Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Kieran
She’s going to agree.
Seriously, what kind of fool would do anything but agree, even if they aren’t certain of the terms?
I settle my weight evenly on both feet until my knees cramp and I shift to the left. The pause makes me uncomfortable.
What is there to think about? It’s cut and dried, or like Harbi said, it’s black and white. It’s death or it’s life. It’s an opportunity or it is a full stop.
Don’t be a fool, Morgan.
The overwhelming desire to grab her by the shoulders and shake her literally curls my fingers.
“An expiration date?” Harried laughter trickles out of her. “An invitation is an invitation, isn’t it? Not to mention you’ll need time for your precious Evie to recover from what I did to her. If she’s going to hold the whip.”
I match her laughter. “Why would she hold the whip?”
There is no way Morgan will say no to this, not after I put myself on the line for her. She’s intelligent. She has to have at least some concept of what went into making this deal possible?
I put everything on the line for her. “Morgan? Look at me.”
Harbi sips her wine with the ease of a person attending a lecture on social commentary. If I had half her practiced poise, I’d have a much easier time with my classes.
I’m better on the field.
Without my father there to watch me, I slip on the mask and I pretend I’m cold hearted, exactly the way he wants me to be.
My heart feels all too real right now while my mouth dries and I wait for the important answer I crave. Yes, she’ll say yes.
She’s a servant, a lowly soul who will snatch at a hand extending in mercy and compassion.
“I would serve the kingdom?” She jerks and her braid twitches. “In what capacity?”
Harbi swallows down her wine. “In the usual way; the way all our students at DragonSpear are equipped to be productive members of society. We will sharpen your intellect, expand your mind, and empower you to make decisions.”
Morgan circles her wrists. “The right decisions, you mean. The King’s decisions.”
I’ve watched her try and slip through the bindings since I wrapped them. There’s no way for her to do it unless she wants to cut off her hands. Or if she somehow manages to not only get to the wall of weapons but slice through the leather without one or both of us stopping her.
“King Lochlain has the best interests of his people in mind. He too has been trained since infancy to lead Manifest. I make no claim to bear equal responsibility but I will uphold the demands of the royals. So will you, by the time you are ready to graduate.”
“Like you said,” Morgan adds through her teeth. “The kingdom killed my mother. Lochlain sanctioned it.”
Harbi’s smile is grim. “I have my doubts that the king personally signed her death warrant.”
There’s an edge to Morgan which hasn’t been there when I’ve watched her before.
It isn’t just the blood dried on her skin or the way she carries herself, hitching slightly to the side to make up for the pain in her opposite leg.
It’s not the cut on her cheek or the sleepless nights written on her face like purple paint beneath her eyes.
“He might not have been there riding the dragon, but he’s responsible for her death, and the way the rest of my home burned to the ground.”
Morgan whips around to glare at me.
Even if it’s a matter of convincing myself I’ve done the right thing, I know it will all work out. It has to work out. There are no other options. Harbi would not have agreed to give Morgan a place here if she thought it was a bad investment.
Harbi has the necessary foresight to see an asset in front of her.
“I’m not here to discuss philosophy with you.” Harbi glances at the ticking clock on her bookshelves. “You’re nearly out of time to give me your answer. What will it be?”
Silence stretches between us and solidifies in the air. The room constricts around us, smaller and constricting, and the domed ceiling feels close enough for me to reach out and touch.
My brow twitches while I wait for Morgan to speak.
“At least consider it.” I shatter the silence and although I hadn’t spoken loudly, she flinches.
She feels my stare on her skin, aware of it through the entirety of this meeting.
I’ve caught the way she nibbled her lip, the way she kept from looking in my direction out of spite.
But now, her gaze flicks to me beneath a sweep of her red hair and there’s no weak smile.
There is no jarring grin to break up the brutal beauty of her features.
There is none of the pretense of bravery. She is as bone weary as the rest of us.
“I would rather take the whip than serve under a tyrant. It’s no choice. I will not give up my morality for a nicer room.”
Her words land aggressively, and it takes a long time for me to realize what she’s said. What she’s done. My horror grows.
“You… you what?” I grunt out.
She’s made her choice.
“Seriously, princess. You… y-you are turning your nose up at a full ride to DragonSpear? You’d rather be whipped to death by Evie Fortescue? And you think it’s about a bed?” My voice pitches higher.
