Page 6 of The Forgotten Throne

Ifra circled and landed in a large open area, free from any grass or anything else we might damage or trample with how large the dragons were. It was two dragons-width wide and four dragon lengths, leaving enough room for all of us to land easily.

“Picking up anything from these dragons that I should know about?”

“Why does this remind me of when you arrived at the fortress the first time? I will tell you what I told you then—you are their queen.”

“Remind me not to bother asking you for a pep talk before things like this. You’re not very good at them.”

“Maybe or I might be amazing at them, and you just don’t like what I’m saying.”

“Still not helpful.” I huffed as I began to undo the straps.

Abbott finished first and slid off, holding out his arms to me. “Careful as you slide down. The ground here is really rocky, but I’ll catch you.”

My heart warmed at how this man always was looking after me and keeping me steady through moments I doubted myself.

“This is the type of support I was looking for.”

“I am your pair-bond. He is your guardian and possible consort. It wouldn’t be right for me to take his job.”

Caught off guard by Vasin’s words, I dropped more than slid down his side. But just as Abbott promised, he was right there, his hands catching me around the waist before my feet could touch the ground. I smiled at him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”

His eyes warmed, but he kept his face neutral as I heard the crunching of boots approaching. Looking over my shoulder, I spotted the four dragon riders approaching—all men of various ages, but each held the stance of a soldier. Izel joined us, taking up a position on the other side from Abbott as Zan headed to greet the men, Ezzu sitting up tall on his shoulder.

“Naytan, I’ve returned with the Dragon Queen,” Zan announced, making me stiffen at his words.

Please don’t tell me he is going to betray me too!

“Last time I saw you, you said she didn’t want to be our queen. Why should we care that she’s arrived now when she’s just like all the rest of them?” Naytan grumbled, crossing his arms over his barreled chest.

He was the oldest out of them, reminding me in a way of Ballard with a salt-and-pepper shaggy-cut hair. Only this man had a thick full gray beard and bushy eyebrows that were knit together as he glared at me.

“Now I really want to know what Zan told them about you when he was here last,” Abbott muttered under his breath, placing a protective hand on the small of my back.

It would seem that it was my lot in life to dispel all the assumptions that people were going to make about me, no matter where I went. I wasn’t lady enough to be a noble. I wasn’t trained or skilled enough to be a mercenary. Now it would seem I wasn’t worth their time because I didn’t come the moment I found out they existed even though we were on the brink of war, and I had another group to lead. Sometimes a person could only take so much before it caused them to snap, and I was a thread away from snapping.

“You know that is not what I said or what I meant. Queen Cassarah had just been crowned and was dealing with a threat to our brethren that needed to be dealt with first before she could take the time to come here. We’ve waited hundreds of years for this moment. What do a few more days or weeks mean to us?” Zan defended.

Naytan grunted at Zan’s words. “They always come before us. It’s how we ended up forgotten here in Sheca in the first place. What need do we have for a novice queen, one who lost the battle at the Norden castle, having to flee back to the mountains? Let me guess, you came here to seek our help to save you from the Lost King because you’re in way over your head, little girl.”

Upon hearing this, that last thread snapped, and I charged forward, brushing past Zan right up in Naytan’s space. “You know nothing about what happened at the castle or about the Lost King. If you did, you wouldn’t be talking about it so flippantly. Yes, we did lose that battle, but we lost it because the Queen wanted to play politics when I told her we needed to move and move fast. They lost the Royal City because of their own stubborn pride and the same thing will happen here if you don’t get your head out of your ass and take a look at the world around you.

“You might have survived the last however many hundred years, hiding away behind your mountains but that is no longer going to save you. The Lost King will stop at nothing until he controls everything he can get his hands on, and I’m the only one willing to stand up to him while taking the threat seriously. If you want to remain lost and forgotten here, then so be it, but know that this time it’s because you decided to cut off your own nose before hearing what I have to say.” Finished with my tirade, my breathing heavy with how heated I was about this whole thing, but I was done taking shit from people who didn’t even know me.

Naytan looked at me with a calculating gaze before he made a signal with his hand, causing the other three men behind him to draw their weapons. This caused everything to turn into chaos as Vasin roared, flaring his wings as he came to my rescue along with my guardians drawing their weapons. I however didn’t move a muscle as Naytan also drew his sword, never letting his gaze drop from mine.

“Do not threaten us, child. We’ve survived far worse than the likes of the Lost King,” Naytan sneered as he took a step back and lifted his sword.

Sensing the danger I was in, my Birthright flared to life, causing me to glow in a blue light as my bow materialized in my hand and the quiver on my back. The marks on my guardians also began to glow from where they stood, backing me up, their weapons at the ready. I wasn’t going to fight Naytan and his men. There was no need to prove myself to them in that way. Never did I want to be known as the queen who led with an iron fist or would savagely kill those who didn’t follow her every whim. Naytan was scared and protective over the people he’d been guarding his whole life.

“Put your weapons away,” I ordered. “There will be no fighting between us.”

One of the men behind Naytan scoffed. “I don’t think she’s very bright if she won’t even fight back.”

“What good would killing you do? It would only serve to create more problems. Since I have an extremely pissed off black dragon at my back, I’m not worried about the four of you,” I shared, releasing my hold on my bow so it dissipated. “Now, seeing as you are the soldiers of this land and not the people who speak for everyone, I will take my leave to talk with them. Somehow, I feel they might be more agreeable to deal with.”

Zan started to cough, covering up what I might guess to be laughter as I turned on my good foot and headed off towards the center of the village.

“You dare to turn your back on me?” Naytan yelled.