Forty Three
Rohan
To betray your own bonded is much more than treason, it betrays your very own soul with what a Dragonbond is, the very being of Morana. Of who she is, who she made us to be for Dragonkind.
Yet, Karag took his own dragon’s egg, and has been holding it over his head ever since, making Vali do anything he asks in fear for his youngling’s safety.
Fury coats me like a second skin, my body heating and I try to calm myself, try to think clearly on how to handle this without exploding.
And through all of it, I think of Edgar and Bela with their child in The Glade, of Frelia and Sparks, their deaths weighing heavily on my conscience. The thought of using their child against them makes even me feel nauseous. It goes against the fabric of my very being.
Dragons are to be protected and respected, not used and coerced.
Especially younglings.
“You wanted to meet?” Sigrid asks as she enters my tent.
I asked Dorkin to discreetly call for her, and he did not disappoint.
“We have a problem.”
“Don’t we always,” she sighs, going to a pitcher of water and drinking straight from it.
“This one involves a Dragonbond who is using an egg against its father.”
She spits the water out, coughing and choking as she looks at me with wide eyes.
“What did you just say?!”
“Vali,” I say between gritted teeth. “Alara and I visited him last night and he’s full of fear and sorrow. He’s missing an egg, desperate to get to it, and that, coupled with how fearful he is of Karag… leaves only one option.”
“He took his egg and is using it as leverage.” I nod. “For what purpose?”
“There’s only one that I can think of.”
Her fingers flex. “To get eggs out of The Glade.”
“Yes.”
“This is a serious accusation, Rohan.”
“One I am certain of.”
She eyes me. “Because of Alara?”
“Especially because of her.”
I trust her, implicitly.
We stare at each other, and she can see my seriousness.
“Fuck!” she says, sitting down. “Fuck, Rohan.”
She runs her hands down her face.
“Yeah,” I say, leaning against a chest, ankles crossed.
“This changes things,” she stares into the crackling fire. “I’ve never known a Dragonbond to do this.”
“Nor have I.” I let the anger bleed through my tone. “It’s abhorrent.”
“I know how Karag can be. He’s set in his ways, but even then, I’ve never seen him mistreat his dragons. Maybe a little harsh, but never abusive.” She shakes her head. “It was just the other day I told Alara that he cares for them.”
“Abuse can be hidden well,” I say, my thoughts drifting to my mother, to Alara. “It doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”
“You’re right,” she says quietly.
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
She nods.
“We don’t know how long he’s been working with the king.”
“And it gives us an explanation as to how eggs are being taken from The Glade, they’re being escorted out by a fucking Dragonbond. Just as you suspected.”
I fold my arms. “He’s committed such an act of betrayal that it could never be forgiven. There’s no excuse for this.”
“And what if he is being blackmailed?”
My brow raises. “Do you really think so?”
“I think we should at least ask when the time is right.”
“And when he tells us that he wants, what? More power? Titles?”
“Is that what you think he wanted in exchange for this betrayal?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. “I know he’s wanted to get rid of me, maybe that’s his goal. Halen kills me and in exchange, Karag helps him get eggs.”
Sigrid shakes her head. “I don’t want to believe he would do such a thing, even with his hatred for you.”
“I don’t either, but what I do know is that nothing could make me betray Drogonah like that.”
“Nor my Celeste.” She stands, eyes hard and full of anger. “What do we do?”
“If I had my way, he would already be dead.”
“But?”
“But.” I tilt my head. “We plan and we use him. This could be our opening.”
Her eyes bounce between mine before she nods. “Shall I get the others?”
“Do you think we can trust them?”
She thinks for a moment before nodding. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Then get them, but we need to be careful, we need to only slip information we want the king to know in front of Karag, and then we have to set up a trap.”
“For what purpose?”
“For Karag and the king to think we know nothing, to use Karag to get close to the king, and then Karag can die.”
“By whose hand?”
“Not by hand,” I say, shaking my head. “But by claw.”
“You’ve gathered us here in the dead of night for some secret meeting, and all you’ve done is stare at us,” Varan says, arms folded.
Durruk yawns. “Can we get on with it?”
I scowl at them, still reluctant to trust them. It’s only when Sigrid clears her throat that I relent.
“Would either of you take your bonded’s eggs and use it against them?”
They both immediately stand up straighter.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Varan asks.
“Did you do something?” Demands Durruk, taking a step forward.
