Page 13 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

A laugh bubbled up in my throat. I turned my head and spotted a shadow creeping up from the tall grass. Its shadowy tendrils led to Kieran’s boots. Kieran, whose hand was outstretched toward me. Kieran, whose expression was tight with unrepressed anger.

As soon as we locked eyes, he lowered his hand. The shadows cradling me vanished, and I smacked against the hard soil. I couldn’t even be angry. I’m not dead. Kieran Motherfucking Caddel saved my life. The very man who tried to execute me. What. The. Fuck?

I forced myself to stand and stared at the dragonsguard.

Aurelia hadn’t landed yet, but everyone else had.

Who all planned this? I stared at Nimue, but the surprise on her face was too real.

Gareth stumbled forward but Kieran’s outstretched hand stopped him.

Ben stared, gaping between me and Aurelia.

Obviously it wasn’t him. And Luther… Luther’s scowl hadn’t left his face, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

Umara’s fury turned my insides to flames, and I curled my hands into fists. No wonder Luther hadn’t wanted Kieran to let me ride with him. He wanted Aurelia to murder me, to get the other Noble Houses and Andova to back down.

Luther stomped over to Kieran. “What the hell did you just do?”

The ground shook when Enmei landed. Luther’s dragon, Saanvi, snapped at Hesperos. Even though Hesperos was bigger, Hesperos lowered his head. And even though he growled slightly, he didn’t snap back at Saanvi.

Kieran stood unbothered in the face of Luther’s fury. “ The little thief hasn’t completed her bond.”

“Exactly. Umara hasn’t claimed her yet. Which means we can do whatever’s necessary for the kingdom.”

Kieran scoffed. “Umara’s playing nice. If we kill her rider, do you think she’ll take that standing down?

And if she decides to take her vengeance—rightfully so—her mate, Thaleia will follow.

That’ll bring us down to two dragons and facing another civil war to boot.

The dragons listen to you, Luther, but don’t mistake their cooperation for obedience.

Isn’t that right, Nimue? How’s Umara feeling right now? ”

Nimue glanced back at her brown dragon. Thaleia’s lip curled into a sneer, and she shuffled her wings. “She’s pissed. Before Kieran caught her, Umara was going to fly over here. Even now, I can feel it. Her fury’s so strong that Thaleia’s agitated. She… she was ready to set fire to the capital.”

My eyes widened as Umara purred in my mind. ‘You’re mates with Thaleia?’ Maybe it was ridiculous to focus on that, out of everything, but it was the only thing my brain could comprehend. ‘I thought you’d pair with a male dragon? Like… Hesperos or something.’

Umara growled, and the sheer disdain she sent down the bond almost made me smile.

Luther stiffened, his gaze going from Thaleia to Nimue to me. “And yet, she didn’t come to save her from falling.” He turned to Kieran. “I’ve put up with your bullshit, but you’ve taken things too far. Aurelia acted as an extension to me. I told you not to interfere. Kneel. Now. ”

Kieran knelt, but his expression remained unflinching. “You know I’m right.” His stormy grey eyes met mine. “No one controls a dragon.”

Luther huffed a laugh, stalked over to the knapsack attached to Saanvi’s saddle and pulled out a long, leather whip.

My stomach coiled when I saw it. The punishment whip was used for the harshest of crimes.

The cat-o’-nine-tails. The nine little tails were all braided and had little knots…

all meant to inflict maximum pain. “Be that as it may, dragons are to obey their riders, and riders must obey their king. The dragonsguard will know their place.”

To Kieran’s credit, he didn’t flinch when he saw the whip. He straightened his shoulders. Somehow, between the two of them, he looked more like a king, commanding respect even as he knelt. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the ground. His jaw tightened, and his hands lay flat on his thighs.

Gareth reached forward and gripped Nimue’s hand.

The rest of us stood in a line and watched as Luther stepped behind Kieran and raised the whip.

I flinched when Luther struck Kieran’s muscled back.

Kieran didn’t scream, but he clenched his jaw, and his hands tightened.

Blood trailed down his lips and along his jaw.

No. My stomach curdled. This isn’t right. Kieran saved my life. I hated him, but no one deserved this.

One strike. Two. Three. It continued. While Kieran was determined not to make a sound, Luther wasn’t. He grunted, putting his all into every blow, determined to make it as painful as possible. How Kieran managed not to scream as his back turned bloody, I’d never know.

Why? Why would he save me?

“No sharp retort now?” Luther snarled as another strike lashed Kieran’s lower back. “Remember this pain. This is what happens when you get too cocky. You answer to your king, not the other way around.”

Another strike. Then finally, finally, Luther stepped back. As soon as he did, Gareth ripped his hand from Nimue and rushed to Kieran. Kieran, who still knelt straight-backed.

“No healing him until you reach the dragonsguard’s wing.

