Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(27)

“Why would the dragon royals hate me?” I demanded. “Is it so terrible, to have a woman in my place? What is it about the prophecy?”

“Hold on, hold on.” Caldren said. “I don’t have time to deal with the prophecy, you just need to worry about surviving tomorrow. And that means that we need to talk about your cover.”

“Right,” I said flatly. “Look, there’s a prophecy about you—”

“Not necessarily you specifically.”

“But just go ahead and don’t worry about it! Would you do that?”

“One thing at a time, Honor. Like surviving your first day at the academy.”

“I’m not scared of the academy, I’m scared of not knowing a prophecy—” I broke off abruptly, because the look on his face was uncomfortable—not the cocky expression I’d seen from him almost every other time. “Do you even know the prophecy?”

Reluctantly, he admitted, “Only the Olds know the prophecy.”

“The Olds?”

“Dragon elders,” he corrected, looking uncomfortable.

I’d heard the young Royals call them olds, but I’d never heard anyone else say that. Everyone else was afraid of them.

“Well, I don’t think you can just tell me not to worry about a prophecy, it sounds like something I need to worry about.”

“All right, worry about it then, but I don’t have any way to get my hands on it at the moment and neither do you. The Elders aren’t going to open up to you for a heart-to-heart. They want to see you fail.”

“What happens if I fail?” I asked. “Really?”

“I don’t know for sure.”

“But you have a theory.”

“I think even if they’re honor-bound not to kill you, they’ll drive you out of your mind,” he admitted. “And leave you begging on a street corner or abandoned before the oncoming Scourge.”

The thought of being insane and not being able to protect myself from the Scourge sent a shiver up my spine. It was too easy to imagine wandering helpless in front of those gaping mouths and grasping hands.

“But I won’t let that happen,” he promised, then added pointedly, “If you listen to me, you’ll be fine.”

“Are all of you academy types this bossy?”

“I’m a little bossier than most, given that I’m a teacher at the academy.”

“Wait, you’re gonna be one of my teachers. Are you one of Jaik’s teachers?”

“I am, unfortunately for me.”

“So how old are you?” I demanded, because he didn’t look much older than me.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Damyn were one of the teachers. My mind turned back to him; I was more curious about the older man than I wanted to admit.

“You don’t need to worry about how old I am,” he said in exasperation. “Did Damyn tell you all about Lucien Finn?”

“A bit,” I said.

“What did he tell you?”

“Lucien stole from Lord Joachim. He’s been imprisoned in Joachim’s dungeons ever since—about two months.”

“Lynx and Branok’s father,” he added. “it’s important that you remember that.”

I nodded.

“Lucien would be weak from the dungeons,” he said. “That will help for your cover for, well, this…” He gripped my bicep.

I pulled my arm out of his grip. “Excuse me? I’m in exceptional health.”

“For a scullery maid, maybe. Not for a warrior. I’ve seen you in the ring.”

My lips parted in irritation, but before I could come up with a response that would wither him appropriately, he added, “You and I are going to have to be honest with each other. I just want to make sure that you don’t get killed on your first day at the academy. I don’t make any guarantees about days two, three, four or eighty-nine.”

I didn’t want to think about how long I was supposed to maintain this ridiculous cover—and my position as a maid on top of it, because I couldn’t stop working. I needed the money. “Don’t remind me. I don’t understand any of this, Caldren. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.”

His gold-flecked brown eyes met mine, and this time when he touched my bicep, his touch felt warm. “With me.”

“Why do you care?” I asked, covering the fact that I felt strangely touched in his words.

“I just really hate the dragon royals,” he answered.

God, what a letdown.

“Why, what did they ever do to you?”

“There’s a long story,” he said. “Before long, trust me, there’ll be plenty of things that they’ll have done to you.”





That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I finally got up and wandered around my room, running my fingers over the edges of the leather-bound books that filled my shelves, picking up the little figurines that my father had bought for me when I was a child. My mother had always teased me that I had a little hoard of treasures. When I was younger, I used to touch them all, saying goodnight to them in what had been an excruciating bedtime ritual for my patient parents.

Wait. I’d always had a hoard of treasures. Was that really a dragon thing? I’d heard rumors that the Order of Dragons had little caches of treasure everywhere…and that anyone who stole from them tended to be roasted alive.