Page 46 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
The prick. He made it sound like his obsessive need to train was admirable. “Okay. You’re on.”
We continued on with the flight. Despite my reservations, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the break. Not that I’d let Kieran know, but the castle was getting to me. Even trying to keep my goals in mind—it was just a lot of change all at once.
“We’re coming up to the spot.” Kieran grinned, an almost childish look on his face.
“Where are we even at?” From the thick forestry, I’d guess we were somewhere in Caddel Province.
“Theas. Specifically, Theas Forest.” His grin widened. “Over here.” I followed his lead as Hesperos dipped down. The closer we got to the ground, I realized just why he took me here.
“Holy shit!” Kieran had us land in a small clearing. I looked around at the gigantic trees surrounding us. I’d never seen such tall trees before. They were almost twenty times as tall as the royal castle. And the thickness—they were easily the width of twentypeople standing in a line. “I didn’t know trees could be this big!”
“Told you you’d love it.” There was no smugness in Kieran’s tone, only wonder. I probably had a stupid grin on my face, but I didn’t care. “These are called father trees.”
I pressed my hand against one of the trees. “Of course it’s named that. Let’s walk through the trail. Umara, did you want to fly or stay with us?” She shuffled to me and nudged her head against my shoulder.Affectioncoursed through the bond, and she curled up on the ground. “Okay. We’ll explore first and then meet back up with you.” I looked back at Kieran. “How long can we stay?” I never wanted to leave.
“A couple hours.”
Hesperos stayed behind so it was just Kieran and me walking down the path. I couldn’t believe just howmassivethese trees were. “They’re so beautiful. I’m surprised they haven’t been cut down.”
“In ancient times, people thought it was the Father in physical form, so they worshipped them instead. That’s how they got their name. Another popular belief was that after the Mother created the land, the Father had some complaints. He felt the trees and lands were shaped solely for the mortals, and he wanted something for their Family. So he asked the Mother to craft these.”
“I’d call him ungrateful, but it’s beautiful. Though I definitely think the Mother created these. I bet a man came up with that legend.” No doubt it was probably someone from the Markos Province. Many ofthe people in that region believed that the Child was actually the Son. I preferred to think of the Child as someone of all and no genders.
Kieran inclined his head consideringly. “A few centuries ago, people almost brought the father trees to extinction. One of the Caddel lords outlawed the practice of cutting them down unless they’re unstable. This forest is one of many that’s under the Caddel family protection.”
“I’m glad.” And I wasn’t surprised. People could never handle having good things. They always tried to ruin it. “I want to take Clara here someday. She’d love it.” Clara never said it aloud, but I knew she hated being confined to the tent. When she was younger, she was always trying to run off and explore. The second time she almost died from an illness was when she finally understood staying indoors was for her protection. But if we traveled by dragon or used some of the dragonsguard luxuries, surely, I’d be able to transport her safely.
As we walked, we came across a small pond and spotted some birds floating in the water. At least they got to live undisturbed. I caught a glimpse of my features and froze. My ears. They were no longer rounded and now had a sharp point to them that screameddragon rider.How had I not noticed?
“It suits you,” Kieran said.
My mouth went dry. The lightness I felt faded. “I don’t think so.”
Kieran softened. “It’s hard adjusting, but you will. I know because I struggled too. You’re not alone in thisfeeling.” He looked down at his own reflection and the Rider’s Mark that was forever inked against his neck.
My heart stuttered. Of all things for him to say, it wasn’tthat.At first I wanted to dismiss his words and yet… he’d taken me here and given me some much needed space to breathe.‘You’re not alone.’He’d ensured that. “Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t look away from the water.
Kieran’s reflection turned to me. “It was the least I could do.”
Two weeks after the attack, we were pulled straight from training with a message from a raven to head straight to the dragonsguard meeting room. I kept my expression impassive as I walked. Kieran led the way and made a point to stand in front of us all, but also concealing me from Luther’s view. Gareth and Nimue flanked me. My stomach clenched. After the Aurelia and dragon bonding fiasco, I’d hardly seen him. Hopefully, he’d let go of his anger toward me and didn’t plan to make Clara’s life hell.
Luther straightened in his chair, and the rest of us took a seat around the golden circular table. Kieran sat on my right and Nimue on my left.
“We found who hired the man who attacked Selena,” Luther announced to us. “And he was the one who hired Selena to attack the carriage.”
I blinked. Out of everything I thought he’d say, it wasn’t that. “What?” Were they talking about Randall? But no way would Randall hire someone totake a hit out on me. He had a few lines he wouldn’t cross and one of them was that. Not to mention, the attack was too public—the exact opposite of what he’d do. Too much risk for something guaranteed to fail. But if not Randall… “Who?”
Luther’s expression tightened. “Kieran can fill you in later. The man’s still being interrogated, but he will be executed in three days. It’ll be death by dragonfire, so you will all be attending. Make sure you get his full confession before he dies.”
Kieran’s shoulders tensed. “Of course.”
Nimue looked between us. “Is he an Andovan spy?”
“Or a delusional peasant?” Aurelia smiled.
“Andovan spy, that much is obvious,” Luther said. “This attack has weakened our public perception. A commonercannottake out a dragonsguard.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, there goes my plans.”
