Bound By Dragons: A Standalone Fantasy Romance, page 11
“Why were you in the latrine? Tell me you weren’t so worried that I would die that it made you sick. Tell me it was the asparagus they served during rest time.”
Fara snorted. “I would if I could, my lady, but asparagus never gave me Tahlia-level anxiety.”
“Asparagus is good like that. Eh, do you have any idea what Marius’s squire just told him?”
“No. What happened? Where is the High Captain? Maybe it’s something about the queen’s dragon, Arkyn.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Arkyn took the last hour of the tournament to invade the kitchens.”
“Oh, dear.”
“More like oh, blueberries. Even part of the great hall is tracked with dragon footprints.”
Tahlia politely declined a healer’s attention and tried to be excited for the coming pronouncement. Would it be her? Could she dare to hope?
“Do you have any cake?” she asked Fara.
“How did you know?” Fara pulled a small pink circle from her pocket. “Never mind. Dumb question.” She handed it over. “I’ve had more than enough, so eat the whole thing, Lady Tahlia. Please.”
“Oh, it’s not for me.”
Tahlia hurried to where the stable hands and healers were tending to the dragons. Her Seabreak tossed her head and snorted at Tahlia’s approach. Fara took the Seabreak’s reins from one of the hands and held the dragon loosely as Tahlia offered up the treat to the dragon.
“I promised,” Tahlia said to the Seabreak. “And I don’t break my promises.”
The dragon sniffed the cake and glanced at a stable hand, who was eyeing them judgmentally.
Tahlia rubbed the Seabreak’s cyan side. “Ignore him. You compromised up there with me and I insist you enjoy a special dessert.”
Finally, the dragon nibbled the cake from Tahlia’s palm. The beast’s lips tickled her skin and she felt as though her face might crack from grinning too much. She set her forehead against the Seabreak’s and both of them exhaled.
“Thanks again for not dropping me to my death. I know my inexperience was an issue.”
The great creature snuffled against her neck, blowing back her messy black waves.
“Wish me luck in there, all right?”
The Seabreak huffed a hot breath that smelled of fire, and that was about as good as one could get for a well-wish from a dragon.
“…and if she wanted your opinion, she would give it to you!” Fara was waving a fist at the judgmental stable hand.
“Will you bring her back to the stables?” Tahlia asked Fara. “I’ll meet you inside.”
“As you say, my lady.” Fara gave the stable hand a glare and led the Seabreak the same way Remus had already directed Ragewing to go.
Tahlia looked around as she began the short walk to the great hall. Marius was still notably absent and most of the Mist Knights and competitors had already left for the announcement. Heart beating in her mouth, Tahlia walked on, heading closer and closer to the moment that would either make or break her dreams.
Chapter 19
Marius
In his chamber, Marius flexed his hands at his sides as his valet unlaced his leather vest. His valet quickly dressed him in a dark blue tunic trimmed in gold thread, black trousers, and black boots. His valet brushed his hair out and tied it back in a simple queue.
“That’s fine. Thank you.” Marius urged his valet to take the rest of the night off. He had no patience for any more fussing. Plus, there was little time for it.
His mind threw out images of Tahlia flying, her small body poised expertly on her dragon like she’d been born in the saddle. The light in her eyes that turned to fire when she focused on the mock enemies… She was a wonder. Gaius was right to be awed and to make note of her courage.
His mind wove images of memories that had never happened. He threw Tahlia on his bed and she let her knees fall open. Her skin glimmered in the candlelight and the soft spot halfway up her thigh tasted like salt and sugar. A surge of want cascaded through him, heating him to an unbearable degree. He imagined crawling on top of her and binding her wrists to the headboard with his whip. Swallowing, he could almost see the way her head dropped back as she moaned and closed her eyes as he drove into her, showing her that she was his and his alone.
Smashing a fist into the plaster between the stones of his bedroom wall, he snarled.
