I leaned forward into Kaelith’s neck. “If the majors are going to make me scrub the floors for disappearing, you can just drop me in the ocean now.”
Her only answer was a low, rumbling growl that shook through my bones.
Chapter
Six
Kaelith’s claws struck the stone of the Ascension Grounds with a sound like thunder, her wings flaring wide before folding neatly against her sides. The moment we touched down, I felt it—tension, thick and electric, already boiling through the courtyard.
Stormforge and Crownwatch were at it, again.
But this time… something was different.
The shouting wasn’t just between squads; it was within them. Crownwatch riders clustered in two jagged groups, shouting over each other. One group looked furious. The other, nervous. Divided.
Kaelith growled low in her throat, and I was already sliding from her back, boots hitting the stone as I rushed toward the crowd. I spotted Riven near the edge, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
“What’s going on?” I asked, breathless.
She jerked her chin toward the center of the chaos. “Mattin,” she said darkly. “He’s been trying to gain support for the Varnari.”
My blood ran cold. “What? He’s a rider. The Varnari… They want the dragons controlled. Possibly killed.”
Riven nodded once. “Hence the fight. But it’s not just him. A few of the other Crownwatch riders… they think we need more protocols. That dragons should be curtailed,watched. They follow Theron.”
Of course they do.
“But where’s the major?” I scanned the crowd before I spotted him.
Major Ledor stood near the edge of the Ascension Grounds, hands clenched behind his back, his face ghostly pale. Not intervening. Just watching.
“He’s not stopping this,” I whispered.
Riven’s jaw tightened. “He’s been told to stand down.”
By who…?
Then Lirane’s voice cracked across the courtyard like a whip.
“You divulged our movements to the enemy!” the Stormforge leader shouted, her braid whipping behind her as she advanced on Mattin. “That is treason!”
Mattin didn’t flinch.
“They are not our enemy,” he said calmly. “They see what’s necessary to ensure our safety. The dragons—” his eyes swept upward, “—they only care about their young. Not our people.”
I sucked in a breath, turning toward the sky, just in time to see Mattin’s dragon circling overhead. Wings spread wide, tail twitching with agitation.
Kaelith snarled behind me, her rage sparking through our bond.
And I knew—this wasn’t just a debate anymore.
It was the start of a fracture. One we might not be able to seal.
A gust of wind howled across the Ascension Grounds as a massive shadow fell over us. With a roar that split the air, a brown Swordtail dragon dropped from the sky like a hammer of judgment, landing hard between the divided squads.
Epsom.
His talons scratched the stone as he touched down, massive wings throwing dust and debris into the air. Riders stumbled back, hands raised against the wind. A few Crownwatch and Stormforge members scrambled away just in time to avoid being crushed beneath the weight of his arrival.
