House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s okay,” she said softly. Realizing suddenly that it was.

She had wanted so desperately to have someone to share this with. Someone other than Dozan Rook. And now… now, she did.

She opened her mouth to say more, to apologize for the last year of strangeness between them, but it never came. The spell on the back door lock… snapped.

“Scales,” she cried.

Then, she was running back toward the exit with Lyam on her heels. She couldn’t let anyone see that they’d left the party. She also couldn’t let anyone… a protester or worse, enter through the back and cause trouble. It was just now that she understood how reckless her behavior had been, coming out here. A part of her wanted to regret it, but she had saved Clover from the Society Guard. That was worth it at least.

When she and Lyam made it back around to the entrance, her feet slowed. She panted as she saw what had triggered the exit.

“Hadrian,” she said on a small laugh. “What are you doing here?”

Darby peeked her head out too. “We decided we couldn’t leave you two alone.”

Lyam chuckled. “We should all probably get back inside. The riot was put down. It looks like things should go back to normal now.”

Darby looked relieved. Hadrian held the door wider.

Kerrigan touched Darby’s hand and then Hadrian’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming after us regardless.”

Hadrian nodded. “Always.”

* * *

The party went on as promised. The Society members didn’t exactly explain what had happened with the riots. Just that things were under control and it was time to present the tournament competitors.

The adventure had dulled the humiliation of what had happened to her. But as soon as the party resumed, it all rose back to the surface.

She hadn’t been chosen. And no one was doing anything about it.

Of course, Helly had said that they would figure it out. Kerrigan knew what that meant. It meant she needed to come up with a plan and quick. Something that she could offer Helly so that she wasn’t shunted to the side and forgotten.

Not again. Never again.

It was bad enough that she should have been First of the House of Cruse of Bryonica. That her father had abandoned her rather than legitimize a half-Fae royal. She could not be cast aside a second time. The last twelve years had been nothing but trying to prove herself and her worth to the Society. She would not let all of that go in vein.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would have a proposal for Helly. She didn’t care that it was the first day of the dragon tournament. She knew she couldn’t put it off for more than a day.

Tonight though… she would sulk with a glass of the best wine and watch everyone that she had known and loved the last twelve years enter the civilization that she was no longer going to be a part of.

Kerrigan took another sip of her wine and settled into the corner of the room. She was hardly known for being a wallflower. But tonight was a celebration of the champions and the Dragon Blessed entering society. She was neither. No one was making bets on whether or not she would get a dragon. No one was trying to woo her to become an ally in the tournament. No one was heaping praises upon her for being a newly vested citizen. And the whole thing looked stupendously dull from the outside.

She just wanted to leave. It had been an hour of seclusion in the corner. Surely, that was enough time. She glanced to the balcony and all its seductions, planning her escape, when a throat cleared in front of her.

Kerrigan turned back to face the person with a blink of surprise. No one had spoken to her since the party began.

“Master Bastian?” she said, it coming out more like a question.

“Hello, Kerrigan,” he said with a slow smile.

Master Bastian had been a Society member for the better part of the last century. He was well-respected by his peers. Many thought that he was particularly brilliant. She had always admired his calm repose and his valiant fight for safer measures in the city and rural areas. He had been in a house fire, growing up, and a portion of his face had been devoured by the flames. A healer might have been able to save his appearance, but his rural village had been too far from the healing centers.

“How can I help you?” she asked carefully. She liked Bastian, but he’d never really taken much interest in her.

“I came to offer my condolences on what had happened earlier.”

Kerrigan’s face flushed a bright red. “Ah… yes. That was…”

“Unfortunate,” he said. “I am sorry for your troubles.”

Not enough to fix them.

Though she would never say that out loud. Bastian was being kind. No one else had been kind.