Page 20 of The Storm of the Empire

When it slowed and he began to snore, I worked my knife out of my pocket without much movement so as to not disturb him. Then I eased it under the lip of the container I sat next to, carefully prying up the corner. Every few seconds, my gaze flicked over to my sleeping companion. Once I had it loosened, I moved to the next corner with as little movement as possible. I got that one up and on to the next. The third came loose easily.

One to go.

A bell rang, and I pulled the knife back under the robes, hoping Mikel wouldn’t notice the box askew as he bolted upright.

“What?” he muttered, still clinging to sleep.

“I believe it’s the supper bell,” I murmured. “You can go eat if you’re hungry.”

“Do you want to go first?” His voice was still laced with sleep.

“Of course. I’ll give you a few moments to wake up.” I was loaned a spare cup, bowl, and spoon by the cook with orders to return them before I departed the ship. They were filled with a rather foul-smelling stew, ale, and then topped with a generous piece of bread. I thanked them and returned to the cabin quickly, telling Mikel he was good to go.

He dragged himself out of the hammock, rubbing his eyes and grumbling. As soon as the door was closed behind him, I went back to the box, food left to cool as I pried up the last corner. I pulled back the straw packing, finding the last thing I was expecting.

Eggs.

Dragon eggs.

But why?

I reached into the box to move some of the straw away so I could get a better look. One of the eggs had a piece of straw stuck to it, and I picked it off, realizing it was stuck to something dried on. It had pulled up a small patch of the surface of the egg and beneath it was a different color.

Voices outside threw me into a panic, and I threw the lid back on the crate and quickly picked up my bowl, just in time for Mikel to enter our room.

EIGHT

HAZEL

Iwoke with a gasp, not sure what pulled me out of my sleep. Sweat pricked on my forehead while my breathing was rapid, as if I was pulled from a bad dream, but my memory was blank. Unease consumed me. Something wasn’t right.

I listened, but there were no sounds out of the ordinary. I pushed out of bed, too restless to fall back asleep. Could something be wrong in the palace?

My blood ran cold. Now that I’d had the idea, I couldn’t let go of it, so without looking for my slippers, I tiptoed across the cold floor to the balcony doors and peeked out of the curtains. Nothing stirred in the darkness beyond. No disturbance in the courtyard below or dragons in the dawn sky. All was calm. So why did I feel this way?

I stretched out my hearing again, as if some sound or errant detail would finally process in my brain, but nothing came. Not even animals stirred at this hour.I closed my eyes, leaning over the rail, letting the cool wind dry the sweat on my brow. Fae went mad from lack of sleep. I had to stop giving into these delusions and stay in bed.

I needed a change. I couldn’t keep hoping for my life to turn around overnight. I’d long given up on finding my ryder, so longing for any sort of opportunity to arise where I could prove myself some other way was just short of descending into madness.

I forced myself back to bed and sank in with a huff. But sleep eluded me. I turned one way, then the other, but couldn’t recreate the comfort I had only minutes ago. I half-wished Luka was here so I could entertain myself that way, but after our night together, he had grown distant. I supposed I should have expected that with his reputation, and I wasn’t upset. The male knew what he was doing, though; it seemed a shame not to do it again.

Thumping the covers with my fist, I growled. Well, fantastic! I was fully awake, and I would drive myself crazy if I just lay in bed. Wallowing abed gave me too much time to think, and that never ended well.I needed purpose.

Throwing the covers off again while muttering to myself, I made for the bathing chamber to start my day. I would head down to the training wing to start my practice early. If sleep wouldn’t come easily, I’d force my body into a state of exhaustion.

But as I dressed, even the thought of extra training time didn’t seem to relieve the itchy feeling from the balcony. It followed me all the way to my training room while I stretched and ran through my warm-up. Not even a sword in my hand made me feel any better.

Frustrated, I considered alternative ways to get this feeling off my back. I could take a walk, or maybe I should fly it off? I would have the skies mostly to myself at this hour. I just had to avoid the patrols if I wanted to be alone, I saw enough of those fools in my training sessions. I didn’t want to deal with them when I felt this way.

Reluctantly, I stashed my training equipment back in the store and headed for the nearby landing platform. For a dragon, I didn’t use it much. I was far too wrapped up in my work. And I was a storm dragon. We were built different.

Smaller and more nimble than most other dragons, we were raised in conditions other dragons avoided at all costs. Other dragons didn’t typically fly into a storm if they could help it, whereas we were one with the storm. But the need to fly daily was not as strong for us as it was with other dragons. I guess when the weather was always volatile, you didn’t feel the urge to be up there as often. But the sky pulled me today.

I stripped and stowed my clothes, then ran and leaped off the ledge.

My wings ripped from me as I fell, and I caught myself, soaring out over the city.

Maybe the feeling building in my gut was disappointment.

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