Page 91 of Ashborne Forged

“Your mother should have disciplined you better. However, I do enjoy taming animals. So, we will have our fun. It is, in part, why I decided to keep you. When our mutual friend found you, you’d made it much farther from home than I anticipated. I thought he was leading me on a chase to make more coin. But, no. Lo and behold, here you were.

“Imagine my surprise when I found him dead? I had no doubt he’d been killed on your behalf. But you were difficult to pin down. I’d almost given up when the rumors of the new female in the dragon keep reached the ears of my informants. And that meant it was a Furyknight on your leash.”

He bent down, cupping my chin. I tried to pull out of his grip, but with my hands tied and positioned as I was on the floor, he only dug his fingers in and held me there. “We all fall for you, don’t we?”

“Ha!” The glittering in his eyes terrified me, so I was grateful for the sincere opportunity for humor. “You know nothing if you believe that’s true.”

“I just watched a man almost beaten to death to stop him coming after you. Stupid idiot. He only made me more determined to keep you.”

“If you suffer such inadequacy that it required the desire of another man to gird your loins, you deserve—”

My ear rang, my cheek burned hot. I gasped, blinking.

He’d struck me?

“Rest assured, Grace. I do not enjoy inflicting pain for its own sake. You will learn to behave. And when you do, your life will become far more comfortable. But until then, do not believe that I will overlook a sharp tongue, or a disrespectful word, or dragging feet. You are my wife, and you will behave with the manners and aplomb to which you were raised.” His grip on my chin softened, and his thumb stroked my cheek. I was far more frantic to remove myself from that touch, than I had been the pinching fingers. “And maybe, one day, when you’ve provided our family, you may choose to fly with your dragon again.”

Oh Lord, help me. Abject terror sang in my veins as the years stretched out ahead of me. I’d been to his manor in my youth. I knew what a dark, dank life he led.

“There must be another way?” I gasped. “Any number of women who would marry willingly and provide the heir. I wouldn’t stand in your way. If you need something… assets, or—”

“My wealth far outstrips yours,” he sneered. A fact I knew to be true. “It’s your bloodline I need. Our children will be raised in the castle halls, not as merchants welcomed for their wares, but as dignitaries and men of influence.

“You’re perfect, Grace. Wild enough to be interesting. Well-bred enough to provide true power. Oh, don’t worry dear. Just pop out a golden-haired baby, we’ll present him to the queen. She’ll knight me. Then you can wander off to any adventure you choose with my blessing. That is, of course, assuming your Furyknight remains interested in drinking from a used wineskin, and hasn’t found another to amuse him.”

I wanted to kick him. And I wanted to weep. I closed my eyes for a moment, reaching for Voski, unclear how far we could reach. We hadn’t tested it. I knew the dragons could reach each other over much greater distances, but kingdom to kingdom? Never.

‘Can you hear me? Are you there?’

The image in my memories was one of Voski, slumped on the floor like a rag doll, Gil and Ronen squatting over him, frowning, talking in dark mutters, while Donavyn stood protectively between the queen and Bren, and Breckon. Though he couldn’t have cared less.

My Lord was gleeful that we’d made it out of the castle and into this carriage.

The only good news was that he’d thrown me down on the same side as my sheath. And he hadn’t seemed to notice it under my loose jacket during our struggles. Even though it made me cold, I knew what to do. At some point he had to unbind me. And when he did…

Breckon nudged my knee again, and when I opened my eyes, he was leaning down, smiling.

I swallowed hard. “Would you please unbind me? There’s nowhere I can go now.”

He shook his head. “Don’t entertain ideas of flight, Grace. If you disappear, I know precisely who will have his hands on you. Don’t believe I can’t have a Furyknight strung up for kidnapping and violation of my wife. You take very good care of yourself, Grace, or I’ll take the price I paid for you out of your mate’s hide.”

And then he began to tell me how. The men he knew—like the assassin he’d sent after me, only worse. And though I made myself remain still, keep my face expressionless, he wasn’t fooled.

“I know you, Grace,” he said, his tone low with promise. “Don’t make me prove to you that I know how to hurt you. We have an arrangement—and even the queen judged that I was reasonable. So, adjust your horizons, and eventually we’ll both gain what we want. Though, with time and what’s to come, you may surprise yourself and determine that you wish to stay.”

I nodded to placate him, but it only made his eyes darker.

“I knew you’d be shocked today, and I knew you’d fight. But you must learn, Grace. You must. Because this cannot continue.”

“You’ve stolen me from my dragon, my mate, my life!” I hissed.

He frowned. “You’d never have had that life if you hadn’t fled. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to your mother? To your father? They already walk a very fine line in the court. If you don’t fulfill your duties, you will ruin your family. And you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

“I haven’t—”

“The moment you disappear, I will start with ending your Furyknight—since you’ll feel that personally, correct?” He didn’t wait for me to respond, just continued with his threats. “Then I will take reports of your conduct to the king, and demand payment for my inconvenience and the humiliation from your family. Do you think your father has it in him to weather the storm of rejection? To be cast out of the king’s court? No? I don’t believe so, either.

“Oh, but don’t look sad. I’d never hurt him or your mother. Not their bodies. They need to stay healthy and hale, because you need to see every ounce of pain and suffering they endure in order to pay for your fuck-ups.”