” Luther grinned. The blood on his face—Kieran’s blood—made him look monstrous.

Luther tossed the whip onto the ground. “One of you will clean this. Kieran can return it to me by the end of the week.” Luther offered a hand to Aurelia.

“Training’s over for today. Let’s put an end to these little tantrums, shall we?

I do hate to inflict punishments.” The two flew back to the castle on his dragon without another word.

Only once they were a safe distance away did Gareth move. He carefully picked Kieran up with Ben’s help. The two of them stumbled toward Ben’s horse.

“Wouldn’t a dragon be faster?” I blurted. Not to mention less bumpy. Horseback would be torture for him.

“We can’t take a dragon,” Nimue murmured, watching Gareth and Ben help Kieran atop her horse with a pinched expression. “The height alone makes it impossible with his wounds. And Kieran can’t use his shadows while he’s this out of it.”

“Royal ass,” Kieran croaked. His tawny brown skin looked impossibly pale, and beads of sweat dripped down his brow.

He grimaced as Gareth and Ben maneuvered him onto the horse.

“Apologies for being heavy,” Kieran said between pants, resting his pallid face against the horse’s mane.

“You lot can take tomorrow off as a token of my thanks.”

“Just stop talking,” Gareth said and climbed atop my horse. “You don’t have to play hero. We all know you’re in pain.”

“Me? Never.” Kieran grinned but a second later, closed his eyes. His shoulders trembled.

“That’s a lie,” Nimue said. “Don’t be a moron.”

Kieran peeked open an eye and met my gaze. “Don’t think this changes anything. You’re still deadweight, little thief, and a problem for us all.”

And there went my sympathy. “Don’t think I’ll forgive your general assholery. I won’t thank you.”

“You should.” He gritted his teeth when his horse began to move in a gentle gait. Even the lightest of movements jostled his body. Ben hovered on his other side, his hands twitching every other second. “You’d… be dead… if it wasn’t because… of me.”

“Just shut up!” Gareth snapped, glaring at Kieran and then at me. “Not now.”

I felt like a small child as I nodded. Even though Nimue and I could have flown on her dragon, neither of us had any desire to leave. It felt… wrong. As much as I detested the man and wanted answers, he suffered be cause of me.

Kieran’s punishment continued once we reached the castle.

It hadn’t occurred to me until we stepped inside that we had to take the stairs.

Kieran was a good sport about it, biting his teeth to stop himself from crying out.

He took one tortuous step after the other.

Only once we were in the dragonsguard wing did he allow himself to fully lean on Gareth, who seemed to gain renewed strength as he hauled Kieran to his room.

Ben helped Kieran lay on his stomach, and Gareth got to work right away.

I couldn’t tear my gaze away as Gareth’s hands hovered over Kieran.

Golden light emitted from his palms. One by one, the ugly gashes healed until not even a scar remained.

Amazing. I’d underestimated Gareth. He didn’t just heal Kieran.

It was like he’d completely overwritten the injury.

No wonder Luther hadn’t been afraid to beat him.

Because he knew the damage would be undone.

But then, if Gareth could heal like that, just how far would Luther go if truly angered?

“Why?” I whispered. Why would he save me?

Gareth looked up, exhaustion lining his face as he stepped out of the room and closed the door. “Not tonight.”

I swirled on my heel and headed straight to Aurelia’s room. I didn’t knock, just threw the door open. She sat on her bed reading a book. “We’ve been home for an hour, and you haven’t once checked on Kieran.” My hands clenched at my sides.

Her brow arched delicately. “Why do you think I’d care about the life of a bastard? He’ll heal just fine. Really, it’s a shame Luther was so merciful. He should’ve made him wait a week. Let the punishment actually sink in.”

I saw red. Everything about this was bullshit. I hated Kieran, but to be that cruel… that callous… This was the woman who tried to murder me. Even with everything on the line, I wasn’t able to control the sheer rage flowing through my veins.

I lunged forward, balled my left hand into a fist, and punched her straight in the nose. Her head whipped to the side with a satisfying crack.

Time stood still. My hand ached. Aurelia inhaled before letting loose a stream of curses as she clutched her gushing nose.

My heart hammered in my chest. Fuck. What the hell did I just do?

I wished I could say it was for my murder attempt, and a part of it was, but…

but for her to just brush off Kieran’s pain…

Furious brown eyes stared me down. “You little bitch. You’ll pay for that.” Her nose continued to gush, trailing down her hand and staining her pretty silver dress. Aurelia jumped to her feet and shouldered past me.

I stared at my bruised hand, unable to move. What did I just do? Clara…

I was still standing there when a handful of guards entered. When they grabbed my arms and yanked them behind my back, I still hadn’t moved. My brain went fuzzy as they hauled me down to the dungeon, to the very cell I’d only recently escaped.

I fucked up. Again.