“There’s a pattern,” she breathed. “Most of them went mad.”
Her breath lingered on my skin. All it would take was a single turn. My mouth could find hers with no effort at all.
Her mother glanced back, brow furrowed at our position. I didn’t bother to smile, blood roaring through my veins. I straightened, shifting so Nienna sat in full view. The queen’s gaze dropped to her hand on my thigh. I refused to move, but Nienna caught the warning. Her fingers slid slow across my trousers, a bold stroke, before she folded them neatly in her lap.
She would pay for that later.
The dances spun on into the night. Lore wove itself through chants and movement—the old songs of Draconia, stitched from flame and myth. The dragons. The first settlers. Men abandoned on the island’s shore, left to rot but choosing to rise. Prisoners carving a nation from stone and fire.
That was what made Draconis different from their island kin. Fairer skin. Sun-kissed bronze, not as dark. Eyes like glacier water, hair like sunlight. The rest of the archipelago bore night-blessed curls, and irises like rich ink.
Draconis weren’t born of this place. Neither were their dragons.
One dance told the story of the first riot—when the sky split with storms and beasts crashed to earth. Windsingers joined the drums. The music surged, raw and guttural. Dancers moved with violence, ripping garments to reveal crimson cloth beneath—blood writ in silk.
When the first bond was forged, the man at center stage clapped, palms sparking. A streak of white light shot from his hands, arching into the crowd. Shouts and cheers erupted.
Nienna’s elbow nudged my ribs. A silent command. I rose with her family and joined the applause.
My eyes swept the small amphitheater. “Your brother doesn’t attend?”
“He’s just a commoner during the Awakening,” she said. “You won’t see him in the Spire tonight.”
Which means one less person walking the halls.
I squashed that thought. I would wait for Nienna, as a proper man would. There would be no hoping she snuck to my rooms.
Nereus and Nyxaria led us through the crowd and across the cleared stage. The celebration had drained itself. Laughter thinned to yawns. Smiles sagged under the lure of sleep. Nienna leaned on my shoulder as we walked, and whenher cheek pressed to my mantle, heat stirred in my chest.
Radaan would learn to love her. She would give herself to my kingdom. Win over a people who didn’t yet know her worth.
When we reached the black steps that led up to the Spire, the island had gone silent. No dragons cried. No gulls screamed. The night held its breath. Doors shut. Windows dark. The world tucked in.
Inside the palace, lanterns glowed, casting soft amber across stone and steel, but the mage lights above remained cold and unlit.
“The Vessels are relieved during the festival,” Nienna whispered, her voice thin in the vast corridor. “The riders won’t refill them until it ends.”
“Half your light is magic.” I glanced up. Another contrast—Radaan would’ve burned fish oil to keep the night at bay.
“The dragons need that oil,” Nereus echoed back from his place ahead of us, as if he heard my line of thought. “Magic is a resource, same as anything else.”
At my floor, I slowed, easing out from Nienna’s grip. She clung tighter.
“I’ll see Kallias to his rooms,” she said, tone smooth as ever.
Her parents paused.
Nereus’ tired stare sharpened. It landed on me, flint-hard. I clenched my jaw. His suspicion was earned. This was the price of my earlier recklessness.
Nyxaria inhaled, then exhaled slow through her nose. “Come see me once he’s settled.”
So she’d know the moment Nienna left my quarters. Nereus dipped his chin. The gesture was slight, but heavy with emphasis. A reminder. A warning. His glare flicked past me to Greaves, jaw tightening.
“Good night,” I said, offering a shallow bow. Then I turned down the hall.
I could find my way to bed alone. But I didn’t send her away. Not with shadows whispering promises just out of reach.
Greaves followed, each step a mirror of mine. A quiet rebuke. One I wanted to ignore. I could dismiss him, order him elsewhere, but anyone watching would know exactly what his absence meant.
