The great silver beast on the left said that, forcing my eyes to swing his way. I stared at him in complete disbelief. I’d had males come and try to bargain with my father, as if I was a horse at market a human might haggle over, but never this. A sense of entitlement to my body.
To me.
I am not enough to hold these beasts back, my queen, Viridian said, coming to stand beside me.But my brothers?More and more keep dragons landed until the silvers were forced backwards.Every single one of them will lay down their lives to protect you.
I glanced over at him, and for the first time noticed that his eyes were the colour of a well-cut peridot.
Silver mates with gold.
That growled assertion had my head whipping around, my fangs baring. I didn’t know which silver dragon said that, but in the end, it didn’t matter.
Not this gold, I shot back,and definitely not with these silvers.
Go.My father was slow to anger, but once riled, he was truly impressive. With a rush, he forced the silver dragons back.Go to Wyrmpeak and find yourself a den, and hopefully there you’ll find your manners. Either that or I will force you to quit this place entirely.
We go. I didn’t let out a full breath until the largest silver dragon turned tail.For now.
“Auren!”
My muscles remained locked down tight, even as the silver dragons took flight. Some of the Royal Riders’ dragons went with them, herding them towards the rocky mountain that Wyrmpeak was named for. Riddled with hand-carved burrows, every dragon of the corp was housed there and now, these beasts. At the shout of my name, I saw my bondmate come running across the flagstones. What had my claws moving in the same direction?
This.
Fern was too small to be anything other than a liability, and yet when her arms flung themselves as far as they could go around my neck, my eyes closed for just a second. My head lowered, and she pressed her forehead to mine, the link feeling like it snapped tighter.
Those dragons…Her feverish thoughts were a perfect articulation of my own dismay.Auren, are you well?
I let out a snort, remembering that I had said the exact same thing when she ran from her own suitors.
I think I understand why you left your family home now, I replied.Those arrogant fools…
Idiots,she agreed, and while many of my own kind would come to the same conclusion, only Fern seemed to feel the same way. Waves of fear, of anger, of affront poured off her, yet why did her heart and mine beat so fast? That they pulsed in time was all that mattered. With each slower, more measured breath, our heart rates settled, and we drew apart.
What’s going on?A familiar and yet entirely unwanted masculine voice invaded my skull.Hadrian,what’s this I hear about a queen dragon being claimed?
With a huff, I turned to see yet more dragons were prompted to join us. The spaces vacated by Viridian’s brothers were filled by those I considered my nemesis. The older males of the wild dragons. Three of them landed now, their words addressed to my father, their eyes on me.
And I hated every single moment of it.
Sister!
By all the gods, all I wanted to do was get a grant of land, to retire somewhere to the wilds of Nevermere, away from all of this kerfuffle, but there was no hope of that.
Lumina, I greeted the gold dragon that landed in the courtyard beside me.I am?—
Cora said that there were silver dragons?Her head whipped around as if to catch sight of them.And that they were trying to claim you before the entire keep? I was going to come to your aid, but my rider insisted I stay in my den, lest I put myself in danger. Are you in danger?
Lumina and I were not blood sisters. My mother was the great Cynane, who had died in the war with the Duke of Harlston, giving birth to me and the rest of my clutch mates. Lumina’s mother was the former captive queen dragon, Zafira. Forced to bear eggs for the king’s dragon like some oversized chicken, her eggs were placed with ours in the nest, so the bond of the shell was stronger than the bonds of blood.
Lumina—
Did they hurt you?Her head whipped from side to side like an enraged viper.Surely not with Father here. Father?—?
Enough.
I’d intended to say the exact same thing, but Father did so in a manner so decisive everyone fell silent.
Well, almost everyone.
