Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(88)

Then the two of us bickered all the way up to the rooftop, where the sunrise streaked red and gold along the sea. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring and a sign I was up far too damned early.

Talisyn grinned when he heard us. “Listen to you two, beginning to get along.”

“I wouldn’t say anything quite that dramatic. I still want to murder him,” I answered. Arren’s cutting gaze swept from Tal to me and I added, “And he definitely still wants to murder me.”

“Oh, well, that’s just how he relates to people.” Talisyn sounded cheerful. “I’m pretty sure he still wants to murder me, when he doesn’t find me absolutely charming and irresistible.”

Talisyn winked at me behind Arren’s back, and lightness bloomed in my chest.

Even as Lucien, I was winning these men over. Then I caught the cold way Branok watched me, and my hopefulness fizzled.

“It’s too early to deal with any of you.” Jaik sounded weary already. “Let’s fly.”

We donned our packs and shifted. One after another, the guys ran to the edge and jumped off into the pink-tinged dawn.

We soared over the city spreading out beneath us, quiet for now but with some people stirring.

Soon, we left the city behind and with it, the safety I’d once felt from the Scourge. As we traveled north, we passed occasional farms, where cows nosed the grass and smoke poured from cozy wooden farmhouses.

“Aren’t they afraid of the Scourge?”

It was Talisyn who swung his massive horned head toward me, looking back over his bottle-green and purple wings. Tal was beautiful even as a dragon. “Not everyone is. It would be a lot easier if everyone saw the threat the same way. Instead, there are plenty of people who defy the high king’s orders and continue to live their lives.”

“Then what happens when the Scourge attack?”

“If we can spare the men, my father sends help,” Jaik answered. “But if there aren’t enough warriors, they’re out of luck.”

From this distance, the homes looked like a series of dollhouses. “I don’t understand why the Scourge would come all the way into the city through the tunnels, but they wouldn’t attack that farmhouse already.”

“The Scourge wants most badly to destroy the royals,” Jaik explained. “They know that without the dragon royals, the kingdom would fall apart.”

Talisyn snorted, twin puffs of smoke coming out of his nose. Even in dragon form, Jaik threw a withering look his way, as if he were not very impressed with Talisyn.

But it made me wonder if Talisyn doubted the elders. Why was that? After all, one day he would take his place as an elder, replacing his father.

I decided I’d have to ask him more about it later, when the others weren’t around. Talisyn would only speak so openly around all six of us. I wasn’t sure how openly he’d ever talk to Lucien, either.

Caldren still refused to help me find the prophecy. He’d warned me that seeking it too hard would be a death sentence. But wasn’t prophecy almost always a death sentence?

The six of us landed outside a village near where there were rumored monster attacks and shifted back, dropping our packs in the ankle-high grass.

“You three, stay here,” Jaik instructed, glancing from Tal to me to Arren.

“Why are we grouped together?” I asked.

“You’re both annoying.” Jaik swept Tal and me in his glance. “And Arren is terrifying, and I want the villagers to help us.”

Lynx gave us a shrug and walked backward so we could see the smug look on his face.

“You’re about to get left too,” Jaik said without looking back, and Lynx spun on his heel to follow.





The villagers claimed they’d seen monsters coming out of the forest.

“Do you think maybe the thing got trapped down there somehow by accident and it wasn’t a big conspiracy?” I mused as the six of us walked through the forest. It was beginning to rain; the rain shook the leaves high above our heads and fat droplets plopped down on us.

The men were all pretending to be impervious, so I pulled up my hood and pretended I wasn’t wet and freezing.

“When in doubt,” Talisyn said, “I always go with conspiracy.”

Beyond the trees, the sea glimmered in the distance, gorgeous blue even under an angry gray sky. I’d never left our island. I wondered what it was like beyond the sea in the other Fae lands. I’d heard there were Fae who wielded deeper magic, more complicated magic, who could do almost anything.

I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to see the world beyond. When the Scourge began, the other land stopped accepting any visitors. We had been isolated for years now. I’d read stories about things I’d never tasted—like cocoa and coffee and fruits.

Would the dragon royals ever conquer the Scourge, so we could be a part of the rest of the world once more?

“What are you thinking about?” Talisyn asked. “You look deep in your own thoughts.”

Branok snorted. Clearly, he didn’t think my thoughts could go very deep.

“I was just dreaming about life out there.” I swept my arm toward the sea.

“Why is that?” Branok inquired. “I can’t imagine any world where people would find you very amusing.”

“You find me plenty amusing. I’ve never seen anyone have so much fun as you’ve had, trying to beat me into the ground every day.”