House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

“I don’t know why he’s training me,” she admitted.

Why was she still talking to Audria? She couldn’t be friends with this girl. No matter how nice she was.

“Okay,” Audria said uncertainly. “But just be careful, okay?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t know if you heard or knew that someone died recently,” Audria said, her voice lowering to a whisper. “It was tragic. He was only seventeen. I heard that he was a pro-rights sympathizer, and now, he’s dead.”

“I do know. He was my friend.”

“I’m sorry,” Audria said, her blue eyes rounding with worry. “Then you should know that the rumor going around is that Fordham was responsible.”

“What?” Kerrigan gasped.

“Apparently, he was the last person to see him alive.”

Kerrigan went cold. He was the last person to see him alive. But that didn’t make him Lyam’s murderer. “Fordham didn’t do it. Why would he be helping me if he killed Lyam?”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate.”

Except that was precisely what she was doing.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m not saying he did it,” Audria said quickly. “I’ve just… seen you two together a lot, and I was worried. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. Just be careful.”

“Thanks,” Kerrigan said, retreating once more. This was a lot to take in. She didn’t want to think it was Fordham, but she didn’t know either. “I have to… head to bed.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah. No problem.” Audria smiled, and it was brilliant. All teeth, and her eyes glittered. There were so many layers to Audria Ather. “You know… you really do remind me of someone.”

Kerrigan shot her a pained smile and hastened out of the pool. She slid on her clothes and exited the hot springs.

A pounding began in the back of her head and was slowly spreading to her temples.

So, others saw what she and Fordham were doing, and they immediately thought the worst of him. It would be easy to do so, considering the history of the House of Shadows. But that just didn’t seem like the person she had been training with or the person who had saved her from the assassin or carried her to a healer so she didn’t bleed out.

She didn’t want to think about him betraying her. That he might be a part of all of this in some twisted way. It was possible, but her visions kept propelling them together. Even this last one with the tournament had had Fordham in it.

Gods, she needed to sleep—to really sleep. She couldn’t process all of this. She didn’t even know where to begin. Three visions in three weeks? She had no basis for what to do about any of this. She was just one person, and the visions were getting more frenetic. She needed someone to tell her what was happening. But she didn’t have anyone like that.

She straightened in the empty hallway.

Or did she?

* * *

Gelryn slumbered high above in the barely lit eaves. Kerrigan strained her neck to catch a glimpse of the fierce dragon. Even with the dim light, she could just barely make out his massive figure.

Her eyes flickered to the set of stairs carved into the side of the mountain. They were used in daylight, when the cavernous rooms were fully lit. It would be supremely stupid to risk them at night, but Kerrigan had training in the morning, so she had no other option.

With a huff, she attempted to summon a small ball of fire to guide her way. The flame sputtered and popped in her hand before guttering. She strained, attempting to force her magic to do what she commanded but it was no use. The vision had tapped her magic, draining her dry. A little bit of light had never been a feat for her. Flames came the easiest to her, but right now, she couldn’t even make a spark.

She straightened her shoulders and moved to the first step. She really wished that she had thought to bring a torch of some sort with her as she started the impressive climb up the cliffside.

Kerrigan clung to the mountain wall, feeling out each step before she made it. Her legs burned, and her breathing was ragged. Though, to her surprise, she saw some marked improvement with all of the running Fordham had made her do. Not that she planned to tell him that.

At one point, a rock slipped out from under her foot. Her body crashed sideways, toward the gaping mouth of the opening far below. She latched on to a chunk of rock and held on for dear life, one leg dangling into the abyss.

She lay flat on her belly and dragged her leg up and over onto the stairs. Her hands shook. If she had fallen, she would have died, and no one would have been the wiser. That was why no one climbed in the middle of the night with no light. She groaned and carefully hauled herself up to her spaghetti legs. She continued up the stairs, nearly collapsing at Gelryn’s feet in relief and exhaustion.