Dismissed without another word, the general turned to Hazel and Zafira.
“Consul, my queen, I will take my leave of you now. We will take your advice on board?—”
“And do whatever the hell it is you want anyway.” Hazel shook her head slowly with a wry smile on her face. “Well, we can’t say we didn’t try, can we, dear heart?”
I watched the gold dragon bunt her head into the woman’s side as if in a dream. It wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening. Viridian should still be here, his head nudging me towards Fern, as my arms wrapped tightly around her. The muscles ached from the lack of her. My mind was struggling to keep up, unable to get past the moment when Fern slipped from the saddle. A scream had lodged itself in my throat, expressed through Viridian’s roar as we tore through the air. Past clamouring dragons and their riders, because they were focussed on Auren.
When all we could see was Fern.
Look after her, lad.I sent that thought out to my dragon in the dim hope he heard me.Take care of the both of them and…With a swallow, I shook my head.Don’t come back here, not until it’s safe for the two of them.
“You want to know what happened, sir?” I was well versed in the way subordinates could observe the rules of rank and stillmake their point, because I bit off the general’s title. “Then I’d be happy to tell you.”
With a sharp salute, I walked past the general, not waiting for him to return the gesture as I made for the stairs.
Only to find I wasn’t the only one.
“What in the blazes…?”
The sound of a dragon’s roar was followed by a massive thud that had the very walls of the keep shuddering. Pebbles fell to the ground as the reason why soon became clear. Another roar, then another, before a great silver eye peered through one of the slit windows. Angry, utterly alien, the silver dragon stared at us, nothing friendly in his gaze.
“Sir!” As an officer ran up the stairs. “Sir, we caught these riders trying to leave the keep.”
“Despite my order that all riders were to remain grounded until further notice?”
I watched the general’s eyebrow curl upwards. Kael didn’t seem to give a damn, coming to stand before the man. One hand curled around his other wrist, not a salute in sight. Lorien took up position by his side, his fingers caressing the hilt of one of his many daggers, but Dain? The man’s hair was white as a sheet normally, but right now his face was just the same.
“Probably because we have no intention of staying another minute here.”
Low growls from the riders beside me made clear what they thought of Kael’s speech, but the general held up a hand for silence.
“And why would that be… rider?”
“Male dragons mobbing a queen. They could’ve killed Auren.”
Kael’s teeth flashed right as his dragon let out another deafening roar.
“You nearly did Fern.” Dain didn’t speak often, but his words, little more than a hoarse whisper, they hit so much harder than Kael’s snap. “If I hadn’t… If Argent wasn’t…”
When his fingers flexed, I saw what happened. One of thesilver dragons had intercepted Fern’s fall and now I knew it was him.
And it should have been me.
I was the one who asked Fern to accompany me to the training session this morning. It was my job to keep her safe, not his. As if sensing my thoughts, Dain’s head jerked upwards as he dropped his hands, staring the general down. The fact he loomed a full head above the man made his look all the more menacing.
“Fern isn’t going on any more training missions.”
“Damn right.” Lorien flipped his knife up in the air, catching it on its point. “We just came up here to deliver a message. Lady Fern? She falls under our protection going forward.” The crowd mumbled, but he cut them off. “Wherever she goes, whatever she does, we’re there, making sure nothing like this happens again. We’re going after Fern and Auren and anyone who tries to stop us…” The knife spun through the air, only for Lorien’s hand to wrap around the hilt. “Won’t like what comes next.”
The silver eye was replaced by a dragon’s maw and we got a glimpse of row upon row of teeth, right before another roar threatened to shake the keep down to its very foundations. It was the sizzle of the stones, the way the glass etched as acid splattered the surface that had everyone thinking hard about what to do next.
“We will never ask permission to look after what belongs to us.” Kael ground each word out. Riders tensed across the landing, staring at the man, then the general, wondering how this would play out. “We’re leaving, going after them–”
“And you’ll do so with a full wing of the Royal Riders behind you.” The general smiled slowly. “If you can wait until morning.” A glance at one of the empty windows made clear the sun was dropping low in the sky. “Auren and Fern are not well pleased with me.” Kael’s brows jerked down. “Nor with any other males right now. We’ll give them tonight to let off some steam, then if they’re not here when the sun rises, a search party can be formed.”
Each man stiffened as the general’s hand dropped to his belt, but it wasn’t to unsheathe his sword. A coin pouch was pulled free, then offered to Kael.
“You performed a great service to the corp today.” If I was blinking in shock, so were the other riders. “You are right. The corp’s treatment of Lady Fern and Auren was a mistake we can’t afford to make twice. Right now, my officers and I are going to meet in the map room to discuss ways we can prevent this from happening again.”
