Page 219 of Upon Buried Embers
Drogonah.
“Now, go back to your allocated camps and await the rest of your clan’s arrival.” He laughs. “Well, whoever was lucky enough to be left. And remember, you can wander through my city as you see fit, my hospitality is gracious, but cause any trouble and you know what will happen…”
After a tense moment, we turn as one, fury boiling, and it nearly explodes out of me when Halen calls, “Oh, Rohan? A moment.”
I stop short and close my eyes briefly, hands clenching.
The guards escort the others out of the room, all of them eyeing me warily.
I take a breath before I turn. “What?”
“You dare talk to your king this way?” he growls, and the rest of his guards shuffle uneasily. “Try. Again.”
He has your dragons, Rohan.
Your home is burning.
“Yes, my king,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Better,” he hums and then leans back on his golden throne, the purple cushioning a deep color, symbolizing who he thinks he is.
He grabs a tankard from the small table next to him and takes a gulp.
“You have promised to deliver me something.” I will my body not to tense, not to let his words show how they affect me.
“I wrote to you for an update, and you told me there was a delay,afteryou had already told me you’d acquired what I needed and would deliver it at The Games.”
“That’s correct. There was a problem I’m rectifying, but it seems you’ve ignored our deal and have now decided to play even more games.”
“Ahh, but I think it’syouwho is playing games, Rohan.” His voice is a murmur, but there is anger behind it.
“I’m playing no games, this is our lives! And if it wasn’t for that vapor, you know you’d be dead,” I snarl, nostrils flaring.
He pauses with his drink halfway to his mouth. “Who knew that the great Dragonbond, Rohan Asgarr, the first to claim Drogonah, the youngest Dragonbond, was a liar?”
I stay silent, and he tips his head back and laughs.
I itch to take the axe and throw it. It would land in his head perfectly, splitting it in two.
But our dragons.
“Well,” the king says, flicking his fingers. “Let’s see your lies out in the open.”
I frown, and a moment later, the door opens behind him, and two guards walk through, dragging a body with a hood over their head.
My heart pounds as I look at the king’s smug face, and then back to the person who is thrashing, whimpers coming from them, and my whole body tenses.
No.
“Remove the hood.”
A guard does, and almost in slow motion, red hair spills from beneath it, followed by wide, scared, tear-filled green eyes and …
I.
Fucking.
Lose.
