Page 16 of Lady Dragon

Which left Samansa stewing in more embarrassment and with even more questions than she’d had before, and not a clue how to go about asking them in a way that would be proper.

They sat in silence after that, traveling only another hour or so on a quiet road before they pulled into a small outpost at the edge of a tall forest. When the carriage halted, Cenara grinned at her, nodded farewell, and swung herself out of the door without another word.

Samansa was just leaning forward to see where she’d gone when Kirek vaulted immediately in , landing with rather a lot of momentum in the seat across from her and forcing her to jump back, choking on a shriek of surprise.

As the dragon girl closed the door and sat back as well, her silver eyes seemed to shine even more than usual against the flush on her high cheekbones.

“Hello,” she said, sounding slightly breathless and oddly cheerful, for her, as the carriage started moving again.

Samansa could hear horses falling into pace around them—the other guards. But as she’d imagined, they may as well have been absent, for how far they were. Samansa and Kirek were well and truly alone in the carriage.

“Hello,” the princess replied, her hands fidgeting in her lap, feeling suddenly shy. “You seem excited.” As soon as she said it, she realized how that sounded—that perhaps Kirek was excited to see her .

Maybe as excited as Samansa was, in turn.

But she needn’t have worried about overstepping, because Kirek only shrugged. “I flew here,” she said simply. “I’ve missed flying.”

Of course. Of course that’s all it was. If Samansa could fly, it would probably excite her, too. As it was, she had to settle for mere proximity to flying through the dragon girl.

Which wasn’t so bad, especially not with such little space between them in the carriage. Kirek was definitely getting the short end of that stick, as far as what they could offer to each other.

“I’m sorry you have to be stuck in here with me, instead of up in the air,” Samansa said carefully, her hands still twisting in her lap .

“You rate yourself such terrible company?” Kirek asked with a hint of disapproval.

“Well, I am death on people, apparently.” The words were out before Samansa could recall them.

She tried to smile, but it was so forced that she heard the strain in her own voice as she met the dragon girl’s eyes across from her.

“Dara should be here with us. And yet, perhaps no one should stay near me for long.”

Kirek raised one slim, dark eyebrow at her. “ I’m death on people, seeing as I’ve actually killed people. You haven’t.”

“But Dara—”

The dragon girl cut her off sharply. “You didn’t kill Dara.

The assassin did. And I killed him , and the woman before that.

” Her tone softened. “So at the very least, you don’t need to fear for me , or worry about causing me harm.

” She smiled suddenly, with only a flicker of an edge. “As quaint as I find your concern.”

Samansa tried to scowl, but her own smile spoiled it. “You truly don’t mind… staying near me, then?”

“No.” Such a simple word, but delivered with such weight it struck the princess silent for a moment.

Finally, she managed to rally and ask on a playful note, “It’s not beneath you, as a dragon, to watch over me?”

Kirek’s lips twitched. “I didn’t say that .”

Samansa pretended to glare at her, smiling all the more, and then leaned back into her seat and into companionable silence.

A few days on the road passed in easy conversation—as easy as it could be with Kirek, which, against all odds, meant it was getting easier by the day.

They were even beginning to tease each other, something that would have seemed impossible when they first met.

Either the dragon girl had been harboring a hidden sense of humor all along, dry as it was, or else she was learning from Samansa—like she was ostensibly supposed to be doing, but Samansa had highly doubted she was capable of.

Not that Samansa was entirely sure what she could teach Kirek, other than smiling and laughing. While it wasn’t much, she had to admit that humor looked good on the dragon girl.

Samansa did try to explain why the towns they skirted were made less of stone—none of which was the gold-threaded blue marble—and more of wood, the farther they went.

The people lived more simply out here, and paid extra wealth in taxes to the crown in exchange for protection.

Protection from bandits and raiders usually, as opposed to dragons, even though they were drawing closer to the border between the human and dragon realms. Kirek praised their utilitarian style with a gleam in her eye, while mocking them for being unable to protect themselves, though she did it gently.

