Page 15 of Flameborne: Fury
“The Wing Commanders have asked us to remind all of you of the tenets of the Furyknight, and thefiercecodes of conduct. This isn’t a little thing, brothers—and sister.”
“Come on, Ronen,” Einar complained. “No one’s even touching citizens, why—”
“Not that we’d condone violence against citizens,” Ronen said tightly. “But if you’re hurting each other, it’s worse. A Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Keep your heads on straight out there—and have each other’s backs. If someone gets hot, pull him away and help him calm down. If you seriously injure another Furyknight, your punishment will bedoublethe injury you inflicted.”
“Black eyes and bruises are hardly—”
Harle snapped his mouth closed when Ronen glared. “Do I have to spell this out for you?” he said darkly. “Black-eyes and bruises are fine if everyone makes it home and keeps their mouths shut. But what happens when things get out of hand? Especially if you’ve been drinking? Our law in these matters is enforced by the dragons. Have you forgotten that? If a Furyknight causes thedeathof another Furyknight, it’s an offense againstthem.There is no recourse. If a brother steals your girl and you challenge him and he falls, hits his head and dies, his death is onyourhands. Youwillbe given to the dragons for judgment. And the General assures me, Kgosi won’t think twice. Youwillbe flamed to death—slowly enough that you feel it happening. The Captains are hearing too much about our men laying hands on others in the City, so pull your heads in.”
I shuddered at the mental image. My brothers were quiet too, which surprised me.
“They think we’d kill each other over a bar fight?” Jhoare raised from the back.
Ronen’s face was grim. “It’s happened before, though not for a long while. So, keep each other out of trouble. No one will look sideways when you’re standing up for each other. But use your heads, and your words, rather than fists. Don’t let things get out of hand, right?”
My brothers all mumbled their agreement, but Ronen met my eyes before he turned away to check the parchment next to him. I frowned. Did he thinkIwould get into a barfight?
“We still have to cover the change to our schedules for the King’s Banquet. They’re doubling-up shifts to make sure there’s enough protection, and we’ve been placed on midnight patrol tomorrow.”
My brothers groaned. Two weeks earlier the King had suddenly announced a ball—which I gathered was unusual. And now we were all scrambling with extra patrols as well as duties around the Keep and even at the Palace.
Midnight patrol meant flying from high moon until dawn, the shift my brother’s said was the hardest, and also the most likely for enemies to attempt harm. With the added pressure of visiting nobles and rulers for the King’s Banquet, and more frequent shifts for extra cover, it would be an exhausting week.
At least, for my brothers. Because I still wasn’t allowed to fly patrols, so I had to keep my eyes and voice down while they all complained about the shift they’d been assigned.
But as their complaints turned to resignation and discussion of who was taking which region, and which squads they’d be working with, my mind turned back to Donavyn and a shiver skated down the back of my neck.
I kept seeing that moment when he’d stood over me, eyes black with need, body trembling with restraint, his voice hoarse as heaskedfor permission to—
A sudden clap echoed through the room and startled me out of my reverie. “That’s it. Get moving. Bren—maybe get to the library with a couple of your brothers this week. You need to have those wings and dutiesnailed,in case you get asked. You also need to memorize which wing each of your brothers is in so you can ask the right questions.”
Stools scraped on the stone as my brothers unfurled from their seats and started out of the classroom. I hurried to follow them, but my pace slowed once I was in the hall because they were deep in discussions about patrols and the King’s unlikely gathering of nobles and rulers, and what it might mean.
As their long strides ate up the hallways and staircases, I stopped hurrying and let myself fall back.
Except for Harle looking back as he started down the stairs and waving goodbye, they didn’t notice. They were allbusy.
For once, I was grateful that they’d been distracted.
It had been days since Donavyn kissed me, then regretted it—and I’d barely been out of the stable during that time, except for training. I was terrified I’d run into him, or hear whispers.
But there hadn’t been a word. Even Ronen’s pointed looks didn’t seem to have anything to do with the General, or my conduct that night, or anything except my need to get things right.
‘You can’t get any new thing right without help, Bren,’Akhane broke into my thoughts. I could reach her from the buildings to the stable now, which was new.
‘I’m not afraid to get help. But they’re so busy!’
‘And their brothers were busy when it was their turn to learn—that is life, Little Flame. Don’t shrink from it. Show gratitude.’
I thought of all their groans when I’d answered the questions wrong, and how I’d failed to earn them free drinks. I shook my head.
‘I’ll talk to them tomorrow. Today I’ll go to the library and read some more. Then I can get a couple of them to test me tomorrow or something.’
Akhane didn’t respond. She only sighed in my head.
But I was glad for an excuse to divert to the quiet library from the main corridor where all my brothers were walking outof the building. I wasn’t likely to run into Donavynthere.He’d be busy keeping the King safe with the influx of visitors, anyway, I reminded myself.
Still, I was careful to check around corners before entering a new hallway, or stepping into the library. Just in case.
