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I leave the temple feeling a little more at ease than I did when I awoke this morning. It’s comforting having some answers and knowing that I’ve got somewhere to go to sit and think if things become too confusing. Perhaps I’ll even ask one of those women in red to teach me to meditate.
I make my way through the corridors until I reach the stone bridge and cross over it to the dragongrounds. I’ve never seen anyone else here apart from dozens of enormous dragons, but today a tall man with long white hair and white and tan dragonriding clothes is standing not far from the bridge. As I approach, I see that he’s as tall and muscular as Zabriel, and he carries himself with the same air of authority.
I think I’m about to meet my first Alpha since Zabriel.
Before him is a small dragon. Smaller than Scourge, anyway. It stands as high as a Shire horse, with a long, tapering body of pale gold and shimmering turquoise. It has a scroll between its teeth and the dragonmaster is holding on to the other end.
He commands sharply, “Esmeral, stop that. I saidno.”
The dragon snarls and hisses, yanking harder and harder, but the white-haired Alpha holds on to the scroll.
I move around to where he can see me and hold up the scroll from the Temple Crone. “Sorry to interrupt you. I was asked to give this to the dragonmaster.”
“I’m the dragonmaster.” The man keeps his grip on the letter in Esmeral’s teeth, holds out his other hand without looking at me, and snaps his fingers.
Oh? Snapping your fingers at me?
Playing with the scroll in my hands, I say, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Isavelle.”
“Dragonmaster Stesha,” he says, still glaring at the gold and turquoise dragon.
“Is the dragonmaster the one who looks after all these dragons?”
His nostrils suddenly flare and he glances at me with narrowed, icy blue eyes. “Obviously.”
Well, isn’t hecharming.
The turquoise dragon suddenly releases the scroll, making Stesha stumble backward, and she paces over to me. Surprisingly, the dragon sniffs delicately at my ankles, my wrists, and then my neck. She makes cute, sniffly noises against my ear, which tickle so much that I laugh and step away, rubbing my ear with my shoulder.
“Why does everything around here want to smell me?”
Stesha is watching me with that same narrowed, critical gaze. “You’re our first new Omega, and Omegas are very rare. You’re interesting to her.”
I glance warily at the Alpha, realizing that I have his full attention now. Is he going to sniff me as well? “I’m not interesting to you, am I? I mean, you kind of look like, um, you seem like you’re—well, you’re very tall,” I finish lamely. He’s obviously an Alpha. He reminds me of Zabriel, not in looks necessarily, but he’s got the same muscular strength, height, and authoritative attitude, though Zabriel is a lot friendlier than this imperious man.
Stars help me if another Alpha gets it in his head that I belong to him.
Stesha gives me a long, unreadable look. “You’re only interesting to me because King Zabriel will mate you and make you his queen. Give me that.”
He holds out his hand for the scroll. I look the other way. I don’t know why, but getting on this man’s nerves is suddenly the only thing I want to do.
“Maybe I’m interesting in my own right. I can be very good at making sparkling conversation.”
Stesha’s glower deepens.
“Why are you and Esmeral having a disagreement?” I ask him.
The dragonmaster grinds his teeth together. “Because Esmeral wants to carry messages to the wingrunners at the barrier, and I said she can’t. She won’t listen because she’s young and she’s also extremely stubborn.” He says the last part louder while looking pointedly at the dragon.
Esmeral was nosing at my skirts, but she suddenly gives a short, angry snort as if to say,I’m not stubborn.
“Why can’t she carry messages?”
“Because she’s young, inexperienced, riderless, and she’s too precious to be in so much danger for no good reason.”
Esmeral lunges for the scroll in his hands with her jaws, but it doesn’t do her any good as Stesha holds it up out of her reach.
“You are getting on my last nerve today,” he growls at her.
