came skidding to a stop. One was that bloke from the pub. He straightened his fancy suit and then watched the proceedings with a keen eye.
“When you’ve had absolute control your entire life, sharing power must feel like a loss,” I said.
“Like you ordering Zafira to mate with the king’s dragon.” Hazel’s voice dripped with scorn and that seemed to trigger something. People started to move, mutter something to the people near them, their discontent now allowed a voice. “As you might lead a mare to be covered by the stallion of your choice. She produced clutch after clutch of dragons, whether she wanted to or not.” A sharp cry echoed through the keep. That had more people mumbling, the sound growing louder. “The opportunity to bear dragonlings from a union between her and her mate was stolen from her for so many years.” Hazel punctuated every word with a slap of the side of her hand against her palm. “You knew all that, discovered it when we did, and still this is the path you chose to take?”
She was hurting. It was a pain I’d never know, but growing up in my family, I knew the signs. My head shook from side to side, the tears welling, but I felt no shame when one rolled free. To be forced to breed against your will… Gods, that would never happen again, not to Zafira, Auren, or any queen.
Of course, this wasn’t where things ended. The general’s face hardened as he delivered his reply.
“Everyone knows that the general is the ultimate authority within our armed forces, but people rarely understand what that means.” His eyes glittered with a dangerous light as he scanned the crowd. “Being willing to do whatever it takes to protect the country, no matter how hard the decision. If we are to avoid being attacked by the hostile powers on the continent, we need a viable dragon corp.”
He waved his hand dismissively.
“Not this lacklustre thing that’s evolved out of the civil war. Gentleman riders lolling around in the country, focussed on harvesting their fields, raising a brace of brats, rather than on our national security. Well, I took no wife, eschewed all claims to my family’s lands, never wavering in my duty. The unfortunate truth is the country needs dragons, young dragons, to bond with riders to keep Nevermere safe. Dragons that can be reasoned with.”
“Controlled.” Hazel and I said that at the same time and she shot me a watery smile. “That’s what you mean,” she continued. “Negotiating with the wild dragons, with the queens, that takes too long and you aren’t in control of the process, so you fell back to what you know.”
“For the good of Nevermere!” His voice rang out through the keep foyer and I was willing to bet every person in the keep heard him. “I have spent my life in service of my country?—”
“And now you will die for it.” The man from the pub, Marius, strolled forward, and by the way people stepped aside for him, he was more than some paper pusher for the government. “The treaty is clear. Any person caught in possession of a dragonstone amulet with an intention to use it against a dragon will face the gallows.” He nodded to the general. “After a trial, of course.”
“Trial, Marcus? Trial?” The general’s voice grew increasingly louder. “You seek to arrest me?”
“As Prime Minister of Nevermere, I am arresting you for the capital crime of dragon coercion.”
Gods, this was Marcus bloody Lighthands. Once king of the criminal underworld, the man had gone legit and become the prime minister of the country. He nodded to the riders closest, and they moved as one, wrenching the general’s arms behind his back. Rope was found and the man was bound as Marcus approached me.
“Work for the government, eh?” I said.
“Well, that is true.” Marcus grinned at me. “And they are a bunch of stuffed shirts. Now, if I could take that staff?—”
“Gladly.” I thrust it into his hands. “It’s a cursedthing.”
“Destroy it.” Hazel’s voice wavered as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “Marcus, promise me?—”
“Of course, Dragon Consul. It will be given over to Hadrian and his council and they will dispose of it like the others. Now.” He turned back to me. “Do you think you could call your dragons off? They’ve made their point, and right now they have the attention of all of Nevermere…”
It’s done, I told ‘Fang.Tell Auren and Fern?—
They know.My dragon’s voice throbbed with emotion.They know, brother. You did it.
Stumbling out into the courtyard, it wasn’t the sudden thud of our wing landing that had my legs wobbling. All that adrenaline was burning away, leaving me empty and muzzy headed. Of course, that’s when Auren landed and Fern slipped from her back. The way she ran towards me, her expression of wonder as she tore off her helmet. She could stare at me like that for the rest of my life and I’d die a happy man.
This was better.
“Lorien…!” She threw her arms around me and I did the same, holding on for dear life. I’d never let her go, ever. “You did it. Gods, you?—”
“For you.” Laying my cheek against the top of my head, I allowed my eyes to close. I was suddenly so very tired. “For you, Fern. I’ll force the world to its knees before you, if that’s what you need.”
“Just you.”
That little sigh was muffled by my chest, so I heard it more with my heart than my ears. Didn’t matter. Fern was my girl and now, she had accepted that truth.
“Take the general to the city dungeons,” Marcus said and the riders hauled the man so he stumbled forward.
You thought to steal my future?Auren rarely communicated directly with me or others, but I heard her voice now. People gasped, Fern looked up, just in time to see her dragon strike.Then I will take yours.
Jaws snapped around the general and she whipped his bodyback and forth. A sickening snap made clear that a savage kind of justice had taken place. A muffled roar indicated that the general’s dragon felt his passing, but he was the only creature that mourned the man’s loss. What remained of the general dropped to the cobblestones, never to move again. When her head rose to regard the crowd, people scrambled to get back, not wanting to be her next target.
