~ DONAVYN ~
Three days later, still shaky, but thankful that I’d finally pinned down the Furymaster, we were both frustrated because Lord Hanson hadn’t so much as shown his face at dinner. Bren, who’d spent all three days on tenterhooks, waiting for him to appear so she could question him about the dragons, grew worried he’d been playing games after all. But I knew better. A man like that wasn’t summoned unless the king was asserting power—or they schemed together. There had been no formal events over those days, but there was a ball tonight.
The man’s disappearance was either a political move at the whim of his King, or a personal one, directly intended to frustrate Bren.
At least, I hadn’t had to watch her be slavered over, again. Though I suspected that torture would begin again tonight. Instead of dwelling on that, I’d tried to turn my attention to gaining access to the dragons.
But, on the third morning since Hanson’s little revelation, as we walked the stables of the Fyrehold Keep, something just didn’t add up.
For the fiftieth time, I cursed Alexi’s insistence that we fly for Fyrehold before the assessors had returned, leaving me unprepared for what we found here.
It was becoming clear, if I’d spoken to them, we wouldn’t have come.
‘Kgosi, what’s going on here?’I asked, incredulous, as we passed empty stable after empty stable, and only a handful of stablehands, mostly doing nothing. The building wasn’t in disrepair, but it had the cold, dusty scent of disuse.
‘Their herd is scattered. Lacking leadership,’Kgosi growled.‘There can be no other explanation. I have avoided speaking with the few dragons near enough to reach, not wanting to challenge their Primarch. But I must question if a Primarch even exists in this herd, Donavyn.’
I frowned. That couldn’t be true, could it?
‘There is no unity, no calls—not even to warn ofmypresence? The dragons do not attend their humans here at the stables, if at all. They are disconnected,’Kgosi continued.‘If they do have a Primarch, he isn’t doing his job. He should be here, and the others remaining linked to him.’
I looked at the Furymaster, Rayv, leading me through the Keep. He was younger than me—not uncommon for a Furymaster, especially those that weren’t bonded. He had blonde hair and ruddy skin, a pleasant face, and seemed genuinely eager and willing to ally. Another surprise given how long it had taken me to pin him down for this meeting.
I looked back at Bren, who followed me in flying leathers. She’d stopped in the stable to examine something, but must have felt my attention, because she looked up when I turned back to find her. A warm jolt crackled through me when our eyes met.
I could pull her into a tack room and slip her leathers down—
I swallowed, shaking off the thought and scratching the back of my neck.
My urgency for her, my worry over her, hadn’t ceased since that night of the ball. It worried me that I still shook at times, that errant thoughts of tearing out Hanson’s throat with my bare hands still flitted into my head at concerningly regular intervals.
‘It’s the rage, Donavyn. Until you give up your heart of vengeance, it will consume your thoughts.’
‘I don’t have vengeance for Hanson, he’s an annoying fuck, but he hasn’t violated her.’
‘Your body holds the hate you refuse to release. Without the Talon present, that hate unleashes anywhere that feels satisfying.’
“This is the scat pit—a small advantage to housing the dragons elsewhere. Not as much for the boys to do,” the Furymaster said with a smile. I was jerked back to the present and pretended to examine the pit, but my nodding was thoughtless.
Why was he showing me this?
“I’d really like to see the dragons. I won’t interfere with them. But if we could just get a sense of the colors and size, and if you could speak with them about why we’re here?”
Rayv scratched the back of his neck and grimaced. “I definitely can, of course. But, we’d like to step carefully with this, if you don’t mind. Let them get used to catching Kgosi’s scent here and see what happens naturally. Our dragons are somewhat different than yours, I think. It seems you hold a much shorter leash on yours,” he said apologetically, and I wasn’t sure if he was sorry because he thought we were wrong to be so connected, or because he knew I’d expected him to have the same access to their dragons that I had to ours.
I glanced at Bren as she came to a stop next to my side, and had to catch myself not to put an arm around her when the man instinctively glanced at her.
There was no threat here.
I needed to stop.
“So, you’re saying that we should wait before meeting the herd. They’ll come in and out and scent Kgosi. That perhaps some of them will be drawn to him naturally?”
“I don’t know, honestly. We haven’t done this before. But with our dragons a little lessdomestic, I thought the best way forward was slowly.”
I was growing frustrated. “Can I meet the rider of your Primarch? I’m sure he has some insight into how the dragons think and how they’re likely to respond? He doesn’t need to worry—even if the dragon is weaker, Kgosi doesn’t want to create problems for him. We’ll happily manage his comfort if that’s what’s kept him away.”
“Yes… yes, I think we can do that,” Rayv said. “They’re out on a mission right now, but should be back in a few days.”
