Kingdom of Shadows and Wings (Dragons of Tirene, #1)

by Nina Frost

A few years ago, one of the gardener’s little boys caught a pretty yellow bird. He caged the bird and carried it everywhere, singing to it, providing a steady supply of worms and beetles dug fresh from the garden, and keeping the cage by his bed when he slept. But despite his tender care, the bird started bashing her head against the bars. The gardener’s boy sobbed, asking why his treasured pet hurt herself. To me, the answer was obvious. All the love and pampering in the world couldn’t compensate for the thing the bird desired most. Freedom. Sometimes, I relate to the bird a little too much.

My mother requests massive amounts of food for her soirees, over half of which always remains untouched. After the initial grazing period, the guests ignore the delicacies in favor of mead and ale. The waste always bothered me, so I started telling the staff to remove most of the uneaten dishes early. They pack the food into a wagon and cart it just outside the castle grounds. Two guards help me slip out undetected. I pretend to turn in for the night, drive the food out to a man in the village who ensures it reaches the neediest, and return home without my mother ever suspecting. Simple as brambleberry pie.

Most people require eyril to access their magic, and the king and Aclaris military have complete control over the drug. Only those enlisted to fight for our kingdom have access. Legally, anyway. My ability to use magic without eyril brands me as a freak. Mother made me swear to never reveal my secret, claiming the truth would endanger me.

“It’s a m…missive from Flighthaven. Your sister’s gone missing, and they expect you to take her place.”

“Who is that man?” The flash of pity in her eyes warns me that I’m not going to like the answer. “That’s Sterling Thorne. Your flight trainer.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Of course it is.” Sterling Thorne. Expert flyer. Refugee from a war-torn kingdom, though people debate which one. Worked his way up to join King Xenon’s guard and then saved the king from a rogue dragon attack. One of the best dragonriders around.

“If you don’t mind me asking, milady, since it’s none of my business…” Royce lifts his shoulders. “How long have you and Sterling been together?” My face burns, but I force a laugh. “Me and Thorne? Together?” I wave my hands in front of myself. “No, you have us all wrong.” Royce sips his ale, his eyes saying he knows I’m lying. I should leave things at that, but I can’t. “He’s my flight instructor. To be honest, he despises me.” Royce’s bushy gray eyebrows inch up. “Your definition of despise must be different than mine. That man watches you the way a mutt watches a roast chicken…like he wants to devour you.”

Every sentence dies in my throat. Because the name on the grave marker? It’s mine. Lark Axton Beloved daughter and sister Born the same year as me. Dead four years later.

Finally, he clears his throat. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.” “No.” Not when my brain is reeling like someone whacked me on the skull with the broad side of a sword. I pause. “Wait. Like what?” His hesitation strikes me as odd. Thorne isn’t usually the type to choose his words carefully. “Perhaps…did you consider that you might be adopted?”

I don’t realize I’m screaming until Mark palms his dagger and glares at me. “Shut up, bitch!” The weapon flies, glancing off my shoulder. I snap. Power bursts from my body like a flood crashing through a dam, shattering Elijah’s hold as my magic unleashes.

“Interested is far too tame a word to describe how I feel about you. Obsessed, bewitched. Those come closer.”

I lower the book, my heart plummeting into my stomach. The idea solidifying in my mind can’t possibly be true, and yet, it must be. The details line up…even the grave marker bearing my name. Because if I’m right, then the couple I believe to be my parents did not sire or give birth to me. If I’m right, my kingdom of origin isn’t Aclaris. I’m Tirenese. And I’m a dragoncaller.

“How do I look?” Thorne’s eyes graze over me, and the emotion in them spurs my pulse into a gallop. “You look like the woman I’d give anything to have. You look like you’re mine.” A soft gasp escapes my lips. “I don’t…that’s not what I meant, but okay.”