Page 163 of A Court of Thralls and Thorns

Yes,Kaelith confirmed. And with that, she dipped her head once more, her teeth crunching down on the ribcage of her fallen prey.

Kaelith licked the last traces of blood from her snout before turning her attention back to me.Hein ordered us to meet them a half-hour ago,she said casually.

I froze halfway through tying my rope off. “Then why are you only telling me now?”

Because Hein needs to learn that he cannot give me orders.

“But Zander outranks me,” I countered, swinging myself onto her back and gripping the rope tightly as her wings spread wide.

Only our leader outranks me. The Unifier.

The way she said it gave me pause. The Unifier—the legendary dragon said to have helped forge the treaty between dragons and humans—hadn’t been seen in six hundred years. It was said he disappeared not long after the treaty was made.

“I don’t understand,” I said as we rose into the sky. The wind lashed my face, Kaelith’s scales cold against my legs. “Why doesn’t he involve himself in human affairs anymore? Why did he leave?”

He didn’t leave,Kaelith replied.He just doesn’t fight for the humans anymore. After his rider died... he mated. But our wards were still new then, much weaker than they are now. There were fewer riders and warders. His mate was killed.

I sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s horrible. Can’t he... can’t he find a new mate?”

It has happened before,Kaelith said softly.But it is rare. Most dragons only find one true mate... chosen for life.

The finality in her tone made my chest ache. A bond that deep—to love that hard and lose it all—I couldn’t imagine the pain.

We rode in silence after that, the steady beat of Kaelith’s wings filling the void where conversation should have been. Her flight was smooth, the air carrying us like a whisper as we crossed over the darkened forest. The scent of smoke reached me first—faint but unmistakable. Campfire smoke.

Kaelith banked left, descending into a small clearing where the others had gathered. Their dragons rested near the tree line, some stretched out while others stood like sentinels. A few of my squadmates were already sitting around the fire, eating what looked like freshly cooked meat.

Jax caught sight of me first, raising an arm in greeting. “About time!” he called with a grin.

I climbed down from Kaelith’s back, gripping the rope tightly as my legs wobbled beneath me.

Zander strode toward me the moment I stepped into the clearing, his eyes narrowed with frustration.

“Why the hell did Kaelith shroud you?” His voice was sharp, laced with tension.

I blinked. “She didn’t,” I said carefully. “The Blood Fae put up a sound shield. We couldn’t reach the horde. No one could hear Kaelith roar.”

His expression darkened further. “And you didn’t think to say something once the shield was down?”

I shrugged, fatigue settling deep in my bones. “Kaelith says dragons don’t waste meat. She had those creatures to eat.”

Zander raked a hand through his hair. “Gods, Rebec…”

He paused, as if biting back whatever he really wanted to say. Instead, his tone shifted, lower and more controlled. “Anything else you want to share?”

“Before the Blood Fae attacked, I had an altercation with an assassin.”

“Was it one of your father’s?”

I shook my head. “No. He wasn’t Order. Whoever it was... he was untrained. Too sloppy to be one of Cyran’s assassins. He bolted the second I cut him.”

Zander’s brow furrowed. “Then who the hell was he?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” I sighed and moved closer to the fire where my squad had gathered. Jax was leaning against a fallen log, sharpening a dagger. Cordelle was flipping through one of his endless books, and Naia kept glancing at me with concern.

“There’s more,” I admitted. “The Blood Fae... one of them said they were taking me to my ‘true master.’” I swallowed hard. “Kaelith thinks it has something to do with her.”

The air around the fire thickened. Cordelle lowered his book. Riven sat forward, her face grim.