House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

“No,” Kerrigan ground out. “We have to keep practicing.”

“We have been out here all day, every day for four straight days, Kerrigan. You’re not improving, and there’s no healer for all the myriad of bruises atop your body.”

“You once said that pain was part of the program. You had to learn to live with it.”

“Yes,” he ground out. “When we were running five miles a day. Not when your spot in the Society is at stake.”

She balked. “You think that I’m not good enough to stay in?”

He ran a hand back through his hair and looked across the meadow toward the sun lowering on the horizon. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you two. It’s like you are always one second behind. I’m not qualified to say what the real problem is, but there is a problem. Maybe the month grounded hurt the bond.”

Kerrigan gasped. He’d hit so close to home that she actually stepped back in horror.

“That came out worse than I meant,” he said with a harsh breath, facing her.

She wanted to tell him. A part of her ached to let him know the truth. Maybe they could figure this out together. But she recoiled at the thought. Not because she thought that he’d turn her in to the Society, but because of the way he’d looked when he said the bond could be damaged. That it was the worst thing he could imagine. How would he react if he found out it’d never been there?

“You go,” she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Tieran and I will stay and try to figure it out.”

“Kerrigan…”

“We’ll start again fresh tomorrow.”

Fordham blew out an exasperated breath. “You don’t have to stay out here.”

“I want to,” she said. “Just… go eat some real food.” She climbed back onto Tieran. “We’ll keep at this until we get it right.”

Fordham looked skeptical. She hardly blamed him. If they were going to get it right, they needed a lot longer than a few hours. But it must have been a testament to how poorly she was doing that he didn’t object to them staying out and working alone.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“What would be the fun in that?” she asked with a smirk.

He shook his head and then steered Netta away from the clearing. She watched them go with a sigh.

What exactly are we going to do out here in the cold? I could use some dinner and a warm bed.

Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “You’re such a baby. We have to figure this out. No warm bed until we have it.”

We’re not going to figure it out! Tieran all but yelled, shaking his body until she slid off of his back. This is the end of the line. Someone is going to know that we aren’t bonded.

“We figured everything else out! We can figure this out too.”

How? Because all you’ve done is fall off of me all week.

“It’s not my fault that they grounded me.”

Isn’t it? he snarled, stepping away from her.

“Fine! Just walk away. Just let us fail. I’ll be kicked out, and you’ll go back to the Holy Mountain.”

Tieran stopped. His body heaving with anger. Don’t ever say that again.

“What happened in that mountain, Tieran? Because whatever terrible thing it was, it’s going to happen again if we don’t work together.”

He cracked one pained eye open and glared at her. You want to know what happened? I grew up there. I had a mate. We found each other as hatchlings, and were together for thirty years. Her name was Risa. She was blood red with the widest wingspan and bright green eyes. I loved her. He choked off on the word.

Kerrigan froze. “What happened?”

The Society took her for the tournament.

Kerrigan racked her brain for a Risa. She didn’t know any dragons with that name. That had to be before her time.

They took her, and she did her best. She had a dragon rider. She was supposed to come home after her year of training, and she never did. When I asked what happened to her, no one would tell me. I only found out years later that her rider had perished in an accident after the tournament. Their bond cleaved her in two. She died on the spot.

Kerrigan froze. Her heart went out to him.

She died for no reason but that stupid bond. I hate the bonds.

“Oh Tieran, I’m so sorry,” I said, tears coming to my eyes. “I had no idea. Why did you enter the tournament if you hated it all so much?”

You think I had a choice? I spent fifty years purposely botching the entrance exam. So that no one would force me into a bonding. But the Holy Mountain decided that I had grieved long enough and sent me to the tournament anyway. They said if I returned without a bond, then my life would be forfeit for my failure.