Page 64 of To Touch A Silent Fury (The Bride of Eavenfold #1)
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B raxthorn was apoplectic when he heard about the proposal. For a moment, I thought he might actually kill Ban, kinship be damned. It was only the ladies’ carriage, travelling only ten or twenty feet behind our own as we headed to the Vidarium, that kept his anger to a normal volume.
My own reaction was practiced laughter, accusing Banrillen of utter stupidity, and I could tell it rankled him.
He had wanted to shock me far more than he wanted to shock my father.
For all his dislike of book reading, sometimes he read me too well.
He could tell I cared about the girl in some capacity, and I knew it was half the reason he had fallen to one knee.
I had to ensure he only believed I pitied her, as one might a kicked dog or a sick child.
Yet any time I thought of the sight of her, face bared to the moonlight, dress puddled on the stone slabs as the golden beads rolled away from her…
The image of her tear-stained face enraged me, burnt in my head like Stormnoon’s visions.
If it was in my power to stop that happening ever again, I would do it in a heartbeat.
We sat in silence for the final hour’s ride to the Vidarium, and after spending the first discussing my own prospects, and the second hearing my brother get the earful of his life about his , it was vastly my favourite hour of the journey.
After the first hour, we were fully out of the breadth of Droundhaven and into the fields and pastures, dotted with the occasional hamlet.
Now, we were off the main merchant’s road and onto the old road.
Several centuries prior, after Courvin conquered the land under the banner of the Five, the Vidarium had become a proud stronghold, positioned on a hill overlooking the flatlands.
Droundhaven had been little more than a port town, then, and the Vidarium’s fortress was the jewel.
It fell out of frequent use two centuries ago, its defensive position over Droundhaven waning as the battles took place further afield and the allyship between Sight and Scent grew enough to leave it at half-mast. Then, over one hundred years ago, Skirmtold burnt it down, killing the handful of men inside and melting half the towers.
For fifty years it was left untouched, as if cursed by the dragon’s breath.
Until my grandfather Norgallin rebuilt it: restored the towers, carved new doors, and cut back the overgrown trees enveloping its stone carcass.
It became the Vidarium, the home of the wyverns.
Here, we bred the wyverns and bonded each of them to a selected soldier over the course of a season.
In my grandfather’s lifetime, it had seen fifty wyverns.
I stared up through my window as the horses pulled us up the hill. Tens of wyverns careened overhead, so high in the noon sky, blotting against its brightness, that I could not tell greens from yellows. At last count, there were over two hundred wyvern riders amongst our soldiers .
Braxthorn the Breeder, I thought, with a smile. I’m sure he’d fucking hate that nickname, but perhaps it was best suited to his deeds.
The wyverns were far smaller, each wing barely longer than its rider was tall, but they were still a sight to behold. I wondered what Courvin would make of it now, the jewel of his conquest now a decidedly different gem.
I’d requested to travel on dragonback myself today, but my father wanted to save that demonstration of strength for later.
I realised then why Braxthorn had chosen this day trip.
It was an intimidating sight. The caws of the wyverns, the healthy fields spread out around it, and the five round stone towers, nearly twenty-five feet across and several times as high.
We trundled past the base of one now, and even craning my neck, I could not see full to the top of the nearest tower.
Courvin had originally built the towers to half their current height, intended as grand funeral pyres on top of the largest natural hill, as the Five commanded.
The remnants of the scaffolded staircase on the near side still showed from where the fortress’ citizens would carry the dead up.
Drawings existed from his plans, and even at those dimensions, they were a massive undertaking.
They were not used as funeral pyres any longer.
They were nests, hollow on the inside with room for dozens of wyverns, and a large shallow bowl at the top for a dragon.
Braxthorn was showing these women what a dragon kingdom truly looked like. What we could unleash, if needed.
We reached the flat of the hill, and I stepped from the carriage before it had come to a halt, needing to escape the stifling and weighty silence of my father’s disappointment, even if I was fucking glad that for once I had not invited it myself.
I thought of her, as I had every minute of every hour since I walked away from her. I hoped she had discovered our trip, and used the time to run as far away from Droundhaven as possible .
