She glances once more toward the sky, blinking as she takes in the bright moonlight, exhaling another of those soft, ethereal sounds.
There are no clear flames, she says.Only embers.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, I waste no time seeking out the king, ready to give my answer.
And to make my demands.
He's in a small study near the library—one of his usual haunts—reclining on a corner chair with a book in his hands. The door is partially ajar, so I let myself in. He glances at me over his glasses as I approach.
“I want to negotiate a little more before I give my answer.”
One side of his mouth curves upward. “I suspected you would.”
He sets the book aside and leans back, clasping his hands behind his head, a casual motion that pulls his shirt taut and creates a distracting display of his muscled abdomen. Images of him striding shirtless through his room fall into my head.
I banish them immediately.
That isn’t why I’m here—willneverbe why I’m here.
“So, what is it that you want?” he asks. “More supplies sent to your home? A bigger room for you and your friend?A life-size sculpture of yourself constructed entirely out of bread?”
“I want you to unchain my dragon.”
The amusement disappears from his face immediately. His hands drop back to his sides, gripping the armrests of the chair as though he's holding himself in place, resisting the urge to bolt from the room.
“No,” he says.
“Why not?”
“Because she's young. Unpredictable. Your bond isn't secure enough to risk it—and because of a hundred other reasons that I could list for you, had I the time.” He removes his glasses and places them on the book, then gets to his feet, walking toward one of the room's windows.
I cut him off, positioning myself between him and the glass. “If you want me to act like I trust you in front of so many people, then I don't want to feel like you're chaining me—or my dragon—in any way. You said it yourself: You don't care for forced bondage.”
“Because I don't.”
“Soprove it.”
He steps closer, as if he thinks he can crush the defiance out of me, that I'll shrink or slide away if he just applies enough pressure.
I don't move. “This is your chance to prove to me that you actually respect the potential power I hold—that you trust me with no need for games orleverageof any kind.”
His arm comes to rest above my head, caging me in. “I brought you into this palace so you could prove yourself tome, not the other way around.”
“Circumstances change.”
“Yes. But through it all, a king is expected to maintain a certain steadiness.”
“Steadiness gets boring after a while, doesn't it?”
“Boring seas don't sink ships.”
We stare at one another for a long, uncomfortably heated moment.
“I'm walking into this feast as your equal, or not at all,” I grind out. “No more binding chains.”
His jaw is tight as he slowly shakes his head.
