Page 58 of The Flame King's Queen

Kane’s voice cracks like a whip. “Hold your tongue and remember your orders.”

My brows draw together. Orders? What orders? The temptation to rip off my blindfold and see what they’re up to is greater than ever. Only the knowledge that I’ll be instantly disqualified if I do keeps me from giving in to the impulse.

Scourge’s mind prods mine, reminding me that he’s keeping an eye on everything even though I can’t, and I make myself relax. Through his eyes, I see a flash of the newcomers sitting atop their dragons and wearing blindfolds.

It takes some time to prepare seventeen dragons for the Five Tethers event because there are, as the name suggests, five tethers securing each dragon to the ground, and each of them must be lashed to a peg that is hammered into the ground. I hear thetap tap tapof mallets against metal pegs all around me as the Temple Mothers work.

Through our shared connection, Scourge shows me where each of the tethers has been attached to his saddle. His anticipation is making him restless, but he’s careful to communicate as clearly as possible, which is difficult for anyone, dragon or human, and consumes a lot of energy.

Finally, a horn blares to signify the beginning of the event, and still blindfolded, I lunge for the first tether. Scourge accurately shows me where theHratha’lenwoman clipped it to his saddle. I seize it, and it takes me just a moment to release the catch. The tether doesn’t fall away. It’s unlooped, and it will catch on the saddle and stream behind Scourge once we take to the skies. The reason why will become apparent if we don’t keep out of reach of the other dragons, and the only way for us to do that is for me to be fast right now. I hook my foot into a leather strap and fall forward from the saddle until I’m hanging upside down, and I can unfasten the second tether. With a swing of my body, I reach the third.

All around me, I can hear grunts of effort and curses but no beating wings yet. I haul myself back up Scourge’s side and allow my body to drop down his other side in search of the final two tethers.

I unloop them, and when I’m upright once more and Scourge feels that I’m safely in the saddle, he spreads his wings and takes off. I tear off my blindfold, and I see that Scourge and I are the first into the sky. My heart thumps with triumph. There are other dragons not far behind us. Stesha is soon in the sky, and so is Sundra, followed by Verdun, Omaira, and, to my shock, all four of the wild dragons. Stesha’s expression hardens when he sees me and Scourge ahead of him and Nilak, and he lowers himself over Nilak’s neck so she may gain speed.

I turn and face forward. It’s tempting to crane around and keep checking to see if anyone is gaining on us, but no one won anything that way. Though I can sense half a dozen dragons at my back, I look straight ahead toward victory.

We arrow away from the castle and toward Lake Yondor, which is a gleaming, blue-gray expanse toward the horizon that’s getting larger by the second. Those watching the race will be able to make out the dragons as we dive into the freezing waters. There are dots of red at the waterline that are the Temple Mothers keeping watch on the race.

Scourge and I are still in the lead, and I’m feeling confident when I hear a dragon scream behind us. The shriek sounds familiar, though I don’t know who it is. Scourge knows, and he tells me.Omaira.

The raspberry pink Beta dragon. Her shriek is followed by a dragon’s roar of victory, followed by a cruel laugh. Kane’s laugh, and he’s alarmingly close. Omaira was not far behind me, but now she’s tumbling toward the ground, one of her taloned feet tangled in a tether. She manages to right herself after a moment, but instead of rejoining the race, she circles sadly toward the ground.

Behind me, Kane and Auryn are in pursuit, their black eyes fixed upon my back. The tethers streaming behind Scourge must be flapping enticingly in the golden dragon’s face. If Auryn manages to get hold of the tethers, he’ll slow us down, and Nilak, who is gaining on us, will take the lead.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Robein and Corin on Auriana and Aurissa veer toward Nilak. There’s a snapping sound behind me, and Scourge grunts in surprise and irritation. Stesha can worry about Nilak. I have to keep my focus on my own dragon.

We reach the lake and skim across the smooth, reflective surface. There’s no resistance in Scourge’s mind. He’ll dive as deep as he needs to go while I hold my breath and grip the saddle.

