The Flame King’s Queen (Fire and Desire #3)

Chapter 14

14

Isavelle

T here’s a bounce in my step over the following days. I’ve always enjoyed learning how to fly with Esmeral, but now that we have something to train for, I feel more like a dragonrider than I ever have before. It frustrated me a little that she and I had to sit out of the attack at the southern border. It was the most sensible thing to do as neither of us have the skills to keep us safe in battle, but I don’t always want Esmeral and I to be left behind just because we’re Omegas and I’m the future queen. The Dragon Games will be our chance to prove ourselves.

Zabriel doesn’t want us to race against the other dragons, and after learning more about those events I can see why. It’s common for riders to become unseated when dragons collide in midair, and I certainly don’t want to put our baby at risk by falling from a great height. Still, there are several speed and agility events that I have my eye on in which a dragon and her rider have the whole course to themselves. As long as we’re careful and focused, Esmeral and I have a good chance of scoring some points. Missing out on half the competition means that Esmeral and I won’t earn enough points to actually win the Dragon Games, but it’s not my aim to win. Only to prove to myself that I can call myself a dragonrider of Maledin. And, well, perhaps to prove it to others as well so I can hold my head high in the Great Hall. There have been times when I’ve felt intimidated by a dozen or so riders gathered, all talking about their dragons and the exciting things they all do to protect Maledin. I’d like to be one of those riders one day, and I want to be part of any future efforts to defeat Emmeric.

Esmeral and I meet Fiala and Dusan at one of the wingrunner training arenas, and they coach Esmeral and me to fly swiftly like a wyvern does. Esmeral isn’t quite as agile as the two-footed, two-winged creatures, but she learns to adapt to the tight turns and quick dives that the arena requires. We start slowly and carefully, and then build up our speed and confidence while Fiala and Dusan call out corrections and cheer us on. Partway through, I notice that someone has joined my bodyguards, and I glimpse a flash of red hair as I zoom by.

When Esmeral and I flutter to the ground after our tenth circuit, my dragon’s scales are hot and I’m sweating. It’s a lot of work to grip on and shift my weight through the maneuvers so that Esmeral can move as fast as she can.

“That was excellent, Lady Isavelle. You and Esmeral will earn points in the agility events for sure,” Fiala tells us.

Ravenna is smiling at me. Her color has improved, and she’s less tense than when she arrived. “You and Esmeral move so beautifully together. I never for a moment wonder if she’s thinking about biting your head off.”

I stare at her in shock for a moment before I realize she must be talking about the way Auryn looks at Kane, and I let out a choking kind of laugh. “Thank you, Ravenna.”

I pull off my riding gloves, flushed with achievement and proud of my dragon. I have a pouch of chicken necks in my pocket, and I pull them out and feed them all to her. Esmeral chirrups in delight as she gnashes them between her sharp teeth and swallows them down.

“Will you show me how fast a wingrunner can complete this course?” I ask my bodyguards. I know that Esmeral and I were fast, but a wyvern can move like lightning.

“Barely faster than you and Esmeral,” Dusan says with an easy smile.

Fiala gives him a swift sideways glance, and I know he’s not telling the truth.

“Please show me. I promise I won’t do anything reckless like try to keep up with you and your wyverns.” I rub my swollen belly, wondering if my baby knows they’ve been dragonriding. “I only ever go as fast as is safe.”

“How about we call the man with the fastest time to give you a demonstration?” Without waiting for me to reply, Dusan turns, sticks both fingers in his mouth, and whistles. On the other side of the training area, a head turns. “Hey, Captain! Lady Isavelle wants you to put on a show for her.”

“Dusan,” I say in a shocked whisper, hoping Captain Ashton doesn’t think his future queen is the type to make silly demands. As he approaches us, I call to him, “I’m so sorry to disturb you while you’re working, Captain. I don’t want a show, but Esmeral and I were curious how fast a wingrunner can complete this course.”

With pride shining in his eyes, Ashton glances at the course, and back at me. “Sovern and I will be honored to fly for you, my lady.” As he turns away to fetch his wyvern, he flashes a look at Ravenna from beneath his dark lashes. The witch is busy patting Esmeral.

