Page 22 of Court of Embers (Dragonesse #2)
“You wouldn’t, but I would. We need to know more about my sister and her…patroness. If we have those, we can take Koressis, and then I can ask Isandoral anything I want.”
True . Rhylan pulled me close, burying his face against my neck, and I stroked his back as I thought it over, pleased to have my dragon back.
Cai was with us when we left Sylvaene that evening. Even if we’d wanted to sneak out without him, it would’ve been impossible; he remained in dragon form, perched in a tree below, watching our balcony.
As Rhylan dropped us into the twilight sky, Cai rose from below, trailing slightly behind and to Rhylan’s left.
Without speaking, we all agreed to keep flying for the day-long long journey.
Rhylan informed me via mind-speech that the dragons in the Training Grounds developed informal ways to communicate without speech while flying in formation; if one of them needed to rest, they’d drop a wing, or waggle their tail in a certain pattern.
Neither of them had motioned for a stop.
The thought of big, strong dragons waggling their tails in code almost sent me into gales, but I was too worried about the upcoming mission to the Historians to laugh for long.
Instead I lashed the reins around my waist, stretching forward over the saddle for short, broken naps, interspersed with long periods of wakefulness and worry.
I rubbed my eyes as we passed over the Krysien Mountains, eager to be on solid ground, to bathe, to make sure Mykah hadn’t robbed the Ascendants blind.
Which was, of course, the first order of business as soon as Rhylan dropped through the dragon door, followed closely by Cai.
“Serafina, what have you done?” Myst snarled, bursting from a plume of pale smoke. “You’ve brought a thief into our midst, a greedy, grasping, sly little sneak-thief!”
I dismounted as the dragons shifted, almost collapsing. My legs had stiffened during the long ride, muscles as taut as stone. “Well, I did instruct her to learn to steal.”
“How could you?” my Ascendant gasped. “She stole Dragonesse Tiele’s tiara, stole it with her grubby little hands!”
“Did you catch her?” I inquired, wincing as I rose on my tiptoes and stretched my calves.
“Not until after she’d gotten her fingerprints all over it.” Myst grumbled, narrowing her eyes at me. “Do you know how long it took me to clean it?”
“Probably about five minutes. At least we know she can add thievery to her list of skills. Gods know it could be useful in the long run.”
Cai finished shifting, rolling his shoulders, and charged for the eyrie door with Rhylan on his heels.
“Myst, we’ll discuss this later,” I said hurriedly as my Ascendant began to build a head of steam, and dashed after them.
Cai knew the way to Kirana’s room; he barreled ahead, and Rhylan held out an arm before I could lunge to catch up.
Maybe it’s better if he handles it.
Or she’ll lose her mind at having her privacy invaded.
Rhylan arched a brow at me. We brought him here to do it his way, not ours. He knows her in a way we could never.
This is true . I slowed my walk as Cai vanished down the staircase.
Moments later, a loud booming echoed through the eyrie: Cai was pounding on Kirana’s door. We hurried to the next level, and found him standing there, fist raised, lips drawn back over his teeth.
“Open. The damn. Door! ” he bellowed.
And, horribly, Kirana didn’t shout back. There was the sound of a dry sob on the other side, and my heart clenched.
Maybe we’d made a terrible mistake in bringing Cai here, and rushing her into this.
“Please just go away,” she whispered. “You’re…you’re the last one I want to see me like this.”
“I don’t care what you look like.” Claws shot out from his fingertips, gouging the wood. “All I care about is that you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Please, just go.”
“Not until I lay eyes on you.”
“No. Go away , Cai, I’m alive, I’m fine!”
“Stubborn draga,” he muttered, contracting his fist. “You’re not fine until I see you. You’ve got to the count of three to open this door, Kir, or I’m opening it for you. I’ve waited long enough.”
“Bastard!” she snarled, and Cai laughed.
“One, pretty draga.”
Rhylan gripped my arm before I could start forward. No, we made the right choice .