All humor died within the both of them when they arrived at the site of the dragon attack at the predetermined time. Indeed, the journey here had been pleasant and uneventful, and their destination looked anything but.

Samansa spotted the charred husks of buildings out the window before they’d even stopped. A gasp was sucked out of her like a sudden draft, only a chill left to replace it.

All that remained was ruins. The village was, indeed, leveled.

“This is truly atrocious,” Kirek murmured, peering out the window with her at the smoking remains. She sounded genuinely perturbed.

“And it was dragon fire?” Samansa asked breathlessly, as much as she wanted to scream .

“It could only have been.” Kirek pointed, only calm calculation in her words now. “See how the buildings are blown so far apart like that? Humans don’t have weapons that can do that, or the ability to match the heat of the blaze that swept through here, at least on such a scale.”

No weapons to match a dragon , if it came down to it, or at least none that were in use anymore.

Samansa shuddered minutely under her clothes.

She understood more than ever why, three hundred years ago, the widowed queen had bargained for peace instead of continuing the war that her husband, King Wyleth, had waged.

The War of Fire had been aptly named. This voyage was as instructional for Samansa as it was revealing to Kirek.

Her mother hadn’t only sent her daughter here to keep her safe from assassins or to show the dragon proof of a massacre so she could officially disavow it.

The queen must have anticipated what seeing this would do to Samansa as well.

Find harmony with the dragons. Your rule depends on it.

Perhaps the entire realm depended on it.

Samansa emerged from the carriage on shaky legs, trying not to trip over her skirts, while the guards struggled to calm their dancing mounts.

The horses were spooked, and Samansa was, too.

Her skin prickled as she took in the ruined buildings, the empty square.

The village was a graveyard—none of the inhabitants remained, if there were even many that had survived.

The shattered remains of houses lurked in the haze around them like ghosts, a thin forest rising not far beyond, which luckily hadn’t caught fire.

Samansa had barely gotten her feet under her when Kirek strode forward into the smoke to get a closer look. She wanted to call the dragon girl back, but Kirek had probably been right—there wasn’t anything that could hurt her.

But there was plenty that could hurt Samansa, she remembered, when a terrible roar shook the earth beneath her, making her stumble. Horses screamed and reared.

Kirek was a ways from her, not yet out of sight, when a massive heap of smoking, charred rubble—probably the old town hall—erupted in an explosive shower of splintered wood beams and broken stone.

Samansa couldn’t see for a moment, but then, out of the dust and burning debris, rose a huge, black dragon.

A dragon that had obviously been lying in wait.

For her , she realized with breathless fear, when the dragon turned on her.

The creature only took a moment to balance herself on thick, powerful hind legs, wings spreading into the air and blocking out the hazy sunlight, before the wide spear of her triangular head swiveled and giant green eyes locked onto Samansa.

Far quicker, the serpentine neck, as thick as a tree trunk, bunched and then struck out like a snake—a snake the size of a building.

Teeth as big as swords flashed, and gaping jaws came lunging straight for her.

Those teeth never reached her. Fully expecting to be devoured whole, Samansa had closed her eyes—and opened them on a scene she’d never witnessed before and hoped never to again.

A dragon fight.

A shimmering, purplish-gray dragon had crashed into her assailant, dragging the first strike wide of Samansa and smashing both dragons into the ground.

Surrounding trees swayed and the earth shook beneath the princess, sending her to her knees, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

The black dragon continued twisting and clawing, throwing Samansa’s defender over top and scattering the ruins of several more buildings as if they were toys.

Now the princess saw, as they both careened into each other and the soot rubbed off scales, that the attacking dragon was more brown than black, and was far bigger than the newcomer.

But the newcomer was faster. She struck like twin daggers, there and gone, to the other dragon’s slower, heavier broadsword movements, her tail lashing behind her like a cat’s before she crouched and struck as quick as lightning.

Cat , thought Samansa deliriously, tears springing to her eyes, a fierce pressure squeezing her chest as she felt her fingers digging into the charred earth.

