Page 59 of Flameborne: Fury (Emberquell Academy #2)

~ brEN ~

It felt like I never took a step forward without a new obstacle to face.

Inside, I was brittle, like glass—with warm, bubbling water underneath.

Donavyn stared at me with such love, the bond resonated with it. I was so sure of him.

But the King?

Visions of the Queen’s haughty dismissal wanted to crowd in and feed my fear, but I pushed those memories aside.

Donavyn had stood her down. For me. He loved me.

I didn’t fear the King’s dismissal. I feared his wrath. Feared he’d see me as nothing but a shiny object that distracted his General.

But Donavyn, who knew him best, was certain it was the best course.

I didn’t want Donavyn hurt for my sake. Again. I sighed and reached for Akhane. ‘Do you know the royals? Do you trust them?’

She sighed wearily in my head, her bond churning and burning, her heat still pulling her from everyone but Kgosi, though its fire burned lower than before.

‘I don’t understand the human ways, or their leaders,’ she admitted. ‘But I know my mate’s heart. And I know the King holds him in regard. Yours as well. I think we must trust our males, rather than the King.’

Donavyn’s grip on my arms tightened and his expression tensed. “Bren, I wouldn’t ask this of you if I wasn’t sure—”

“I believe you,” I breathed hurriedly, pushing myself to get the words out.

Donavyn went still, his mouth slightly open.

I nodded to answer the questions echoing in the bond. “I believe you,” I repeated. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do, or think. But I trust your judgment. And I don’t want him to hurt you because of me,” I admitted.

Donavyn’s brows pinched. But he didn’t deny the possibility.

“Thank you,” he said simply, then reached up to cup my face.

I sighed and leaned into that touch, knowing that in moments we’d be mounting the dragons again and flying from here and who knew how long it would be before we were truly alone again?

That thought sent a spear of panic through me. I grabbed for him, and either his fear matched mine, or he responded to mine, because as quickly as I drew him close, he came for me, taking my mouth, hugging me to his chest, surrounding me in his thick, strong arms.

The kiss grew deep and heavy quickly, and for a moment I wanted to throw the rest away and join with him again. The dragons murmured and weaved. All of us churning and tensing.

But then Donavyn tore out of it, still holding me, but dropping his head back, eyes squeezed shut, fighting for control.

“I want to, Bren. God, I want to. But—”

“No, you’re right. We have to go,” I gasped, forcing myself to step out of his grasp and push away the need. But he only growled and grabbed for me, pulling me back until I was held against him again. I sagged into his warmth, breathing easier when he was that close.

Hands in my hair, he stared down at me, teeth bared with the internal fight. “We have to,” he said grimly, his eyes never leaving mine. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I wish it were different.”

I nodded. “Me too,” I whispered.

He shook his head slowly. “So brave,” he murmured. “I’m sorry we can’t throw this life away and leave it together. I’m sorry there are tasks. But this duty is our life as Furyknights.”

I shrugged, blinking back tears. “As long as we can live it together. I want a purpose too, Donavyn. I just…”

“I know. Me too.”

We held each other for a long moment then both turned towards the meadow and Kgosi who was leading the way. We turned back to the job we had to do.

Together.

~ DONAVYN ~

Bren was pale when I left her at the launch hollow, promising to help the stablehands prepare the dragons for our flight.

I almost lost my nerve.

She didn’t question once. Didn’t call me back. Didn’t flinch—only met my eyes and nodded, reaching for me through the link.

‘We’ll be ready when you come back. I guess we’ll find out how far the link reaches, right?’

Oh fuck. I hadn’t even thought of that.

‘I love you,’ I sent, even in the link my voice was hoarse with emotion.

‘I love you too. And I trust you.’

It was a gift. A precious fucking jewel and I couldn’t kiss her, couldn’t touch her under the watchful, round eyes of stableboys who’d come assist us, or the wary gazes of Furyknights still remembering Kgosi’s roars, and able to see the scaffolding already being erected on my building where he’d torn the roof open.

They’d have it mended before we returned.

Turning away from her to march towards the Palace felt like walking towards the executioner's axe.

But we continued to murmur words in the bond until the link slowly faded as I trotted up the road towards the Palace.