His mind was a terrible master. Those things would never happen. Of course they wouldn’t. But he had to break his engagement with Ophelia. It was quite clear he couldn’t be loyal to her. Not after the way Ophelia had begun treating her dragon. She never would have done that when she first signed on. He’d spoken to her about the rough behavior toward the creature numerous times. And also, he couldn’t ignore the way his body—and his heart—had been inspired by Tahlia. Even if the worst happened, the engagement had to end.
Crashing into the chair at his desk, Marius leaned forward and gripped his head. His chest shuddered. He would fail Bellona, his beloved sister.
I just can’t do it, Sister. Can you forgive me? I will still be the best Mist Knight I can, but this, I can’t do this. Ophelia’s bloodline is ideal, but the situation is not what I’d thought… Nothing is as I had thought it was. His throat was thick and he gritted his teeth.
Nothing was going according to plan. Absolutely nothing.
I’m so sorry I have failed you, Bellona.
Marius went to his desk and reread the message that Remus had reported. He crushed the parchment in his fist and growled. Damn it, Tahlia. He pressed his fist against his forehead and wished there were some way out of this. But rules were rules for a reason. And he had dedicated his life to the Order of the Mist Knights.
Shaking his head, he threw the note to the floor and stormed out of his chamber.
Chapter 20
Tahlia
Tahlia gasped as Marius showed up beside her, silent as death. In line for a refill of the dark wine pouring from the crystal fountain, she nearly dropped her goblet. Fara was already saving her a seat in the middle of the table near the western-facing hearth.
“Yes, High Captain? Aren’t you supposed to be up there?” She nodded toward the front of the hall where the king, queen, and Commander Gaius ate at a small table separate from the two other long tables.
“I must speak to you. Privately.”
“You look even stormier than usual.” She was teasing him, but the steel in those eyes made her shiver. It was not an altogether unpleasant sensation.
He didn’t rise to her barb and instead took off out the door, not even watching to see if she would follow. Of course, she did trail him. What was happening? Was this good or bad? She tried to glance at Fara before leaving the great hall, but there were too many servants going this way and that, blocking her view.
Outside, the half-moon had risen like a scythe in the black sky. The heads of the Seabreak and two other dragons showed in the area between the courtyard and the arena. The stable hands were giving the dragons one last walk before sleep, most likely. Marius led Tahlia to a shadowed corner between the keep’s western face and the wall that ran along the courtyard to the arena and the cliff launching point.
Not thirty yards away, he had grabbed her and kissed her hard. Just there. Where the moonlight now cascaded across the rock wall and over the hand-trimmed grass of the courtyard. She could almost feel his fingers digging into her hips. A pulse of warmth between her thighs made her stop before joining him fully in the shadows. The moon’s silver luminescence cut across his cheekbones, and his brow shaded his unblinking eyes. Hands fisted at his sides and body coiled, he looked ready for a fight.
A chill wrapped her in a frosty cloak of doubt.
“Tahlia. I know…” His focus dropped to her boots, and then he looked up again and met her gaze. “…about your blood.”
Her heart hammered in her ears and she dropped back a step. “What?”
“When Albus cut you to test for ghostmint hiding in your veins, the Bloodworkers examined your blood.” His eyes squeezed shut, then opened again, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s how you were able to lie. Did you lie about how long you trained at Grimsbrook? I can’t believe I was so foolish. You lied to me. I thought we understood one another. I thought I’d found someone that actually felt the same way I do about…” He gestured to the sky and shook his head, his jaw clenching.
He meant about flying and dragons, about the life of a Mist Knight. “You did. I do. You can’t be angry.”
“Oh, really? I can’t. How does that work out? Actually, don’t bother saying anything. Every word from your lips could be a lie, human.”
“I’m half-human and it doesn’t matter because I am meant for this. You know it as well as I do.”
“I know nothing about you.”
