Page 42 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

"Truly?" I found it hard to breathe with him sitting so near. The winged image of him kept trying to superimpose itself over reality."Don’t you need to start looking for Huxor?”

He took a bite of meat and considered. "Huxor can wait. If we can avert the prophecy, I’ll have more time to find him.”

"You didn't feel that way last night."

"Last night, there was little hope of anything.” His gaze locked with mine. “And then we fell from the sky on a dying dragon...and lived to tell the tale."

"Yes. And isn’t it interesting. We found the blue dragon, and we still breathe."

"Exactly. Traveling with you has taught me that anything can happen.”

I shouldn’t have been so pleased to have him include me. It was hardly a compliment.

He seemed unaware that he was staring at my lips. But then he blinked a few times and found my eyes again. "I wonder if perhaps I'm becoming addicted to you."

"Addicted to me?"

"Addicted to your surprises. First, you tried to kill me. A mere boy. An apprentice. Then a woman who saved my friend from those tiny demons, with the sand from her pockets. Next, you use your considerable learning to win over a woman in the hallucinogens trade and buy your way into princess robes, complete with a devoted retinue.”

He took a deep breath then. I think he wasn’t used to giving such long speeches.

He continued. “You revived a dying dragon long enough to get us to the ground. You hold maps in your head, you refuse to take the easiest route to the city and happen to find the most elusive dragon to ever fly, and you knew what Minkin needed to stave off a fever. I cannot imagine what you will do next. But I plan to be here when you do it.”

As he spoke the last, he leaned forward by degrees until our faces were achingly close. And still, he held my gaze. Then suddenly, his eyes widened. He pulled away and whispered, "Do you hear that?” He tilted his head to search the dark. “Dragon wings.”

I hadn’t been listening to anything but him.

He urged me to my feet. “Go back to the cave. Warn them to keep quiet. The Guardians are close.”

I brushed my hands together, and waited a heartbeat, hoping he might say something more. But he didn’t.

Morrow stood just inside the entrance at the back of the cave, his attention on some sort of scuffle.

I joined him and waited for my eyes to adjust. "What is it," I asked, trying to put a name to all the forms scuffling around the cavern. Morrow grabbed my arm, and when I realized it wasn't the captain of my guards, I screamed in surprise.

Flashes of deadly bronze wings, focused spurts of fire, and mens' ear-splitting screams filled the cavern. But when sword blades were held to the throats of both Lennon and Minkin, everything else stopped.

Though Morrow was nowhere to be found, his two men, along with Bain and Dower, were quickly subdued and had their hands tied behind their backs by soldiers with gold embellishments on their black uniforms. My friends were forced to sit in a tight group off to the right of the fire. The dragon remained at the rear of the space, undaunted by the half-dozen spears wielded by as many soldiers who thought they had her at their mercy.

Kivi was only concerned for Lennon and watched the man who dared threaten her with narrowed eyes.

Sweetie’s murderous expression was much the same as he glowered at the man threatening Minkin while three men tenuously restrained his arms. Two other men had hold of ropes they had caught around his horns, which they obviously regretted. They looked terrified at what might happen next. I was surprised fire didn't threaten to blow out the big man’s nostrils as well. And I wondered just how many of them would end up with a hole in them about the diameter of a bull’s horn.

Griffon was a different story. He stood with his back to the wall, his arms crossed over his shirtless chest, his wings relaxed as he ignored the spears aimed at his throat, chest, and crotch. He seemed amused by the entire tableau as if he knew something the others did not.

The man I'd mistaken for Morrow invited me to join the other women. My garb earned me a bit more dignity, despite the rip in my gown, and no one bothered to threaten me with a blade.

When one soldier dared to lead me by the arm, one of Morrow's men shouted, "Remove your hands from the princess!" Reminded of my disguise, I lifted my chin a little higher and tried to do a better job of playing the part.

The soldier smirked and clicked his tongue. "Princesses shouldn't harbor fugitives." But he did release me.

I feigned innocence. "Fugitives? What fugitives?"

The commander answered. "The dragon and its riders."

I waved a hand in Nogel's direction. "I hired this man in Sunbasin. Our dragon died halfway to Ristat, along with one of my men. You can find the bodies?—"

"Thisdragon, my lady.Thisis the fugitive. Now, you will tell me who rides it."

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