Page 92 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
After another night of her ignoring my calls and having to skip out on the dragon dance practice, I slipped out of bed and headed out to the courtyard. The cool air kissed my skin, and the wind moved my dress in all directions. It was a good thing I chose to wear shorts underneath it. My hair was still in two double yesenian braids.
“Umara!” I screamed up at the sky. “Umara!” The bond snapped to attention. She heard me. I knew she did. But she didn’t come.
“Umara has a temper. Like someone else I know,” Kieran said from behind me.
I swirled around. “Yeah, thanks, I got that.” At this rate, the dragon dance would be cancelled. As much as I didn’t want to do the stupid thing, things would beworse for me if I didn’t.
Kieran stepped beside me and looked up at the sky. I followed his gaze and spotted Hesperos flying toward us.
“Asshole,” I muttered. “Are you trying to rub it in?”
Kieran patted his dragon when Hesperos landed beside us. It was obvious how in sync the two were. They both looked like they belonged in the shadows. Not to mention how blatantly they cared for each other. Hesperos leaned into his touch like a fucking oversized cat. If my bond wasn’t so frayed with Umara, I would’ve found it cute. Instead, I resisted the urge to smack Kieran.
Kieran shot me a considering look. “You’ve changed.”
“What are you getting at?”
“When Umara claimed you, you were a pissed off thief who wanted to burn Lusadia to the ground. That’s the woman Umara bonded to.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. “So she’s rejecting me?” Aurelia would be so fucking smug. It’d be unbearable. I felt like I stood on a wobbly wooden bridge, and it’d break underneath me at any moment. ‘I thought our bond was eternal,’I thought at Umara only to get silence in return.
Kieran shook his head. “No. You’re hers for life. She loves you.”
“She threatened to bite my face off.”
He shrugged. “We all have bad days.”
“Kieran—”
“I’m serious. Umara admired your rebellious streak, something she also shares. It’s probably what first drew her in. But now you’re one of us and following your captain like a good soldier. Umara hasn’t played politics for five hundred years. It’s an adjustment.”
I sighed. I hadn’t thought of it like that. “So how can I get her to start listening to me again?”
He glanced skyward. “You need to have a talk with her.”
Useless.“I have been.”
“No, you’ve been talkingtoher, not with her. Dragons are extremely prideful. You can’t fully give them orders.”
I folded my arms. “Isn’t the entire dragon dance that? You guys give your dragons orders all the time.”
“Because we have an agreement with them. They know that the bullshit human routines are for our safety. Umara knows the dragon dance is bullshit. That’s why she’s acting out. She doesn’t want to fall in line, because the dance doesn’t actively save your life. She’s probably wondering what happened to her rebellious little thief. Where did she go, Selena? What is the little thief’s goal?” He flicked my braid.
I hadn’t realized he’d gotten so close, close enough I could count his eyelashes. My heart stuttered. “Shut up. I’m right here.”
He clicked his tongue. “See, that's the problem right there. You think she isn't listening to you, but I know she is. You don’t want to do the dragon dance, that’sobvious, but especially to Umara. She’s listening to what you want, even if you can’t say it aloud. But the problem is, she’s given you an out you don’t want. You need to communicate that to her.” He grabbed my chin, gentle but firm, and tilted it up to him. “What do you want, Selena? Do you want to run away with Clara, or do you want to be a dragonsguard?”
We both knew the answer. I frowned. My whole body tingled from his touch, and I couldn’t bring myself to move. Didn’t want to. Instead, I stayed trapped and searched his stormy eyes.
But then Kieran pulled away, and I had to fight the urge to scowl. Instead, I closed my eyes. ‘Umara. Come here. We need to talk.’The connection between us lit up, warmth traveling down the bond despite all the earlier frustration. I breathed a sigh of relief when she landed before me. She still cared.
I was all too aware of Kieran standing to the side. “A little privacy?”
Kieran grinned. “Umara wants me to stay.”
I folded my arms and looked at Umara. Her golden scales shone under the moonlight, and she chuffed smoke in my face. “Seriously?” She blew even more smoke in my face. ‘You’re such a brat,’I thought to her, but it was fond. She sent waves of amusement down the bond, and I found myself smiling.
“Things have changed,” I said after a beat. Umara growled, but I pressed on. “I don’t like Luther. He’s a total asshole, and I don’t want to listen to him or do the stupid dance, but I have to for my sister. By playing along, she stays safe where she’s at. She’s happy there,so I’m going to play nice because that’s what’s better for her. And… I don’t want this country to go to war. Because it threatens Clara’s safety. The better we look together, the safer she’ll be, and the safer I’ll be.”