“If you have to ask, then you can’t understand.” Morgan storms off and leaves me with my dignity dying on the floor.
Harbi’s hand goes limp, and she sets the wine down, the base close enough to the edge for it to teeter.
“Well.” She sounds flustered. “She is certainly entitled to her opinion.”
The wrong one. The door slams shut behind Morgan from the force of her exit, and the latch clicks into place like a sign.
Do not try to follow her.
“What did she say?” I must have heard her wrong.
The overwhelming shock ripples through me and I turn to Harbi as Morgan gains ground on her retreat. I can’t make my body move for some reason.
The stunned silence isn’t just mine to endure. Harbi draws in a careful breath before reaching out to take back the stamp with the DragonSpear crest.
“She can’t possibly think she’s made the right choice. Seriously?” My arm cuts the open air and I point at the door. “What just happened? She wants to be whipped?”
Harbi raises the stamp to me. “It appears she’s quite serious.”
“She would rather die than fight?”
Cursed scales! I never in a million years thought she’d be willing to kill herself on principle alone. I’d played a perfect hand and Morgan just rejected it, like it was nothing.
And I’d irrevocably tied myself to her.
All the long months, the years, I’d spent in service of the empire and my father, leading his campaigns, and it crumbles with one simple word.
One syllable of defiance.
Maybe being gone from home for so long erased any idea of how to live a normal life, or have a conversation where I’m not tripping over myself or misplacing my loyalty.
The corners of Harbi’s lips twitch in a smirk. “You have two hours to convince her to stay, Kieran. Or you are out too. You remember the terms of the deal? You’ve already cast your lot in with hers.”
My head snaps up.
This isn’t good.
This is a trap, Harbi’s trap, and I’ve walked right into it. I look up to the ceiling. There’s no excuse for Morgan’s behavior and no explanation for her thoughtlessness that makes sense to me. My lips press into a thin line.
When I glance back to Harbi, her face shows little emotion. “Two hours.”
“I’ll be back.” I’m already halfway toward the door. “I’ll get her to change her mind.”
“You better,” Harbi calls after me.
Otherwise, I’m on the line, too.
My father will never forgive me if I get myself kicked out of DragonSpear for a stupid gamble. This will be the domino leading straight to my demise and I’m not finished yet, damn it all.
I used to love my life, so long ago I’ve forgotten the comfort of what it feels like when things make sense. This place is as ornamental as the palace with metals and gold and glittering tile. It’s a cage.
So what? At least this way, I’m giving the girl a chance to pick her prison.
Chasing after Morgan was not on my list of things to do today, and she’s left me with no other choice. If she’d just agreed—
I stomp down the hall following the path of least resistance and the one she most likely took.
The office is down the corridor from the main entrance to DragonSpear.
Morgan will want to cut a hasty exit and a straight shot out.
There’s no way for her to make it far without being caught. But she’s too stubborn to hide.
Not to mention there is a decisive lack of hiding places in this place unless you know where to look for them and she does not.
Heart leaping in my throat, I cut a corner and catch the tail end of her gray dress disappearing down a side hall.
Okay, maybe she isn’t as smart as I’d given her credit for being. “Morgan!”
She’s got to be out of her mind to say no to the deal. It’s a chance for an education, a chance to be chosen by a superior mount and to distinguish herself among her peers. Not to mention there won’t be any more need for her late-night training sessions alone in my private gym.
She’ll have the best trainers and tutors. The best educators.
Is her ego really so large that she’d throw it all away? If she knew I’d cast my lot in with hers, that I’d tied our fates together the way I did—
Then I’d definitely say she answered to spite me and force me to follow her to the pit. But Morgan has no clue. This isn’t about me. This is so much bigger than either one of us. We’re cogs in a wheel.
I hustle forward and lose her around the next bend. She’s ducked into the servant’s quarters.
“Kieran, what in the Void?”
Astrid’s blustering tone catches me unaware and I lose precious seconds in catching Morgan. My second in command stalks forward and I look up, the details of the hall lost as she comes into sharp focus.
She’s gotten anxious and mistrusting lately. More than usual. No doubt she’d skulked around the office waiting for the perfect time to ambush me.