The moment I couldn’t hear her anymore, I panicked and stopped in my tracks, turned, stretching for her, preparing excuses for the King in my mind, and—

‘Donavyn, go. It’s the only way to convince him that this bond is an asset to him. If you can’t leave her for a moment—’

‘He doesn’t understand! The bond will ease with time—but she’s there now and—’

‘Go.’

I knew Kgosi was right. Knew I’d insist to any Furyknight in the same boat that he continue on his mission. Knew it was necessary to our jobs that we become accustomed to separation—even small ones like this.

Minutes. It would be counted in minutes. And it would lead to greater freedom for us. Wouldn’t it? It better. I had a job to do. But I also had a mate.

And as I turned back to the Palace and forced my feet forward, I raised my chin and my brows drew down, because in all the panic of leaving her, I’d almost forgotten the most important detail.

Forcing myself away from Bren, the stones of the road ground under my boots with each footfall until I felt the shape of them even through the soles. Because I took each step with the same vigor and conviction with which I would avenge her.

She had been violated. By men who called themselves honorable. By men who should have become her brothers-in-arms. By men who the world looked up to and admired.

I wanted to vomit.

I wanted to curse.

And I wanted to close my hands on one particular throat and squeeze until the light left his eyes.

She remembered the so-called friend calling that bastard who hurt her, Talon.

Ruin.

Named Talon by his dragon.

I ground my teeth as surely as I ground the dirt and pebbles under my feet.

She was so precious, so willing to love, she’d opened herself so fully, yet she’d held back his face and his human name. She’d tried to protect him from me—for my sake.

Kgosi’s remembered warning growled in my head—a mate protects a mate. Even my dragon thought I shouldn’t know. Yet, I knew if it were possible for a dragon to be raped and violated like that, he would have burned the world down to avenge his.

The fire in me burned, and my mind turned to vengeance.

I’d never wanted to murder a brother before. But now that I knew what he’d done, I could figure out who had likely committed this heinous act with him.

All I wanted was revenge.

That little circle we’d sent on the mission the day Bren was Chosen—God, I should have made that connection the moment she said he wasn’t here—had been tight since the day they met. Six of them. All Chosen within a year. Raised within months of each other. All capable, smart, young. And all Fang.

They weren’t a squad, but friends who’d walked the journey together.

All of them young and cocky, but ear-marked for promotion.

We’d encouraged their kinship, believing their arrogance to be nothing more than the sharp edges of youth—exactly like I’d been at that age.

I’d been certain they’d be humbled by this work, by their dragons. That they’d learn.

Instead, we’d apparently fueled a fire that told those young men they were above not only the law of Furyknight code, but honor as men .

I wanted all of them dead.

But that fucker who’d taken the rest to her? I wanted him to hurt first . And that was a thought I needed to keep to myself, even from my dragon. Not to mention, my King.

As I walked up the road, my feet stomping a rhythm, I used the time to brace and to plan. Because we had another problem that Bren didn’t even know: The King adored Ruin.

I’d been ordered to take a special interest in the lad from the day of his second trial—and I’d agreed with the King’s assessment that he showed potential beyond the norm, so happily made him one of my personal projects.

But I’d had no idea what he was truly capable of. And even less idea how the King might react to this revelation.

Knowing what I’d seen, and what Diaan said of Alexi’s attitude towards women, and after listening to his thoughts when the others had tried to sabotage Bren, I didn’t have great confidence in the King’s ability to see this clearly.

Which left me with a choice.

Oh, I’d still tell Alexi about Bren and our bond. I hadn’t lied to her about that. It was needed, and I did believe I could convince him to keep it secret.

But the truth about Ruin?

Ruin betrayed, harmed, and discarded another Furyknight. For a moment, I relived her deeply rooted sense the inadequacy when she stood next to the man who she’d seen possess such power.

Dear God, it made me sick.

No wonder she didn’t believe I could keep myself in check if I knew his name.

Bless her, she didn’t know she’d betrayed the truth. And I didn’t want her worrying about it, so I hadn’t told her.

I also didn’t tell her because I knew exactly where Ruin had been sent—he’d flown on my orders. I knew what he was doing, and why. And now the question had been raised. Was it possible he was our mole?

Panic flashed in my chest.

Though our reports didn’t come from him directly, that team were part of our eyes and ears in Draeventhall. And if he was a man who couldn’t be trusted with the most sacred and personal relationships, who was to say he could be trusted with Furyknight secrets?

