Page 21 of The Flame King's Queen

He thinks on this a moment. “Nilak and I have destroyed a few buildings in our time. We can find a safe place to break the tower open, though the chains are another matter. If I can’t release Shar, I will guard him until the battle is over and the warlock can free him. Assuming the warlock is still around.” Stesha sneers slightly as he mentions Kane.

“All right,” I say with a nod. Shar belongs here with us, and it will mean Emmeric has one less ally and one less source of power if he’s using dragon magic to support the lich’s necromancy.

Zenevieve turns to the dragonmaster. “Please, let me come with you, dragonmaster. Minta is dead, and I… Shar always trusted me. I can calm him if he panics.”

Zenevieve’s dragon Minta and Emmeric’s dragon Shar were nestmates. She wants to save her dragon’s brother, and when she brings him home, she no doubt wants to bond with him. If she does, her hair will turn black again, and she’ll look more like the Zenevieve we knew and adored. The Zenevieve who was happy and carefree, though instead of Minta’s emerald green, her eyes will darken to Shar’s midnight blue with a golden ring around her irises.

Stesha watches her in silence. Finally, he nods.

All the tension in Zenevieve’s shoulders unclench, and she steps back, murmuring in relief, “Thank you, dragonmaster.”

The far eastof Maledin is a windswept landscape of hills, valleys, and rocky outcrops. Sparse woodlands are scattered here and there, but the land is too bleak and remote for farmers. Wild dragons have favored this place over the centuries, hiding in the canyons and attacking riders unawares. Kane’s dragon, Auryn, is a descendant of Golden Terror, one of the most vicious wild dragons in Old Maledin.

As we fly over on Scourge, I hold Isavelle tight in my arms and search the ground for the place that Stesha described. I feel little difference in her body with my arm wrapped around her waist, but her scent is rich with new life. The child growing inside her is barely noticeable to anyone except me.

I asked Isavelle this morning if she truly wished to make this journey with me and face an Alpha who despises her existence, and her pretty face was troubled but resolute.

“When I think of Ravenna, there’s the same sadness inside me that I carried knowing my father and sister were trapped by Emmeric. She’s not blood family, but a fellow witch feels like a sister, and I want her to come home as soon as possible. If she can’t do that yet, I want to see for myself how Kane is treating her, or at least for Ravenna to know that she hasn’t been forgotten.”

I recognized that need she has, and though it makes my Alpha snarl and rage to put my mate in peril, I carried her up onto my dragon.

Below, I spy a clearing shaped like a waxing crescent moon, the place close to the wild flare that Stesha described, and I realize we have arrived. There’s no sign of Auryn, but I can feel the piercing sensation of dragine eyes on us as my enormous black dragon alights on the ground.

“What happens now?” Isavelle asks, gazing around.

“We wait.” Searching for Kane or the wild flare would be a mistake. It takes little to offend those who are protective about their territory, and no one is more protective than a dragon.

“What if he doesn’t come?”

“He’ll come.” Kane will have seen us in the skies and his curiosity will get the better of him. I haven’t forgotten the first time I encountered him. He was hungry to meet another Alpha and understand what he was.

From the west, there’s the sudden, angry bellow of a dragon, and a moment later, the screams of several more. Scourge raises his head and snorts in warning.

“Kane knows we’re here,” I tell my mate, stroking the nape of her neck with my gloved hands. “He’ll be here soon.”

We don’t have to wait long before an enormous shape rushes over our heads. A dragon with his wings spread and flying low. He dives behind some cliffs, but not before I catch the flick of a yellow tail.

We’re watching the spot where he disappeared when a voice speaks behind us.

“Do I smell the stench of a witch?”

Kane has entered the clearing on foot, dressed in his usual severe black attire with dirty-blond hair falling into his flat dark eyes. Isavelle stiffens with dislike in my arms, and as much as I hate the man for speaking of my mate in such a manner, I make my scent soothing for her.

Behind Kane, three dragons raise their heads above the trees and spread their wings, jaws parted to show off their razor-sharp teeth. They are all shades of yellow and golden brown, all Alpha females, and I would wager my kingdom that they are Auryn’s nestmates. Their liquid black eyes dart from me to my mate to my dragon, jostling each other to get a better view and seemingly a hairsbreadth from breaking free of what tenuous control Kane might have over them.

Scourge growls in warning, and a shadow creeps over us. Auryn is at our backs. We’re surrounded.

I keep my expression neutral and my hand off my sword. I expected a welcome such as this. Kane is eager to prove himself, but a few dragons and nasty words don’t impress me.

“I’m graced by both the king and queen of our proud land,” Kane drawls, eyeing us both. “I’d be flattered if you weren’t so desperate.”

One of the benefits of having a cruel father with a barbed tongue is that remarks like these seem small and petty. Kane can sneer and shout and stomp if he wishes. I’m here on business. I place my hand on Isavelle’s nape and stroke the scars I have given her while I slowly and deliberately kiss her.

“Stay here on Scourge,sha’lenla,” I murmur between kisses. “I won’t be long.”

After pressing my nose to her fragrant hair and taking a deep inhalation of her sweet scent, I swing my legs over to one side and slide down Scourge’s flank to the ground.

There’s a spiteful flicker in Kane’s eyes as he watches me approach.

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