A few minutes later, Captain Ashton is atop his wyvern, and both of them look impressive. Sovern with her fine silver scales, and the captain looking handsome in his black and silver uniform. He takes the reins in his gloved hands, nods to us, and then he and his wyvern are off in a burst of beating wings. They twist, turn, dive, and ascend so fast that I can barely follow them with my eyes. After he completes the course twice, he and his wyvern swoop to the ground in a flurry of dust.

Slightly breathless, he calls to us. “I haven’t flown this course since it was set up. We’ll do it properly this time.”

“You’ll do it…?” I begin, but the captain and his wyvern are off again.

Dusan is grinning as he watches the captain move in a blur around the course. I’m reminded of all the times I’ve witnessed the wingrunners in action. No wonder Zabriel sends them in at the beginning of battles to pick off the mages. Few of them can possibly get a single word of an incantation out before a wyvern descends in a flash and rips them apart.

In what feels like three rapid heartbeats, the captain is back, and jauntily sliding off his wyvern and returning to us.

“I hope that was an agreeable demonstration, Lady Isavelle. I am looking forward to the Dragon Games.”

I search for words big enough to describe my astonishment. “You were both amazing, Captain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such flying.”

He smiles and inclines his head, and then turns to my red-haired friend. “Miss Ravenna, if you ever wish to learn to ride Keilar, I would be happy to teach you. You needn’t fly so fast as Sovern and myself.” There’s a hint of a roguish smile on his lips. “Though I’m certain you could.”

Ravenna’s eyes open wide. “I can’t imagine flying so fast that I turn into a silver blur. Besides, I’m sure that Keilar has forgotten all about me.”

“Forgotten about you? How could she?”

My heart gives a joyful leap hearing the captain so openly flirting with my fellow witch. “Fiala, Dusan, may I please ask you a question about this section of the course?” I lead my bodyguards away from the pair until we’re out of earshot.

“Subtle, my lady,” Fiala mutters.

“Subtle enough for the captain. I don’t think he even knew we were there,” Dusan replies.

“Why did you have to call the captain over while Ravenna was with us?” Fiala grumbles at him.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

I smile to myself. How pleasing things are. Ravenna is here in the city with us, safe and protected, and Kane is out there in the eastern hills, festering in anger and all alone with his feral dragons. “So you’ve both noticed it as well. Captain Ashton is very taken with Ravenna.”

Fiala sighs and shakes her head.

“What do you mean by sighing like that?” I ask.

“Lady Isavelle, Captain Ashton is a fool.”

“How can you speak about your captain that way?”

“I respect our captain as a brave man and the most talented of the wingrunners, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a fool. I could list twenty tragic tales about a Beta falling in love with an Omega who is already fated to an Alpha. Go into any tavern at sunset and you’ll hear the bards singing stories of unrequited love with sad and bloody endings.”

“It’s Maledin’s favorite story,” Dusan agrees with a regretful twist of his lips. “We can’t get enough of hearing it again and again, and they all end the same way.” He draws his finger across his throat, crosses his eyes, and sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth.

“But those are just stories,” I protest. “It doesn’t have to end that way for Ravenna and Ashton.”

Fiala shakes her head. “Instead of hoping for any kind of bond forming between Ravenna and the captain, you must wish for Ravenna and Kane to resolve their differences. For their sake, and for our flare’s sake. Otherwise, we will have a dragon war on our hands, and the two flares will tear each other apart.”

“I wouldn’t want that,” I reply, my heart sinking. If a dragon war erupts, Esmeral and I will have to witness Zabriel and Scourge battle with Kane and Auryn, and as strong and clever as our mates are, they likely won’t get through that unscathed. “But it breaks my heart to think that Ravenna and Ashton could find peace and happiness together if it wasn’t for Kane.”

Fiala’s expression is somber. “If Ashton pursues an Omega who isn’t his, all he will find is a painful, messy end. For everyone’s sake, please don’t encourage the captain, Lady Isavelle. He mustn’t ever hope that Ravenna can be his.”