My fear of his access to our secrets tipped over to trembling with the volcanic heat of rage.

I’ll kill him for this. One way or another—

‘Donavyn. Don’t.’

I blinked. ‘You’d have me leave this prick alive? Even when we know—’

‘The penalty among your kind for murder of a Furyknight is death. Yes, Donavyn. I’d urge you to patience—to wait until all other threats have passed, then let the Creator’s plan reveal how you can remove him without risk to yourself.’

‘He doesn’t deserve to live!’

‘No, he doesn’t. But you do.’ My dragon sighed in my head.

‘The easiest path is rarely the right one. We must assess this with wisdom and patience. I must watch the dragons and you must watch the men. Together we can investigate. If he’s betrayed more than her trust, you need to know that before he’s silenced for his crimes. ’

‘We won’t know that because he’s not close enough to be investigated! If we don’t call them back to Vosgaarde—’

‘Donavyn, listen to yourself. You know what you’d say if it were another Furyknight, if you were untouched by the betrayal.’

I rolled my jaw and stomped closer and closer to the Palace, turning that over in my mind and considering it from all angles.

And as the fury within me grew, my dragon became more and more concerned.

‘Donavyn, there is a shadowed corner in your heart. What do you hide from me?’

‘My mate’s wellbeing,’ I muttered in return. ‘As you said, Kgosi—we protect our mates at cost to anything else. And she needs to be protected in this.’

He gave a disapproving rumble and there was a sense of him snorting towards the part of my mind he now couldn’t see. Which is when it occurred to me, those fucking bastards might have hidden this from their dragons.

‘You’re right about one thing, Keg.’

‘You humble me,’ he returned sarcastically. ‘What is that?’

‘We do need time to learn if those boys’ dragons knew what they were doing. I’d be very interested firstly, in whether they knew of this, and if not, how their riders managed to hide such behavior from them.’

‘We share a question there,’ he growled in return.

‘Can you imagine dragons being party to this kind of behavior?’

It took him a moment to answer, which surprised me. Kgosi rarely had to assess before he spoke. ‘I do not want to imagine it… but life and the Creator’s wisdom tell me… no one is above corruption. I cannot dismiss the possibility.’

That made my guts twist. If we had dragons stepping out of their honor code, and walking with their human pairs into this kind of conduct…

‘Find out,’ I growled. ‘If the dragons weren’t a part of this, it means those men can hide the Kingdom’s secrets from their dragons. And if they can do that, they can hide anything from anyone. Including us.’

‘Not me,’ Kgosi rumbled ominously.

‘Keg, if they were able to block that kind of knowledge, you better believe they can shroud the truth of their loyalties—or otherwise—to the King.’

Kgosi snorted his derision, but I also felt the crawling in his skin. ‘Don’t worry, Donavyn. I am as determined as you to find out.’ His words were braided with reluctance because he loathed stepping between dragons and their bondsmen. But he would never allow anything like this to stand.

To my relief, he continued, his disapproval heavy in the link. ‘You the King of your bond. Make a plan. But leave the dragons to me. If they have knowingly betrayed your mate, or the Kingdom, I’ll punish them far worse than you or your King ever could.’

He underestimated me there—but I hid that little twist of cruel delight from him as well.

A knot of unease tightened in my chest when I thought of keeping these secrets from my dragon, but what choice did I have?

Mate came before all. And my mate had been maliciously violated.

Those responsible would pay, whether it placed me under judgment, or not.

I muttered a curse as I turned the final curve in the road to the palace. The land opened before me to reveal the wall and the gate. Guards saw me coming and snapped to attention, two of them running towards me, two back into the castle to notify the King that I approached.

Kgosi still growled warnings and reassurance in my head. I let him believe I’d heard his caution. But in truth, I’d only wait as long as it took to make certain I knew the depth of Ruin’s treason—to women, or to the Kingdom. Then I would handle this.

I wouldn’t leave this in anyone else’s hands. I’d protect her. I’d avenge her broken heart—to my dying breath, I vowed to myself and before God.

In the distance I heard my dragon roar, and many others answer him. But I marched on to face the King and his deceptive, self-serving Queen, and considered how to convince them I needed to contact the team we’d sent away months ago.

Access. First and foremost, I needed access in a way no one would suspect.

But then I smiled. Because I was an honorable man. No one would suspect me of plotting murder on another Furyknight.

No one.