Page 47 of The Flame King's Queen

“Are there any dragons among the flare who seem interested in you as a rider?”

She glances around. “It would be nice to fly again, but I will have to wait and see if there are any fledglings who take to me as they grow. I think I will enjoy teaching a young dragon, if one of them will have me.”

Surely there is a dragon among the flare who needs a rider, and an accomplished one like I hear Zenevieve was. It’s sad to see her without a dragon, and I curse Emmeric all over again for murdering Minta and imprisoning Shar.

“There. Now, don’t you feel better?” The dragonmaster steps back from the iridescent dragon, and as he unbuckles his gauntlets, he sees the three of us together. I can’t make out his expression as he looks from me, to Ravenna, to Zenevieve.

I remember what he said when I floated the idea that Ravenna might be Calyx’s rider.Are witches to ride all our dragons?If he dares say an unkind word to Ravenna, I will shove a chicken neck down his throat.

I must think that too loudly as a moment later, I feel Esmeral butting her head against my lower back.

Chicken neck? Chicken neck for me?

I take the pouch from my pocket and hold it out of reach. “These are for Ravenna to feed to the riderless dragons. Not you.”

Esmeral flops dramatically to the ground and covers her head with her wing. A moment later, she peeps out from beneath her wing, and I burst out laughing.

“Just one,” I say, opening the pouch and giving her a chicken neck before passing it to Ravenna.

She looks around for the pretty Omega dragon, and he comes limping toward us, making sad little chirrups. He’s moving in an ungainly fashion on three legs while holding a foreleg aloft.

“Oh, poor Calyx,” Zenevieve says, getting down on her knees so she can examine it. After a moment, the dragon pulls his foot out of Zenevieve’s grasp. “I’m not sure what the problem is. Let me call the dragonmaster.” She stands up and scans the dragongrounds. “Now, where… Oh, there he is.”

Stesha has appeared around the side of an enormous scarlet dragon as if he already sensed that Zenevieve was looking for him.

As he approaches, Zenevieve explains to him, “Calyx has an injured foreleg. I can feel that it’s swollen, but I’m not sure what, um…”

The day is hot, and Stesha has unbuttoned his shirt to catch the breeze, or perhaps Cardine yanked it open while he was tending to her. Zenevieve trails off as she stares at his chest. I suppose Stesha has a nice chest. He’s built the way all Alphas are built, broad-shouldered and muscled, but he’s no Zabriel, and he’s not going to have me losing my train of thought.

Zenevieve catches my eye and turns red. To cover her embarrassment, she takes Calyx’s head and comforts the dragon with soft caresses. As she watches Stesha work, she keeps capturing her lower lip between her teeth as she looks at his chest, his hands, his shoulders.

I feel like grabbing Stesha’s head and turning it toward her, saying,Do you see how she’s looking at you, you big, stupid Alpha?

“I think…” Ravenna says slowly, running her fingers over Calyx’s scales. “I think I might be meant to ride Keilar. I’m not sure. Not that you’re notbeautiful,” she stresses, in case she’s offended Calyx.

Calyx seems to forgive her, probably because she feeds him the whole pouch of chicken necks.

“Is that Kane?” Zenevieve frowns at a man loitering at the edge of the flare. She was ill when Kane came to Lenhale the first time, and she still hasn’t met him. Lucky her.

Ravenna looks around, and her eyes narrow. Turning with exaggerated care to Stesha, she asks, “Dragonmaster, would you mind if I tied my hair up?”

Stesha is focused on Calyx. “You are free to do as you please, Ravenna.”

“I hear that Alphas are touchy about exposed necks. Kane might get angry and attack you.”

“Ah. There it is.” Stesha holds aloft a fine, shiny thorn and shows it to the dragon, who snuffles at it with indignation. After breaking the thorn into tiny pieces and throwing them away, Stesha pulls a jar of paste from his pocket and daubs some on the dragon’s foot.

Ravenna makes a show of fluffing her hair at the roots and gathering her hair into her hands, smiling at Stesha and pointedly ignoring Kane.

Finally, Stesha glances up from his work. He looks at Ravenna, and then at Kane, who is silently fuming at the edge of the dragongrounds. “Do we wish to make him angry?”

Stesha caresses Calyx, and then looks from Ravenna, to me, to Zenevieve, and then Esmeral. He holds out his hand to my dragon. Esmeral has figured out that something is going on, but she’s not sure what. With a tilt of her head as she gazes at Stesha’s hand, I can feel her wondering,Why?

Mischief, I reply.

That’s more than enough reason for my dragon. With a happy trill, she buffets her head into the dragonmaster’s hand.

Stesha turns and glances at Kane, raising his voice slightly so it travels. “The strongest Alpha always finds that all the Omegas flock to him. For safety. Protection. Because they want to be near him.” He moves his attention to his former ward, who has her arms wrapped around Calyx. “Is that the way it’s always been, Zen?”

---