The purplish-gray dragon was Kirek . It was now as plain as day, and not only because of the silver eyes. She was also the most beautiful creature Samansa had ever seen.

And she was fighting for her life.

The other dragon was using her greater strength and weight to try to pin Kirek.

The smaller dragon was mostly avoiding those attempts as they rolled through the wreckage and reduced the remains of the village to dust. But all it would take was one successful attack, the princess knew, and it would be over.

Samansa couldn’t stand the thought of watching Kirek die.

When will I get to return the favor and save you ?

I eagerly await the day .

The guards had formed a huddle around the princess, but they were too focused on the brawling dragons to notice Samansa draw into a crouch and duck behind them.

By the time they spotted her slipping away, she was already well exposed—and running toward the fight.

She heard their cries behind her, but she ignored them.

“You want me, don’t you?” Samansa heard herself shrieking at the top of her lungs as she ran, barely in control of her own voice. “I’m right here!”

Dragons had excellent hearing, it turned out.

As Samansa had hoped, the giant brown dragon immediately ceased her assault on Kirek, those green eyes refocusing on the princess.

Scaled limbs and tail flexing, the dragon coiled, snakelike once again, ready to strike.

This time, Samansa could see a glow deep between the teeth barring that cavernous throat—ready to complete with fire what jaws alone hadn’t managed before.

The dragon’s neck extended, her mouth opening to reveal uncurling flame that ironically froze the princess in her tracks—

But Kirek struck first.

Samansa didn’t know if Kirek had been hesitant to slay the other dragon during that first strike, but there was no hesitation in her now.

This time, she went for the kill. Her teeth found their target and sank to the bone in the brown dragon’s throat.

And then she tore . Flesh ripped and blood sprayed like a castle fountain, followed by gouts of fire that found a new exit—away from the princess.

The great dragon came crashing down just feet away from Samansa, the huge green eye staring at the sky even as her limbs still shuddered, a wide chunk of her neck missing, the gaping wound sizzling and steaming and oozing.

All it had taken was one successful attack, just as it would have in reverse. And Samansa had given Kirek the opening by charging into danger. The princess could hardly believe she’d done it—her legs were shaking and her head felt as light as the smoke and ash drifting in the air.

Neck swiveling, Kirek whipped around to look at her, blood dripping down her scaled chin, her silver eyes narrowing across the too-short distance between them.

And then she roared at a deafening volume.

The wind of it blasted the princess’s hair away from her face, sending her skirts snapping like a banner.

If Samansa had been expecting thanks for jeopardizing herself, she was sorely mistaken. But she got the message anyway, even if her ears were ringing too much to hear anything:

Get back.

“You’re welcome,” Samansa said breathlessly.

And then she picked up her skirts and ran, returning to the safety of the guards’ circle—even if it was only a false sense of safety she found therein. They held up swords and shields, creating a wall with their bodies, but now she was certain.

There was only one who could truly protect her. And it wasn’t anyone human.

She watched the beautiful dragon prowl around the other’s corpse, hissing and growling, making sure the creature was dead.

Once more, Kirek had saved her life—three, four times now? And yet, Samansa had saved her in turn, if only by risking her own life to serve as a distraction, and even if the dragon girl wouldn’t thank her for it.

That had to count for something. And yet the princess knew, with a sinking feeling as her eyes slid along those metallic purple-gray scales as if bewitched, that she could never repay such a debt.

How could she ever be worthy of one such as her ?

The dragon’s chest suddenly flared a purple so brilliant that Samansa had to shield her eyes, leaving behind only the huge creature’s outline after the light receded—and a human-looking girl standing in her place.

A furious -looking girl with blood all over her mouth. At least Kirek was wearing her usual leathers instead of striding toward Samansa naked. She was even still armed. The Heartstone must deem clothes or armor as vital as scales, and swords and daggers as advantageous as claws and fangs.

Samansa gritted her teeth against the oncoming storm and gave her a little wave.