“Did that taste sour? That had to be a stretched truth. You know everything important. I can fly with the best of them. You, Ophelia, Titus, the other Seabreak rider I saw up there taking scores.”
“Maiwenn.”
“Yes, I’m as good as her too. You know that about me. You know that I care about the other riders on my team and I care about the dragons. That’s more than I can say for your intended mate.”
Wincing, he looked away for a moment. “I have seen those new gloves of hers. She has always been too rough on her dragon. I will confiscate the gloves. Now, stop. Stop talking. We aren’t discussing Ophelia.”
“Are you going to sentence me to death?”
He lifted his head, exposing his throat. “What choice do I have?”
“Does that mean you don’t want to?”
Shifting his focus to her face, he stared, silent. She wondered again how he had received the scar that ran along the side of his handsome visage.
“I’m not the one who did the testing. The Bloodworkers know the truth about you. This cannot be kept secret. Not for long.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you must flee, Tahlia. Run back to wherever you call home. Or somewhere else. Anywhere but in the Shrouded Mountains.”
“I was born in the valley. I’m not human in any real sense of the word. All I know is Fae. And dragons.” Unshed tears burned her eyes and they turned her foul blood to flame in her heart. “I will not run from who I am. I am a dragon rider and I am your next Mist Knight.”
“All you will be is a pile of ash if you don’t escape this place within the next hour.” His gaze had turned pleading, his eyebrows lifted and his hands almost reaching for her, though he kept back just inches from touching her.
“Knights don’t run from a challenge. They fly toward it.”
He lunged, startling her, and he grabbed her arms in a viselike grip. “You must go, Tahlia. Please. I’m already breaking my oath by telling you this and giving you this one chance. I have never, ever broken a rule of the Knights. You with your wild joy and your ridiculous courage have bent my resolve like a storm tosses a willow.”
“You’re the storm.” Like her fingers belonged to someone else, her forefinger found his scar and traced its path from temple to jawline.
He shivered and shut his eyes. “And you light the skies like a second sun and grow happiness in the cold ground of my heart.”
Her soul ached. Her heart beat hard and slow—once, twice. She put her palms over her chest and tried to breathe evenly. She would fall right into the storm that was Marius Leos Valentius, Shadow of the Shrouded Mountains, and delight in every shock of thunder and lash of rain…
When his slitted, gray-black eyes flashed open, his lips parted.
She imagined him crushing her to him. His kiss would taste like his scent—of cloves and honey—and he wouldn’t set his lips on hers gently, but like a powerful male who wanted to claim her as his own. His hands would cup her face roughly; his tongue would tangle with hers.
At just the imagined scenario, fierce longing shot through her like a bolt of lightning. What was it about this proud, stern male that attracted her so? But she knew already. It was the way he treated his dragon, how he had helped her quietly along this extraordinary journey, and the fatherly protectiveness he displayed for his knights in the sky. Even if it was madness, she wanted this male.
If they could be together…
Every inch of her would hum with desire. She imagined the many sensations she’d feel in his arms… The turn of his shoulder muscles under her fingers. The groan slipping from his mouth as he kissed his way down her neck to her chest. They would fall to the ground and he would take her here in the shadows with desperate movements, like touching one another would save them both somehow from whatever consequences this connection threw at them as well as the very real danger that awaited her inside the hall.
But all of that was only in Tahlia’s head. He stood gripping her arms hard enough to bruise.
With a growl, he pushed away from her. His hair was wild and his eyes wilder. “Go, Tahlia. Please. Just leave. I can’t…”
She couldn’t leave this place or give up. If she did, the fire inside her would die and she would be a husk of her former self. She wouldn’t be Tahlia any longer.
“I will face the consequences. Do what you must do, High Captain. Now, I have an announcement to attend.”
He shut his eyes once more, and she glanced at him one last time before leaving him in the moonlight. His hands flexed at his sides and his breaths came too quickly. Forcing herself to keep on walking, she found the door, swung it open, and prepared to meet her fate, whether it be fine fortune or death by a dragon’s blaze.