I frown. “Of course not, but I need you to answer the question.”
They look at me and Sigrid before Durruk finally speaks.
“I would rather Einar burn to ashes than do that to him.”
“And same with Inkeri,” Varan says. “Though her egg is at The Glade with her mate.”
“She has a mate?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says slowly. “For three years now. They have two younglings and another in an egg at the moment. Though I suppose it may have hatched by now,” he says more quietly, looking away from us, frowning.
And he might have missed being there for the hatching.
“I’m sorry you aren’t there,” Sigrid says, and Varan nods.
“They’re in good hands. Her mate, Sigmund, is worthy to raise Inkeri’s children. He’s done a fine job with the other two so far. This new hatchling will be no different.”
“I didn’t know.” I say.
His brows furrow. “You don’t ask, Rohan, and I understand it. None of us pry into each other’s lives. We’ve learned from a young age not to trust each other, fuck, The Games have made it worse as we’re out here on our own, but something tells me trust is needed now.”
“I agree,” Durruk says. “So tell us, why have you brought us here.”
I fold my arms, nostrils flaring at the demand, but I let it go.
“I know how eggs have been going missing from The Glade.”
“What?” asks Varan.
“How?” Durruk growls.
“It was obvious how, and I’ve suspected for a while, I just didn’t really know who or have proof.”
“And now you do?” Varan asks.
“He does,” reassures Sigrid.
“And?” Durruk presses.
“Karag has been taking the eggs and having them escorted out of The Glade by Vali while holding his egg against him.”
Varan laughs, Durruk doesn’t.
“Wait,” Varan says, his laughter stopping when he sees the look on mine and Sigrid’s faces. “He couldn’t have, to betray his dragon like that it—”
“Betrays Morana herself,” Durruk finishes for him.
“You know Alara is Elven, and elves come with many forms of talent, one of them being able to communicate with animals.”
“A dragon is far more than an animal,” Durruk says.
“And yet, she can speak with them all the same.”
Silence.
“Are you sure of this?” Varan asks.
I nod. “I am. The reason I had her in my clan to begin with was to be able to speak with dragons, to find out who was stealing eggs.”
Varan frowns. “You’ve been searching for answers all this time?”
“Of course I have, we need to protect the dragons.”
Durruk scowls. “You never once told us in any meeting in The Graveyard.”
“Why would he?” Sigrid asks. “He didn’t know who was betraying us, betraying Dragonkind.”
“And now you do,” Varan realizes, and I nod.
“I do. Alara learned with my dragons how to speak with them.”
“How do you know she isn’t lying?” Varan asks.
It’s the right question to ask, fuck, I would ask it myself, but he asked it to the wrong man when it comes to her.
I’m striding toward him without thought, hands fisted when Sigrid stands between us.
“He is not your enemy, Rohan,” she reminds me.
My nostrils flare, and I close my eyes and take deep breaths.
“Alara is many things,” I begin. “But a good liar is not one of them, not with me. She’s telling the truth, Sigrid has seen how she speaks to them.”
“I have,” she says, backing away when I take a step back. “Celeste doesn’t let anyone that close to her and she was all too happy with Alara. I felt it. They were talking in their own way.”
“She can show you on your own dragons,” I say. “She’ll be more than happy to demonstrate, but we mustn’t let Karag know.”
“Then let’s kill him,” Varan says. “We go to him now, ask him why and then remove his head.”
“We can’t do that when he’s been taking the eggs to the king,” I remind him. “I want to know what his reason is, but also, we can use this.”
Durruk blows out a breath. “Then we plan, don’t we?”
“We do,” I agree. “We plan, we deceive, and we save our dragons, find the eggs, end The Games and kill the king.”
“Why are you so fixated on him?” Varan asks.
“What do you mean? He drags us into these Games every year.”
“And…” he says. “It’s more than that. He calls you off on your own every year. That has been more suspicious to me than anything else. How do we know you’re not the one betraying the Dragorie?”
I bristle. “Watch your words, Varan.”
“He does have a point,” Durruk says, and I look at him before I look at Sigrid.
She shrugs. “It does look suspicious.”
I blow out a breath.
Trust. That’s what Alara says.
“He calls for me every year because…” Sigrid makes a go on gesture and I sigh. “Because he’s my father.”
“Fuck,” Durruk says.
Varan folds his arms, eyes me. “Tell us everything. From the beginning.”