Page 13 of Fated for his Flame

I laughed. “I’m not used to talking about it. Around here, it just sort of is the way it is. I’ve never had to explain it to someone before. Everyone just knows.”

“So, you’re an old, powerful family with many ties to the monarchy?”

“Basically,” I said with a shrug, wondering why I was so discomforted in admitting that to her. It’s not like I cared what she thought of me.

Was it?

“So, does that mean you and your family live here, too?”

“No,” I said, staring out a window that pointed down the mountainside. In the distance was the biggest city on the Isles. Home to many dragon highborn families. Including my own. “No, we have our own estate. Which is where we’ll be going next.”

“What for?” Chloe asked, turning to face the same direction and stare out the window.

“To meet my father,” I said stiffly, wondering just how bad it was going to be.

Chapter Seven

Chloe

“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” I asked, hoping my desperation didn’t show. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

It wasn’t that I was desperate for an answer, though that would, of course, help my mission along, but rather I needed something, anything to distract me from my current predicament.

Flying on the back of a dragon was anything but a fun experience. Terrifying was a much better word to use to describe it. I clutched tightly to his neck, my legs and arms spread as wide as possible to squeeze what little grip I could from the hard yet supple crimson scales covering his body.

I should be analyzing everything I could about his dragon form. To my knowledge, that was the closest anyone had ever gotten to one without being in grave danger or about to be eaten. Any sign of weakness or hole in the scale-armor would be of immediate aid to the warriors back home.

Instead, my eyes were squeezed tight against the bone-shaking fear while I searched for any topic to break the silence. I needed a distraction.

“There are probably many things I’m not telling you.” The rumble of his deep dragon voice rose up through the neck, vibrating through my body. “I did just meet you after all. Is there anything you would like to clarify in particular?”

It didn’t help keep me calm. Maybe getting him to speak was a bad idea. But I had a mission. I needed to get him talking.

“We’re going to meet your father, right?”

“Yes.”

“At his house?”

“No,” Silas said. “It’s more of a family estate. Most of the immediate family lives there at least part-time, and all the day-to-day work is conducted through there.”

“Right,” I said, clearer understanding coming to me.

It sounded very much like an old-style aristocrat or noble out of the medieval era of human history. I thought about pushing him for answers on just what sort of business his family conducted, but he interrupted me first.

“There’s our destination,” he said.

I forced my eyes open, craning my head to either side of him, surprised at how quickly he’d announced our impending arrival. “Really? It’s only been like ten minutes.”

“We do a lot of business at the palace as well. It makes sense to stay relatively close,” Silas offered, banking gently to the right.

My fingers pressed hard against the side of his neck, while I squeezed tighter with my legs. Silas grunted, and a twitch shot from somewhere in his neck to lower down his spine.

Two minutes later, he came in for a gentle landing in the middle of a square of stone surrounded by flowerbeds. One single break in the landscaping indicated a stone pathway leading right to the house.

“You can climb down now,” Silas added when I didn’t make any attempt to move.

His wing was extended out to the side, held stiffly in place and in the reverse of how I’d gotten up to my perch. I made my way down, and when my feet hit the stone, I went to one knee as my legs refused to support me.

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