She imagined Jarek shaking his head.
“One of my soldats saw her take it, my lord.”
She imagined the look dawning on her father’s face.
“Asha? Can you explain this?”
She tried to imagine herself through her father’s eyes. When he’d first proposed his deal, she was the fiercest of dragon hunters, willing to do anything to get out of her binding. Now? If her father knew just how deep his oldest enemy’s claws were in his daughter, what would he do? Would he realize she was beyondsaving? Would he cast her away? Find someone else to kill Kozu?
“Tell me why you did this, Asha.”
Her voice shook “I—I’m sorry....”
“I don’t want an apology!” His voice boomed, echoing through the throne room, empty save him, his commandant, and a handful of soldats. “I want your answer.”
She swallowed, staring hard at the blue and green tiles beneath her hands. She needed to be careful what she said. Jarek couldn’t know about her deal with her father. And her father couldn’t know about the Old One’s commands.
“I did it for... my hunt.” She glanced at Jarek, whose arms were crossed hard over his chest. “This particular dragon is... more evasive than the rest. I needed something to bait him.”
“So you stole the flame?”
“This dragon cannot resist it.”
Liar,she thought, then dared a glance upward. Her father’s face darkened as their eyes met.
“Please,” she whispered. “I need you to trust me.”
His gaze softened at those words.
“My king,” interrupted Jarek as he stepped forward. “You can’t allow her to escape punishment just because she’s your daughter. It sets a precedent. Do you want to be remembered as the kind of king who upholds the law only when it suits him?”
Silence echoed in the throne room as the dragon king looked from his Iskari to his commandant.
“Have I not done everything you’ve ever asked of me, my king? Have I not defended your walls? Put down your revolts? Kept your secrets?”
At this last question, the dragon king’s face darkened like the sky before a storm. Asha wondered what kind of secrets her father entrusted Jarek with. The thought made her jealous. They must have been large ones. Ones strong enough to make him buckle under pressure, because that’s exactly what he did.
“What are you asking me for?” said the dragon king, looking back to his daughter kneeling at his feet.
“Something is amiss here.” Jarek started to pace. His heavy footsteps echoed through the domed room. “First, my slave goes missing. Next, our supposed allies steal away in the night and the next morning take Darmoor. And now? The sacred flame is stolen by your own daughter.” He shook his head. “I want her to stay where I can see her. All I’m asking is that you uphold your own law. Punish her like the criminal she is by locking her in the dungeon until our binding day.”
Her father wouldn’t allow it. He wanted Kozu dead, and Asha was the only one who could bring the First Dragon down.
Her father hesitated, though.
It made Asha’s stomach knot up.
He looked from her to Jarek, as if trying to choose. As if this were a game of strategy and he needed to decide which piece would cost him more: his commandant or his Iskari?
Her father’s chest rose and fell with the breath he took.
“All right,” the dragon king said carefully.
The air fled Asha’s lungs.
“Father...”
The king lifted his hand.
