Page 68 of Ashborne: Defiance

I saw her deflate as I turned back to the fire, and guilt pinched at my chest.

I swallowed it down. “Look… forget it. The food is ready. Come sit. Eat,” I muttered, tipping my head toward the fire.

From the corner of my eye, I watched her approach, hesitant and wary. I frowned, cursing under my breath as I took the spit from the fire and laid the carcass out on a large piece of tree bark I’d cleaned in the creek.

“Stop tip-toeing around like you’re an uncertain child. There won’t be time for that when we reach Vosgaarde, Grace. You’ll have to toughen up. Are you a Flameborne, or not?!” I said pointedly as I tore pieces of meat off the carcass and tossed them onto the tin plate from my kit, and another, smaller slab of the bark.

Grace took the last few steps quickly, but her face was pale and her brows pinched over her nose. I pressed the plate into her hands, then picked up the bark—I’d given myself the slightly larger portion, but I’d let her have the last piece of fruit from my rations. Then started for the tree where I planned to sit.

But Grace piped up behind me. “Please. Don’t go away. You don’t have to. I’ll listen! I will. I’m just… I don’t know… I’m not sure when to push and when to stop and… please, Voski. Don’t tell them I can’t do it. I can!”

Her voice cracked as if she’d cry, and irritation flared in my chest again as I turned on her—but I found her standing there, holding the plate looking forlorn?

Then my dragon’s voice, wise, knowing, and disapproving, sounded in my head.

‘You know the fear of uncertainty and self-doubt. Stop excusing yourself and lead as you wished to be led.’

I swallowed the angry words I’d been preparing for her and made myself take a breath.

I knew better.

I had done better.

And worse, I knew how that fear felt. When you’d caught a glimpse of the life you wanted, and feared someone with more power might take it from you.

I’d always sworn I would never be that man.

Dear God, what was wrong with me?

‘I may have some ideas,’ Kham offered dryly.

‘It was a rhetorical question,’ I returned. But I made myself meet Grace’s big, blue gaze, and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been unfair,” I admitted. My fingers ached because I grasped the block of bark so tightly, my knuckles were white. But I had to hold onto something. “It’s not your fault that I’m angry. And you aren’t doing badly. You aren’t at risk of not being Acknowledged, Grace. Trust me. Your path won’t be easy, but you will be Flameborne, I’m sure.”

She inhaled sharply. “Are you certain?”

I nodded, reluctantly, but a tiny part of my heart eased at the joy that lit in her gaze.

I cleared my throat. “I’m fighting battles that are none of your concern,” I said tightly. “I’m not normally so, er, hot headed.”

She nodded, but her expression wavered into skepticism.

I supposed I couldn’t blame her.

“There’s a great deal that is unknown right now,” I went on. “And you’ve caught me in a moment of weakness. I’ll try to do better. Just know that, while you lack a man’s strength, you are easily as skilled—perhaps more so—than our usual Flameborne. If there’s still a dragon Keep when we return, I have no doubt you’ll be accepted within it.”

Her brows popped up. “You think your Keep might be destroyed?”

Shit. I really was off my game if I let little details like that slip. “It was a figure of speech,” I lied. “I’m just trying to say, you don’t have to worry. If I’m irritated or disapproving, it doesn’t mean I’ll stand in your way. When we reach Vosgaarde, I’ll take you straight to Donavyn. Or whoever is in charge,” I added hurriedly, praying whoever that was, they weren’t riding to war with the king himself.

Or worse, not fighting.

Dear God, what were we walking into?

For a moment I had visions of arriving in Vosgaarde to all-out civil war, carrying an untrained Flameborne—a woman.

I couldn’t let them harm her. But I couldn’t let our hidden enemies remove Donavyn, either.

Unaware of my thoughts, Grace slumped with relief. “Thank you,” she said, blinking and smiling like she was fighting tears. “Thank you.”