Dropping into a crouch, I tried to ground myself, stomach roiling from the flight. The earth felt steady beneath my boots. I braced a hand against the rough bark of the tree.
It was quiet. I should have expected as much from an area unaccustomed to dragons. No animal would want to be near a fleet that dropped from above. The eerie silence pressed against my ears. No birds called. No insects hummed.
The sky shifted to a bleak gray, heralding the rising sun and offering a bit more light to see. Dawn bled slowly across the water, still and wide. A forest bordered the other side, too. Another tactical loss. There could be Velli on the far bank, taking back word of our landing, and we would never know.
The forest was thick, at least. If the dragons lay flat, the canopy would hide them well enough. I glanced up at the tree above me, its leaves broader than my head, tipped with five points and veined deep green. It was foreign to me, a species isolated to thisside of the Craggs. Even the scent of it was different. Sharper. Wetter.
“They lost her.” Ronan sank beside me, resting his back against the tree, boots stretched out in front of him. “We’re close, though.”
“We have no plan.” The admission soured my tongue. It was reckless. Frustrating. It went against every training and teaching carved into me since boyhood. One never went into battle uncertain of the odds without a strategy. To fail to plan was to plan to fail.
Ronan snorted and raised his goggles to his brow—something I wished I’d had on my flight.
“Then make one,” he grumbled.
My brow furrowed. Trust the boy to correct me, and have it land true.
“How’s the bond going? Did you make her mad?” He jerked his head toward the sea-colored dragon lying at the lake’s edge, taking long gulps of water. Her throat worked with each swallow. “Tell her to take it easy. Dragons can’t fly fast when they’re weighed down.”
I pursed my lips, squinting at the beast. Droplets clung to her snout. “You hear Gyrak in your head?”
“I told you she was bonded to you.”
His gloating tone grated.
“Then we’re not bonded. My mind is my own.”
He scoffed, scraping a heel through the dirt. “She sooner would’ve eaten you than let you ride if you weren’t.”
The gold, Matalino, approached the dragon in question, nostrils flaring as if he could scent me on her scales. Tsunami hissed into the water, blowing bubbles, and tucked her tail tighter around her body, wings mantling low.
“She tolerates me.” I let an edge of authority slip into my voice. Command steadied me. “Gather your riders, have them scout.Vellos is unknown to me. I’ve never ventured across the Craggs. If we want to rescue your sister, we’ll need a plan.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Nienna
Aplate of meat was set in front of me, rich spices clogging the air, thick and nauseating, causing me to retch. My abdomen throbbed with a deep, abiding pain. Fear coiled low and tight.
Hungry. Beaten. Stressed. Any of it could have caused the ache, yet my thoughts circled the single possibility I refused to name. I could survive anything. I would endure any torment for the life inside me. No suffering outweighed that.
But the thought of losing it?
I rolled onto my side and turned my back on the tray. Fire streaked across my spine. Welts split open against the coarse sheets, and I fisted the linen to swallow the cry clawing up my throat. A small sound slipped free anyway. Frail. Useless.
“Please.” The word threaded through the silence, soft as smoke.
I went still. Hope surged, sharp and ugly. I crushed it before it could bloom, smothered it into the dark hole of my heart.
“Please, eat.”
With agonizing care, I pushed upright. Scabbed gashes dragged against fabric. My back pulsed in protest.
The servant girl kept her gaze on the tray, inching it nearer with careful fingers. Dark eyes lifted for a heartbeat, then dropped as if eye contact might earn her a punishment.
I chose the smallest piece of meat. Part of me wished it carried a sedative, something to pull me under and spare me from this waking nightmare. Sleep would carry me home. I would wake in Kallias’ arms and sob about the horror of my pregnancy dreams.
Seasoned beef coated my tongue. Salt and iron filled my mouth as I forced myself to chew. I craved crisp fruit, vegetables that snapped between teeth. As a nation of carnivores, Vellos thrived on flesh and blood.
