Page 2 of When Ashes Fall

I’d never seen a cadern before, but I’d heard tales of the great beasts, their size and strength. They came from Volcania, the cyclops’s kingdom.

The couple of dozen men and women of the riding party were only fifty feet away and closing the distance far faster than I would have liked. The white flags they waved flapped in the breeze and stood out against the slate-colored sky. My mother rode the big, black stallion on the right side of the procession.

I gulped and resisted the impulse to wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. I’d hoped never to see her again, but here she came, and they might force me to leave with her.

The tribunal can’t make you go if you don’t want to.

But I suspected they could and would.

In the distance, the shadow dragon roared. The riders struggled to keep the horses calm as they pranced nervously; some turned to the side as their ears flicked and their nostrils flared.

When they managed to restrain their mounts, the riders glanced up warily, but the flat, gray sky revealed no hint of the beast. “Will it kill them?” I whispered, afraid to speak any louder.

“It won’t expose itself unless it’s necessary,” Knox replied.

While I wouldn’t mind if the shadow dragon killed some of those coming toward us, like my mother, I didn’t want it to kill all of them. If the representatives of the other kingdoms failed to return, they’d blame the shifters, and war would erupt.

The last war the kingdoms endured had destroyed the demigods and turned their kingdom into the desert wasteland of No Man’s Land. With only four shifters remaining, the kingdom of Wildwood wouldn’t stand a chance against the others.

I’d also prefer it if the four remaining shifters didn’t die. Not to mention, I currently resided here too and far preferred life… even if it did enjoy kicking me in the ass.

“Stay here,” Knox commanded.

I didn’t know who he was talking to, but if it was me, I had no intention of obeying him. As much as the idea of seeing my mother again made me want to spew my breakfast all over the bailey, I wouldn’t let him face this contingent alone. They’d come here for me, and I would be involved.

Fifty feet away from the gates, the riders stopped. Other than my mother and sister—I almost groaned aloud at the realization that perfect Rosalie was here too—I recognized none of them. As far as I knew, Knox had no allies out there, and I wouldn’t let him walk into a nest of vipers.

Then my gaze settled on a tall, regal figure sitting atop another horse. A small breath escaped when I recognized Devnair, the elf Knox and I freed from the harem. With him here, Knox might have one ally, but he still couldn’t go out there alone.

Knox walked away from me, confident and undeterred by his nudity. When I started after him, he turned, and the look on his face froze me.

“I told you to stay here,” he growled.

The hair on my arms stood up as his eyes burned into mine, but his words aggravated me. “Stop ordering me around.”

“You’re in my kingdom; you’ll do as I say.”

I ground my teeth together as my hands fisted. “But they’re here because of me.”

“Which is why you’ll stay here.” His gaze went past me to the other shifters. “Don’t let her leave these gates.”

“We won’t,” Lyra, Pierce, and Dromon vowed together.

And they would keep me here, but that didn’t mean they all had to stay. “One of you should go with him,” I suggested.

The three shifters ignored me as their stony gazes remained focused on the riders outside the gates while Knox turned and walked away. His long legs ate up the ground as he strode confidently toward the gates, still completely heedless of his nudity.

All the riders eyed him with interest as he approached… especially the women. Despite my concern for him, jealousy twisted my stomach into knots.

“It’s official,” Gizzi whispered in my head.

“What is?” I inquired.

“He’s crazier than you.”

I had to agree with that assessment. “Let’s hope it doesn’t get him imprisoned or killed.”

CHAPTER TWO