Page 16 of Court of Embers (Dragonesse #2)

It was the upper reaches of Sylvaene Eyrie that Cai led us towards, nearly into the canopy of the great tree itself.

We landed on a broad terrace, which I’d taken as a man-made construction from a distance.

But it was alive, the leviathan tree carefully tended and molded as it grew over the centuries to flare the trunk outwards, creating an entirely organic tower with balconies, doorways, and windows.

From above, all of Sylvaene glistened below, tiny ghostlights dancing in the trees. Tyria stepped lightly onto the balcony, the bark underfoot worn smooth as glass.

“We’ve lost good dragons and riders to this mess.

Now is the time to explain why you didn’t simply bond to begin with and avert this entire tragedy.

” She gazed at us both with furious eyes.

“What childish nonsense were you playing at, with war looming over us all? Was it not real enough for you until you had to burn the bodies?”

I opened my mouth, but Tyria held up a hand to silence me.

“You two could’ve had the Houses eating out of the palms of your hands at the Second Convocation.

The daughter of Nasir, and Anjali’s son?

Most of the Great Houses were swaying your way, and the minor Houses were prepared to follow.

Now Chantrelle’s accusation has made the rounds, and everyone knows you broke the Law.

Perhaps you’ve narrowly avoided Judgment, but your reputation… that is now in tatters.

“But perhaps the better question is, why pretend at a bond to begin with? Why should we support you as Drakkon and Dragonesse? If you couldn’t commit to the mate bond, why should any of us believe you could commit yourself to the safety and prosperity of our Houses?”

Rhylan rumbled low in his throat, and I pressed my palm to his foreleg.

Let me speak. She deserves an answer, because she’s not wrong.

“First of all, I’m not here to ask you for your support.

” I made myself meet Tyria’s eyes, though there was lingering shame in how we’d conducted ourselves, and I felt about one inch tall.

“I’m here to apologize for misleading you.

We… I wasn’t ready to bond to Rhylan. During my time on Mistward Isle, I’d believed something to be true that was a falsehood.

It was only after time spent in Jhazra that I realized I’d been clinging to a lie, and that he had nothing to do with my exile.

I was stubborn and arrogant, and for that I can only apologize now.

“But we are committed to the safety of Akalla, possibly more than you know. You were there when we told you what we knew.” My hand twitched towards my throat, and I stopped the motion before it became obvious, but Tyria’s eyes still moved to the scar on my neck.

“Did your sons not see what was wrong with Kalros? They were dead, Lady Tyria. They were dead and rotting, but still flying. Whether we were bonded or not wouldn’t have averted this. Yura did something to them—”

“But you don’t know what.” Tyria’s nostrils flared in disgust. “Your sister is a flesh-eater, and she’s done mysterious things to bring dead dragons back from the grave, and yet there’s not a shred of proof.”

“That out there is all the proof you need,” I said, doing my best to keep my tone level when I wanted to scream.

I held out a hand to the scorched patches still glistening like coals in the forest. “There is only one who has ever had the power to make the dead rise. Do you remember the testaments of the Age of Flame and Shadow? Have you ever seen that black liquid, or smelled something like it? Whether or not I can prove it’s Yura, it’s still something so wrong the earth screams at its touch.

My own Ascendant has told me that she smells something on the wind, something she fears. Myst will attest to this.”

Cai made a rumbling noise, similar to Rhylan’s, and finally shifted into human form. His head was freshly shaved, a dark shadow already forming over his scalp and cheeks. “I’ll speak for this, Mother. They tell the truth. Those dragons were not living creatures.”

Tyria rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I know. I know this is…something unprecedented. But…” She looked up, gazing out at the forest, and with a horrible start I realized there were tears in her eyes, and that not once in my life had I ever seen Lady Tyria look less than stoic.

It killed any words I might’ve said.

“I’ve borne eleven children here,” she said softly.

“I’ve burned your father here. I’ve spent my entire life devoted to this eyrie, even when I wanted to curl up at his side and join him in the Cycle.

I’ve raised and trained a thousand nieces and nephews and watched my family and eyrie grow in prosperity.

Now…I watch as a simple flight of five dragons threatens it all.

And I have no idea if there will be more. All I see is death, coming for us all.”

“Not five,” I whispered. “Only one. If we stop Yura, we can destroy anything else she might raise.”

