My lungs still burned, greedy for air, and my mouth tasted of dirt and salt. I gulped the water Hasho offered, then forced a smile at my brothers.
None smiled back.
“You missed your betrothal ceremony,” Andahai chided. “We found you on the banks, half-drowned.”
Only my oldest brother would scold me for almost dying.
Almost dying,I repeated to myself, my fingers flying to my neck. The dragon had wrapped his tail around it, as if to choke me. But I felt no bruises, no bandages, either. Had he saved me? The last thing I remembered was seeing two ruby eyes and a crooked grin. I didn’t remember coming up to the surface, and I couldn’t have floated up on my own….
Wings fluttered against my thumb, and I became suddenly aware of my other hand, hidden under my blankets.
Kiki.Thank the Eternal Courts! She was a little soggy, like me. But alive.
“What happened, Shiori?” Andahai prodded.
“Give her a moment,” said Benkai. He crouched beside my bed, patting my back as I drank. Ever gentle and patient, he would have been my favorite brother if only I didn’t see so little of him. Father was training him to be the commander of Kiata’s army, while Andahai was the heir to the throne.
“You worried us, Sister. Come, tell old Benben what you remember.”
I leaned my head back, resting against my bed’s rosewood frame. Hasho had already told them I’d run off because I saw a snake. Should I endorse such an atrocious lie?
No, Andahai and Benkai will only ask more questions if I lie,I quickly reasoned.Then again, I can’t tell them the truth—they can’t find out about Kiki.
The answer was simple. When a lie wouldn’t work, a diversion would.
“A dragon saved me,” I replied.
The corners of Andahai’s lips slid into a frown. “A dragon. Really.”
“He was small for a dragon,” I went on, “but I’m guessing that’s because he’s young. He had clever eyes, though. They were even sharper than Hasho’s.”
I grinned playfully, hoping to lighten everyone’s mood, but my brothers’ frowns only deepened.
“I don’t have time for tall tales, Shiori,” Andahai said crisply. He was the least imaginative of my brothers, and he crossed his arms, his long sleeves as stiff as his waxed black hair. “Of all the days to run off to the lake…you missed your ceremony with Lord Bushian’s son!”
I’d completely forgotten my betrothed. Guilt bubbled to my chest, my grin quickly fading.Father must be furious withme.
“Father is on his way to see you now,” Andahai continued. “I wouldn’t count on your being his favorite to get you out of this one.”
“Stop being so hard on her,” said Benkai. He lowered his voice. “For all we know, it might have been an attack.”
Now I frowned, too. “An attack?”
“There’s word of uprisings,” explained my second-eldest brother. “Many of the lords oppose your marriage to Lord Bushian’s son. They fear his family will become too powerful.”
“I wasn’t attacked,” I assured them. “I saw a dragon, and he saved me.”
Andahai’s face reddened with exasperation. “Enough lying, Shiori. Because of you, Lord Bushian and his son have left Gindara, utterly shamed.”
For once, I wasn’t lying. “It’s the truth,” I swore. “I saw a dragon.”
“Is that what you’re going to tell Father?”
“Tell Father what?” boomed a voice, resonating around the room.
I hadn’t heard my doors slide open, but they rattled now as my father and my stepmother strode into my chambers. My brothers bowed deeply, and I lowered my head until it almost touched my knees.
Andahai was the first to rise. “Father, Shiori is—”
