Page 62 of House of Embers
Audria released a short breath as if she was prepared for this, as if she had been dealing with it for too long. “What else can I do to prove myself to you? I fought at your back against the Red Masks. I was there that day.Me,” she said firmly. “I went up against Roake. I went up against everyone I knew and loved. I watched them kill Helly. And when you two left, I was imprisoned forweeks, then under suspicion after I was finally released. The second I get a whiff that Kerrigan is back, I jump at the opportunity to return to her side. I might be a Bryonican noble, but I am no traitor.”
Kerrigan smirked as she raised an eyebrow at Fordham. She had already argued this point. In fact, they’d already decided that it should be Audria who went with her to the dragons, but they’d wanted as much information from both Lowan and Audria as they could get. Lowan seemed to be on his own side—not for or against the Society that had made him a steward but not a citizen of his own government. Audria was on their side. Kerrigan had thought so when she’d dreamwalked, and she was even more certain now.
“It makes the most sense,” Kerrigan finally said. “Audria and I will escort Lowan to the Holy Mountain.”
“But—” Wynter began.
Fordham shook his head. “I need Netta to defend our people, and I do not wish to be separated from her for that long. It was bad enough the first time. I agree with Kerrigan.”
“We have one other problem,” Kerrigan said on a sigh. “We have to convince the dragons.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Water Ritual
Tieran wasn’t speaking to her.
He was flying to the Holy Mountain, Evien off his wing, but he hadn’t said one word to her since they’d left the House of Shadows. Not for lack of Kerrigan trying.
She had known this was going to go poorly, but she hadn’t thought it would gothispoorly. Tieran had grown up in the Holy Mountain. He’d met his mate in the mountain. Then she had been killed by the death of her bonded rider during training, and despite his clear depression, the dragons had forced him to transfer to the House of Dragons for the tournament anyway.
He was terrified to return—terrified of what lay behind those walls.
Kerrigan didn’t blame him for not wanting to face it. She wished that she didn’t have to face anything that was coming down the track. Life wouldn’t stop for her, and she didn’t know who else would step up to fix it. So there was no stalling or stopping or second-guessing. There was only forward. Whether Tieran wanted it or not.
By the time the Holy Mountain came into view, his stony silence had gone from bad to worse. His wings were rigid, his jaw set. Everylittle shift in her weight set him off. It was a long flight for utter silence.
Evien pulled ahead as Lowan directed Audria where to land. Tieran spiraled after her toward the ever-expanding view of a glittering, blue lake. The sand was a soft, crushed tan that sparkled with gold, sapphire, emerald, and ruby. Her eyes widened in shock at the rainbow of color that looked like hidden gems under the water.
“What is that?” she asked.
Tieran, of course, refused to answer.
He landed on the banks of the massive lake, a lake that Kerrigan had never seen on a map or heard mentioned. It was longer than it was wide. She might be able to swim directly across it to the mountain, but she couldn’t see where it started or ended, only that large pine trees kept it from view and it was surrounded by mountains on all sides.
She slid off Tieran’s back and landed on the shore. She went to one knee, letting her hand skim the soft sand. “Dragon scales,” she whispered. “They’re dragon scales.”
“Yes,” Lowan said as Audria helped him down. “Thousands of dragons have existed on their Holy Mountain. They swim in Ferrinix Lake. It’s a sacred site.”
“Ferrinix Lake. Like the ancient dragon who was part of the Irena Bargain?”
The Irena Bargain was what had started the dragon riders. A maiden, Irena, had bonded the Great Ferrinix, ending a fight between dragons and the Fae and starting the Society. Kerrigan had heard the story told by her elders all her life, and since joining the Society, she’d heard varying stories from her teachers, the House of Shadows, those in other houses, and apparently the dragons. It had been told so many times by so many people that she honestly had no idea what had happened all those years ago. The truth lay in the midst of all this, but she couldn’t discern it.
“Correct,” Lowan said, landing in the sand and fallingunceremoniously to his knees. He cleared his throat and scooped up the bag that had fallen off his shoulder. “The dragons worship Ferrinix…”
A burst of fire shot from Tieran’s snout, and Lowan jumped backward.
“We do not worship an elder,”Tieran snarled. “Not even one as great as the Great Ferrinix.”
It was the first thing he’d said in hours.
Kerrigan’s eyebrows rose. “What he’s saying is maybe you don’t know as much about dragons as you presume.”
It took a minute for Lowan to stop shaking before he responded, “My apologies.” He bowed deeply. “I did not mean to insult a dragon as great as yourself, Tieran. Or any dragons. I will correct how I speak of Ferrinix from now on.” He made no excuse, which was the smartest thing he could do with a dragon. For how long he’d been working with dragons, he clearly knew their temperamental mannerisms, if not what would set them off.
“So…” Audria said, patting Evien before walking toward Kerrigan, “what do we do now?”
“There’s a ritual to request access across the lake called the Right of the First,” Lowan said. He sounded more himself again once he got into familiar territory. “Normally I have four escorts who are strongest in each of the four elements.”
