Page 16 of The Fires of Longest Night
“Ubrekka’s son is Remulus, rider of Argilliton, who flew over us just a moment ago and caused such a kerfuffle,” her father laughs the words encouragingly, but Nissa can hear the desperation in them.
And she can feel the closing arms of the trap. She meets her father’s eyes, and he cocks his head warningly.
She swallows and raises her chin. She’d known this moment was coming. Resset had made it clear. She just hadn’t known it was going to be so soon.
Or that her father would give her no warning before he handed her over. She tastes bile in the back of her throat.
“I see. Was he aware that we have survived many dragon attacks these past years? Quite a Longest Night present for a clan who has lost so many to mad dragons.” She keeps her tone pleasant, but Ubrekka’s gaze turns chilly anyway.
“A little joke, I don’t doubt,” he replies, sounding friendlier than he looks. “A moment of cheer.”
Nissa suppresses the curl her lip wants to make and goes to stand beside her father. “And is Remulus joining us?”
Ubrekka seems irritated that she’s spoken again. “He will, of course! He’s still in recovery from an attack yesterday.”
“We are delighted that he could still join us,” her father says. “For the celebration of the daylight flames of Longest Night.”
“Such a quaint tradition,” Ubrekka says, and the arrogance feels like a smack in the face. Nissa draws a breath, but Ubrekka goes on. “I know that Remulus is looking forward to it, very much.”
He gives her a condescending look that confirms every suspicion.
“We all are,” her father says, and Nissa wonders if he knows how clear the guilt is on his face.
Her mouth tightens, and her gaze drifts upward. “An attack?” She knows she’s ignoring both men’s attempts to guide the conversation to more amiable topics, and she doesn’t care. “What a coincidence,” Nissa says, her tone pleasant. “One of our warriors was also attacked yesterday.”
“Nissa, we don’t need to share all the details of every scuffle our warriors get into,” her father puts in jovially. Desperately.
“By a red dragon,” Nissa finishes, her voice hard.
Ubrekka’s gaze slides to her, and his jaw shifts. She can practically hear the grind of his teeth.
“Such a coincidence,” she says again, as the two men share a glance.
A cry rings out from around the fire, and when Nissa glances up, her heart leaps into her throat.
Two dragons are falling through the air towards the encampment.
Isiridion, Ria on its back, has one broad blue-green claw around the neck of the red dragon, and drives it towards the ground. The red dragon struggles to turn its wings to arrest its fall, the red-armored rider on its back bellowing and clinging to the saddle, almost upside-down.
Nissa gasps, leaping back.
“Ria!” she cries towards the sky.
Isiridion releases the red dragon at the last moment, and Argilliton awkwardly opens its wings sufficiently to land gracelessly but unharmed in the center of the encampment.
“Axe-wielder!” Resset bellows. “Do not accost our guest!”
Isiridion settles onto the ground gently.
“Guest?” Ria yells back. “This dragon attacked me yesterday! As did its rider.”
Nissa’s gut turns to ice. Her father wants her to leap the flames with the man who attacked Ria? Anger, flame-bright, kindles inside her. She squares her shoulders, meeting her father’s gaze. He looks away.
“A misunderstanding.” The red-armored rider—Remulus, Nissa assumes—slips from the saddle, striding swiftly towards the fire. His long black hair shines in the dim light.
“A misunderstanding I had to have stitched closed,” Ria replies, her voice hard as she enters the circle of the fire, four paces ahead of Remulus. She yanks her pants down enough to reveal the ugly wound on her hip Nissa had worked on the day before.
The clan around the fire is wide-eyed, and at this news, they burst into outraged conversation. Her father looks lost, and behind him, Resset’s jaw is tight with anger. Illima and Kaderlyn’s gazes rest calmly on Nissa, and it’s like they’ve reached out to squeeze her shoulder.
