Page 140 of Ashborne Forged

Had they been recaptured somehow?

Or had we missed more of their number?

I’d expected my mother’s involvement with this to be political—she collected powerful men and women to work for her goals as surely as a child collected marbles. But I’d never expected she’d have a practical hand in the scheme itself.

Yet, there she’d sat, smug as a cat cleaning downy feathers from its whiskers, telling me that we’d fly dragons tomorrow when we traveled.

She knew I’d always been fascinated by dragons, even as a child. It fit that she’d informed me of these dragons like she offered a treat.

I couldn’t know how much she knew, whether she had learned I was a Furyknight, or not. My searches of her office had uncovered little of value, and nothing I hadn’t already suspected. But I knew one thing: There was no chance she got her hands—or slippers—dirty. If she was using the dragons to travel, someone else was doing the legwork, and managing the connection with them.

She lacked the necessary empathy for a dragon to wish to connect with her mind, I was sure.

Still, that meant someone else here on the estate—or someone very close to my mother—was in contact with dragons.

I suspected she’d been holding onto the dragon news until the moment she’d measured that I would leave, and she’d lose control of me.

Did that mean there were dragons waiting to carry us?

‘Kham?’

‘I’ve seen none of them. If they are here, their minds are closed, and they’ve kept enough space that I didn’t scent them.’

That seemed unlikely. Dragons were naturally gregarious, herd animals. And Kham was a healthy, powerful male. Any dragons nearby would have greeted him, at minimum.

Wouldn’t they?

I frowned. ‘When you were in Fyrehold, did the wild dragons communicate with you?’

‘Distantly. They weren’t aggressive. But the herd we saw, the one that threatened Kgosi, those dragons weren’t wild.’

‘They weren’t? I thought almost all the dragons in Fyrehold were feral?’

‘They were—but the numbers that rejected introduction to the herd were not. They were herd-minded. But in a strange way. I didn’t speak to them—they refused to link with any of us—but Kgosi has shown some of what he sensed in their brief connection. So we could watch for it. And Koa has communicated with a handful of them during her wild days. They make her very uneasy. They are part of the reason she didn’t seek a true herd.’ He hesitated, rumbling with disquiet. ‘If she’s been flying with them, if Breckon uses them, she will be unsettled.’

His tone grew dark on those last words, tightened by the self-restraint of a protective male, frustrated by his inability to step in.

I was very familiar with that sensation.

‘I need you to circle overhead tonight, as close to the house as you can without being seen by human eyes. Find out if anyone leaves the manor tonight. I’ll need to follow them.’

‘Of course. I can fly quite close. The windows glow while men are awake, but their eyes don’t see into the dark. I’ll warn you if I see anything.’

I nodded and considered my next step. There were no secret exits from my room. But, as long as I could get into the hallway, I could traverse this house without being seen. I had refamiliarized myself with all its secret passages and hidden exits, between the maze within the walls, and my gifts, I’d sense anyone else approaching before they sensed me. I could avoid them if needed.

The question was when, and how would Mother tell her men we were traveling tomorrow? Was I too late? Had the details already been arranged?

No. My instincts said she’d held onto that information, waiting for me to reach my limit—which meant she’d be sending word to someone on this dark night.

And the most likely time was as she went to bed, when she could move around the house without anyone thinking it odd.

Out in the hallway, the clock chimed—only one hour until midnight. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, but I pushed away the memories and thoughts that wanted to crowd in. I had a task, and needed a plan.

In the end, it was simple. Mother always moved toward bed at midnight. That gave me an hour to position myself before anyone was called to carry her message.

Silently, I dressed in the leathers I’d brought in from the tree when I went out there earlier, along with a scarf to wrap everything but my eyes. I took my time leaving the room, long minutes in silence to ensure there were no eyes on my door before I slipped out and into the passage entrance just two doors down the corridor.

‘Kham?’