Just behind us, Auryn snorts in confusion. I imagine that a talon or a wingtip has brushed the surface of the water, and he’s confused about how he’s meant to enter the water with his rider on his back.

Scourge and I plunge into the icy lake. No doubt when we surface, Auryn will be flying in confused circles, still reluctant to enter the water.

The freezing water slaps me in the face and chills me to the bone. I close my eyes briefly, but force them open again, and search for a telltale streak of black and red. The Temple Mothers have hidden a flag for every dragon on the lake bed.

I’m beginning to think we’ll have to breach the surface and come down for a second try, but Scourge has spotted the flag floating among the waterweeds. He banks in the water, and I stretch my fingers out and grab it.

We burst into the air, and I’m clutching the dripping flag in my hand, but the sight that greets me is shocking. A hundred feet away, a wet and dripping Nilak is screaming in pain. Auriana has a death grip on Nilak’s tethers and Aurissa has latched onto Nilak’s tail with her teeth. Nilak’s crimson blood is streaming over her snout. Stesha has a white and blue flag clutched in his fist, and it seems as though Nilak broke the surface only to be ambushed by the two wild dragons.

“Call off your dragons, you fucks!” Stesha bellows at them, half turned in the saddle. “Call them off or I’ll kill you.”

The Temple Mothers are blowing the horns again and again to signal that Robein and Corin are disqualified, but they’re being roundly ignored.

I draw in a deep breath to shout at Robein and Corin, and Scourge veers toward them. A large shape looms on my right, and suddenly my vision is filled with yellow scales. Auryn crashes into Scourge, and I’m flung out of the saddle. I plunge toward the water, still with the flag clutched in my fist, as Scourge roars in anger.

I hit the water and plunge down a dozen icy feet. I hit hard and I barely have a breath in my lungs, but I kick my legs and break the surface a moment later. My first thought is for my dragon, and I look wildly around for him. Scourge alights on the bank at the edge of the lake, looking furious but unhurt, thank the gods. A collision like that could have broken his wing.

Aurissa and Auriana have released Nilak and are heading back to the castle, as dry as a summer’s day. Auryn circles over the lake for a moment, as if undecided about getting his scales wet. Kane is gripping his saddle and staring at the water as if he’s trying to will his dragon to dive, but Auryn tosses his head in defiance and flies off after his sisters. Meanwhile, the other competitors are diving into the water, retrieving their flags, and flying as swiftly as they can toward the finish line.

I hear a flap of wings. Nilak swoops over me once, scattering me with droplets of blood, and then flies off in the direction of Lenhale. Stesha will have checked that I’m all right, and now he’s taking his dragon back to the castle so he can tend to her injuries.

Scourge makes his way around the edge of the lake, lowers his massive head, and snorts hot air into my hair. I groan and flop onto my back, one of my hands resting on his snout. What a disaster. I haven’t earned any points, and neither has Stesha. My only consolation is that the riders of the wild flare won’t get any points either. All of them will be disqualified for their attacks and collisions. They’ve shown their true colors.

I watch the rest of the competitors finish at the lake, and I’m proud to see not one of our dragons baulks at entering the water while carrying their rider. Once they’re all safely on their way back to the castle, I mount Scourge, and we fly home after them.

It hurts to see that Scourge’s banner has been taken down from the castle walls. We were disqualified from this event because I didn’t stay in the saddle. A Temple Mother is rearranging the banners in order from first to last, and one in the winning place is dark gray and violet. That’s Pavel, a quiet Beta who rides an Alpha male. I’ve always thought of him as shy, and when I see him standing by his dragon, he seems overwhelmed and slightly dazed by all the people cheering his name.

The next banner is double scarlet, and I feel my blood boil. Boos and hisses erupt from the crowd and all eyes turn to Rhan and Ragdyn. Word seems to be spreading about the behavior of the other riders from the wild flare, but he holds his chin up and stares stoically straight ahead.

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