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- Herausgeber: K.A. LINDE
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Serie: Royal Houses
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020
USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde introduces the Royal Houses series with House of Dragons: the story of Kerrigan Argon, a half-Fae, half-human as she seeks her place in an unforgiving world filled with magic, mayhem, and romance. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and V.E. Schwab.
Ten years ago, half-Fae, half human Kerrigan Argon was discreetly dropped off onto the steps of Draco Mountain with nothing but a note. Her life changes completely as she’s swept into the care of the House of Dragons—an elite training program for gifted Fae.
On the year of her seventeenth name day, each student will be chosen by one of the twelve tribes of Alandria to enter society.
Everyone is chosen, except Kerrigan.
So, she strikes a bargain with the Dragon Society: convince a tribe to select her or give up her birthright forever.
With the unlikeliest of allies—Fordham Ollivier, the cursed Fae prince, who escaped his dark throne—she has to chart her own destiny to reshape the world.
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House of Dragons
Royal Houses Book One
K.A. Linde
Contents
Tribes
1. The Fight
2. The Wastes
3. The Tournament
4. The Punishment
5. The Dark Prince
6. The Testing
7. The Recovery
8. The Celebration
9. The Flight
10. The Ceremony
11. The Offer
12. The Arrest
13. The Shadow
14. The Dealer
15. The Bargain
16. The Job
17. The First
18. The Box
19. The Accident
20. The Funeral
21. The Dawn
22. The Disappointment
23. The Search
24. The Assassin
25. The Knife
26. The Training
27. The Baths
28. The Tip
29. The Weapons Deal
30. The Second
31. The Fall
32. The Black House
33. The Crime Lord
34. The Explosion
35. The Weapons Training
36. The Artisan Village
37. The South
38. The Threat
39. The Party
40. The Trio
41. The Past
42. The Hostages
43. The Guest
44. The Big Fight
45. The Rescue
46. The Third
47. The Forest
48. The Raven Flight
49. The Nightmare
50. The Bonding
51. The Return
52. The Smoke
53. The Ruling
54. The Spirit
55. The Red Mask
The Affiliate
Acknowledgments
Also By K.A. Linde
About the Author
House of Dragons
Copyright © 2020 by K.A. Linde
All rights reserved.
Visit my website at
www.kalinde.com
Formatting and Map Design: Devin McCain, www.studio5twentyfive.com
Cover Designer: Okay Creations.
www.okaycreations.com
Editor: Unforeseen Editing
www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1948427425
Pronunciation Guide
CHARACTERS
DRAGONS
Tribes
The twelve tribes of Alandria were split into four groups based on how they perceived the use of magic: Woodloch to the wooded west, Viland to the hills of the east, Tosin to the mountains of the north, and Moran to the rocky south. Though the twelve tribes are autonomous, the Society rules over all.
WOODLOCH
Magic should be used for might.
(warriors, weapons, armor)
Galanthea
Herasi
Venatrix
VILAND
Magic should be used for good.
(healing, medicine, art)
Bryonica
Concha
Ibarra
TOSIN
Magic should be used for efficiency.
(everyday tasks, mining, travel)
Erewa
Sayair
Zavala
MORAN
Magic should be used for nothing.
(magical artifacts)
Aude
Elsiande
Genoa
The Fight
Kerrigan was losing.
Blood dripped into her eye from a gash at her brow. Her feet danced back and forth on the hard stone floor, light and eager with her hands protecting her face—little good it had done.
Her form was in complete contrast to the bruiser before her. He was nearly seven feet tall and built like the haunches of a dragon—massive and muscular. Though he was all power and no finesse.
“You going to dance on your twinkle toes all day, or are we going to fight?” Bruiser grunted.
“I was considering it,” she bit back.
He laughed gruffly. “Fine. Make it easy for me, Red.”
Bruiser stepped forward, using his limited elemental magic to give him an edge as he rushed toward her. The earth rattled beneath her feet, and she shuffled side to side in an attempt to stay upright. But then he was in front of her, his eyes keen on victory before his fist even shot for her face.
