Page 67 of House of Embers
Kerrigan gulped at that warning. Her finger was already on the shield in her mind, ready to go at the slightest provocation.
“We come from the front of a war between Fae, half-Fae, humans, and dragons. Many will fall in the coming cycle. Many riders. Many dragons,”Tieran said solemnly.“Our work must always be to defend against those who wish harm upon our kind. And to do that, the simple truth is that we need more of our kind to succeed. We make a request of the council to send forth those dragons who have passed testing to our aid.”
The silence was thick in the room. The two dragons on either side of Thiery moved first, snorting derisively and breathing plumes of flame. Thiery stood stoically, ignoring their distaste. Her eyes were only on her son—the son she had sent into the dragon tournament despite his adamance that he never wanted a rider after the death of his mate. He’d spent fifty cycles avoiding that duty, and she had sent him anyway with the only other option being death. She was a hard, vicious dragon. Kerrigan could see that they’d lost before they had even stepped foot inside the mountain.
“Let me ask you something,”Thiery said.“What happens when the other side of your fight comes to us making the same request? When they toofeel that their dragons are in danger and want more dragons to even the score. Which side do you take? Do you push hatchlings to testing sooner?”
“Their side is oppressive and wrong,”Tieran snarled.
“They would say the same of you.”
“They do not care about the dragons they have. They would sacrifice them to kill off the half-Fae and humans that they deem lesser.”
“And you would not?”she asked almost gently.“You would not sacrifice dragons for your cause? All will survive. You can guarantee that?”
“No one is safe in war,”Tieran said as if by rote.
“Correct. So I ask you again: What would you have us do if your enemy comes to the Holy Mountain, demanding a sacrifice of dragons for their war?”
Tieran was silent a beat. Kerrigan’s heart hammered in her chest. She wanted desperately to speak her piece, to give an impassioned speech to the dragons that would change their minds. But this was not her fight. Tieran had to win this one.
“You have to make a choice,”Tieran said finally.“You have to decide which side is right and back them.”
“The Holy Mountain makes no choice. We are neutral,”Thiery argued.
Kerrigan gritted her teeth at that, but Tieran was just as irritated with that line of thought.“Neutrality is a choice. It’s not doing nothing and letting it work itself out. It’s agreeing not to help and to let others die to keep yourself safe. It’s cowardice.”
Shock rippled through the other dragons. Even Evien appeared disconcerted at Tieran’s accusation.
Thiery’s back went up at the word.“We have always disagreed in this regard.”
“Father would have agreed with me.”
Thiery flashed her razor-sharp teeth at him.“And he died in such a war. You would do well to remember that war takes all you claim to love. No matter your allegiance.”Her serpentine head swiveled to the side.“Let us vote.”
At the same time, the words crashed into Kerrigan’s mind.
“Denied.”
“Denied.”
“Denied.”
A breath went out of her as the cacophony turned to silence. Denied. They weren’t getting any more dragons. But apparently neither was the Society. That was a sort of win at least. Better than what they’d expected. Just not good enough.
“You may leave now or be forced to leave,”Thiery told them.
Kerrigan patted Tieran’s back.“Come on. We should move.”
Only Tieran didn’t move.
“I call for the Threefold Test.”
Thiery stepped forward as if she could take back what he’d just said. Her slitted eyes widened in alarm.“No.”
“You cannot deny me,”Tieran argued.
“What’s the Threefold Test?” Kerrigan whispered into the stillness.
