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So, yes, I’d say I’m speaking from experience. Knowing your Charge, caring about them, makes you a more effective line of defense, and that’s the only kind of protection anyone should ever trust.”
“In my defense, things happened really fast and I took action, which is something I do when I feel threatened,” I add with a pointed look at all the members of Aeson’s Wing. “And they’re your guards, not mine.”
“Don’t start with me, Spare, I’m not in the mood,” I snap.
“What else would you call all this growling and snarling, Aeson? Very unbecoming of a commander, let alone a scion, if you ask me.”
Aeson Noctis likes ’em feisty. I can do feisty.
“Are you really not getting the whole ‘I don’t trust any of you’ thing? Because there are only so many ways I can say it.”
“I know you don’t believe that, that you don’t trust us yet,” he continues, “but we will protect you. I will protect you, Ever. No matter what.”
Besides, this tracks for The Horde; why be straightforward when you can be flashy?
“You are Ever Tenebrae, daughter of King Merik Tenebrae. As the last Syphon, you are part of a royal kindred. Revealed or not, you are a dragon, which means you are part of The Horde. You need to be protected,”
“Why the fuck would a bunch of strangers want to make me their Heart? They don’t know me, and I don’t know them. That doesn’t engender trust on either side. It makes no sense.”
“From the moment they’re selected by you for that final trial, they know that they either earn a place by their Heart’s side or forfeit their life. And it’s not just one-sided. If you as a Heart prove unworthy, if your guards would rather die than swear an oath to you, that’s its own kind of death sentence. You would be left unprotected, and in our world, no one survives alone for long.”
I’m harder to kill than she realizes, the last week alone has proven that.
“I don’t deserve your condemnation,” I point out. “Whatever you may think about my father, I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask to survive. And I didn’t ask to be here.”
Loss is the price you pay for love. But as grief carves me open once again, I can’t decide if it’s worth it.
Surrounding yourself with a Wing that’s much smaller than you is just asking for other dragons to constantly challenge the Wing’s abilities and the Heart’s authority. When it comes to dragons, size most definitely matters. Any dragoness would agree.
Consider it his gift to you for your Naming Day. I brought you here so you can claim it and take your first official steps into the arms of The Horde.” Lorn’s voice grows soft and regretful. “Where you were always meant to be.”
Dragons don’t part well from their treasure, and yet here they are, doing just that.
“Because kindness is nothing more than a pretty bow around a pretty box. Foolish people assume there’s something beautiful or valuable inside the lovely packaging. Survivors know otherwise.”
“That’s an incredibly sad and jaded way to go through life, Princess. Kindness and compassion aren’t just pretty packaging, they’re the gift. Not every benevolent act hides a venomous viper in its depths.”
I’m safe. I’m protected. I can do this…even if it hurts.
But I don’t know if my bruised and battered soul can withstand the damage it would take if I started to believe them only to find out that they were playing me all along.
“He told me it was so he could always see a reflection of what he was fighting for and the people who would suffer if he wasn’t the best king he could possibly be every second of every day.”
I’m going to break this curse on the Syphons. I feel it in my sorcai-cursed blood. I’m going to fix what never should have been broken. And then I’m going to hunt down everyone who had a part in it and teach them the true meaning of pain.
But trauma is corrosive. It eats away and corrupts everything it touches, turning even the most innocent memories into live grenades.
“We all know you’re hiding, Biscuit. Being surrounded by this level of excellence and sex appeal can be intimidating—we get it—but fear not, we’re a friendly lot,”
“You can’t do that, Biscuit,” he petulantly argues. “This is mine fair and square!”
Once again, I’m reminded that I’m not one of them. I’m not Horde. They can pretend otherwise, but at the end of the day, they keep showing me that they don’t consider me an equal. I’m not entitled to any answers or even a say in my own life.
They’re in for a rude awakening though. Death and I have an unspoken agreement. We like to flirt and toy with one another, but we keep it cutesy and never go all the way.
She’s dangerous. She shouldn’t be here. But that’s okay. I’ll fix the commander’s mistake. I’ll rip her impudent little heart right out of her traitorous fucking body.
“No one was more shocked than I was when she gifted it to me the day I moved into my own tower and officially started my own trove. I was speechless. I’d never felt so excited and so worried that any second, she would tell me she made a mistake and take it back. But she set it in my hands and then told me that every dragon deserved to fill their life with treasures that they’ll cherish, revere, and protect.
There are a finite number of people in each of our lives who truly love us. That love warms us against the frigid toll life can take. It’s a light that guides us and fortifies us, and losing it leaves us dimmer, leaves our lives darker.
You know dawn is coming even when the night is at its darkest. It will all be over before you know it.” I nod and give her a half smile. “True. Maybe I’ve been staring at the dark for too long and it’s time to look for the light.”
“Spark the flames you need to see by, dragoness,”
“Merik was never one to mince words or pull punches. I’m glad to hear that side of him is living on through his little girl. It’ll be a treat to go toe to toe with him again, if only in spirit,”
Is he serious right now? Is he really trying to leverage my fucked-up curse with an arranged mating?
“Don’t worry, Enslee, I’m only off to play dress-up with the dragons and make a few difficult decisions in impossible circumstances because they just might be the thing that saves us.”
“What would you call it then?” I titter. “A butterfly beatdown?”
“We’re all still standing, so it falls miles short of a beatdown. And if you hadn’t gotten all possessive when Lahar started torching them, we would have had everything under control in no time. I’d say it was a wing whoopin’ at best.”
On the other side of this threshold is the king, The Horde, and the scion I agreed to mate. My past and my future are about to collide, and I have no idea who will be left standing in the wake of the impact. I’m also not sure I even care anymore.
I pull in a deep breath, raise my chin, and put my shoulders back as I whisper beneath my breath. “Spark the flames. Ignite the infernos. Ash the embers.” And then, the doors open.
I did point out to the king last night that I haven’t sworn fealty to him. He waved it off like it wasn’t important, but that was his mistake. I don’t bow for just any man, and without a sworn vow, Kathal Noctis is not my king.
Only an idiot would look away from the biggest threat in the room.
“A gift, a miracle, a token of hope has made her way…home.”
“I Name you Ever Tenebrae, daughter of King Merik Tenebrae, and the last Syphon.”
But as much as I want to run, my missing Flight has forced my hand. If there’s any chance of saving them, we need to be whole. The Syphons are broken, and if I have to sell myself to the enemy to fix them, my life is a small price to pay.
I may be nothing more than a pawn to them, but even a pawn can check a king in the right circumstances.
“Do you claim her as clan, kith, or kindred, Scion Noctis?” the king proudly asks his son. “I, Aeson Noctis, claim Ever Tenebrae as my mate,” he answers smoothly,
“What I want? When has anyone in this forsaken keep given two shits about what I want?” I demand. “When have any of you even bothered to ask?
But I’ll make you a deal, Commander—and don’t worry, we can cut your daddy out of this one. I’ll start leveling with you when you do the same with me. Until then, you and your demands can fuck right off.”
I watch him as he goes, wondering if this is the only future we’ll ever have, one of us tentatively reaching while the other is perpetually walking away.
