Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“The magic comes with a price. Your life for hers. Her life for yours. Your line forever bound to theirs. Any dragon who attempts to evade the call will perish. Any Fae who refuses the bond will see their house in ruin. A bargain sealed with the magic of He Who Reigns. A new age beckons.”
***
Kerrigan and Tieran were ripped out of the dragon’s memory. Her head ached, and she had no concept of time.
The Irena Bargain was a lie.
She had always suspected it was. But this was so much worse than she had anticipated. Irena had used a magical artifact to force Ferrinix into a binding. Their lives and all their kin’s lives were bound to this new bargain done with ancient dark magic.
The consequences had been severe. All dragons had to secure a rider or else die. No wonder Thiery had forced Tieran to the tournament. He had no idea how close he’d come to dying instead. And those Fae who ignored the bond went to ruin. Look at the House of Shadows, all these long thousand years, how it had rotted in on itself. Honestly, even her own House of Cruse had been suffering without a dragon rider in the line. It was all part of some ancient ceremony that had ended the carnage and created a new legacy.
“Thiery was right,” Tieran said. “I never wanted this burden.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Boon
Thiery and the Dragon Council waited for them in the council chamber. The somber expressions of the quorum said that they had all survived this test to get their seat here. They all knew. Every last dragon in attendance. All ancients who had endured this long. They had withheld this information from the younger dragons.
Tieran was nearly shaking with anger. “We have returned victorious.”
Thiery dipped her head at her son. “Indeed. You have. A boon is due you for your acceptance onto the council.” She swiveled her head. “Think carefully about what you know before you make a request of us.”
“You knew” was all he said.
There was silence in the chamber as the council shifted indignantly. Like they had never owed anyone this information.
“You knew and you said nothing.”
“Yes,” Thiery said.
“You told us that Ferrinix made the deal alone. That he foresaw a future with the Fae. That it was a duty, an obligation, and an honor to claim a rider.”
“We protected the hatchlings at all costs,” Thiery said. “We have learned to extend the obligation as long as possible.”
The bond with Tieran boiled in Kerrigan’s chest. He was furious and threatening to explode. She leaned into that bond, the one they had evaded. She’d had no idea he had been so close to dying because their bond hadn’t worked.
“I did not want the burden of this information, but I cannot deny that you have destroyed my already-little faith in the council with the knowledge that you have withheld this from us.” He straightened, reaching for a resolute calm. “My boon is the same—to take all the unbonded dragons capable of holding a rider to Ravinia Mountain and then to war.”
The silence was deafening. Then all the dragons began to speak at once. Kerrigan put her hands to her head—it felt like a collision in her mind.
“Enough!” Tieran roared. “I am not asking. I am telling you what I am doing.”
“Tieran, think first,” Thiery said.
He stared his mother down without an ounce of uncertainty. “I will tell all those who can take a rider the truth—that if they do not bond to a rider within a certain time frame, they will die. And if they want to bond right now, they can come with me. I will only take the willing. That is all I will speak on it.”
His mother called for him. They were all speaking over one another, trying to be the voice of reason. But how could they reason with him when he was right? The dragons had the right to know, to choose. Tieran hadn’t been given that choice. Risa hadn’t. None of them had.
Tieran left the mountain to a roar of applause. The dragons were assembled as they had been the day before, waiting to hear the news of his ascension. They were about to get more than they had bargained for.
Kerrigan stared off at all those assembled. She could pick out Audria and Evien on the bank, Gelryn near them, and just a hint of white in the crowd that likely meant Amita had returned. Would they all agree with what was about to happen?
She’d had shit luck trying to get people to drastically change their minds in a short period of time. This would rock the foundation of the dragons. So many wouldn’t approve. The last thing they needed was civil war among them while the Society was equally at odds.
Too late now.