“Of course, Your Majesty.” He backed away from me, slipping the door open. He nearly closed it again before he realized his error. “My home is not fit for the queen, but if you would like to wait inside, it is yours.”
I looked down my nose at him. “I will wait on my horse.”
Twenty minutes later we rode our horses slowly down the path, eating pork and lightly fried onions wrapped in flatbread rounds. The farmer had also provided us with pouches of fried sweet potatoes and sweet potato cookies. The flavors were better than any feast I could remember, and I was very pleased with myself for finding it.
I glanced over at Andar, who rode effortlessly and focused his attention on his food. “Better than fish?” I asked him.
The edges of his lips turned upward. “Infinitely.”
How long had it been since his last real meal? Centuries, if I was to believe what he’d said before.
I took another bite to hide the pleasure I felt at making him smile. It wasn’t the satisfaction of upholding my end of the bargain—my wrist had warmed when I gave him the food, but the tattoo had been dormant since.
No, this was something new. Something that pressed against the crystals around my heart like the heat of the sun while lightening my chest into a fluttering kaleidoscope of ice butterflies. It was fresh and exciting and distracting and…
Terrifying. I’d never felt such a curious draw to anyone before.
I plucked one of the fried sweet potatoes out of the pouch I’d hung around my saddlehorn and bit into it. I needed to decide what to do about the prince. And my kingdom.
Andar lifted a brow. “Is something wrong with your food?”
“No.” I glared at the last half of the sweet potato wedge in my fingers. “The farmer said Prince Bylur is organizing the nobles to create a ruling body for Kalshana.” I popped the bite into my mouth and dusted my fingers on my leathers. Kalshana was mine. “I worked hard for this kingdom. I don’t want some prince to come along and steal it while I’m punishing the humans who trapped me.”
Andar studied a potato wedge before slipping it into his mouth and dusting his fingers on each other to rid them of salt. The horse’s slow gait was the only response to the personal dilemma I’d just shared.
But what did I expect? He hadn’t promised to help me with anything besides the humans, and he had his own vendetta to pursue afterward.
Perhaps I did not expect anything, but the disappointment washing over me betrayed my hope. I’d hoped that he had seen me as a person worthy of caring for. That perhaps he would stay with me because he wanted to—without any magic coercion or threats or blackmail or binding debts.
But perhaps he’d only helped and protected me because he had his own needs.
Of course. His cursed bond with the lamp.
I knew that. He’d helped me so I would trust him enough to free him. He told me as much. He had no reason to invest energy in my problems now—
A bone-chilling thump reverberated across the sky, followed by two more faster. A pause, and then three more dum–dum-dums prickled my skin.
“Your Majesty, get down!” Andar yelled.
His voice was urgent enough that I jumped off of Peaches before I realized why. As my feet hit the dirt path, my brain caught up to the sounds: Ice dragons.
Chapter 12: Khiona
Andar was already off Sabir and leading him to Peaches by the time I dismounted. He took both leads and lifted an arm toward me. I did not want to stand by the manipulative worm, but a flock of dragons grew in the sky behind us, and Andar acted like he knew what he was doing… so I inched around the horses toward him.
He slipped one arm around my shoulders and tugged me closer, so one of my shoulders pressed against his chest while the saddle immobilized my other.
“Andar—” I hissed.
“Quiet,” he breathed, bowing his head over mine. He kept one hand on my upper arm and spread his free hand above his head, as if he were holding up the sky. “This is not easy magic.” His voice grew low and ragged. “And it is far more difficult if you move, speak, or are not touching me.”
The ice dragons pounded their terror drums louder and louder, until I could not help covering my ears with my hands. Andar grunted, and I whispered an apology. But I kept my hands on my ears.
Ice dragons often lived and traveled on their own or in groups of two or three. Larger flocks were uncommon. This was fortunate, since it took more strength to fight them off. They had the fire power of every other type of dragon, but they also had ice magic in theirscales, making freezing them much harder. Even with all my royal advantages, I would only confidently take on one or two.
And I counted six as they passed directly over our heads.
Andar’s grip on my arm tightened, and his chest rose and fell against my shoulder with exertion. I could not see him using any magic, but the hand he lifted up above us trembled.
