Page 96 of House of Embers
Then Thea died in her arms.
Hadrian’s arms came around Clover next and held her as she cried until she had no more tears.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Bonding
Hundreds of Fae stood on the field in front of Ravinia Mountain to be assessed by the dragons ready to bond. After much back-and-forth, the dragons had agreed with Fordham about giving the bulk of their kind to the House of Shadows. Not only had their house been deprived for a thousand years but there were likely more strong magical users there than in other houses who had entered the tournament all these years. The dragons who weren’t quite ready to bond would be offered as an option to their allies once this first round had been completed.
“Are you sure this is how it has to be done?” Kerrigan asked as she stood between Gelryn and Tieran.
“There is no use for the tournament any longer,”Gelryn explained.“That was a trick created to keep our kind safe. I would test each potential champion for their strength because the strongest riders were less likely to perish. Then they would endure the test to winnow it down further. By the time the competitors reached the end, the dragons had an easy choice.”
“There is no easy choice here,”Tieran said.
“No winnowing down either,” Kerrigan muttered.
“Even I do not have the strength to do a full test of every potential rider. The dragons will know,”Gelryn said.
“It was why I had to pick you after all,”Tieran reminded her.“You were the strongest, and I could sense that.”
Kerrigan flushed. “Fordham was stronger.”
“Not stronger than a Doma,”Tieran said.“And I didn’t know then that you were, but still I knew.”
Kerrigan nodded. “You’re right of course. I trust you. Lowan said much the same when I checked on him making the bonding potion. I’m just anxious.”
Fordham was already below with the recruits, which included Wynter, René, Aurelie, and Viviana of all people. Dozan stood at Wynter’s side even though he had no magic and couldn’t bond a dragon, though Kerrigan knew he would very much like to. Amond, Darby, and Audria were already at the bonding-potion pool with Lowan in case anything went wrong. Darby had been studying healing magic with Amond, but Kerrigan knew she was restless. Telling her about her dreamwalk with Clover had only made Darby more anxious instead of settling her—another problem for their war effort.
Everyone was in their places. There were only the dragons’ decisions now.
“It is time,”Tieran said.
Kerrigan climbed onto his back, and they dove off the edge of the aerie toward the base of the mountain. He corkscrewed before pulling up sharp and landing at Fordham’s feet. Netta was already present, and the two dragons butted heads in greeting.
Gelryn landed next—the first unbonded dragon to take the field. The entire valley seemed to straighten at the mighty dragon’s presence. He was the real prize after all. Kerrigan didn’t know who was the most powerful among them. Was it Wynter? Would she get the general?
She had no idea how it all worked. Only the dragons truly knew. Gelryn had even said that if no one was worthy, he would remove himself from choosing. Any of the dragons could.
“All assembled,”Tieran said across the potentials,“the dragons will come through at any moment. Brace yourselves.”
That was all the warning they got as wings beat on the wind. Kerrigan’s eyes lifted to the skies to see dragons moving toward them. She slid off Tieran’s back and headed toward Fordham. They wouldn’t remain for the choosing. It was customary to do so without an audience, as had been done in the caves when their own dragons chose them.
Fordham threaded their fingers together and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Nor I.”
“Can you have one more?” a voice called as a figure walked out of the entrance to the mountain.
Kerrigan turned around and gasped. Kivrin Argon waswalkingtoward them.
“Dad?”
He smiled and held his arms out. She ran into them, colliding and almost bowling them both off their feet. He made anoofnoise and then wrapped her up tight. They held each other for a moment—one she couldn’t believe she could have after everything that had happened in their past.
“You’re walking,” she said, pulling back to look at him.
“Still a little unsteady,” he admitted, “but Amond gave me the go-ahead to try to bond.”
