A shadow looms over me as I wrap my metal fingers around thehilt. One advantage of my enchanted arm? It hasn’t gone numb like the rest of me. I draw the blade and point it up at Roiven’s throat.
Moonlight illuminates his features as he stands above me, and his eyes burn all the brighter for the darkness of our surroundings. A wave roars, and mist speckles my face.
I struggle up to my feet, keeping the sword pointed at him.
“Kneel.”
Roiven sinks slowly to both knees, his hands raised. The sight of him glaring up at me makes something low in my torso tighten. The dangerous balance between us has shifted, but I still hold the reins controlling him.
I know I’m supposed to keep him alive, but if I can’t stop him from escaping, surely killing him is the next best option.
“Give me one reason not to ram this through your throat.” My voice comes out croaking.
“You won’t make it off this rock alive.” He says it without any emotion. Like he hardly cares if I try.
“I ordered you to keep me safe.”
Roiven stares at me flatly. The moonlight glazes the arrow still sticking from his arm. He definitely didn’t fly here crushed in a dragon’s claws, like I did.
“You are safe. For now.”
“You threw me out the window. How? The enchantment…”
“Your castle was under attack,” he interrupts. “Savasaeirn was willing to kill you. You’d die if I didn’t.”
His damned dragon found a loophole. Or he did. Keeping me ‘safe’ from the dragon meant kidnapping me.
“Sava…” I echo, but I’ve already forgotten the mouthful of the name. My sword wavers in my grip. My metal arm might be limitless, but the shoulder holding it up is still human muscle, and cramped.
A massive head comes into view, and a hot, rancid blast of air washes over me. I gag.
Moonlight glints off a jagged face, spiked and scaled, heavy-jawed.
I will not give in to fear.
“Tell thatthingnot to kill me.”
For a moment Roiven is silent. The wind tugs at his hair, blowing it back away from his face.
“Savasaeirn says she will do what she wants. Even if you continue to abuse the enchantment on me.”
“You can talk. In your minds,” I question flatly.
“Shealsosays to sheathe your sword before she melts it.”
I turn and spit on the rock.
The dragon growls in a low reverberation that seems to shake the whole island. The hairs of my neck rise on edge.
“If she attacks me, you have to fight to save me.”
“She knows,” Roiven says quietly. “You think I’m not willing to die, to protect my people from you? You think I wouldn’t have done so already, if I could?”
If I kill him, the dragon will definitely kill me. He can’t attack me himself. And if the dragon tries to attack me, well, he’ll have to intervene. I should kill him anyways. But what if the dragon kills me first, and I die without even harming him?
Slowly, I sheathe my sword. Roiven rises to his feet and fixes his eyes on the dragon.
What else are they saying to each other?
