Page 11

Chapter 11

Marius

M arius cleared his throat, straightened, then bowed to the king and queen with as much dignity as he could manage after tripping over a dragon. Ophelia curtseyed alongside him.

Queen Revna smirked. “A legendary dragon rider who trips over the beast’s tail? There must be something truly interesting in the crowd to have distracted one as experienced as you, High Captain.”

Only recently had the royals been taking part in festivities on the mountain. Marius wished they’d never come.

Gaius’s intense stare was practically scorching Marius’s cheek. Marius did his best to act as though nothing was amiss and the mere sight of Tahlia’s arresting curves hadn’t swept his feet right out from under him. There had been a dragon tail involved, but he never would have tripped so easily had it not been for the shock of desire that had hit him upon seeing Tahlia.

“I didn’t sleep as much as I would have liked, Your Majesty,” Marius said to the queen. It was true and tasted so on his tongue, but it wasn’t the whole truth.

The queen raised an eyebrow. Her eyes were so odd, completely human and icy pale. “Right.”

King Lysanael smiled at his wife, then his eyes drew downward and he pursed his lips. “I’d like to mention my fallen brother as we open. Would that break any cultural norms, Commander Gaius?”

“Mist Knights always honor our fallen,” the commander said, bowing slightly. “Please, feel free to express your respect for your loved one.”

King Lysanael rose from his temporary throne and extended a hand to his queen, who took it and stood with him. “Greetings, knights, nobles, and folk of the mountains.”

The crowd bowed and curtseyed, their gazes locked on the dais as they studied the king and queen, the commander, Marius, and Ophelia.

“What is wrong with you?” Ophelia hissed.

“I tripped.”

“I noticed, but you seem flustered.”

Ophelia’s glance went from his face to the crowd.

Marius didn’t want to know if she saw Tahlia and could read anything from the way he had looked at the competitor. He focused his gaze on the back wall.

King Lysanael was recounting the history of the older brother he’d lost to the weather here in the Shrouded Mountains. “All he wanted was to be one of the knights of legend, to ride into the clouds to glory.” The king bowed his head and his chest moved in a deep, slow breath. Queen Revna took his hand in hers. He smiled at her, then regarded the crowd once more. “I honor him by attending this year’s tournament. In his name, I will give the next Mist Knight named a parcel of land near my winery, a place dear to my heart.”

The crowd let out a cheer of excitement.

The king raised a hand to quiet them. “Now, I believe it’s time for the Presentation of Competitors!”

Another shout of joy went up and filled the great hall with noise. Marius wished this pageantry was over because the sooner they flew with the competitors, the better. The breeze this morning smelled of a storm.

Gaius went to the other end of the dais and called up the competitors as the king and queen took their seats.

“Lord Renwall of Turnlington,” the commander called out.

Renwall stalked up the steps to Marius, who was required to kiss both the male’s cheeks in a ridiculous old tradition.

“What is the deal with the kissing?” the queen whispered as Renwall walked away from the dais.

Ophelia gave the queen a polite smile. “At the very first tournament, the High Captain of that time kissed his lead rider for luck. The rider ended up abed with a fever while the rest went flying to drive back pirates coming inland up north. All of the dragons and their riders died that day except for the one who had been ill. That’s why the High Captain’s kiss is known to be good luck. It’s an odd tradition, granted. But we are used to it.”

Queen Revna shrugged. “I’m all for more kissing.” She winked at Marius, then cut her eyes in the direction of the crowd.

He knew where she was looking and forced himself not to follow her gaze to Tahlia. Ophelia would notice and there would be more questions.

Marius twisted slightly to look at Arkyn, Her Majesty’s dragon. “Is your dragon feeling under the weather?” He mentioned the dragon to get the queen’s focus off of him, but Arkyn did seem a bit lethargic.

The queen snorted. “He ate too many of those fine blueberries your staff provided.”

Gaius called out another competitor.

“Serves you right, little monster,” the queen whispered to the dragon.

Well, she wasn’t the queen he had expected. Far too relaxed for a public appearance.

Marius kept kissing competitors until the moment he had been dreading arose.

