And she’d been so tempted. Only Davin and Marla’s charity had kept her alive when she had absolutely no reason to live.
Her sisters’ cruelty still cut her all the way to her battered soul.Lucky them that no one had ever snuck up on them when they were distracted hatchlings, playing in a meadow. It was easy to be a sanctimonious asshole when fate hadn’t shit all over you, for no reason. But Tanis knew the horror and humiliation of being caught unawares. Not because she was stupid or careless. Not because she was weak.
Because she’d had no concept of evil back then.
What that wretched unicorn had done to her could have happened to anyone.
Anyone.Even her sisters.
She had just been the unfortunate soul playing in the valley that afternoon.
It should have been her sister, Ragna, or her father, who suffered in her stead. Then maybe they would have had some compassion for others.
They needed the lesson in humility.
Not her.
She would never understand why fate or the gods or whatever it was that had dealt this to her had chosen her that day. Because she had never been callous toward others. Unlike them, she’d always tried to be fair and kind.
Yet she was the one who had been punished for trusting a stranger. The one her clan had branded pariah.
But not Davin.
He and Marla had welcomed her home after her captivity. They, alone, had helped her to heal and had given her shelterwhen no one else would even look at her because they’d labeled her tainted.
Now Davin was gone.
How was that fair or right?
Damn you, universe! Damn you straight to hell!
Tears choked her, but she refused to let them fall. No one would ever see her cry.
Taking a breath for courage, she forced herself to head toward the gate where two very stout men stood guard to watch over the steady stream of people who were going and coming through their town.
Her legs shook so badly that she wasn’t even sure how she could walk. How did humans handle this? Emotions were horrible as a dragon, but as a human...
They were so much worse. She couldn’t remember her body wobbling like this before. Her heart pounding so ferociously. Truly, it was terrifying.
She was even sweating in places she’d forgotten people could sweat. Ew! How did they stand it?
It made her entire body itchy.
“Halt!”
She froze at the fierce bellow. Had she done something wrong? Her hand wanted to pull her sword, but that didn’t seem like a wise idea. Not in a crowd of this size.
Aggression bred aggression. That was the one thing she remembered most from being human before. Stay calm or they’d hurt her.
One of the burly men came storming in her direction.
Her stomach tightened to the point of pain as she rested her hand on the sword hilt.Wait for it...
She was sure he was going to grab her and yank her with him.
If he dared...
She’d slit him from gullet to beard.
