Page 13

Chapter 13

Marius

M arius finished reporting to Gaius, who had wanted every detail about what happened to Tahlia.

“Thank you, High Captain.” Gaius sat back in his chair beside the king and queen. “You should return to your judging because I don’t trust Sir Titus as much as I do you.”

King Lysanael leaned on the arm of his chair. His gaze scanned the arena as the competitors continued their ground-fighting trials. “Who do you believe is responsible for the poisoning?”

“We have no leads on that as of yet,” Marius said.

Queen Revna scratched the underside of her dragon’s chin. Ten seats had been removed from the public seating to allow for Arkyn’s size. “I’ve never heard of ghostmint.”

“It can be used for healing if given in the right doses,” Marius said. “The herb is common in these altitudes.”

“I’ll have to get a sample of that,” the queen said, her icy eyes glittering with fascination.

Marius remembered she used to be an assassin for the human king. “I will see to it, Your Majesty.”

He bowed and returned to the arena. Tahlia was clearly winning, her opponent sweating like a fevered dog and kneeling on the sandy ground. Titus called the result, and after two more rounds that ended in a similar fashion, the ground trials were over and the scribes were tallying points.

Tahlia was in the top five, and Marius wasn’t getting his wish that she would be leaving the mountain.

Marius led the competitors to the dragons assembled at the other end of the arena. “Now you will meet each dragon and they will choose one of you for the next trial.”

“They choose?” A male missing an ear looked at the mounts with wide eyes.

Marius grunted. “Do they not choose their riders at Grimsbrook?”

All of the competitors had trained at one of the dragon riding schools around the realm. Most had the same policies, but differences did arise here and there.

“They used to.” Tahlia’s voice was brighter than it should have been after her terrifying day. “But they are running low on dragons, from what I heard.”

“It is a concern, certainly,” Marius said. “Now, walk past the dragons in a slow and steady line. Allow them to scent you. You will know when you have been accepted or rejected.”

The competitors did as ordered. The male first in line ducked as a Seabreak lashed its head at him. A rejection. He strode past a Heartsworn and two Spikebacks who acted like he wasn’t even there. Finally, a juvenile Green-flanked Terror lowered his head to the male.

“The Terror has chosen you,” Marius explained. “We can only set new riders on a Terror when they are young. You must remember this dragon doesn’t have much rider experience at all and he may dive too quickly during exercises. Keep him in check. If you are capable of doing so. If not, well, you might not last the day.”

The male paled slightly but grabbed the Terror’s reins and led him toward the spot where everyone would takeoff for the flying trial.

More dragons chose more riders and finally it was Tahlia’s turn. The Spikebacks growled in unison as she passed them. Interesting. What didn’t they like about her? Perhaps she still smelled of ghostmint. Dragons loathed the odor of that herb. She came to a stop at the one Seabreak and looked up at the dragon’s ocean-blue head, seemingly unafraid. The dragon lifted its snout and roared, causing a few youngling Fae watching past the fence to scatter.

Tahlia set her hands on her hips. “Come on, gorgeous, I know it’s you.”

“How do you know?” Marius asked.

“I’ve always had an affinity to water. Plus, she feels…right.”

“That’s either incredibly powerful intuition you have, competitor, or you are simply good at pretending. I hope it’s the first or she might strike you down.”

“She won’t.”

Tahlia stepped closer to the Seabreak and the dragon flapped its set of four wings. The shell-shaped, pearly-white stripes along its neck and sides caught the sun and made Marius blink. She was a beautiful dragon.

The Seabreak sniffed Tahlia’s head, then set its snout against her stomach. Tahlia turned, grinning from ear to ear. “See? We are meant for one another!”

“For today’s trials only. You can’t bond unless you win this tournament. She will get over you when you leave. Don’t think she is as loyal as the dragons in the old tales. Bonds like that take years to form and solidify.”

Tahlia rubbed the Seabreak’s neck and cooed at the creature. “Grouchy High Captain thinks you don’t really like me, but we know the truth, don’t we?”

Marius rolled his eyes. He waved at the squires and stable lads standing nearby, then left for the takeoff point.

Remus led Ragewing from the far end of the arena to the point to meet him. Tahlia’s ridiculous conversation with the Seabreak continued behind him.

“Do not attempt to name that dragon, Tahlia.”

He stopped and looked at the ground.

“You mean Lady Tahlia?” she said, her tone joking.

Damn. He hadn’t meant to use her first name without a title. Why did she throw him off so much? Stones, he wished she would just give up this tournament and leave him in peace.

He hurried to Ragewing and mounted up. “Quickly, competitors.” He gave each of their dragons a number, one through seven—all that were left of the competitors after the ground trial.

The other Mist Knights stood at attention near their dragons, present for the pageantry. They didn’t ride in the flying trial. It was all competitors with Marius giving the commands in the air.

Once all the tournament participants were seated on their dragons, Marius waved for them to launch. Ragewing joined the group, spreading his wings and shooting into the darkening sky.

The sword-like perfume of a coming storm rolled through the churning clouds. The dragons cut through the tattered ends of those clouds. They would have to fly low at first so Marius could judge the riders.

Someone let out a whoop and zipped past. Tahlia. Of course. Her eyes shone with joy and she wasn’t even holding on to the reins. He tried to unclench his jaw…

“Slow and in a tight angle formation!” he called out using his powerful voice to be heard over a rumble of thunder.

Would she obey orders or act reckless as she had on the ground?

Tahlia turned her Seabreak and led the rest in forming behind Ragewing and Marius.

“Nice lead, five!”

He could almost feel her smiling. The corners of his mouth twitched and he shook his head. Raising a hand, he led the group on a breathtaking dive. Riding low and close to Ragewing’s neck, he turned to glance at Tahlia. She was just a little mound of white and black on the Seabreak’s back. Numbers six and four were dragging behind. A point from each of them.

Ragewing responded to Marius’s double pat on his scales and pulled up sharply. Tahlia nearly passed him on the right but managed to rein in her dragon and hover in a lovely show of control. She really could ride. Half the others mimicked the movement while the last half were still trying to stop their diving dragons. Number four went into a deadly spin.

Tahlia shouted, but the rising wind stole the words, and then she was launching toward the ground again.

She was going after number four.

“Stop!” he called out.

But Tahlia didn’t look back and her dragon kept on. Young dragons sometimes grew so dizzy they couldn’t stop spinning until they smashed into the ground. Tahlia urged the Seabreak to fly faster than number four and his Spikeback. Tahlia drove her Seabreak under the other dragon, who shrieked in panic and flipped, halting his downward, deadly spiral. The Spikeback rolled and shook his head while number four held on, pale-faced. Spreading his wings, the Spikeback found his direction and soared upward as his rider regained his position in the saddle.

Tahlia returned to Marius, hair ripped from her braids and her cheeks pink. Number four rose up and joined them and the rest of the competitors, who had finally gathered close to hover.

“Thank you, number five,” four called out.

Tahlia waved a quick hand in acknowledgment and looked to Marius. “I apologize for ignoring your command.” He could barely hear her.

“If you had failed,” he said, “you would be out of the tournament. Since you saved a rider, you remain. Let us continue.” Barking orders, he had the competitors and their mounts fly in tight spirals below the lightning-touched gray clouds. He commanded them to fly in a triangle formation, a double square, and then he ordered them to soar into the storm.