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A fighter walked a horse over to Danae, who patted the horse affectionately. “You and me on this trip, Pop.”
“You named your horse Pop?”
Danae shrugged. “It came with him when we got him. Fits too well to change it now.”
“What am I riding?”
“You’ll be with me,” Constantine said, coming up behind them unexpectedly.
Kerrigan shivered in disgust. “I am not riding with you again. It’s too long of a journey.”
“I’ll take the lead, and your horse will be tied to me.”
She glared at him. “You don’t trust me on my own steed?”
“No,” he barked. “Don’t give me a reason to use a crux bond to keep you in line.”
She startled at the wording. A crux bond.
When Kerrigan had been learning her spirit magic, she had trained with a woman who showed her how to create crux bonds. Cleora had been an incredible teacher, helping Kerrigan tether herself to her dragon, Tieran, when their more permanent bond had never taken. She hadn’t expected to hear that term again.
“You’ve heard of it?” Constantine asked. He put his hands together, and after a few seconds, a string of gold energy pulled between the two points of his hands. “This is a crux bond. Simple magic if you know anything about it. It allows me to tie you to me. I’d always know where you are.”
She lifted her chin to meet him. “Then, why haven’t you done it?”
He let the bond break. “That’s the trust I’m putting in you. Don’t break it.”
The threat hung in the air as he walked away toward his mighty Melidonna. A smaller horse was tethered by a rope to the saddle. Great.
“Need help up?” Theo asked with his undisguised interest.
“No.”
She hadn’t seen much of the fighters since Tarcus’s arrival. She and Danae had sequestered themselves away from the men. And she suspected that Constantine had strongly warned them away from her.
“Chin up, love,” Theo said affectionately. “Won’t all be bad. Just wait until you see Carithian. You’ll love it.”
Then, he winked and headed to his horse. She mounted the smaller horse just as Constantine used his magic to open the gates to the estate. He was the first through the portcullis, waiting for his men to follow in his wake before reactivating the magic and starting the several hours-long journey ahead of them.
They arrived in Eivreen by lunch and headed straight for the docks. The day was clear. The salty air pushing her sweaty hair off of her neck. She was glad for the hat and shawl that Constantine had provided her halfway through the trek as the sun rose high. The sun was surprisingly more intense here than at home, and her skin had started to turn pink with sunburn.
No, she hadn’t given Constantine credit for thinking about it in advance.
The harbor was packed with more ships than she had seen when she was last in Eivreen. Enormous ships in hundreds of rows, down to the smallest fishing boat. She had no idea how they navigated all the surrounding vessels.
Danae pulled up alongside her. “Everyone is coming in for the tournament. It’s not to be missed.”
“We have a tournament like this at home,” Kerrigan said. Danae perked up at the addition to the conversation. Kerrigan had begun to slowly divulge information to Danae. Not because she felt Danae pulling the truth from her, but because it was better than keeping it all to herself. “But it’s a dragon tournament.”
Danae blinked at her. “What does that mean? Dragons are … terrifying. I’ve only seen them once, and they were destroying a nearby city in Andine.”
“Dragons are different where I’m from. They’re intelligent and sometimes kind. They work with us and let us fly on their backs. If you win the tournament, you bond with a dragon for life and join the government.”
“That is … a lot.” She looked like she couldn’t process it all. “Dragons are … nice? You get to fly on them? And you can just join the government? You’re not born into it?”
“Well, you have to be the best, and a dragon has to choose to bond with you. But, yeah, anyone can join. Of course there are some who are part of legacy lines that are more likely to succeed. My grandmother was a dragon rider as well.”
“Incredible. What a world. To have multiple women in the government.”
“Are women allowed to do anything here?” Kerrigan asked as she maneuvered around dockworkers, following behind Constantine.
“Well, Doma women can do whatever they want,” Danae said. “But the Senate is all men. And all their positions are handed down father to son.”
Kerrigan wrinkled her nose. “Corruption at its finest.”
“It wasn’t much better in Andine,” Danae whispered, as if even admitting it troubled her. “I would have been married off when I reached my majority to strengthen our lands and alliances. We had the kurios, and while my mother was silinna in her own right, that didn’t mean all that much.”
