Chapter Seven #2
“Peace, Nienna.” My name on his lips dug into me. He’d said it before, but tonight it scraped against old wounds. “Where’s my Dragon’s Heart, the girl I used to play with?”
“I’m not yours, and I think you’ve outgrown playing.”
“Gracious. Radaan made you bitter. What did their king do to you?”
Nothing. Everything. None of it was his business. Adoni hadn’t earned that truth.
“What do you want?”
“Company.”
I folded my arms tight, tempted to tell him where to shove that request. I came here to grieve. To unwrap the bandages holding the pieces of my heart together and survey the damage. Take note of what was left. Sitting next to a prince was not the time to do that.
The night was quiet. No gulls. No dragons. Just waves striking the stone. The breeze carried a chill, but the sand clung to the sun’s heat, soaking through my thin dress and breeches.
“What was it like?” His tone held a strange wonder.
My teeth ground together against the irritation. “What?”
“Radaan. Being abroad.”
I searched his voice for mockery. Found none. He’d always wanted to see more of the world. I could answer a few questions.
“Big.”
A laugh burst from him. He tipped his head back, shoulders shaking. I smirked.
“Well, it is.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he chuckled, leaning on one hand. The movement brought him closer. “But I expected more eloquence from a princess.”
“It’s spacious. Roaming. Capacious. Voluminous.”
“Yes, thank you. I’m beginning to grasp the size.”
I rested my cheek on my knee, watching him. His dark brown eyes locked on mine. He winked.
“It’s beyond anything you’ve seen, Adoni. Land stretching forever. Endless plains. Mountains as tall as the Spire and wider than some islands. They run like a god’s spine through the continent. It was… humbling.”
“You? Humbled?”
“Here, Draconia is… well, we have–”
“Dragons,” he finished. “You’re at the top of the food chain. You rule the skies.”
“Yes, as we would there, too. But the scale—it dwarfs even dragons. They could fly for days and still not reach the edge. I’m not sure it ends.”
“I wish I could see it.” His voice dropped to a whisper, his eyes on the sea.
I wanted to tell him he could. Buy a ship. Chase the horizon. But Innaku princes didn’t have that luxury. He was bound as I was—married to diplomacy, anchored by bloodlines.
“And Radaan’s people?”
Kallias or Tallon? The question hovered on my tongue. I bit it back.
“Proud. Loyal.” I scoffed and turned toward the waves. “Much like our own. But worn thin. Tired. Their palaces gleam, their feasts are endless—gods, the food! But gold can’t fix everything. They’ve bled in war nearly as long as I’ve been alive.”
“And Vellos? Did you see their lands?”
“I was only there a few months.” My laugh came brittle. “But the Velli ambassador visited. Egath, that was his name.”
I shuddered. Sharp teeth. Rotten magic that made my blood rebel. He and Tallon had secrets, of that I was certain. Maybe now Kallias would find the truth buried between them.
“You’re more worldly than I am, Princess.”
I wrinkled my nose at the surf. “And yet, here I am. Back where I started.”
Alone.
“It’s not so terrible,” Adoni murmured. He reached up, brushed a loose strand from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “Your people love you. The dragons still fly for you. You’ll ride them to the Unknown Shores one day. You’re the beginning of an empire.”
I lifted my head, staring at him. “I brought Radaan to its knees. Destroyed the peace we needed. Broke my vow to feed our starving. I’m not a beginning, Adoni—I’m the ruin at the end.”
“You’re wrong.” He cupped my cheek. I flinched, but didn’t pull away. “You came back. You can start again.”
His eyes burned, hunger glittering behind his tenderness. Not a boy anymore. A prince. A tactician. Reaching for power.
I shoved his hand aside. “Abyss, I’m a fool.”
“Wait!” He caught my wrist, yanking me off balance as I tried to stand.
I twisted, straining against his grip. “Let me go!”
“You’re not listening!”
I kicked him in the shin. He grunted, then lunged, knocking me flat in the sand.
Cold panic sliced through me. I gasped, searching for a blade. Tallon’s face flickered in my mind. I reached for Adoni’s hips. Nothing. No weapon.
“I hear you just fine!” I screamed through clenched teeth. “You want my crown—and I thought you were my friend!”
His weight dropped on me like a beached whale, pushing the air from my lungs.
He was going to kill me.
A dragon roared in the distance. Adoni’s mouth crashed against mine, shattering every coherent thought.
I screamed into him, twisted, lunged to bite his cheek as my nails tore down his arms. He cursed, seized my wrists, slammed them into the earth. His knee jammed between my legs, shoving them apart.
Real horror settled cold in my chest. No one knew I was here. No bonded dragon heard my cry. The Spire lay too far. He was too strong.
“You gave yourself to an old man who had nothing to offer!” he snarled, fighting as I bucked beneath him. “I have a nation! What could he offer you? A storming pat on the head?”
“He’d give me the world if I asked!” I shouted into his face. “A dragon will eat you. Get off!”
“My precious Dragon’s Heart,” he breathed, lips and teeth and tongue burrowing into my neck, “They don’t answer you. And no one would believe you didn’t want this—not even your family.”
Was he right?
Would my father believe him? Had I tarnished myself so badly they’d all think I wanted this?
Tears burned down my cheeks. I dug my fingers into the sand and thrashed, every nerve alive with panic. I clawed inward, searching for anything—any scrap of power, any spark.
Nothing came.
“It won’t be bad,” he said, mouth dragging a wet trail up my neck, to my ear.
I threw my head sideways. Bone cracked. Light exploded behind my eyes, but he yelped. I drove my knee into his gut, kicked. He let one wrist go, grabbing for my leg, and I raked claws across his face.
The ground shuddered.
Then something dark barreled into him.
Adoni vanished. I toppled after the blur that hit him. Scrambling upright, I bolted the other way and ducked behind a scaled foreleg.
A dragon loomed above, its massive paw nudging me beneath its chest. In the low light I couldn’t make out which one, nor the rider who had come—but I heard grunts. Fists meeting flesh.
The earth heaved again, followed by a shriek. Tsunami had arrived. And she was furious. Her hiss split the air. I clung to the dragon’s leg, rough scales biting my palms, and peered through moonlight at the shore.
“Storming son of a squid!” my brother roared. He hauled Adoni up by the hair. The prince swung, landing a fist in his gut.
Ronan doubled over.
Tsunami lunged, neck weaving low across the sand.
I bolted from under Gyrak, sprinting toward them. We couldn’t kill him. He fed our people.
“Ronan! Adoni!” I screamed, charging to intercept them, racing Tsunami’s strike.
Behind me, Gyrak let loose a roar, reared, and slammed into the ground. The shockwave sent me stumbling. My brother staggered away, dragging a hand through his hair, while the island prince struggled to his knees, rage simmering in his eyes.
My strides halted beside Ronan, chin raised like steel. “I am the Dragon’s Heart, Adoni Innaku. I am never alone.”
Then her jaws descended.