Page 18 of Prince of Blaze and Embers
“I beg to differ.” God, I really needed to learn to keep my mouth closed. But years of being whipped for saying the wrong things had the opposite reaction my masters intended. I cared so much less about lashings than they expected. Pain was temporary, wounds healed, but those fragments of freedom stacked up one by one, building the wall that protected me, kept me safe, and kept me sane.
“Watch your tone with your prince.” The rider in copper waved his hand out at me.
“It’s all right, Hunter,” the prince said.
Hunter? That only made me more curious about the prince. What was his name? Where was he born? What was his relationship with the Blaze Queen like? What was the capital like? Where did he learn his magic?
So many questions, and I knew getting answers from him was going to be like running through a field of prickly cacti.
“Let her talk back like that.” The prince gave me a nasty scowl. “I like it. It’s just going to make all the rest that much easier.”
All strength left my body, gushing out beneath me, seeping into the mountain. This was the Blaze Prince, the most murderous man in all of Allovan. He could do a whole hell of a lot worse pain to me than cuts in my back.
“I’ll grab some food.” Hunter rose and walked over to his dragon, rummaging through one of the leather packs.
That just left the three of us. I got tired of the silence, so I broke it. “How did you start riding your dragon?”
He laughed and shook his head, letting his long black hair drift before his eyes and brow.
“Be careful,” Bella whispered.
“When did you know you had magic?” I pressed. “And how did you learn to use it?”
He stopped laughing, rubbing his knuckles.
When he spoke, his voice was dark, sinister, twisted. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for you? How long the Blaze Queen has sought the Gold-Marked?”
His question deflated me like squashing a cockroach under a thick boot. I was in so far over my head. I was so curious about the handsome prince; I forgot the stakes.
“I—I’ve never heard that term, and I never saw that thing on my neck before. I swear. I didn’t mean anything by it… I’ll never do it again if you don’t hurt Bella. I’ll try to do whatever you ask.”
Hunter returned with food in hand but paused at the current conversation.
“You have no clue how happy this is going to make my stepmother,” the prince said. I gasped at the term stepmother. I had always assumed it was his real mother. “You are important to her mission of saving this world, ending the war, and creating a new, bright future.”
There was something different in the prince’s demeanor then. He wasn’t all-knowing, all-powerful, and the top predator. Therewas the slightest hint of apprehension in his voice and in the tiniest twitch of his eye. He was scared. He was scared of the queen. I knew the look of fear all too well in Bramblebash. It lurked around every corner, waiting for its moment to consume.
“What are you going to do with us?” Bella’s fingers dug into his knees as she asked that.
Hunter approached her, his armor glowing an even more brilliant shade of golden copper. He handed her two sticks of dried meat, crackers, and hard white cheese. “For slaves, you two ask an awful lot of questions.”
We didn’t have a response for that. After all, he was right. We were nothing more than slaves. Always had been, and had no reason to believe we’d be anything different, ever.
“You’ll find out tomorrow.” Hunter then handed me the same food, and I snatched it eagerly, my stomach rumbling at the smell of the smoked meat. “Just relax and rest.” The rider looked deep into my eyes, raising an eyebrow at something he saw. He sighed. “Don’t worry. Cade and I aren’t going to harm you as long as you do what we say. We’ll be back on the dragons tomorrow, and we’re going to somewhere safe. Trust that.”
The prince laughed and cracked his knuckles. “Just don’t make me throw you off the side of this cliff tonight. Keep all the questions to yourself. I’m not here to do what you say. It’s the opposite. I own you now. And you’ll behave.”
Cade? The prince’s name is Cade? Even when he’s threatening my life, I can’t help but remember his rock-hard dick stabbing into my back.
My mouth watered, I smacked my lips slightly, and touched my inner thigh with my bare fingers.
“Yes, sir.” The words slid out of my mouth like I’d do anything if he’d only let me touch him. My mind swirled and as I stared at his perfect face, I felt Bella’s elbow jab me in my ribs. “What? I wasn’t being sarcastic this time!”
“You two are going to be a handful,” Hunter laughed, shaking his head. “I can already tell.”
“Just eat and go to sleep,” the prince said, accepting the handful of food from his rider. “We’ve got a long flight ahead of us tomorrow.”
Adrenaline spiked through my core, up my arms and into the follicles of the hairs on my head. We were going to ride the dragons through the sky again. That was the new drug I knew I’d chase the rest of my life, no matter its length. I’d forgo mead, pipe tobacco, even wine for another taste of that freedom!
