Page 40 of House of Ashes
Kirana was silent for a moment, turning over another eyrie token in her hand before replacing it. “For some of us, choice is simply not in the cards.”
Before I could respond, a figure filled the doorway, blocking the light from the hall. My shoulders tensed fractionally, even though I knew it was Rhylan; the sheer width of his shoulders was a giveaway. He’d pulled on simple clothes, dark pants and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.
It occurred to me that he had deliberately placed Kirana in here to calm me, and I couldn’t fault him if he had; something in his sister’s soft manner was soothing, even if I wasn’t entirely comfortable with her.
Nilsa was on his heels, carrying the tray of food I’d come to expect in her presence. As she balanced it on a side table, carefully avoiding the map, Rhylan poured me a glass of fruit juice.
He pressed it into my hand, his solid bulk only inches away, between me and the door. And in spite of the guilt nipping at me for being so playful with him when he was my enemy, I felt secure with him there.
I drank the tart juice, the feeling of safety more an irritation than a soothing thought. The fear that I would become reliant on his presence was creeping up on me, a slow awareness that I couldn’t push away and ignore.
I chose to distract myself from that thought with a ham-filled chunk of bread, watching as Rhylan inspected the map.
He touched a fingertip to the eyries that Kirana had adjusted, tapping it as he considered the change.
“I got the same message as you,” Kirana said irritably, leaning against the other side of the table with her arms crossed. “And I confirmed the news with the herbalist. Maristela and Gaelin are in Diraek Eyrie for the foreseeable future. They believe Yura will make a move on Diraek first, if she does so at all. They need to fortify their defenses, but the Shadowed Stars have been demanding that Maristela return home.”
Rhylan raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t questioning your judgment. The Mourning Fangs are a relatively recent and weak House, the dragonbloods of Diraek Eyrie. They’ve been building their wealth through their wyvern breeding.” I realized he was explaining this to me, and moved closer despite myself. Rhylan took up so much room that I felt like I was pushed up against him no matter where I stood. “Kirion Eyrie, the Shadowed Stars’ home, has been—”
“I’m aware of who Kirion belongs to,” I said, swallowing the last soft bite of bread. “I’ve been a part of dragonblood society for as long as you have.”
“No need to be so prickly about it.” Rhylan turned his head to look at me, hooded blue eyes flashing with amusement. “This is just a refresher. You need to have these re-memorized in the next two weeks, and there’s been plenty of mate bonds formed since we finished training.”
“Hmm.” I was unwilling to confess aloud that I was well behind the times, and did in fact need the refresher.
Kirana tapped the gold and silver pawns she’d moved. “Maristela and Gaelin are now mated. That wasn’t the wisest choice, but I don’t believe Maristela was ever truly vying to become Dragonesse. She’d been secretly seeing Gaelin while they were in training.”
“She wasn’t. That was her mother’s doing. Chantrelle is nothing if not ambitious.” Rhylan took out two more pawns from a drawer set beneath the table: silver and gold. He placed them next to the Jhazra Eyrie token.
“Am I silver or gold?” I asked, watching the scarred back of his hand flex.
I didn’t meet his eyes, but I felt his gaze on my face. “Whichever you desire.” There was a playful tone in his voice that made me want to step back. We didn’t need to fake adoration in Kirana’s presence.
“Silver, then.” I touched the tiny pawn that represented me, the metal cool against my fingertip.
Princess Maristela had chosen a lord—he was a dragonblood, but not of any ancient line, his Ascendant having been born no more than five hundred years ago. With that alone, she had essentially destroyed her chances to become Dragonesse.
She had almost certainly mate bonded for love, not power.
“Where are Yura and Tidas?” I asked, looking around the map for other royal tokens. Maristela and Gaelin were housed in Diraek, and we were in Jhazra, but I saw no others.
Rhylan produced another pair of pawns, silver and gold. He frowned at the map, rolling the pawns in his hand. “They’re living in the eyrie of the Gilded Skies, but according to the wyvern-riders, they’ve been out of residence as they seek alliances.”
He placed the pawns by the Gilded Skies’ eyrie in the west, Talariel, but his frown didn’t fade.
Kirana unfolded her arms as she studied the map, bracing both hands on the edge of the table. “Cryla believes they were seen near the Iron Shards’ territory. My herbalist contact,” she explained, seeing my questioning glance. “She was my trainer for my final year of study, and she has a finger in every pie.”
“We can discount the Iron Shards. I’m relying on other Houses to back us in a Court.” Rhylan’s arm brushed against me as he moved, his body heat soaking into my icy skin. “The Lunar Tides are committed. I believe the Jade Leaves will throw in their lot with us. They stand to lose too much territory to the Iron Shards and Gilded Skies.”
“Not to mention the Wildlands Hordes,” Kirana murmured. “I believe Yura has taken a page from our mother’s book and sent emissaries to them, promising lands and gold for their aid.”
A chill ran over my skin. Few eyries wanted to face down a full Wildlands Horde. Only Anjali’s mate bond to Cratus, a Wildlands warrior, had stopped recent incursions into Akalla by the Hordes.
Their parents had been almost single-handedly responsible for much of the peace along Akalla’s southern border in recent years, given the ambassador work she’d done since mate bonding to Cratus.
Anjali’s death must have tipped that balance back into wartime, with constant raids on the southern eyries. Many of the Hordes had been fond of their adoptive Akallan draga. They would have taken her murder as a personal insult to their honor.
“What makes you believe the Jade Leaves will back us? Or rather, me?” I stared at their eyrie token, carved with a dragon wrapped around a tree. “I…I heard as much on Mistward Isle. Someone claimed that they wished to know where I was, but no one ever came for me. Not until you.”