Page 91 of House of the Iron Reaper

“You are not doing anything of the sort,” I scoff. “You have carried the House on your back for decades.”

“Exactly.” Deyanara sighs again. “If I leave, the House crumbles. Everything I have left of my family… it ends.”

I turn this over in my mind. Laughter from the ball leaks through the glass and a breeze rolls over us.

“Deyanara,” I say with finality, drawing back to look at her. “We will find a way through this, together.”

She opens her mouth to reply but I hold up a finger.

“Not just us,” I continue. “But together as a city. Deimos told me we keep ourselves in self-imposed silos, and he was right. You should never have been left behind. None of you.”

Deyanara studies me. She may call herself stupid but I know better—her eyes are always watching. There is nothing she does not remember.

“I will do what Deimos would have,” she says eventually. She straightens her shoulders. “What’s the plan?”

Chapter 45

Deyanara

The sun descends with a crawl towards the horizon. I watch it through the window of my chambers, unblinking. My foot taps the floor. My fingers tap my knee.

The House is quiet, almost every member not working at Dragon’s Vale out instead to watch the final fight. To watch the Iron Reaper. To watch me. I know Elder Lysandra will be there this time, as etiquette dictates for the final fight, so all I must do is wait for dusk. Slip out in the shadows and arrive at Dragon’s Vale with no-one but my friends the wiser. I grip the Reaper mask in my hand, forcing myself to stop squeezing it, pocked marks in my palm.

From my window, I can crane my neck to gaze up at some of the upper floors of Coalsburgh, and the last bustle of dragons as they hurry up to the arena. I grin, anticipation thrumming. I cannot wait to join them. I am walking towards a cliff edge, and when I take the final step tonight, everything will change. I look down at the Iron emblem on the front of my shirt. Tonight is the night I bring my House pride.

The pink and red hues of the sunset fade away, replaced with the soft navy blue of twilight. The fight is being held in the evening this time, with the Sunwake season only growing hotter and more stifling during the day.

The first stars make themselves known in the sky. I suck in a breath—it is time.

I wrap a cowl around my head and double-check my clothes and shoes. I think about slipping the mask on now, but I do not want to risk someone seeing me come out of the House. I tuck it under my arm, obscuring most of it from view.

I hurry through the House and reach the front door. With one last quick glance around, I step outside.

“You.”

I yelp at the sudden voice, dropping my mask. Head whirling, I squint to try and see where it came from.

Elder Lysandra steps out of the shadows. Oh, no. Oh, Saints. Her eyes drop to the mask on the floor and I hurry to scoop it up. My heart hammers as we stare at each other. Smoke billows from her nostrils.

“I…” My voice cracks. “I need to go.”

“That is what you have to say to me?” she says quietly. It is worse than if she shouted. “No apology, no explanations or excuses.”

“Lysandra-”

“This is what you’ve been doing instead of helping our House?” Her voice raises. Flames crackle at the back of her throat as she speaks. “Fighting?”

“But I-”

“You could have died!” Lysandra roars with a voice more dragon than human. She takes a step forward and I stumble back. “You would go this far to punish yourself? You would rather die than live with your grief?”

I try to stammer out a response but Lysandra forces me back into the House. She stands tall, glowering on the other side of the doorway, her eyes burning.

“You will not leave this House,” she says, quieter again. “You will stay here, safe.”

She slams the door shut. I breathe hard, chest heaving and tears threatening. She cannot do this. I step forward, hand outstretched to try opening the door when the heat of it hits me. I pull back, staring.

The joints and grooves melt into each other, heat radiating from it. It takes me a moment to realise—Lysandra is melting the door shut.