“Lady Tahlia of Northwoods.”

He stared at the back wall like it held the answer to every mystery in life.

And then she was standing in front of him. In those body-hugging leathers. With that pouty mouth of hers.

He swallowed, looked at her perpetually smiling face, and shifted to the left to kiss the first cheek.

“Thanks again for the armor,” she whispered.

Stiffening, he leaned right to finish the job. She needed to keep that to herself. If Ophelia heard that… Her father probably already knew about the kindness he’d shown Tahlia, but it wasn’t all bad. They had helped out competitors with lighter purses in past tournaments. But Ophelia would have serious questions if she found out.

“I said thank you .”

He grunted. Tahlia’s scent enveloped him—something like lemon and spring leaves—and he kissed her second cheek. Her skin was so soft. She said another couple of words, but his heart was beating and he was so worried that he didn’t hear any of it. She was gone from the dais in what felt like both the shortest and somehow the longest moment of his life thus far. Well, perhaps not as long as that one day in battle with the pirates, but still…

He forced himself not to watch Tahlia leave the dais as Gaius called another competitor’s name.

“Marius.” Ophelia’s voice was a whisper. “What was she thanking you for?”

“I interviewed her.” Not a lie…

“So it went well.”

He clenched his jaw. “She knows more about dragons than I did when I first competed for my place.”

Ophelia nodded.

“She is reckless, but I’m hoping it isn’t a constant with her,” he said, tightly.

“None of it matters if she can’t fly or fight better than the rest.”

“True.”

His gaze disobediently strayed to where Tahlia now stood with the knights, their families, and their staff. Maybe she would fail the first trial and his life would go back to normal. He took a deep breath and forced his focus back to King Lysanael and Queen Revna, who had stood.

“Thank you for welcoming us so kindly,” the king said to the crowd. “We look forward to a day of what you do best—dragon riding!”

A cheer rang through the hall and though a few of the competitors wore wide smiles, a couple looked ready to spill their breakfast onto the ground. He wouldn’t look at Tahlia, but he could guess she was one of the smiling ones.

“Are you thinking about our engagement announcement?” Ophelia eyed him, a bit of what seemed like genuine joy in her eyes.

“When should we tell everyone?” he asked, carefully avoiding her direct question.

The presentation was over and the knights, commoners, and nobles began to disperse, heading out the main doors.

“At the announcement of the winner maybe?”

He nodded and imagined his life as a checklist. He had gained the rank of High Captain. Helped the order grow stronger. Bonded with a dragon successfully. And now he had the promise of the commander’s daughter’s hand in marriage. Everything was progressing according to his long-term plan.

Ophelia took Marius’s arm and they followed the crowd. Excited conversations were broken by the occasional roar of a dragon. Earlier, the squires had assembled the mounts in the arena. Onlookers could enjoy the sight as the first trial—ground weapons—started.

Inside the now packed and chaotic arena, Marius gave Ophelia’s hand a kiss and they broke away, each heading to their judging position on opposite sides of the two rings set up at the northern end of the arena. Competitors and their squires practiced in dirt tracks along the sides of the public seating. Nobles and the common folk filled the public seating on the raised sets of benches arranged on both sides of the tournament grounds. King Lysanael, Queen Revna, Arkyn the forest dragon, and Gaius climbed into the royal box to watch the proceedings.

The first knight to arrive in Marius’s ring was, of course, Tahlia with her short gladius sword in hand. Palms sweating, he swallowed and maintained an emotionless expression that was proper for judging.

“Hello again!” She waved like children did, so enthusiastic and witless.

This was a deadly tournament and a serious possible appointment to the Fae military. She needed to stop acting so damn happy. It was going to get her killed.

Her opponent entered the ring. Twice her size, muscled like an ox, and wearing well-oiled and tidy armor, this male was the perfect competitor. A likely winner. The male showed calm, attention to detail, and the correct level of sober attitude. Good. Tahlia would lose immediately, and it would be the beginning of the end for her here on the mountain. He should never have helped her with new armor or passed her through the interview. He couldn’t wait for her to be gone.