After last night’s festivities, I had indicated to my father that Lady Elissa was currently my least terrible option. He took the liberty of also inviting Princess Margot, in case my mind could be swayed.
The two women, dressed spectacularly in pastels with parasols, looked overheated already as they stepped free of the carriage.
Banrillen was under strict orders to mention his engagement to no one, and I was certain Braxthorn would look for any way to get him out of it.
I, too, hoped he would desert his plan. If anything, I was grateful Margot was there.
The Princess of the Tastelands had been hand-picked for me, but perhaps Banrillen could be persuaded to take her off my hands instead.
I offered Lady Elissa my arm, and we began our tour.
She was less meek today, and surprisingly both excited and somewhat educated on the topic of dragon breeding.
She asked good questions and listened intently to the answers.
I found her company pleasant enough, and I even laughed when she shrieked at a young unbonded wyvern who bounded towards her.
Later, we supped on Tastelands bread and figs paired with Scentlands cheese and wine. I forced myself into conversation with Princess Margot, finding lighter topics and thus discovering her a fair conversationalist.
The sun was setting in the central open courtyard when my father stood and nodded to me.
Finally. Chaethor had been nearby all day, and it was frustrating that I couldn’t see her. With all the drama of the last week, we’d barely interacted since returning from the north. I strode out into the courtyard along with my father.
Braxthorn spread his hands as he backed into empty space. “Lady Elissa, Princess Margot. I hope you have enjoyed the day’s tour around the Vidarium. But you did not come to the Sightlands just to see its wyverns. ”
The women turned in their chairs. Banrillen kept eating, not looking up from his plate.
Braxthorn whistled, and even high in the orange-tinged clouds, I heard the answering roar.
Is it time? Chaethor yawned.
Yes, I said. Time to stretch those wings.
Did you have anything in mind?
I smirked as Kallamont’s huge shadow cast against the clouds, and then he dived down, punching through the wisping air and into sight. It will be hard to top my father’s flair.
We ought to try, then, she rumbled. Can’t let the old man win.
My thoughts exactly.
Kallamont flared his huge wings as he pulled up from his spiralling nosedive.
At just over eight spans of age, he was Braxthorn’s true eldest child by a few years, his wingspan a third larger than Chaethor’s.
Dragon wings kept growing throughout their lives, though the rest of their growth would be far slower.
The adult sapphire dragon dropped onto the ground, his claws sinking into the sun-dried mud and his wings sending a gust of wind, knocking over a nearby table.
Princess Margot gasped as Kallamont tucked his wings to his side with a growl.
The dragon’s brown eyes flickered across us warily as Braxthorn stepped over to mount him. Around us, the attendants were searching the skies for the ruby dragon, craning their heads back to nervously study the empty golden clouds.
Once seated, my father shot me a look dripping with impatience.
I smiled. Now.
In one beat of her wings, Chaethor appeared over the Vidarium’s eastern wall, flying low. She screeched, and everyone ducked, including Banrillen. Lady Elissa swooned as Chaethor dropped over the wall .
Just a little closer. I caught the twinkle in her eye as she approached, fast.
The moment her head passed, I raised my hand to the sky, the loop of my belt held stiff above it. I’d only just grabbed hold with my other hand when she yanked me entirely off my feet.
My arms screamed as she pulled me into the sky by the thick leather.
My legs dangled as she pulled quickly up, and my feet skimmed the edge of the roof tiles of the western wall.
She beat her wings, pulling us higher. Below, already far below, I heard Braxthorn’s yell as he commanded Kallamont into the sky.
But it was my body they all watched, staring up at me as I hung from one claw of a ruby dragon.
Are you ready? She asked.
My arms will give out soon enough, I thought, my mind as breathless as my body, buffeted by the evening air. So I have to be.
Your confidence is astonishing.
She beat her wings again, and then she spun, rolling in the sky as she released the belt, throwing me upwards to the clouds. For a moment, I was suspended in it, at home in the vaporous air. Then I was falling back towards the Vidarium.
I could see their faces, tiny pale circles, but not yet their expressions, as I plummeted back towards the roof. The wind hit against me as I spread my arms and legs to slow my ever-quickening descent. I blinked as the air pulled tears from my eyes, my face warped by its sheer force.