Gareth laughs dryly.
I whirl on him. “What?”
He swirls his drink in his glass, grinning. “I just think it’s funny how bad you have it for her, and how ridiculously in denial you are.”
I leap at him. The glass hits the floor, shattering, and the chair goes flying back, sending us both tumbling to the floor. I lift my hand back, going to punch him, when someone catches my wrist.Fucking Alaric.He shoves me off of Gareth, and Gareth and I both leap to our feet.
“Enough!” Alaric says, stepping between us. “You guys act like we have so much control here, but we really don’t. If Harper remains a dragon rider, she’ll either end up with us, or with other men, depending who her dragon chooses. We can do what we can to discourage her from becoming a dragon rider, but if we can’t, we’re going to have to figure some shit out, because we can’t fight everyone else if we’re fighting each other.”
“What are you suggesting?” Gareth asks, breathing hard, hands in fists.
“We open ourselves up to the idea of sharing her. Surely, if it’s in the best interest of our great nation, we can learn to get along.”
“Fat chance,” Gareth says, glaring at me.
Rage flows through me. “I can do anything. I’m Prince Lucien Stormvale.”
Gareth drops his fists. “I can do even better than you.”
Alaric sighs loudly. “So, Plan A is to get Harper to leave the dragon riders’ academy without Ebron. Plan B… well, Plan B is for us to learn to play nicely, so we end up with the woman of legend and some other assholes don’t end up with her.”
I can’t help myself. I have to ask. “What if by the time we realize we have to go with Plan B, we’ve ruined things past the point of fixing them with Harper?”
Alaric runs his hand over his hair. “Well, I guess we take that chance.”
He says it, but is that really a chance I’m willing to take?The truth is, I don’t know.
5
Harper
The sun has just barely peekedabove the mountaintops, and clouds move along in the sky like wandering sheep. I’m slowly chewing on honeysuckle, enjoying the sweetness that fills my mouth. Honeysuckle is all around us on this cliff overlooking the water. Beside me, Ebron scarfs on a cow he’s picked up on our way here. The noise of him eating is the only unsettling thing here. Otherwise, this place is like a paradise.
“Ebron,” I say, my thoughts wandering. “How do you think I should handle Tesson when he arrives claiming to be my fiancé? My parents should have told him the whole thing is called off by now, but it’s clear he doesn’t care about that, or he wouldn’t be coming.”
He eats as he answers me in my mind.Handle him? Why would you have to handle him?
Fair enough.I’ve already realized that Ebron understands very little about humans. He does everything in a dragon way. Which, honestly, I might prefer.
“He’s going to show up making a claim on me. He’s going to say I’m his mate, and he’s going to make things really difficult for me. I’m not sure how to deal with it.”
Tell him that you are not his mate. That you do not desire him. And that if he does not leave, I shall turn him into a meat stick of cooked flesh. Not my favorite meal, that is for certain, but I will eat him, if I have to.
I smile. Ebron is sweet. “I think I probably have to figure out a way to deal with him on my own.”
Then just be firm and clear. You are not an object for the taking. You are a female. Females are powerful. Without females, your race would cease to exist. You should not even have to demand respect. It should be given to you.
“You make it sound so easy.”
It is. Let your voice be heard. Do not let it be torn away in the wind.
“He no doubt has heard about the title, lands, and wealth that will come with marrying me. Gossip like that flies far, even to my small town,especiallygossip concerning one of their own. He’s going to arrive with all his charm, convincing everyone that I’m his. Men like him are especially dangerous, because nobody sees it. They all think he’s such a great guy.”
Then their instincts are not as good as yours. That is a pity for them. But you do not need them to know he is dangerous, for you to avoid a dangerous male.
I pluck another honeysuckle blossom, careful as I pinch away the green base, and chew on the bloom as I think. “You’re right. As much as I want this epic moment where the mask is pulled off of Tesson and everyone sees him for the piece of shit that he is, I don’t need that to happen. I just need to find a way to cut him out of my life.”
Turning him into a meat stick would do such a thing. And quickly.
