Page 13 of The Wrath of Ashes
“Why is a dragon here?” Asha stood straight and used his dirty shirt to towel his hair and shoulders.
The guard at his cell turned, keeping a careful eye out toward the stairs.
“I don’t wish to pry, but you felt him, right?”
“Gave me the chills. Couldn’t look away.” Asha hugged his arms and watched anxiously.
“Trust me. He felt it too.” The guard stood stiff, shoulders tight.
“But why’s he here? Are they helping?” It was a fool’s thought, but the dragons finally come to aid Monsmount meant the world.
“He’s here for you, Prince Asha. You should know by now the dragons do not intervene.” The man inclined his head a little, dedicated to his gaze.
“Wait! Please. Yesterday I didn’t know she was my mother and now I’m a prince—my station… I’m a bastard… Why? Why does he want me? Does he have a woman for us to form union?” Asha pushed up to the bars, gripping them as he stared pleadingly out. “Sir, please?”
“You know nothing, and it’s not my place to try to tell you. I risk giving you information that would be to your detriment. But there is no woman waiting for you. It is only him.”
Asha rested his forehead against the bars. “What for?”
“You’re his.”
Asha sank down against the bars, head bowed, tears welling in his eyes.
“I won’t turn my gaze, Prince, but I promise you, King Mezerath is a noble dragon. As honorable as his father.” Baldric glanced over, focusing on Asha. “And please do not get on your knees before me. The last thing I’d want is for King Mezerath to see his prince so. He’ll answer all your questions soon.”
“I don’t know what promises they’ve given you, but I’m no prince. I’ve never had finery or title.” Asha pulled away from the bars and sought out his hay bed, curling into his depression. Even though fear burned in his stomach, so did a strange new kind of peace, as if all his worries melted away.
***
Soft voices stirred Asha in his bed.
“Does he always sleep this way?” The foreign accent brushed over his ears.
“Like an animal, yes.” Earl Tippin’s voice broke into a shrill yelp as a sharp slap silenced him.
“I assure you, Ashen one, I have a far better nest for you.” The dragon’s voice, Asha realized, nearly purred in his ears as sharp, talon-like fingernails traced his cheek and neck, sending gooseflesh over his skin.
Ashen one?Asha opened his eyes all the way and blinked, watching as the gorgeous man with tall horns studied him with a sense of gleeful wonder. His sharp teeth stretched into a wide grin. “My prince.”
“Will you rise, or would you like me to carry you?” The dragon’s face was almost kind, a light sheen of blue and scales at his temples and brow giving him a more fierce and inhuman appearance.
“I can stand fine on my own.” Asha cast his gaze away and moved, wary of the dragon before him, to a full kneel, bowing his head.
“Do not bow. Stand. The floor is no place for you.” The dragon leaned down and hooked a hand under his arm so gently, lifting with bare effort before taking his hand, his skin deceptively smooth. Deeply tanned in one light and lightly scaled in another.
“As I told your captain, I am unsure as to what the earl and countess have sold me to you as, but I am no prince or duke.” Asha cast his head down and focused on the delicate embroidery over the waistcoat the dragon wore. The blue of it so dark it almost appeared black, embroidered with fine gold stitching, like flames.
“Are you admiring my coat or trying to appear humble, Asha?”
“Both, Your Highness.” Asha tensed every muscle in his body. With teeth as sharp as his and claws so dagger-like, Asha could very well be dead in the blink of an eye.
“Do not address me as such. You may call me Rath.”
“I’m not familiar with dragons.” Asha kept his tone low and respectful.
“May that change. Look at me. You’ve beautiful eyes. Please don’t deprive me of them.”
Asha glanced up and caught Rath’s eyes, so dark, blue caught in the black of night, every flickering torch a star in their depths. With a shiver, Asha squeezed his hand and gasped, realizing that his hand still rested in the dragon’s warm grasp. “I don’t understand…”
