Page 17 of Wrath of the Dragons (Fear the Flames #2)

“Yes, I’m sure.” How peculiar must they be for Asena to call them so? I clear my throat. “You’re welcome in our kingdom, but do not expect pious rulers. We’ll be fair, but we do not worship the gods as you do.”

“And if you wish to serve us then slice open your palms and take a blood oath,” Cayden adds.

A gruesome agreement. If someone breaks a blood oath, their blood will slowly boil them alive for several torturous hours.

“I will not have you betraying us on that battlefield or running to a different ruler because the wind influences you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ophir and Asena each say in unison before unsheathing a blade from the ropes around their waists and slicing into their palms. Blood pools on their skin before they let it drop to the earth and state their vows to us.

Their act is not something to take lightly, and it’s not something that can be easily broken.

My head spins from all this new information so I choose to inquire about the Goddess of Flames and her relation to the dragons on another day. There’s only so much knowledge I can absorb before noon. “How will you know when I need you to open the portal back to Vareveth?”

“Will you be able to command your dragons across a great distance?” Asena asks.

“Yes.”

She nods. “We will build a pyre beside the lake. When the time comes to evacuate, command one of your dragons to light it, and we will make haste.” Her eyes soften, making me wonder again how much she knows about dragons and their riders. “I’ll leave you to your goodbyes.”

“Thank you.” I manage a smile, only letting it drop once they’re gone.

I don’t call my dragons down, wanting to watch them fly instead.

They’re magnificent…extraordinary…I’ll never know how someone could look upon them and choose to chain them.

I give Venatrix and Delmira the command to fly to the border, tracking them as they become smaller and smaller as the distance grows, and for a moment I pretend they’re hatchlings again, small enough to perch on my shoulders.

Calithea begins swirling around the spires, and Basilius dips over the waterfall and spreads his wings over Verendus.

I rub at the ache in my chest, forcing myself to stay calm.

“Do you want to know what Ryder was telling me earlier?” Cayden asks, and I wonder if he knows how badly I need a distraction.

“Hmm?”

“Apparently, in the eyes of the gods you’d already be my wife because I killed for you,” he says. “If that’s all it takes to be a husband, I’d say I’m a damn good one so far.”

I roll my eyes. “You don’t believe in the gods.”

“Marriage has reformed me.”

“Atonement isn’t in your skill set, and Elowen Veles is not my name, so don’t start drawing hearts around it on pieces of parchment.”

His eyes darken as he watches my lips form the words, like he’s trying to memorize the shape of them.

Something bordering on obsession crosses his features, all traces of humor disappearing.

His hand twitches at his side like he wants to reach forward and trace my mouth.

He’s always looked like this, even before we were betrothed, like I belong right here with him, and he’ll kill anyone who tries to take me away. “Fuck that sounds good.”

“It doesn’t make it true.”

His eyes flash to my pounding pulse. “Betrothed is an unnecessarily long word, too many syllables.”

“My name has more, and you have no issue saying that.”

“That’s because I love the way your name tastes on my tongue, Elowen.”

Heat and need course through me the longer he stares. If only the urge to have him had died down after our time at the inn, it would be so much easier to distance myself.

“Don’t give me those eyes,” he murmurs, stepping closer but still not touching me. “I’ll carry you back upstairs and keep you there for days.”

“I—” I shake my head. “I’m still upset with you.”

“I’ll get on my knees again if you want an apology. You’ll be loving me by the time I’m finished.”

Oh, sweet gods.

Sorin saves me from myself when he screeches, but the pulse pounding between my legs doesn’t cease even when I turn away from Cayden.

Good boy, I shoot across the bond, but then I see why he cried out.

Asena and Ophir have their hands clasped, their heads bowed, as the air splits in two and a rift of purple and black wisps appears.

I’ve never seen anything like it; it’s like encapsulated colored fog.

Calithea and Basilius cry out as I get closer to the portal, and I stop in my tracks, but Cayden is there, pressing a hand into my back to keep me moving. Their screeches don’t stop, no matter how much I caress the bond, and Venatrix’s and Delmira’s follow from the distance.

My eyes mist over but I don’t let the tears fall. I’ll be back soon, sweetlings.

They screech and screech and there’s nothing I can do to soothe them right now. I’m helpless, powerless, shackled to a duty Ailliard placed on my shoulders since I was a child.

“Just keep walking, love,” Cayden murmurs, wrapping an arm around my waist. I nod, unable to form words past the suffocating guilt. He’s looking at me like he wishes he could take every ounce of my pain and live with it, knowing I’d be free of this agony.

Sorin dives through the portal, and we all follow suit.

The sensation of thousands of tiny feathers dusts over my skin and disappears just as quickly as it came.

My boots crunch in the snow and the crisp mountain air slams into me.

Frost-covered trees and untouched snow stretch on for miles, and the frozen rivers and waterfalls make it look like an enchanted winter kingdom.

Sorin lands beside us and cries out like he’s in pain. I draw two daggers from the sheaths on my thighs, and rush toward him…but there’s no threat. His claws leave gashes in the snow as he paces, and his head thrashes side to side before tipping back to roar.

“Sorin.” I sheathe the blades and run my hand along his leg. “You’re all right. You’ll be back with the others soon.”

“I don’t think it’s that,” Saskia says as Sorin sinks his claws into the earth on either side of me. “We’re in godly land. Creatures sense things we can’t.”

“But they’ve been in godly land before,” I say. “They were fine after Cayden and I released them.”

“They were coming out of confinement.” Cayden sheaths his sword. “Anything feels better than a cage.”

I nod, knowing how true that statement is. “We’ll make our visit as swift as possible, but I should go to Nyrinn first. That’s where Lycus will be.”

I slide my hand down Sorin’s scales one last time before he takes flight, and I lead our battalion away from the misty wall in the distance that keeps the kingdom hidden and turn toward Aestilian one final time.