Page 1 of Sereis
Chapter 1
MIRA
No one else in the world had seen what I was about to see.
A conclave of the Dragon Lords.
A once in a generation event. Maybe even less than once in a generations. The last one had been over a hundred years ago. Who knew what this one would be like.
"Stop daydreaming and help me with these," Tam called from across the chamber, wrestling with a silver tray that kept trying to levitate. The Dragon Lord we served—Caelus—had an interesting sense of humor, and liked to keep us on our toes with random enchantments. Or as he called them, “Improvements.”
Around us, three dozen servants scrambled through preparations, their voices echoing off the carved red stone. The air tasted of metal polish and fear-sweat.
The sweat was the fault of the pumice walls of the servants' preparation chamber. It held the day's heat like an oven, and we were down in the basement, three levels below where the Dragon Lords would soon posture and preen.
A girl, maybe thirteen, sat hunched in the corner, arms wrapped around her middle. New, by the way she kept touching her collar like it might come off if she found the right catch. I recognized the look—that particular hollow-eyed hunger that came from Caelus's latest inspiration.
"Achieve clarity of purpose," Tam muttered, mimicking our master's airy tone as he finally subdued the tray. "Three days of fasting for mental acuity. Has he forgotten humans actually need food?"
I crossed to my sleeping pallet and retrieved the bread I'd hidden that morning, along with a precious wedge of cheese I'd been saving. The girl's eyes went wide when I pressed them into her hands.
"Eat quickly," I whispered. "Before the overseer comes back."
She didn't need telling twice, tearing into the bread with desperate efficiency. Tam appeared at my shoulder, shaking his head.
"He'll notice ifyoucollapse during service, too."
"He won't." I returned to the goblets, each one requiring a specific polishing pattern to maintain its electrical charge. "Caelus never notices anything that doesn't directly affect his comfort or reputation."
"Still." Tam's voice held that particular note of exasperation reserved for my stubbornness. "You can't keep giving away your portions. You're already too thin."
The leather collar sat heavy against my throat, Caelus's storm-cloud brand rough against my skin where sweat had made it chafe. Three years I'd worn it. Three years since my father had chosen to sell me over my brothers, claiming a daughter's duty was sacrifice. The ash wastes had taught me hunger long before Caelus acquired me. This was nothing.
"Lord Davoren called the Conclave three weeks ago," I said, changing the subject as I held a goblet up to the light, checkingfor smears. "But he won't say why. Not until tomorrow's formal declaration."
Tam's eyes lit with the particular gleam that meant fresh gossip. "I heard from the kitchen staff who heard from the stable hands that it's about his new mate. The human woman—Kara. Did you know she fought off assassins?"
"Everyone's heard that story." Though I admitted, privately, that a human woman who had been claimed by a Dragon Lord was worth some curiosity. "She must be extraordinary."
"All the Dragon Lords will be here." Tam practically vibrated with excitement as he began arranging the goblets in order of size—then changed his mind and arranged them by electrical intensity, the way Caelus preferred. "Even Sereis."
The name caught my attention. "The Ice Lord?"
Tam's grin turned wicked. "The hermit dragon. Did you hear how he arrived?”
“No.”
“Well,” Tam’s voice dropped to a hushed whisper. “Davoren arrived in a ball of flaming magma. Zephyron came in an actual bolt of lightning.”
“So what, Sereis snowed himself here or something?”
Tam shook his head.
“No. He just came in a carriage. Like a mortal.”
“Hmm, probably tired of all the showing off of the other lords.”
Tam gave a wicked look. “Have you got a crush?”
