Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Briannis was soaring, arms spread wide, her fingers trailed through tendrils of cloud as the wind whipped her hair behind her head like ribbon of flame.
Her heart was light, her burdens gone. Joyful laughter bubbled from her lips.
But she wasn’t flying, not truly. She was not a bird and had no wings.
Between her thighs she felt the flex of thick muscles, the strength of something even more powerful than a horse.
The emerald dragon beat its powerful wings, drawing them higher, yet she had no fear. She was safe with him.
And then the dream shifted.
The wind trickled to a breeze which teased her now bare skin.
The shape between her thighs was still powerful, but narrowed.
Scales had become skin. And when she rocked her hips?
A moan tore from her lips at the almost painful fullness spearing her core.
She curled her fingers, dragging them down over the hand planes of a muscular chest. Then something—he—gripped her waist, the contact jolting through her like falling into an early spring stream.
“Briannis.” Her name hissed from a shadowed face.
A scream tore from her throat. She jumped up. Slipped. Fell.
And fell. And fell. And—
Briannis sat up with a gasp, heart and head pounding in discordant tempo with one another as she sucked in deep steadying breaths. She clutched at her forehead.
A dream. Only a strange and disturbing dream.
Though the most alarming part might be the way she still ached between her legs, her body yearning for what had only been illusion. And how strange that she’d been more startled by a man than the beast.
“Damn ceremony giving me nightmares.”
Her hand dropped to her side and planted on cool, hard stone.
Stone. Not her bed.
All at once, memories rushed back, hitting with such ferocity that she nearly lost her breath all over again.
She knew what happened to the women who were chosen. They’d all heard the stories. She had even seen part of it herself at the last Choosing.
Once the woman was selected, there was no long goodbye. Nor a quick one. It was supposed to be easier that way. A bitter laugh pushed between her lips. There was nothing easy about goodbye, but being denied even that? Agony.
Briannis hunched in on herself, tears blurring the halo of her vision as she gathered her bearings.
There wasn’t much to see in the dim light. The grey stone walls framed a path a little wider than she was. The flames of a lone torch flickered against the iron bars driven from floor to ceiling blocking the way toward the exit, the multitude of locks and chains holding the door firm.
There was no chance of escape.
One woman, Sheena, had done that long ago—found her way out and hobbled back to the city.
She was returned not long after with guards set watch to keep her from fleeing.
But the dragon knew. That short escape had been enough to doom the city to a string of fires that year that had burned much of the city and half the fields.
The starvation that ensued… Well, no wonder there were bars now.
She glanced the other way, straining to see into the gloom as light gave way to shadows. Somewhere in that direction was the dragon’s lair.
A shudder wracked her body. All her life she’d been secretly fascinated by the dragon, but the thought of becoming its latest snack was a nightmare made real.
But…
Briannis shoved to her feet.
The dragon had been flying around the city—maybe it wasn’t in its lair.
This narrow path wasn’t big enough to fit a creature such as that. It had to have another way in and out, and if she could find that, perhaps she could escape.
Briannis shook the metal gate, just on the off-chance it would give way, but of course it didn’t. And the torch was too far away on the other side of the bars for her to grab. She sighed as she turned her back on it. The Fates really were against her for some reason.
Her white dress was now damp and dingy from where she’d been lying on the floor, and it kept trying to tangle around her legs as she shuffled into the darkness, hands on the cool walls to steady herself.
As she stumbled on through the pitch black, a conflicting little voice in her head kept telling her to turn back, return to the entry tunnel where she’d been unceremoniously dumped. Though what would she do there? Wait to die of starvation?
No. The only real choice lay ahead.
At first, she thought her mind was starting to play tricks on her. But no, those were real shapes ahead—dripping stalactites no wider than a shaft of wheat and more of the grey stone—illuminated by dim blue light.
A few more steps, and she stilled momentarily, before hurrying forward toward a swash of blue along the wall.
“It glows.” She ran her hand over the strange moss in wonder.
Immediately her mind began to debate whether it was edible, its flavoring, and what it might taste like incorporated with cream or blended into a smooth cheese from their dairy.
Her chest grew tight as her hand fell to her side.
There would be no more dairy for her—no home at all. Even if she escaped, she couldn’t go back. She’d have to go somewhere else. But where?
Briannis shoved the thought away. One thing at a time.
There was more moss as she moved along, enough that she hurried her steps. The tunnel grew wider before abruptly opening into a massive cave.
As she skidded to a halt, small stones tumbled down the path ahead of her, each clink loud and damning.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she glanced around for any sign of the dragon.
It was brighter here. Daylight lanced in from a crack in the ceiling above.
Flowering green vines draped down through that opening, though none were low enough for her to consider climbing up.
The closest was at least two stories above her head.
The trickle of water somewhere nearby gave her an odd sense of peace.
If this was the dragon’s lair, and it was home, surely she would see or hear it.
The ceiling may not be her salvation, but across a still pool of water, there was something else that might be. The beginnings of another tunnel beckoned, and she made her way toward it, senses alert for any sign of danger.
Every breath felt too loud in the cavernous space, but luckily nothing swooped out to eat her before she reached the edge of the pool.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she glared at the tunnel.
It was definitely wide enough for a dragon to fit in if it pulled in its wings.
Not ideal. Neither was swimming across the water to get to it, but what choice did she have?
Briannis pulled off her flimsy shoes and dipped a toe into the pool. Shivers raced up her leg before she jerked it back. So cold!
She scowled at the water, dreading the plunge, when she noticed something among the greenish rocks below. Gold shimmered in the depths of the pool. “A ball?” She leaned in, pulled toward it like some string around her middle was given a soft tug.
Green slid over the top of the gold then retreated.
Briannis screamed. The shrill cry echoed through the cave. The invisible string around her middle seemed to snap as she flung herself back from the pool, slipped on the wet stones, and fell to the ground.
It wasn’t a ball. Nor a stone.
The still pool was suddenly a mess of waves, the center rising.
Briannis scrambled backward. The dragon broke the surface, its wings flying wide and spraying water in all directions.
It was glorious and horrifying in equal measure.
She’d always thought of the dragon as a wild beast—one that sparked more curiosity in her than fear.
But in that moment, she was the startled animal fleeing from a predator, and her body knew it.
Terror tightened her throat. Her chest felt like it might contract or explode at the same time.
She barely felt the rocks under her bare feet and palms as she tried to shove herself upright to flee.
The dragon had seen her. It knew. She had to get back to the tunnel.