Page 159 of Flameborne: Chosen

I stood in front of her, the harness in a tangle at my feet, and my arms at my side. God, I was exhausted. “I’m going to ask one of the stableboys to help me. I’ll just tell them it’s because it’s wet.”

Akhane didn’t respond, but she extended her neck and laid her broad face against my chest, then breathed out in a long, low huff that sent steaming hot air washing over my legs and feet and helped to warm some of the chill.

With a half-sob, I hugged her face and held her there, resting my temple against the flat of her nose.‘Thank you,’I sent lamely.

‘It isn’t as bad as you think, Bren. It’s good to ask for help.’

I nodded.‘You go back to the stable. I’ll get one of the boys to help me, then I’ll go to bed.’

‘We will walk to the stables together, Bren.’

‘Thank you.’

I let her go and she nudged me with her snout, then I turned and climbed the inside of the launch hollow. She’d landed in the same spot that she had when she Chose me, so our steps followed almost the exact path we’d walked with Donavyn to the stables for the first time.

There was no one around when we entered the stables, which was a relief. Akhane lumbered next to me. I trotted as quickly as I could up the main aisle, then turned east into the long aisle that had Kgosi’s large stable alone at the end.

My clothing was still wet, though it had been dried some by the fierce winds of flying. But I was cold. I wanted to hurry, so peeled off to the tack room halfway down the aisle to look for one of the stableboys. Usually when they were off, they took stools in there. But it was late and there was no one there. Which meant I had to go wake one of them in the loft.

Dammit.

I patted Akhane with a hand that was almost steady and told her I’d run back. The loft where the stableboys slept was over the southern wing. At least it was closer to the launch hollow, so we’d be done sooner.

I’d just made it to the main intersection of aisles when I heard footsteps approaching from the east and turned, thinking one of the boys was up after all and hoping it was Benji—only to freeze in place because the figure walking towards me wasn’t the small, slight figure of one of the young boys, but the tall, strong form of a man.

A Furyknight.

No,worse.

When he lifted his head and our eyes caught, I would have sworn God had cursed me.

It was Faren.

The moment he recognized me he looked up and to the side, shaking his head like he was complaining to God. But his jaw tightened and even though his hands clenched to fists, he walked on.

Every instinct in my body urged me to run, but I was frozen.

Yet, as he drew closer and his lip pulled into a sneer, he didn’t come for me.

“And they say the Creator doesn’t have a sense of humor,” he muttered, marching closer. “Don’t worry, I’m only here to gather Shani’s things.”

I frowned, I was struggling to breathe. “What… what do you mean?”

“He’s a messenger dragon now—at least for the next three months. He gets moved to the other stables,” Faren spat. “I hope you’re happy. It’s not just me that’s being punished for nothing—it’s my dragon, too!”

I bristled as he drew closer, but my fear rose as well. “I never—it wasn’t—”

“Fucking Commander’s favorite and King’sentertainment.”He put a disgusting, suggestive twist on the word and I shrank—but then I remembered how he’d laughed when I was thrown off my line, and the light in his eyes when he knew he’d beat me to the last rope, and I clenched my hands to fists too.

“It’s not my fault you broke the rules. I didn’t ask you to—”

“Oh, I bet you ask for alot—”

“Shut up!” I hissed, quivering with a toxic mix of rage and fear. “That’s not true!”

He huffed and shot me a knowing look. He was almost at my side now. I would have moved, gotten out of his way, but I didn’t know which aisle his tack room was in, and I was worried I’d just step into his path, so I folded my arms across my chest and stood my ground, praying he couldn’t see me shake.

When he reached my side he muttered a curse and shook his head and looked like he would continue past—but then he stopped and turned to face me, his jaw tight.