Page 57 of The Flame King's Queen

Stesha turns sharply toward me, his expression astonished.

“What, you didn’t know?” I ask.

His expression grows somber. “It’s been a long time since I called anyone friend. I’m not accustomed to it.”

I haven’t called anyone a friend since Onderz took his own life. Stesha’s closest friend was Zenevieve’s father. Both those men are dead now.

Stesha extends his hand and clasps my wrists. “Favorable winds and clear skies to you, friend.”

I clasp him back. “And to you, Stesha. Listen, that’s the Temple Crone calling the riders together to explain the event.”

We make our way through the dragons to where a handful ofHratha’lenare waiting to address the riders, and we stand side by side with our arms folded. Stesha and I are taller than all the Lenhale riders by almost a head. Of the riders of the wild flare, Kane is our size, and so are the three strangers he’s brought with them. All Alphas, by the looks of them. I don’t have time to examine them closely before the Temple Crone speaks.

“Seventeen dragonriders have entered the Five Tethers event, which will test your speed, endurance, intelligence, and above all, your bond with your dragon. It is an air and water event. For those of you less familiar with your mounts, dragons are reluctant to enter the water while carrying their rider. Even wild dragons have this instinct, though they may not be aware of it yet.” Her gaze lingers on Kane and his three companions. All their expressions are stony. “The first part of the event occurs while on the ground, and if you remove your blindfold before you are airborne, you will be disqualified. If you dismount or are unseated before the end of the race, you will be disqualified. If your dragon alights on the ground, a cliff, or any other surface, you will be disqualified. This is a contact event, and you may hinder a rival dragon with the use of tethers grasped in teeth, but if your dragon touches another dragon with anything but their tail or wingtips, you will be disqualified.”

Wingtips touching or brushing another dragon is difficult to avoid when flying closely together, and it’s usually harmless. A dragon sometimes swipes at another flying too close behind them with their tail. Normally I’d feel confident that no riders would purposefully let their dragons do more than that, but with a rival flare competing, everyone feels tense and defensive.

The Temple Crone must feel the same way, as she glares hard at every rider as she continues. “My Temple Mothers are stationed along the route, and they will sound off with their horns if they see anyone breaking these rules. At the end of the race, these banners will be reordered from first to last place.” She points to a high part of the castle where banners are flying for all seventeen riders.

Kane makes an angry sound in the back of his throat. “We know we’re not welcome here. How can we expect your hags to be fair-minded about who’s breaking the rules?”

“Already whining?” Stesha asks him.

The Temple Crone fixes Kane with a chilly expression. “TheHratha’lenare loyal to dragons.Alldragons. The safety of your mounts comes first. This is not war. This is a celebration. You are all welcome in Lenhale, but anyone breaking the rules will be penalized. If you continue to flout the rules, you will not be allowed to compete.”

Kane makes no reply, but it’s clear that he doesn’t agree with the Temple Crone. For him, thisiswar.

I watch the strangers with folded arms. “May we know your names?”

The men’s ragged clothing suggests that they’re miners or blacksmiths, as many men are in the eastern edges of Maledin, and they’re all big and heavily built.

“Robein, rider of Auriana,” says a tall, flinty-eyed man with a beard.

Another man who looks like he could be Robein’s brother says, “Corin, rider of Aurissa.” Both men have yellow-gold hair, and I guess that these two ride Auryn’s bad-tempered sisters.

A red-haired man with golden eyes says, “My name is Rhan, and I ride Ragdyn.”

Not far from Auryn, and about a hundred feet away from where we stand, the enormous scarlet dragon lifts his head. He’s almost as big as Scourge and Auryn, and his crest is viciously spiked.

“Clear skies to you and your dragons,” Stesha says, his tone neutral as he wishes them good luck. While he might speak of crushing them in private to me, his behavior is scrupulous in front of the other dragonriders.

“We don’t need luck,” Kane replies.

“If you say so, Kane.”

Temple Mothers pass out blindfolds to be worn for the first part of the event, and once I take mine, I head back to Scourge, clasping wrists with my fellow riders and murmuring words of good luck as I go.

When I reach Stesha, I pull him close and say in a low voice, “Make sure you keep them off your tail. Those dragons will be vicious if they get the chance.”

“Nilak can take care of herself. If they get too close, those idiots will feel the sting of her tail.”

Scourge is standing as still as stone when I reach him, his red eyes narrowed. I can feel the focus and determination rolling off him in waves. As when we head into battle, it’s just him and me once I’m mounted, only this time, instead of protecting others, we’re working hard to prove ourselves and win the favor of our mates.

I climb up into the saddle and pull the blindfold over my face, and the world disappears in darkness. Yet I still have a sense of the world thanks to my connection with Scourge. It comes in flashes while Scourge is at rest, and the flashes are bright and clear, thanks to our strong bond.

As I wait with my palms resting on my thighs, I hear the grumble of an unfamiliar voice that must belong to one of the new Alphas.

“I don’t like not being able to see. They could be up to something.”

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