“But they are forbidden to be here,” she responds, her voice surprised.
“I don’t give a fuck. Let them go.”
My heart beats a dozen times while she watches him, confusion in her eyes. And then she bobs her chin and turns to the rest of the warriors. “Retreat,” she tells them.
They all bow slightly and spin their horses around. Within a minute they’ve disappeared into the forest.
He shifts in his saddle to again hold my gaze.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he tells me. His ominous tone sparks an emotion I barely recognize, a mix of anticipation and anguish.
“And yet, here I am.” Foolish, I know, but I can’t back down from him. Not now. Not ever.
“I’ve given you a chance to disappear. Take it.”
And then he tugs the reins and nudges the horse with his heels. It doesn’t need a second request. Leaping forward, it launches itself after his soldiers. They head away from the training grounds, leaving our path open if we decide to take it.
Nearly a minute passes before anybody moves or speaks. And then Liv opens the carriage’s window to look at me, one brow lifting as she grins widely. “What was that about?”
I take a deep breath, finally getting control of a heart that’s been racing since I saw him. “I don’t know.” It’s true. I have absolutely no idea what just happened between me and that male.
“He never looked away from you. Not once.”
“He glanced at me and knew I’m no bedmate,” I deflect, rolling my eyes as I force a smile.
“Sure,” Liv responds, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she looks me up and down. “Really, what was that about?”
“I honestly don’t know, Liv,” I insist, focusing on my hands, which seem determined to fidget.I always control every part of my body, I remind myself.This body does not fidget. “I’ve never met him before today,” I add after a moment, ignoring our first encounter. “You know exactly as much as I do.”
“Well, whatever it was,” Frida interjects, “it was a gift from the gods. That woman didn’t believe us. He gave us a chance to get away—one that we should take. We can still make it by the end of the day if we go fast.”
Her words seem to unlock an urgency with the rest of the group. As one, we race to our carriages and horses. Within a few minutes, we’re bouncing along toward the one place in this part of the country that we are forbidden to go.
Chapter four
Sifa
I’m Searching
Therestoftheday does not go smoothly on the bumpy trail we’re following, but at least we’re not bound and headed to prison.
We are, though, still traveling toward the training grounds. We’ve got hours left. I’m stuck in the carriage again, and my thoughts keep replaying our stop. Drawing up his face, examining every scar, the cut of his chin, the shape of his eyes. My mind’s eye imagines the markings that lead up chiseled arms to a broad chest, and then down to parts I can’t stop thinking about. Fantasizing about.
Even now, my veins throb with repugnance, so strong it threatens to tie me up in knots, mixed with a fervor I haven’t felt in the centuries I’ve been alive.
By the gods, I need to do everything I can to stay away from that man.
At least it keeps my mind off my fear of getting too close to a Nest. Of being captured again.
We finally make it to the mansion I’m told always houses the bedmates when they come. It’s vast, capable of holding a hundred people or more. I’ve witnessed a lot of opulence in my life, but this is one of the most lavish estates I’ve ever seen. More than anything else in this land, it highlights the fortune that smiles on dragon riders here. Reportedly chosen by the Dróttning because they already possess power—and spurning the bonds that would naturally form between dragons and the riders the fates chose for them—dragon riders have many rights and few responsibilities.
In principle, they’re obligated to protect Vanatia from threats but there are none. The Dróttning controls her land with an iron fist, and no one has challenged her in the decade I’ve been here. Although I hear talk of a rebellion, it’s impotent, so far as I can tell. Some dragon riders work in one of the Nests and others serve by punishing any who stray from the Dróttning’s firm grip—which those riders and dragons are rumored to enjoy a bit too much. But many dragons are simply toys of the elite, with no job beyond ferrying their riders around.
As I inspect the estate, I’m relieved to see it’s different enough from the northern Nest to not remind me of my time there. It’s not what I expected. Where the Nest is dark—caves and cells hidden deep underground—this is bright and open.
Knut also isn’t what I expected.
He meets us at the door, gregarious and welcoming. He’s the least soldier-like soldier I’ve ever met, with a slim build that appears to hold very little muscle, a wide grin, and wild hair. His appearance reveals his allegiance to the Dróttning only because he wears her uniform. His demeanor is carefree—a contrast to others who don her colors—but shadows hide in his bright eyes. Knut is not all that he seems.