“What makes you think you can come here? I’m not your mate, Cai, you have no right to do this.”
“Two. Not my mate yet .”
“Semantics, you damn high-handed lunatic. Go back to Sylvaene, find a different draga, live a real life. There’s nothing for you here but a…a thing. ”
But despite her rage, the dry sobs were gone—she sounded furiously, brilliantly alive, in a way she hadn’t when she’d met us, veiled, in the library.
“Semantics?” Cai paused with his fist over the door, considering. “So you agree that bonding is not off the table.”
“It is now.” There was a low growl in her voice, the kind a draga didn’t have the vocal cords for. “I’m not the Kirana I was. I’m not for you anymore.”
“You are if I say you are. Three,” he added cheerfully, and exploded into his dragon form, shattering the door.
Cai shifted back almost instantly—amazing control over his dragon form, just as Rhylan demonstrated. Only his skin remained covered in a coat of emerald scales, his teeth like knives, as he stood breathing heavily in the doorway now littered with wooden shards.
And on the other side…my breath caught in my throat.
Kirana was still holding the doorknob she’d been clutching when he blasted through the door, but she stood planted in place, as though she hadn’t shifted an inch against the might of a dragon.
And maybe she hadn’t, because she was full Naga, with a strength as great as dragons.
Ebony scales covered most of her body; some of her face and throat remained sun-kissed skin, but the rest was as smooth and deep as onyx.
Her eyes gleamed like liquid gold, pupils slit vertically.
A pair of delicate, twisted horns sprouted from her forehead, and her legs ended in elongated, clawed feet.
She defiantly shook back her mane of black hair, throwing the doorknob aside to reveal her sharp talons. “See me then, you prick. Take the story home to your people and bond with whomever, because I’m not your pretty draga anymore.” Acid bitterness coated her words.
Raising her hands, claws splayed, she turned gracefully, revealing a lashing tail, and two red, raw-looking lines spreading down her shoulder blades.
Gods, she’s going to have wings , I thought to Rhylan, but the rest of me was in awe.
She was everything the book had claimed Naga would become, but she was beautiful . The malice, the twisted monstrousness, none of it was present in her form. She was still Kirana, only closer to a dragon, every line of her body powerful and smooth.
And Cai was of a similar mind, gazing at her in a way no one could misinterpret.
“Have you seen enough?” she hissed, rounding on him once more. “Does the freak show satisfy your curiosity?”
Cai paused, still rooted in place, and he cleared his throat. “No.”
Kirana gazed at him, her slit pupils expanding and contracting. “ No? ”
“I haven’t seen enough,” he whispered, and reached for her. “My pretty draga. How could you think, even for a moment, that I would ever find you anything less than beautiful?”
It was my turn to grip Rhylan’s arm, tugging him away.
Kirana stood frozen as Cai took her in his arms, running his fingers through her hair, whispering in her ear.
Come on , I groaned at him mentally. Let them have their moment, it’s working, Rhylan!
I’m not entirely sure she won’t gut him , he said doubtfully, eyeing her thick talons, but as Kirana slowly relaxed into Cai’s embrace, tears shimmering in her molten eyes, we fled.
We didn’t stop until we were in Rhylan’s room, locked behind closed doors.
It worked , I said blankly, collapsing on the couch.
We knew he would be the one to help her , he thought smugly.
No, I mean…the dragon blood. Becoming Naga. I know she’s upset because she looks different, but…Rhylan, she’s not monstrous at all. I stared up at him. She’s going to fly. She has the strength of a dragon. It’s like she’s still draga, only… more of a draga than the rest of us .
With the downside of living on an Ascendant’s blood for the rest of her life , he reminded me.
And with that, I realized I’d been envious—of Kirana’s strength and draconic beauty, her ability to fly on her own, alongside Cai if she wished.
It was a hell of a trade-off, but…I couldn’t prevent that tinge of envy.
True , I admitted reluctantly. But the book lied. She’s no monster .
A beautiful creature, not a horror at all.
And I wondered why the dragons had told us such a thing.