House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

“Then, perhaps,” a voice said, stepping in silkily, “we should take this upstairs.”

Kerrigan glared at Dozan. How did he just materialize out of nothing? Had he known the second she stalked into the Wastes that she was here? Or was it before then, when she’d left the ceremony? How far did his little spies go?

“Dozan,” Clover said, going pale. She bowed her head slightly. “Of course, we’ll follow you.”

Dozan’s gaze swept the room. “Nothing to see here. Continue.”

Just like that, the rope snapped. Everyone went back to their games and drinks and fondling. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Kerrigan was still furious. And her fury went deeper than how stupid Clover had been, but it was the only thing that she could fix.

Dozan arched an eyebrow at her. “Shall we?”

She huffed and then strode away. Upstairs meant Dozan’s office, and she had been there enough times to know the way. She didn’t want to sit back and wait for him to escort her. But he kept an easy pace with her anyway.

“This cloak,” he said for her ears only, “where did you get it?”

She glared at him. “I borrowed it.”

“It has the sigil of the House of Shadows on it.”

“So?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. If he was going to ask questions, she would make him work for his answers.

But Dozan gave nothing away. Just released the scrap of material. She didn’t look back as she climbed the stairs that led to the king of the Wastes’ residence.

A guard stood outside Dozan’s office and glared at her. But Dozan swept his hand to the side. The guard allowed the three of them to enter.

Kerrigan dropped into a chair as soon as they entered, but Clover hovered in the corner, as if she were waiting to get in trouble with a teacher in primary care.

“Have a seat, Clover,” Dozan said as he folded easily into a massive chair behind his equally massive desk.

Clover gulped and then took a small wooden chair across from Kerrigan. “Ker… I…”

“Why don’t we start from the beginning?” Dozan said. “Why are you two fighting on my gambling floor?”

“She was arrested,” Kerrigan spat. “She was arrested by the Society Guard.”

Dozan raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t act like he hadn’t known. “She seems to be here and fully intact.”

“I escaped,” Clover cut in.

“No, you didn’t!” Kerrigan roared, coming to her feet. “I let you go. I was there. I saw what had happened, and I went against Society order to get you out of there.”

Clover’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Kerrigan shook her head. “I cannot believe you were protesting the very ceremony I was attending.”

“We weren’t protesting the ceremony,” Clover said, regaining her composure. “We were protesting the tournament. It’s tyranny, Kerrigan. You know it is. It’s how they keep us subjugated. By making us think that the tournament is a festive occasion for us and then creating more dragon riders to keep us under their boot.”

“That is not true in the slightest,” Kerrigan said.

“You’d see that if you weren’t already so far up the Society ass that you can’t see your own privilege!” Clover snapped back.

“My privilege?” she demanded. “I’m half-Fae. I am hunted and trampled on just as much as you are.”

“Sure. But it doesn’t erase the fact that you’re Dragon Blessed. That you have a cushy job, working within the Society system. That they see you as an equal and they see the rest of us as beneath them.”

“They do not see me as an equal!” Kerrigan protested.

Clover just shook her head. “Maybe. But you live your life in the mountain, and you come here to slum it when you’re bored. It is not the same as having lived this life. We don’t have a choice.”

Kerrigan rocked back into her chair and took a deep inhale. Clover was… right. She was right. Even though her way of life had just been turned upside down, she still had options. She had Society members who would work with her to find her a place in the system that had been set up. But Clover didn’t have that option. At the opening ceremony, she’d had to slink out of the House of Dragons’ box before she was caught. This was the life she had to live.

“You’re right.” Kerrigan blew out a harsh breath. “I’m sorry about throwing that punch. You had every right to protest. But did you have to get violent? Get arrested? It’s reckless, Clove. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I wasn’t violent. The Red Masks showed up and started trouble, but we were the ones who were arrested,” she snarled. “Those bastards can all rot in hell for all I care. Those Society guards didn’t even care that the hate group showed up. They only arrested us after the Red Masks instigated the violence.”