I draw closer to the door. I’m not an eavesdropper, but I’m curious to know why else I’m here if not for a dragon.
“She’ll be fifteen next month. Our daughter could be the next Queen of Maledin, or at least a princess. Don’t you think that would be safer for her than becoming a soldier? Dragonriders die or get injured all the time. She’s so small. She’s our only daughter.” Mother sounds on the verge of tears.
“Whether or not Zenevieve is married, she can still be chosen by a dragon. I thought we agreed to see what happens.”
“If she’s mated and pregnant by her sixteenth birthday, perhaps the dragons will lose interest in her.”
“I’m not sure that it works like that,” Father says doubtfully.
Panic grips my heart. Is that something that can happen? If I’m mated and pregnant, will the dragon who was going to choose me choose someone else? I absolutely can’t risk that happening.
I listen to Father comforting Mother until he finally agrees to speak with King Aylard about me mating one of his sons, or at least one of the young men at court.
While I’m rooted to the spot in horror, Mother comes into the front room and sees me. “Zenevieve, dearest. I didn’t hear you come back. I’ve got a lovely surprise for you.” With a smile, she disappears upstairs. When she returns, a mountain of brightly colored tulle enters the room before she does.
“What isthat?” I ask with a laugh, thinking it must be something awful she’s bought to decorate the house.
“It’s for you. It’s a new gown. Wearing this, you’ll draw every eye in the king’s court.”
The smile dies on my lips. Mother holds the dress up by its puffy sleeves. Ruffles in every pastel color imaginable cascade to the floor. I bet I will draw every eye, because all the lords, ladies, and dragonriders will be hysterically laughing at me.
Mother manages to cajole me into trying the dress on. It’s so heavy that I feel like it could double as the ugliest and most impractical armor ever made.
She hustles me over to the mirror on the wall. “What do you think, dearest?”
I stare at my reflection and struggle to think of something polite to say that also makes it clear I hate the dress. “It’s not practical for dragonriding.”
Mother’s face falls, and a line forms between her brows. “Maybe you won’t become a dragonrider. It’s always a good idea to explore different paths in life.”
I look desperately at Father for help. He’s watching us with an apprehensive expression, but when Mother catches his eye meaningfully, he says, “Your mother’s right. It doesn’t hurt to have choices.”
As soon as I get the awful dress off, I run straight upstairs to my bedroom. I can still feel itchy tulle against my skin.
That night, I can’t sleep, and I lay awake for hours. If I leave the capital with a husband instead of becoming a dragonrider, my life will be unbearable. My dearest hope is finally within reach, but it could be snatched away from me before it can come true.
Over the following days, I keep a close, suspicious eye on the three young men I spend the most time with—Zabriel, Emmeric, and Onderz—and I’m careful not to smile too much at them or seem too friendly. If it seems like I’m going to be alone with any of them, I quickly hurry away.
After a few days, I realize that Onderz is hopelessly smitten with Princess Mirelle, and she with him, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Zabriel’s friendliness makes me wary at first, but I start to relax when he doesn’t show the slightest bit of romantic interest in me. Whenever we open our mouths around each other, we yap each other’s ears off about dragons, dragons, dragons, and nothing else.
It’s Emmeric who worries me. He seems to hate me, but he’s always staring at me and standing so close that I can feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. There’s nothing I can say around him that isn’t responded to with a cruel or sarcastic comment, but his cruelty feels hungry, like it has teeth that want to get into my skin. Emmericdoeshave teeth that want to get into someone’s skin. He has dragines that he’ll use to mark his mate; temporarily if she’s a Beta, and permanently if she’s an Omega. I don’t like him one bit. Gods help me if King Aylard decides I should be mated to Emmeric.
One afternoon, I’m helping Sundra, one of the dragonriders, groom her dragon, Merrex. Sundra is an Alpha dragonrider, but she’s remarkably kind and patient, and she called me over after seeing me loitering on the edge of the grounds with nothing to do. We talk and laugh as we vigorously rub mud from Merrex’s legs and talons. They flew to the lake earlier in the day, andMerrex amused herself by dashing through the shallows and along the muddy banks.
A few dragons away, Nilak is stretched regally along the ground. Stesha is with her, lying on his side with his temple propped against his fist. He’s smiling at his dragon, and the two of them seem to be in deep, silent communication.
If I mated the dragonmaster, he would never try to keep me from my dragon.
The thought comes out of nowhere and surprises me, making me blush. Well, he wouldn’t, would he? Even if I were pregnant. That thought makes me blush even deeper. His whole life is dragons, and he wouldn’t rest until he found a dragon willing to bond with me, and then we could fly through the skies together. He would marvel over my eyes and hair changing colors, and kiss me over and over while he told me how beautiful I am.
As far as I can tell, Stesha is unmated.
And too old for you, I remind myself.
Well, he’s still a young man, not a decrepit old lord at court or anything like that. I have worried Mother might consider the old men if the young men don’t want to mate me. It sometimes happens at court.
“Why are you looking at the dragonmaster with that stupid expression on your face?”
I nearly jump out of my skin. Emmeric has come up behind me while I’ve been distracted by thoughts of mating Stesha. Sundra must have moved around to the other side of her dragon as I can’t see her.
