“Happy?” he supplied.
“Yes,” I breathed, a smile playing at my lips.
Fairfax slapped his knee. “You bonded to that wild dragon, Miss Mireaux.”
“I…I didn’t even know that was possible.”
“It’s not supposed to be.” He shook his head. “But, then again, neither is the ability for a bottomsider to bond.” A smile cracked across his weathered face. He was an odd man, but his smile was contagious. “I knew you could. As soon as I laid eyes on you, tapping that spear into the stone, I knew you were meant to ride.”
Blinking rapidly, I stared up at the bright sky, as if I might see the dragon coursing by overhead. “What happens now?”
“Now,” he said, “the real trouble begins.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I had hoped to send you to that school with a pedigreed dragon, one they couldn’t deny was born to win. Now…we’ll have to make other arrangements.”
I stiffened. “I won’t be attending Cardan Lott?”
“Oh, you will. But as soon as those people catch a whiff of the truth, that your dragon is wild and not born from one of their breeding programs, that’ll be it. They’ll expel you, and they’ll kill the dragon, and our hopes of creating change will be over. They’ll likely strip me of my title and lands, as well, just for fun.” He shrugged. “I’d get out of it easier than you, my dear. Once you bind, you can never bind again.”
“Are you bonded, sir?” I blurted.
“Ah,” he said, dropping his chin. “I was not able.” A quick shrug. “Such is the case for many of us. Dragons choose whom they will.” He offered me a small, forced smile. “Which is one reason I knew bonding couldn’t be limited to the godborn. It never made sense to me, how dragons were supposed to be able to sense the vestiges of power in our veins.”
Merlon Fairfax was starting to make more sense to me now. A noble who was never chosen by a dragon was an outcast among his peers and yet still above the station of people like me.
“But you rehabilitate dragons, don’t you? I’ve read about you in the paper.” I omitted the fact that most of what the papers had to say was unfavorable.
He chuckled softly. “I buy the dragons who do not bond. After two attempts, you know, the dragons are deemed useless and many of them are executed, unless someone comes along and buys them.”
“Like you.” My heart swelled at the thought of saving all the dragons doomed to die simply because they never chose a rider. He remained silent a long moment, the still air in the courtyard starting to feel more like a furnace as the morning sunlight ricocheted off the hotel walls.
Breaking the silence, I said, “So, what am I supposed to do?”
His gaze seemed to snap from a faraway place back to our little table in the sun. “Fly anyway. Train anyway. We’ll forge the papers for your dragon and pretend like it was bred in a program in the south. Avencia, maybe.”
“But the dragon doesn’t look pure Cevnal. I think he’s part Rivic.”
“No one will question it if he comes with papers. Avencians race Torrels, a breed similar to Rivics, so it’ll all line up. It’s not that part I’m worried about.”
Visions of sparks flying from the dragon’s mouth filled my mind. “His flame,” I whispered.
Fairfax nodded. “Indeed. If we take an adolescent dragon of questionable heritage to a draconarian, they’ll know he’s wild. If we tell him he’sbondedto you, they’ll cut his throat instead of his flame duct, and you’ll never be able to bond with another dragon. I might be able to find another bottomsider capable of and willing to bond with a dragon, but it’s taken me nearly ten years to findyou. I’m old already, and I don’t like that option.”
Shaking my head, I said, “If this dragon bonded with me, how can everyone still believe wild dragons are incapable of bonding?”
A beat passed. A fly buzzed by.
Fairfax inhaled sharply. “We have been told that a dragon’s flame is what prevents it from bonding to a human, that only when the flame nerve is gone can a dragon truly feel a human’s heart and choose to bond. But we have also been taught that dragons only choose those of noble blood, and yet, here we are.” He lifted his hand toward me. “If you want to ride, Miss Mireaux, you will simply have to do it on a dragon who still has his flame. I realize that is putting you at great risk, even greater risk than I’d originally planned. If you want to change your mind about this whole endeavor, I understand.”
“No.” The word shot from my lips, quiet and sure, like a bird launching from a perch.
“Very well,” Fairfax said with a nod. “I figured you’d say that,” he added with a small smile. “Bonding is not something to be tossed aside. We can figure this out.” He finished his tea. “Will you let the flames stand in your way?”
I shook my head.
“That’s the spirit. That dragon looked young. I doubt his flame will be fully developed for at least another few months, a year at best. You have ample time to solidify your bond and teach him not to use it.”
For a moment, I closed my eyes and pictured my dragon. The wordmysounded strange even to me when thinking of the dragon. It felt wrong. Impossible.
“I have a dragon,” I whispered, overcome with the reality of it.
