Page 5 of Kingdom of Dance

Zinnia stiffened, agony shooting through her at her sister’s fear and her own powerlessness against the creature before her.

“We are terribly sorry, Mighty One,” Lilac added, her voice a little unsteady. For all her lofty airs, the eldest of Zinnia’s sisters was still only sixteen.

But the dragon wasn’t watching Lilac. His eyes were fixed on Zinnia, and she was determined not to let him see her fear. He seemed to look down on humans even more than the rest of his kind, but he was a traitor to his colony, and she’d just witnessed the evidence of it. She wasn’t going to cower before him.

As if sensing her thoughts, the dragon leaned down in a slow and controlled move, arching his long neck so that his face hovered inches from hers.

“Aren’t you going to beg for your life, and the lives of your sisters, Princess?”

Zinnia felt a flash of fury, so potent it drove out even her fear. But a small whimper from behind her checked the rising tide of her reckless anger. This wasn’t about her pride. She didn’t think the dragon would show mercy—he didn’t seem the type. But if there was any chance, however slim, she had to think of her sisters, not herself.

“Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “For the lives of my sisters, I beg you to overlook the offense.”

The dragon’s reptilian lips curved into a truly terrifying smile. “Yes,” he breathed. “Your spark is strong, Princess. Very strong.” He withdrew his head, casting a contemptuous gaze over the group at large. “The silence of all of you is easily achieved.”

When the words finished, his enormous mouth stayed open. Zinnia felt the heat of his breath on her face, saw a shimmer in the moonlit air, and felt something heavy settle over her, like an invisible net. Gasps from behind her suggested that she wasn’t the only one to feel it, whatever it was.

“But you,” the dragon continued, as if his speech had been uninterrupted, “you have more to give. I think you will make an informative subject. I suppose the others may be worth considering,” he added lightly. “They are, after all, royal. But your spark is the one I want.”

“What do you mean, my spark?” Zinnia demanded, bracing herself. “What did you do to us?”

With a guttural chuckle, the dragon opened his mouth wide again, his breath so hot on Zinnia’s skin that she actually cried out, sure she was about to be burned into nothingness, like the enchanter. She heard her sisters screaming behind her, and she clenched her teeth against the pain. But just as it became unbearable, the heat stopped abruptly. Zinnia opened her eyes, looking warily up at the dragon, who once again seemed amused.

“What did you do to me?” she growled.

The dragon smiled, giving no answer.

“If I’m the one you want,” Zinnia tried again, “then let my sisters go home.”

“Oh, you can all go home now,” said the dragon, sounding faintly surprised. “I have no more use for you at present.”

“We…we can?” Zinnia asked, dumbfounded. “We can just leave?”

“You will be seeing me again,” the dragon assured her. His eyes seemed to bore straight into Zinnia’s soul. “Especially you, Princess.”

Then, without a word, he bent into a crouch, taking to the air with a rush of wind that made Zinnia’s hair whip once more around her. She covered her face with an arm, and when she again looked up, the dark sky was empty of all but stars.

She turned slowly, met with eleven pairs of confused and terrified eyes. And she had neither comfort nor answers to offer them.

A year and a half later…

Chapter One

Zinnia all but fell from her horse, relief swelling within her at the sight of her own familiar castle. She was finally home.

“That journey,” she said emphatically, “lasted forever.”

“It would have been more comfortable if you’d ridden in the carriage as you were supposed to, Your Highness.” The words came from a matronly woman descending from the vehicle in question.

Zinnia just laughed at the disapproving expression on her chaperone’s face. “It wasn’t the riding that was the problem,” she assured the other woman. “It was being so far from home. Do you realize that I haven’t seen the ocean for weeks?” She glanced fondly toward the sea, but her view was blocked by the courtyard wall. She needed to get inside, where she’d have a sea view from almost every room.

She paused at the entrance, throwing her arms impulsively around one of the stone dragons that flanked the doorway. She could have sworn she heard one of the guards stifle a chuckle, and she tossed him a grin. Her chaperone bustled up behind her, clucking like a disapproving hen, but Zinnia didn’t care. She was just happy to be home.

Back to your chains.

She dismissed the morbid thought, refusing to let anything dispel her good mood about being home. Back to her mission—that was a better way to think of it. She would just have to trust that she hadn’t missed any invaluable opportunities for investigation while she was away.

Hurrying into the castle, she went in search of any of her siblings. She’d barely crossed the high-ceilinged entranceway when her brother appeared, obviously having been informed of her arrival.

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