Page 28 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

“Can you?”

“We swear it!”

“I want to ride dragonback to Ristat. I want an armed escort…and an audience with Moire, the prophetess. Can you give me that?”

“Unreasonable,” Pan murmured. “But I can pay you enough to buy your own dragon.”

“Dragons can’t be bought at any price now, and you know it,” said Lady Edeen.

I faced her. “Canyougive me what I ask?”

She smirked. “I’m the only one who can.”

14

CHANGE OF PLAN

Tearloch slammed his half-full cup into the wall and cursed himself for all the time he’d wasted in the blasted canyon. He’d missed Huxor by minutes. “Mere minutes!” The bastard had traded the flying steed and escaped Sunbasin on dragonback. No one knew the direction or destination. He was just gone. Lost. “Fates be damned!”

He wished the blue dragon would appear and get it over with. That way, he wouldn’t have to go outside and face his friends with bad news…

He paid the cowering informant and forced himself to put one foot in front of the other. After stepping into the street, he was forced back again by a stranger’s arm, warning him out of the way as a procession of sorts passed by. Four foreboding, well-armed mercenaries in black escorted a beauty with white hair, dressed in shades of purple and capped with a jewel-encrusted crown.

Despite the well-lit space, her eyes were hidden in the shadows of her hood. But then her head tipped forward when she glanced down to check her step and lift her skirts. Her blackened eyelashes rested on familiar cheeks.

Asper!

She never glanced his way as her escorts marched her quickly along. Following on her heels, along with a curious mob, were Minkin, Sweetie, and the brothers.

Minkin pointed ahead and mouthed, “Asper.”

Tearloch nodded and fell into step beside Sweetie, and they exchanged a look.

“You don’t suppose she lied about who she was? A simple apprentice who’s lived her entire life in Redstone Canyon?”

Tearloch snorted. “Obviously.”

“It’s no wonder she didn’t need us.”

“That satchel must have been full of jewels.”

“No,” Minkin said. “Just dragonspice. And memory leaves.”

“Are they so valuable then?”

Minkin grinned. “Maybe we should have asked.” After a moment, she added. “In fact, she might be just what she claimed. A woman with a book. A very informative book.”

For some reason, Tearloch preferred to believe Asper had lied about everything. To think otherwise tightened his chest and affected his breathing.

The mob thinned the longer the procession continued toward the east side of the city. Their destination was obvious.

* * *

There were no onlookers left,besides Tearloch and his friends, when Asper and her escorts finally reached the gates of the drakehouse, where the city’s dragons were stabled. The grounds were surrounded by a massive earthen wall much like the one being built around Sunbasin. The thirty-foot high, dull iron gates held tight as the party neared. The guards standing before them took one look at Asper and came to attention, but they held their position, and the company halted.

Asper’s tallest escort stepped forward, nodded to one guard, then moved close for a private word. When he stepped back, the gatekeepers signaled to the others on the wall and the gates creaked open wide enough for Asper and her black-clad mercenaries to file through. They quickly shut on the last man’s heels.

Tearloch’s stomach jumped at the prospect of her leaving him with so many questions. Without thought, he stepped forward and shouted, “My lady!”

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