Page 47 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “We need to show our strength and that our seventh rider is not the weakling she appears to be.”Asshole.“Traditionally, the Dragonsguard Welcoming Festival is held four months after the rider’s first completed mission, but we’re moving up Selena’s first mission.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’tdie. I refuse to let Andova take out one of our riders. There’s no guarantee Umara would claim anyone after your death. We need to put Andova in their place before they try something even more stupid.”
So you need me.I folded my arms. “I want to see my sister.”
Luther looked seconds away from smacking me. “When you complete the mission, I’ll consider it.”
“No.” I straightened. “You won’t just consider it.”
His eyes blazed. “Need I remind you I’m the king? Tell me, do you know where your sister is?”
My heart stuttered, but the icy fear that shocked my veins was quickly replaced by red hot rage. I jumped to my feet. “Luther—” But before I could move, cool shadows shoved me back into my seat and covered my mouth. I snarled through the gag and scowled at Kieran and the annoying little smirk he wore. I’d been a fool to think that little trip changed things. Kieran, at his core, was a controlling prick who used people for his own benefit.
“I’ll get her in line,” Kieran said smoothly.
I thrashed against the restraints, feeling like a wild animal, but they didn’t budge. If anything, they tightened almost painfully.
Luther’s lips curved into a smile before tightening in a thick line. “See that you do or it’ll be your head on the chopping block.” He left the room and the rest of the dragonsguard filed out after him. Nimue and Gareth eyed both of us before leaving.
As soon as we were alone, the shadows melted into darkness and freed me from my binds. I jumped to my feet, anger blinding my vision.This asshole.It was all so fucking unfair. I saw red and threw my fist right at Kieran’s face.
This time it wasn’t his shadows that stopped me but Kieran’s hand. He easily trapped my wrist, and hisother hand snaked forward to trap the other. I yanked my hand back—or tried to, but his grip was like iron. His stormy eyes trapped me in place.
“Easy there,” he cooed, like I was a beast rather than a human.
I jerked against him. “You don’t get to do that.” I felt less than human when I reached out and kicked, only to be easily avoided. The raged cry I let out, echoed by Umara’s mental growl, only increased the feeling. “You don’t get to silence me.”
His jaw flexed. “I will if you’re being reckless. You can be as angry as you want, but Luther will kill you if he has to. Worse, he might force my hand to do it.”
I laughed but felt no humor. “Because you're his lap dog, Kieran the Executioner. Whatever he says goes.”
He raised a brow, entirely unaffected by my biting words. “Do you think by insulting him you’re going to gain his favor? You’ve done nothing to prove yourself to be anything but a problem and a menace. He’s not inclined to give any benefits to someone that’s constantly a thorn in his side.”
“Easy for you to say,” I snapped.
He exhaled, looking entirely frustrated. “You think I like being that prick’s friend? There are benefits to being on his side."
“Like what?”
“Like being able to see your sister, for one.” His words left me frozen, even when his shadows slipped away. “That’s your problem. You’re too angry to see things clearly. If you play nice and gain his trust, hewill allow you to see her. Eventually, he might even allow her to live here.”
But what if I don’t want to fall in line?“Why are you doing this? Why do you keep trying to... I don’t even know what you keep trying to do. You think I’m going to be your friend? I’m not. I’m never going to trust you.” The fucking mind games on top of it, when he acted like I meant something to him, were driving me insane. I wouldn’t let myself get confused again, because I couldn’t trust a word out of his mouth. Kieran was my captain and my jailor.
His eyes burned. “I don’t want to be your friend.”
“Then what do you want?” I balled my hands into fists. “Be honest.” Because why the hell did he take me to go see the forest when he knew I wanted to get out? Why did he try to comfort me when he saw my ears bothered me? None of it made sense.
“And why should I do that?”
“Luther said you’re responsible for me. I’ll behave if you do.”
He laughed. “I doubt that. You don’t have it in you to behave, little thief. But fine. I’ll humor you. I want a world where we’re not warring against other dragons, a world where civilians don’t pay for riders’ hubris.”
“That's never going to happen.” I almost wanted to laugh. Only a noble could think of something that naïve.
“You might want to reconsider your own plan.” He looked down at me, sending a thrill down my spine. “You keep fighting the king, and what comes of it? Hehides your sister. Even if you run, even if you take her, you’ll be hunted down like a dog. Swallow your pride and work with him.”
I pressed my finger into his chest. “Some of us aren’t spineless.”
He captured my hand into his and held it there. “No, some of us aren’tselfishand can act for the greater good.”
