Silver dragons?Cyrus, one of the wild dragons, snapped.We eradicated the last of the silver dragons a millennia ago.
What?
As I turned around to face the rest of the dragons, I felt Fern’s hand on my flank. That small point of contact had a strange feeling of warmth settling in my chest. Comfort, that’s what my ancestral memories told me.
No one is mating with anyone, Father said, ignoring that last comment entirely.The silver dragons were brought here by me as a gesture of friendship.His eyes went to me.Something I would not have offered them if I knew how they would respond to the presence of my daughter. Needless to say, the situation has been dealt with for now.If the silver dragons cannot behave in a reasonable manner?—
Silvers?This seemed to set the cat amongst the pigeons. The wild dragons’ heads reared back as they consulted with each other.Reasonable? What a ridiculous?—
Then I will deal with them personally.
That ability to silence all dissent with one sentence, I longed for the same kind of authority my father wielded so casually. Everyone said my mother did and the ancestral memories I carried with me showed me that, but I was yet to develop that level of skill. The world didn’t listen to me at all.
But she did.
Are the dragons going to keep you safe?Fern asked.I will do my best to protect you.I couldn’t help but snort at that.But other than rapping those beasts on the nose with a book, I’m not sure how useful I will be.
A dragon protects what is hers, I said, my tail forming a circle around my bondmate.Not the other way around.Though your offer…It felt like this admission was being dragged out of the depths of me.It is a kind one.
“Lumina!” Cora, my sister’s bondmate, appeared in the courtyard. “I said to wait in your den until the threat was neutralised.”
And I did.My sister’s tone was slightly aggrieved.As soon as the silvers took flight, I left my den.
“Until I tell you it’s safe to leave, heart of mine.” Cora embraced Lumina as Fern had me, and that had me nodding. The crown princess of Nevermere was a good bondmate for my sister. Steady where Lumina was flighty. “I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
Nothing is happening to anyone, Father asserted.Not while I still draw breath, so unless you have legitimate business for being in the keep courtyard.Some of the wild dragons shifted restively, obviously about to interject.Can I suggest you find something better to occupy you than sitting around here and clucking like a flock of chickens?
Shaming them, that was what seemed to get through to the wild dragons. I noted that with a keen eye, filing that little tidbit of knowledge away for later.
My queen.Viridian approached from the front, maintaining a polite distance.Can I escort you to the feeding pens? You must be hungry after such a long journey.
I nodded.
You may. Fern?My bondmate looked up at me.Are you well?Do any of the human males plague you, because I can do more than rap them on their noses.My muzzle peeled back to reveal my fangs.Far more.
That had Fern grinning in response.
Not yet, though I’ll keep you posted if anyone becomes a nuisance. Go and eat and I’ll get through the intake process and find you later.
Lumina?I turned to my sister.Did you want to join us?
She did, but was it because she was hungry? I questioned that as she looked Viridian over with an evaluative air. I stepped between the two of them, forcing her to look at me.
Of course, sister, she said, then took flight in seconds.
My wings raking through the air, my body fighting gravity’s pull as it rose up, that helped me put some distance to the morning’s disturbing events as well as the courtyard. Viridian’s greenscales glinted in the sunlight, drawing me forward. Eat, digest, sleep in the sun, I thought, then formulate a plan for the next year. Yes, that was exactly what I would do.
Chapter 12
Fern
“Well, you’ve certainly made the keep a far more interesting place.”
I flushed at Cora’s words as everything that happened played on a loop inside my mind. Be quiet, be demure, that was what Mother always said, but when I recalled the rest of her vitriolic rants, I straightened up and met the other rider’s gaze head on. Her smile had the tension in my body releasing.
“Last chance to make a break for it and fly for the hills.” Cora’s smile faded as she stared off at the horizon. “Though I wouldn’t advise it. Being a cadet is tough. Being hunted down by the Royal Riders would be tougher.”
“Wouldn’t want that.” I eyed the grand entrance to the keep, taking in the spiked portcullis, which was currently winched up to allow people to rush in out out of the building. With a conscious breath out, I nodded. “No, I’m ready to sign up to become a cadet.”