Chapter 21
Tahlia
Tahlia found Fara wielding an eating knife and threatening an elderly male. “I told you I was saving this seat. Now, back off. I don’t care what kind of military background you have, you old cod! I’ll cut it right out of you!”
Lowering her friend’s weapon, Tahlia eased Fara away from the table. “Eh, I need to tell you something.”
Once she had, Fara’s purple skin turned nearly gray. “I knew this would happen. I can have Daffodil ready in fifteen minutes. Meet me by the outer bailey gate.”
“I’m not running, Fara.”
“Of course you are.”
“Am I a fearful sort?”
“No, but this is no time for your brand of courage, which I deem madness even at the best of times and this isn’t that.”
“What?”
“Nothing. You are leaving. We are leaving. We will keep our flesh unsinged and call this a grand adventure. I hear the human settlement of Deigs is an open-minded city where two Fae could find a way to live.”
“I’m not leaving. You go. I want you to go and be safe. I’m facing this. I would rather die than flee. I am meant for this. I am a Mist Knight.”
Fara twisted her hands and spoke close to Tahlia’s face, so close that she could smell her friend’s wine on her breath. “You have the heart of one, but sadly, you don’t have the blood. We can’t change their minds. It’s a rule and Mist Knights are more obsessed with rules than they are their dragons.”
“Go. Please,” Tahlia said. The echo of Marius’s warning gripped her heart, a trembling hold that threatened to shake her into pieces.
Not waiting for Fara to argue, Tahlia pivoted and strode to the front of the hall where the other competitors were lining up for the announcement.
Commander Gaius walked in from a side door with Ophelia. The commander raised his arms to quiet the hall.
“I’ve asked Queen Revna to announce the winner since our High Captain is not in attendance. Please stand.”
The queen broke away from her dragon and the king. They had been talking closely with a group of liveried stewards. She walked slowly to the center of the line of competitors, her gaze measuring each of them.
Did she know already?
Tahlia’s stomach rolled and she breathed through her nose to keep from being sick all over the queen’s fantastic scarlet high-top boots.
“The winner is…”
The queen’s gaze traveled over each of the competitors. Number one scratched the scar where his ear had once been. Two and three held as still as statues. Four glanced at Tahlia and nodded—whatever that meant. The rest shuffled their feet or pursed their lips.
“Our new Mist Knight of the Shrouded Mountains, noble protector of the Realm of Lights and the northern coast, is Lady Tahlia of Northwoods!”
Tahlia’s heart soared. She felt like she could take flight like a dragon, spreading wings and breathing flame into the clouds. The Bloodworkers hadn’t come forward. All was gold and happiness.
I did it. I am a dragon-riding knight. Even if it doesn’t last, I did it.
The hall erupted in cheers and most of the competitors gave Tahlia encouraging smiles while a few grimaced, their disappointment understandable.
Commander Gaius and Ophelia stepped forward, and King Lysanael whispered something in Queen Revna’s ear. She whispered back and they seemed to have a nearly silent argument, complete with hand-waving and scowls and a growl or two.
“I’m afraid there has been a mistake,” the commander said. “Tell us what you found, Head Bloodworker.”
Tahlia swallowed. This was it. The end. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead and she fisted her hands to keep her fingers from shaking.
An ashen-faced Marius came through a side door and stared at her. His hair was mussed and his eyes had a feral glaze to them.
A male in Mist Knight livery cleared his throat and read from a parchment. “Competitor five’s blood has less than point four percent Mistgold—”
The crowd gasped, but they hadn’t even heard the worst of it. Sweat rolled down Tahlia’s back, but she remained standing, holding her head high. She was a Mist Knight, even if her blood wasn’t what they wanted it to be.
The Head Bloodworker held up the parchment and the room quieted once more. “Her blood also shows that she is half-human.”
