“The dragons chose us,” Lykor said through his teeth, gesturing to the wings arched behind Vesryn, Fenn, and himself. “Rimeclaw withheld this gift from the king. Galaeryn doesn’t own everything. That’s our advantage.”
“Divided, we won’t survive,” Jassyn said, fortified by Lykor—proof there was a way forward, even for those who’d once stood opposed. “Fightwithus, shoulder to shoulder, not shackled beneath the king’s heel.”
The soldiers shifted, boots grinding into the wet earth. Murmurs rippled through the clearing.
Bhreena’s voice rose above the others. “If this is another lie—”
“It’s not,” Daeryn interrupted firmly. “And even if it were, we’ve already lost nearly everything.”
He met Jassyn’s eyes. For a heartbeat, the soldier was gone—only the shadow of a bloodline Jassyn had tried to forget remained.
“We won’t fight for you,” Daeryn said. “Not yet. We’ve survived too long on broken promises. Bring our people back first. Then we’ll march beside you.”
Bhreena didn’t soften. Her fingers twitched like they itched to reach for more fire. Only when her Essence faded did Jassyn’s shoulders ease.
It wasn’t trust, but it held the fragile outline of what might grow into it. And that was already more than he’d dared hope for.
CHAPTER 24
SERENNA
“Only the rarest cuts for the ravenous,” Fenn announced, brandishing a chunk of meat dripping with blood. “Our little fire queen’s first feast.”
From her seat beside Vasharax on the tiered steps above the canal, Serenna turned at his voice. She wrinkled her nose as the hatchling trilled—a low, throaty sound that could’ve been either approval or hunger. Probably both, since it was her first meal.
The dragon’s molten eyes tracked the meat’s sway, pupils narrowing to slits as if the whole world had shrunk to that single crimson mass.
“Don’t lose your fingers,” Serenna warned as Fenn crouched to Vasharax’s level, offering the heart like a royal tribute.
Orbs of druid fire hovered around Asharyn’s market. Behind him, floating lanterns skimmed low over the turquoise canal, their glow shimmering across mistpetals that drifted along the water like scattered stars.
Smoke coiled through the warm twilight from meat searing, herbs crackling, and sugar melting somewhere down the promenade. Laughter threaded through the haze, glancing off the sandstone.
Cushions had been arranged along the weathered steps leading to the water. Vasharax’s tail thudded against one as she lunged, snatching the strip from Fenn’s talons—fangs snapping just shy of skin.
Fenn chuckled and sprawled beside Serenna, stretching his legs down the steps.
Serenna sighed, grateful she’d already had dinner back at the palace. “Should I even ask what she’s eating?”
Vasharax braced herself, talons pinning the meat before she tore in. Sinew snapped from a savage shake, blood streaking her snout. She huffed through flared nostrils, then dove in again, ripping a piece loose.
“Sandspawn racer,” Fenn said, waving toward a spit where something enormous turned over the flames. “The Scourge of the Dunes. Brought it down myself.”
Serenna cast him a sideways look as he leaned back on his claws, smugness practically radiating.
“Oh, is that all?” she teased, knowing full well a story would follow. “No near-death brush with glory? Or was it carrion by the time you stumbled upon it?”
Fenn clutched his chest. “Carrion? She-elf, I have standards.”
Serenna rolled her eyes as a grin spread around his fangs.
“You would’ve screamed, by the way,” he went on. “Especially when a lizard the size of a sandstrider”—he nodded toward the hump-backed beasts drinking along the canal—“burst out of the ground. Spits just as far, too. My squad spent the entire week baiting one in the canyons with fermented palm fruit. When we finally lured it out today, the fiend doubled back and slimed us—same stuff the druids bottle for their desert-visions.” Spinning a ring in his ear, he chuckled. “I warped fast and it missed me, but some of the others were flying halfway across the plains on a spirit quest before we caught them.”
Vasharax released another croaking chirp, claws sinking back into the heart as she tore at it, steam curling from her talons.
“You managed all of that in the few hours since you returned from the jungle?” Serenna asked, raising her brows.
Fenn shrugged. “Had some free time. Seemed like Jassyn and your princeling had the arrival of Daeryn’s people handled. Pretty sure Lykor was glowering somewhere in the thick of it while they settled everyone in. Figured I’d make myself useful and help the druids hunt something fit for a celebration.”
