Chapter 37 #2
There hadn’t been enough time to fill Ronan in.
Had I tried, he would have followed, relentless as flame, reckless enough to take wing after me despite orders.
Yet his ignorance carried its own dangers.
If something happened to us, he couldn’t arrive in time.
Safety and desire rarely shared the same path.
I had not expected the divide to feel so sharp.
“This way.” Seliora pressed her heels to her horse and led us around the paddock.
Darkness swallowed the plains as we left the last ring of firelight behind.
Clouds smothered the moon. Hooves thundered against packed earth, the sound hollow in the night.
My pulse beat hard against my ribs. The ground ahead blurred into ink.
We galloped blind. Fear tightened around my throat at the thought of a hidden rut or sinkhole snapping a leg and pitching me into blackness.
Dragonback never stirred this dread. On a dragon, wind sang and sky opened wide. On a horse, each stride jarred my spine and rattled my teeth. Anxiety rode with me, looming and persistent.
We did not speak. We spread our horses out, bodies bent low against their straining necks. Pain bloomed along my thighs, sore from days in the saddle. My lower back throbbed with every jolt.
Kallias’ cloak snapped behind him like a banner in a storm. He never voiced discomfort—so I swallowed my own.
Hours later, our mounts slowed to a weary walk, flanks slick with sweat, breath steaming in the cold.
Seliora guided us into winding foothills until the open plains surrendered to thick forest. Trees crowded close together, their trunks rising like pillars in a cathedral of shadow.
Darkness pooled between them, heavy as wet wool across my shoulders.
Doubt crept in. Compared to the others, I was weak—useless. Was it right for me to come? Would I slow them down, distract them if things went poorly?
Kallias rode steady, hood pushed back enough to survey the terrain. Greaves kept his lowered, reins gathered in one hand, the other resting on his sword hilt as his gaze sliced through the gloom.
The path Seliora followed might as well have been invisible.
Even in daylight, I doubted I would have marked it.
My horse tracked Kallias’ mount, picking careful steps along a narrow incline.
Greaves closed in behind me. Silence thickened.
Only the soft clop of hooves and the rhythmic pull of breath disturbed it.
Even the forest seemed to listen. The skin at my nape prickled with the promise of ambush.
“Halt!”
My horse snorted and stamped as I drew the reins tight, eyes scanning rock and shadow for the unseen speaker.
“Kahve!” Seliora called, calm as still water.
Kallias stiffened, his hand drifting toward his blade.
“You’ve brought one rider too many.” The voice carried from the dark, distorted, yet edged with something almost feminine. “That was not the agreement.”
A low, monstrous rumble answered from somewhere unseen. Leather bit into my palm as I forced my heartbeat to steady. I was the Dragon’s Heart. Earthbound beasts did not intimidate me.
“You agreed to see Radaan’s king, shadowed by his guard,” Seliora replied. “I have brought him.”
“Who rides between them? State your name, or I depart, and you will rot upon the dread plains.”
I waited for Kallias to deny me with a glance. He did not.
“I am the Dragon’s Heart. Queen of Radaan.” My chin lifted toward the dark, though I could not be certain where the voice lingered. “To summon my husband is to summon his joined soul.”
Laughter rippled through the trees, startled and bright. “Then step forward. Let me see this new queen of my kingdom.”
I inhaled a slow breath. If Kallias objected, he would stop me. I nudged my horse ahead, passing him and Seliora. The incline flattened into a rough clearing. A boulder jutted from the cliff face of the Andeluith like a broken tooth.
A goat stood upon it.
Moonlight broke through the clouds at that instant, silvering stone and horn. A rider sat astride the animal’s broad back.
My lips parted before I corrected myself and slammed them closed. The woman’s skin glowed pale beneath the moon. Midnight hair lay braided over one shoulder. Dark garments clung close, merging with mountain shadow.
Goat Riders.
The animal stood nearly as tall as a pony, thick coat stirring in the wind. Long horns curved back from its skull, framing the rider’s legs. Blue eyes with horizontal pupils blinked at me. Its jaw worked in steady rotation, unconcerned.
“You wear no mantle,” the rider called, her voice melodic rather than the grunt of a warrior.
“Crossing an open plain into enemy territory draped in Radaan’s gold would be nearly as absurd as a woman riding a goat.”
Her laughter rang clear, easy. She guided the creature sideways with a bitless bridle, then loosed the reins. It descended the boulder with nimble precision, hooves finding holds no horse could manage.
A small shape bounded after her.
Then another.
My chest tightened at the sight of four goat kids launching down the rock face.
Two mottled black and white. Two pale with dark knees and stripes along their backs.
Tiny bleats pierced the stillness as they skittered behind the larger goat.
Packs, absurdly small and neat, were strapped across their backs.
They darted about, tails wagging with innocent delight.
“It is an honor to meet you, Queen Nienna. I am Anna Elizabeth of Sol. This is Lemella.”
“Claydon’sol succeeded, then?” I studied the long-haired goat and her improbable rider. She stood head and shoulders shorter than I did from the saddle, but the creature bore her weight with ease.
Pain flickered across her face. “Gayle left orders. If anything befell Sol, we were to ready Lemella and take her and the kids to safety. I wish he could see her now.” She forced a smile. “She cannot carry a warrior, but she carries me.”
Anna was slight, fine-boned, a waif of a woman. No armor shielded her narrow frame; only a small crossbow hung from her saddle.
My gaze drifted back to the kids. They bounced in wild arcs, packs jostling, utterly fearless.
“Phill, Turk, Lavinna, and Ariana,” Anna said. “They bear my supplies. Enough to climb and descend.”
The rest of my group edged closer, and she bowed from her seat to Kallias. “My king. The honor is mine.”
“Anna of Sol,” he replied. “I never imagined one of Claydon’s goats would accept a rider.”
“I suspect she views me as nothing more than an opinionated burden,” she mused, color warming her cheeks in the moonlight. “Forgive me for asking you to make the trek here. I cannot cross the plains with her. If the Velli saw us, we would lose our advantage.”
“You are one rider.” Kallias narrowed his eyes. “What advantage can that bring, unless you conceal a herd of giant goats in Sol?”
“Lemella alone bears me. Er’oer and Niklaus remain locked within the city. There is no escape for them without alerting your son.” She wet her lips, resolve battling nerves. “Your Harvester sought entry to the manor. We can provide it.”
Kallias’ expression did not shift at the mention of Tallon. “The Manor in the Mountains cannot be breached.”
“Not by horse or man,” Anna agreed. “Dragons cannot approach without drawing ballista fire. Tallon erected them first. Lemella can carry me along paths unseen. I can reach the tunnel door. The main entrance is heavily guarded.”
“And the tunnel isn’t?” Greaves asked.
“Manned by men alone, not siege engines. Clear the outer pass with a dragon. Ride hard for the door. I will have it open.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and her hands clutched the reins, leaving them slack. Her legs dangled, boots barely filling their stirrups. Moonlight traced the delicate line of her jaw—definitely a noble. The crossbow looked almost too heavy for her frame.
“Is there no one else?” Kallias asked the Harvester, having made the same assessment I had.
Seliora pressed her lips thin and shook her head. She possessed broader shoulders, stronger limbs. Whether Lemella would tolerate her weight remained doubtful.
My husband worked his jaw, muscles ticking beneath the dark shadow of his beard. His gaze returned to Anna. “You can get us inside the manor.” It sounded more like a challenge than a question.
“Or die trying.”
His eyes closed for a brief beat, cheek flinching with a twitch. He did not welcome that answer. Timing would be everything, and she was only one person.
One goat rider against Tallon’s forces.