House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

“That must have been… upsetting,” she said around the lump in her throat.

“She was never really gone though, was she, Kerrigan?” Audria asked. “She just came here, to Kinkadia, to the House of Dragons, and changed her name. She’s you.”

Kerrigan felt like a knife had just been shoved into her ribs. All these years, she had hidden her past away, avoided those who could ever suspect who she was, and lived this new life. But now, here Audria was… bringing it all to the surface again.

“My name is Kerrigan.”

“It is Felicity,” Audria insisted.

Kerrigan closed her eyes fiercely. “Kerrigan Felicity Argon,” she whispered. “My father never wanted to use my first name after my mother, Keres, died, but the mistresses in the House of Dragons had no such qualms.”

Audria’s eyes filled with tears, and then she threw her arms around Kerrigan’s neck. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“Audria, you can’t…”

But Audria didn’t let her finish her thought. Didn’t let her tell her not to let anyone else know.

“This changes everything,” she said, holding Kerrigan at arm’s length. “You are Dragon Blessed. You have to be chosen by a tribe. I will speak to my mother and have her choose you. You can live with us in Bryonica and on the Row, as you were always meant to. We could be sisters in truth!”

“Audria,” Kerrigan gasped. Fear settled in where unease had previously been. This was a dream come true but also her worst nightmare.

Audria grasped Kerrigan’s hands in her own. “I’m overjoyed. I knew you were familiar, but it wasn’t until I saw you here, among your father’s things, that it all came together.” A tear fell down Audria’s face, and she swiped it aside with a laugh. “Our people will be so pleased to have you back. You’re no longer lost.”

Kerrigan took a deep breath, and then she pulled back from Audria’s grasp and her enthusiasm and the desperate hope that she could have a sister.

“What is it?” Audria asked.

“A person can’t be lost when they were abandoned.”

Audria frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, my father was the one who left me on the steps of Draco Mountain to be in the House of Dragons. No matter how bereft he appeared… he knew what he was doing. He abandoned me.”

“No,” Audria said with a shake of her head. “That can’t be true.”

“But it is,” Kerrigan said, rising to her feet. “Being lost implies that you can be found, that someone wants to find you. Kivrin Argon has known precisely where I have been every day for the last twelve years. How could I want to go back to a life that so easily threw me away?”

Audria stood. “What he did was terrible, but there are people who want you. You could have a home and a life. Don’t you want that?”

Kerrigan closed her eyes. In fact, the last thing she had ever wanted was to return to Bryonica. But was this different? Was Audria’s offer a means to escape the life Helly had set up for her in the Society? Was this actually freedom or more chains?

“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” she said, and before Audria could say another word, she stumbled out of the clearing and dashed through the gardens.

40

The Trio

Clover

Clover pulled a drag on her smoke with gusto. She hated this stupid dress and that she had to fit into normal society to come to this sort of event. Truthfully, she would have preferred to be dressed in Fordham’s ridiculous powder-blue suit than this monstrosity. How was anyone supposed to exist in this much fabric?

“Is it really smart to be smoking that in public?” Darby asked, appearing outside of the crowded ballroom.

“Probably not.”

Darby smiled at her shyly and took a step forward. Hadrian practically fell out of the room after her. Darby’s face faltered for the briefest minute. Hmm… had she wanted to be alone?

“Clover!” Hadrian gasped. He stalked toward her and snatched the smoke out of her hand.

“Have a pull on it, pretty boy,” she teased. “Might get that foot out of your ass, where it’s permanently stuck.”

Darby giggled, covering her mouth.

Hadrian dropped the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out. “Are you insane?”

“Not in the least, sweetheart. This party is the definition of depravity. You think a little loch is the worst thing that anyone is doing here?”

She took a step into him and winked. He flushed a deep crimson. She ruffled his blue hair, the edgiest thing that had ever happened to this straitlaced boy.

“Want to find out what else is out there?”

He gulped visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “We’re supposed to look for Basem.”

“We can have some fun while we search,” she teased, plucking his tie and snaking her fingers down it.

He tugged it away from her. “I have no time for your games, Clover.” He turned back to Darby, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. “Come on, Darbs. We’ll go search elsewhere.”