Page 5 of Crown of Betrayal and Blood (Dragons of Tirene #3)

Chapter Five

The moment my boots strike the flagstones in the palace courtyard, a shadow sweeps overhead.

I sense the dragon before I even glance up.

Dame, with her reddish-brown scales glinting in the late afternoon sunlight, lands with a thud that sends vibrations through the soles of my shoes. The spade-shaped tip of her tail twists, showing the pale yellow that runs the length of her underside.

There’s no mistaking the urgency in her golden eyes or the swirl of emotions she thrusts into my mind. All four toes on all four feet dig into the ground, like a cat kneading a blanket.

Elation tangles with anger, along with a smug satisfaction that causes the yellow frill protecting her ears to quiver as she crouches in front of me. Her serpentine neck is as long and thick as her tail, allowing her to peer over her own back.

I don’t need words to understand she’s adamant that I climb up and fly with her somewhere. The emotions she’s projecting, combined with her excited posturing, clearly communicates that.

It’s unwise to tell a dragon “no” when they ask something like this, even if I’ve just been kidnapped and handed a state secret to explore.

Swallowing my own emotions—my desire to get back and study the map, to learn more of the city lost to myth—I reach out with reassurance.

When Dame brings her head to my eye level, I pat the massive creature’s scaly nose. “Hey there.”

Though less than a month has passed since my first dragonriding experience, I scale Dame’s foreleg with a lot more ease than I did a few weeks ago. I clamber onto her back, the ridges of her spine pressing against my palms.

Quickly, I stuff the rolled map down the front of my dress, my cleavage holding it in place. I’m going to need both hands.

Muscles coil beneath me like springs ready to release. With a powerful leap, Dame unfurls her pale-yellow wings, thin membranes supported by uniformly spaced tendons running from the leading edge back, like the fingers on a hand. As we become airborne, the wind buffets us, tugging at my dark hair, and stinging my eyes until they water. My court dress is not designed for such rough treatment, and I’d be willing to bet all the riches in Tirene’s coffers I’ll get a disapproving look from Rhiann, the Lady of the Bedchamber, once she sees the state my clothing is in when I return to the palace.

But that’s a problem for later.

Below, the capital of Tirene shrinks, the palace’s high, sky-piercing towers now mere pinnacles of ambition and power.

Dame soars higher, her emotions an open book to me. Contentment because her mate awaits. Anger over the looming threat the drachen pose to her unborn. Confidence in her plan.

And I am part of that plan, whether I like it or not.

I hope and pray her confidence is indeed that and not hubris. No one else has managed to come up with a solid solution for our current drachen problems.

I’ll take any help we can get.

We veer northeast, toward the mountains. Beneath us, the landscape shifts. The neat rows of noble vineyards give way to the wild, untamed forests that cling to the mountain slopes.

She’s taken me on impromptu flights to unknown locations before, but never in this direction.

It doesn’t hurt to ask, though. “Where are you taking me?”

Focusing on our mental connection, I channel my curiosity into my words. My mind brushes hers in a way that’s difficult to explain. It’s simultaneously ephemeral and tangible.

Dame doesn’t answer with words. Instead, she trumpets. Her excitement fills me, and all my earlier worries, even my apprehension over being drugged and kidnapped, fall away. On the back of a dragon, nothing seems as dire or important as connecting with the magnificent creature beneath me and riding the wind.

As we near the mountains, Dame shifts course toward a dark spot in the cliff face. Even at a distance, I can tell it’s been widened by dragon claws. Joy erupts in her once more, along with pride at her work.

With a graceful arc, she swoops into the cavernous space, her talons scraping against stone as we alight. The air within the chamber clings to my skin, thick with heat and moisture. It’s as if I’ve stepped into the breath of the dragon herself. It’s an overwhelming sensation, one that has sweat pearling at my brow. The contrast to the cool mountain air outside is jarring, but it’s not the only thing that catches my attention.

My gaze sweeps across the walls, where I’m spellbound by the unearthly light show playing out before me. Thousands of glow worms cluster in colonies, their luminescence painting the cave in hues of blue and purple that shimmer against the rough granite like stars fallen from Nyc’s own domain.

“Beautiful.” My fingers unclench from the ridge of scales near her shoulder, and I slide down her extended foreleg, landing with a soft thud on the rocky ground.

Whatever lies ahead must be of paramount importance to have warranted such an urgent summons.

I take a cautious step forward.

Swiveling my head, I drink in the sights all around me. The light casts strange patterns that dance across my vision. “All right, Dame, show me why we’re here.”

In silent acknowledgment, she gives me a gentle nudge with her snout, urging me deeper into the heart of the chamber. I shuffle sideways, my hand trailing along the jagged stone of the cavern wall as if it might reveal its secrets under my touch.

The heat wraps around me like a cloak, oppressive and insistent, mingling with a humidity that clings to every breath I draw. Magic pulses through this place, so potent I can almost taste it. Metallic, with an undercurrent of something ancient.

The gravel skittering beneath my shoes betrays me, and when I suddenly find no ground under my feet, I flail for balance. Only inches from a precipice, I teeter on the brink, peering down into a vast pool below that’s the same color as the glow worms lining the walls.

It’s wide enough for a dozen people, steaming like a cauldron over a fire…no, not fire. This is the earth’s breath, warmed in its belly, and exhaled into this hidden chamber.

My gaze locks onto the bottom where two black, bulging shapes lie nestled in the liquid embrace. They glint with a slick sheen, like obsidian stones smoothed by the relentless flow of water.

Dragon eggs.

Spinning, I study her belly.

Is it just me, or is she a little narrower now?

It takes a moment for reality to set in.

Two dragon eggs are cradled in the hot spring, safeguarded in nature’s own incubator. Even in the grip of winter, this is a sanctuary that will remain untouched by frost. Here, the hatchlings will know nothing of the cold, nurtured by the earth’s unfailing warmth.

The perfect place.

Consumed with joy and pride, a knot of emotion clogs my throat. “Oh, Dame. They’re beautiful.”

She chuffs in acknowledgment.

The gleam of the glow worms the size of my forearms casts shadows across Dame’s scales, blue and purple playing over her reddish-brown hide. Her feelings ripple through our connection, contentment laced with a thread of unease.

As I stand at the edge of this steaming pool, watching those eggs like submerged treasures, her anxiety seeps into my bones.

Will they be safe?

The drachen have already killed a juvenile dragon. We don’t know if they’re able to kill adult dragons, but they are certainly capable of instilling the majestic creatures with so much fear they flee without thought.

I inspect the well-lit stone walls.

“I will do everything I can to keep your babies safe, Dame. I promise you.” I am certain Dame feels my resolve and intentions through our bond. “We’ll guard them together.”

She chuffs again.

This magnificent, terrifying dragon trusts me.

Something I don’t take lightly.

Dame nudges me gently, her nostril nearly the size of my head. Her breath is warm against my shoulder, and I place a hand upon her jaw, drawing strength from her presence. Outside I can feel Chirean, her mate, approaching.

I whisper a prayer to Pera, goddess of families, along with any other god who might be listening. “Grant us the strength to endure, to overcome. Let this be their sanctuary.”

I peer into the depths, where life, patient and unseen, awaits. A fierce emotion blooms behind my ribs.

No matter what, these eggs must be protected from any and all threats. And while not much exists that can threaten mature dragons, the alarm that spread through the flock when they sensed the drachen suggests that the shadowy monsters can.

Yet another reason to do everything in our power to destroy that nightmare fodder.

Once and for all.