“I loathe your sister,” she said simply. “I’ve always thought something was wrong with her. But it takes time to repair the trust you’ve broken. I cannot wholeheartedly throw my lot in with yours.”

“I know.” I swallowed hard. “And we’ll do everything we can to repair it, but we’re not going to stop with our claim.

Not until she’s dead or I am. I truly believe she has some connection to the Outsider, or to a Primoris itself, and that if she’s made Dragonesse, it’ll be a small matter of time before all the Houses fall. ”

Cai stared at Rhylan, wordlessly communicating something, but I was focused on Tyria. The Lady of Sylvaene finally sighed, leaning on the balcony to steady herself.

“Tonight I must mourn my nephews and their mates, and I must consult with Caru. If he tells me that he scents the same as your Ascendant…then I will give credence to your claims. But tonight is for mourning only. Stay in our eyrie and sleep knowing you’re under our aegis. When I’m ready, I’ll send word.”

That was as good as we were going to get.

Perhaps she hadn’t accepted our apology, and may not want us on the throne, but stopping this was more important by far.

Even if we ended up outcasts in Jhazra or Varyamar, hated by all, the only way we’d be able to do so was to put literally anyone else on that throne but Yura.

I nodded, and Tyria touched Cai’s shoulder. “Come. You’ll speak to Caru as well.”

Cai glanced back at Rhylan again, his fiery gaze bouncing between us, but Rhylan made a little twitch of his claws that made the tension in Cai’s shoulders relax.

That means ‘later’, he said as I climbed on his back. Ten gold half-moons says he wants to know if Kirana is all right. Surely he knows that I would’ve told him otherwise.

It’s not like dragons obsessed with one another think clearly , I said, and Rhylan plunged off the balcony.

Guest quarters are down here. He dropped us down the trunk onto a smaller balcony. This is where…where we stayed when we visited. Me, Kirana, and Loralei.

The room was just as organic as the exterior of the tree, the walls and ceilings formed of a matting of roots so thick they were nearly solid, globes of copper and sage green glass containing light crystals hung from the ceiling.

The bed was a mattress laid on another feat of shaped wood, roots guided to grow into a platform and bower.

Rhylan shifted as I gratefully stripped out of my leathers, sodden with sweat, and still stinking faintly of the acid smoke.

I bundled them into the torn dress, intending to burn them all as soon as we got home.

The stench was so bad, I felt the only way to cleanse it was to throw it into the heart of the molten rock deep beneath Jhazra Eyrie.

Here , Rhylan said, guiding me into a bathing room. Here, they’d brought in an enormous copper washtub, cradled in the wall in a tangle of shaped branches. The light globe overhead flickered to life, bathing the room with its pale green iridescence.

Rhylan twisted a knob, and I saw how cleverly the pipes had been hidden within the root network, rendering them almost invisible.

I don’t think I’ve ever been here before , I mused, watching appreciatively as he stepped into the bath and idly thinking about how I’d like to sink my teeth into his muscled ass.

Rhylan’s shoulders shook with laughter as he picked up that mental image.

If I ever did visit, I was too young to remember. I didn’t know how beautiful it was.

He held out a hand. Come on in, princess. The water’s fine.

Better than the ice bath you gave me on Mistward.

You have no idea how hard it was to find clean water there, not to mention that I couldn’t just sit around flaming it and keeping it warm—I had to actually go find you in order to wash you.

Sure, and then you told me I stank.

We settled down in the bath, my back against his chest, and Rhylan pulled the tie from my braid and ruffled his fingers through my hair.

To be honest, I’m sorry I was an ass. When I found you and saw what had become of you, I was furious at myself.

And I turned that anger on you, when you didn’t deserve it in the least. I don’t know what I was thinking.

You were thinking like me , I said quietly, resting my palms on his thighs. I was furious at you without once considering that maybe, just maybe, you hadn’t actually embarked on a campaign to ruin my life. Did I ever tell you that I actually considered pushing you over the edge of that eyrie?

Rhylan snorted. Gods, Sera. I have wings.

Yes, but maybe you would’ve fallen a really long way before you thought to shift them out.

Bloodthirsty little creature, I love it . He nuzzled my neck, and I felt his nose wrinkle. To be fair, we both stink now. Let’s take care of that before bed.

You’re a true romantic, you know that?

Of course I am, princess . His tongue lapped out, running over the pulse in my throat, his hand drifting lower over my stomach, and I completely forgot all else.