Page 14 of A Bond of Ice and Glass
“Tell my grandmother the dragons have a visitor and she is needed to calm them.”
“Ye-yes, my king!” He bows and runs off, avoiding the destroyed painting on the carpet.
Kymera catches up before I get to the main corridor. I can see her eyes flicking around, expecting to see guards and focusing on the mess. I don’t bother explaining that I let them go or killed any that were remotely on Noble’s side. That I went on an angry rampage and broke a lot of shit. My grandfather is likely turning in his grave because he collected all this useless junk.
Kymera stops at the statues of the gods, which are burnt and beheaded. “Why do this to them?”
“The gods stood by and watched as I begged them to save her. I worship no one but my wife now,” I spit coldly before carrying on, her eyes on my back.
“Your wife is lucky for your loyalty and love,” Kymera eventually states.
“No,” I murmur. “I am lucky to have her as mine. The world is lucky she walks it at all.” I tug the staircase open that leads to the dragon pits, an older passage I rarely use. Cobwebs line the brick walls, but the lava below shines a bright red glow to keep it bright. I head down, and the walls get hotter and stones start to glow as we near the pit.
I’m tempted to ask her if she is sure about this, but then I realise I don’t really care. A deal is a deal. A few more steps and the cave opens up in front of us, the rock walls and hissing lava plumes filling the space for a good mile. I deliberately made sure to keep Zepheira away from this part of the cave. She wasn’t happy. But I don’t want her questioning my decisions. I don’t trust myself not to lash out if she does.
Cyrsí echoes a roar as she senses me, climbing out of one of the caves and slamming onto the stone in front of me and the witch. Her wings spread out as fire burns in her mouth, but she won’t kill her unless I command it.
I expect to see fear on Kymera’s face, but she looks amazed. Crazy witch.
“This is my dragon, Cyrsí,” I tell her. “She’ll eat you if you make one bad move.”
“Sers-eye?” Kymera tests. “Her name is beautiful.”
“You brought a witch here! Has your madness for your wife gone this far?”Cyrsí questions me.“Step aside and I will burn the issue to ash. I will taste her blood and use her bones as a toothpick. I will?—”
“No, we don’t kill this one,”I calmly explain.“She is no threat to you. I would not have brought her down here if she were.”
I lean into our bond and let her see my memories of the meeting and the deal. It seems to calm her enough that shehuffs smoke instead of fire. She turns to look at me, ignoring the witch.
“I may listen.”The ground shakes beneath her talons as she moves.“But my kin are not going to follow your command when you are not their rider. They sense witch blood in the air, and they will kill. You know this.”
I shrug my shoulder.
“It’s not my problem. It’s hers,”I say, nodding to the witch.
Cyrsí laughs in my mind. Her sick sense of humour has always matched mine.
I can still feel her dislike through the bond, but she trusts me just like I trust her.
My eyes flicker over to a dragon curled up by the waterfall, looking pale and cold. Freyren. She gave me too much magic, too much everything, to save her rider. I can’t fail her.
Maelena needs to come back soon, not just for me, but for her dragon.
If Freyren dies, Maelena’s heart will shatter. She’ll never be the same again. I’ve seen what it does to you—what it did to my grandmother. I won’t let it happen to my wife.
Another shake echoes through the ground, and Cyrsí comes straight over to me, lowering herself quickly.
“Get on! NOW!”
I climb onto her back, knowing better than to question when she tells me to get on, and if she is scared, we have an issue. I watch as an ice dragon, a huge monstrous thing that usually hides underneath the lake, climbs out of the ground, sending dirt spitting in every direction. She might be a water dragon for all I know; her scales are not as pale as Freyren’s and shimmer a darker blue. Her horns are curved like a crown of frost above her head. Well, fuck. I don’t know this dragon’s name, but she’s bigger than Cyrsí and older than any other dragon here. She wasnever one of the eggs I stole; she was here already and hiding from the witches deep in the lake.
The ice dragon lunges straight for Kymera, but the witch doesn’t move. Doesn’t even flinch. She just stands there with a smile on her face.
“We finally meet.”
Chapter 5
“Ican smell them on you.” The man’s voice hisses in pure, undiluted fury.