She blocked him with her forearm, taking a bone-crunching amount of pressure. Then she dodged the second blow and used a trickle of air to shove his fist out of the way. She hated being on the defensive, but she’d never seen Bruiser fight before. She always spent the first couple of minutes discovering her opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, assessing the situation to her advantage. Unfortunately, that meant getting punched in the stomach with a giant rock.
All the air gasped out of Kerrigan’s lungs as she was propelled backward into the ropes. She collapsed forward onto her knees, coughing spastically. She spat blood onto the floor. An offering to whatever gods were watching.
Her eyes lifted. Bruiser was smirking, holding his hands up to the crowd as if he’d already won the match. Overconfident, arrogant bastard.
She heaved herself back to her feet and kicked the rock he’d thrown off the edge of the ring. Her bright red mess of hair had come out of its braid with that throw, and now, unruly curls framed her narrow face.
At least her gold headband still held. She had no interest in revealing her short, barely pointed ears.
“You still in it?” Bruiser taunted as he sauntered in her direction. He didn’t even lift his defenses. He didn’t so much as reach for a speck of earth. He was used to using his fists and getting his way. “Poor little thing. I’m going to have to put you to sleep.”
“We’ll see if you can, Bruiser.”
Kerrigan’s eyes blurred at the edges. The fumes from the Wastes—the deplorable underground crime building where she was currently fighting—sure didn’t help matters. The Dragon Ring was on the bottom level and smelled like stale ale and blood and vomit. She preferred it down here to nearly everything up above but, gods, the smell.
It was all the worse because her eyes teared up. Gods, she looked like an amateur.
A small smile cracked her frightened facade.
Sometimes, looking like an amateur worked to her advantage.
Kerrigan jabbed out with her left hand, swirling the sand on the ground into a tight cyclone. She swung it in an arc before throwing it.
Bruiser’s eyes widened in shock. Then he dove out of the way of the maelstrom. Too slow. The sand yanked him off his feet and threw him halfway across the ring. He rolled over his shoulder and came back up in a crouch. His beady eyes assessed her more strategically than when he’d casually tried to beat her face in.
Kerrigan was losing… on purpose.
After nearly a dozen fights, she had learned that no one wanted the fight to end too soon. And no one wanted it to end without blood.
The only thing more important than Dozan Rook in these halls—blood.
Blood was the real king of the Wastes.
Bruiser hauled himself up onto his feet again. He shook the sand out of his dark hair and then ran toward her. His feet plodded hard against the packed earth. His hulking figure could make elephants look nimble. Still, she waited with her hands at her sides, ready to strike when he was closer.
Kerrigan lifted her hand and slashed downward, cutting the front of his shirt open. Blood welled dark red against the dull beige of his shirt. He slammed to a halt, staring down in bewilderment at the cut.
Cheers rang out overhead.
The uproarious, drunken crowd was chanting her name, “Red! Red! Red!”
“I’ll paint you red by the end of this,” Bruiser taunted. He flexed his muscles.
Kerrigan lifted her hands again and gestured him forward.
Then, a rock slammed into the back of her head. She gasped and crumbled forward, landing hard on her hands. Her magic wavered in her veins as she blinked away the pain. She couldn’t see straight.
Not good. Scales, that hurt.
Kerrigan wrapped her magic around Bruiser’s ankles, yanking hard and fast, felling him like a tree.
He cried out in anger. Good. The fight had finally started.
She heard a whoosh and looked up just in time to dodge the rock that would have crushed in the back of her skull. She rolled out from under it. Another gasp escaped her lungs. That had been too close.
Another rock crashed into her back as she tried to get up.
“Gods,” she groaned as she slammed back into the hard floor.
She rolled away again and came swiftly to her feet. Her back ached already.
Bruiser was smiling as if he were already victorious. He raised his hands to the sky, pumping up the raucous crowd. Kerrigan picked up the air again and slashed fiercely. The first cut through his bicep, the second down his thigh, the third was supposed to hit his cheek, but he somehow flowed around the wind.
Her eyes widened. He’d trained with an air Fae? Doubly not good.
“That’s a neat trick,” she said.
Bruiser laughed, and as he weaved away from her, and then threw dust right into her eyes. She slammed them shut on instinct, crying out in shock. There were no rules in the Wastes. Certainly none inside the Dragon Ring. But it was dirty play. Dirty, dirty play.
She blinked rapidly, tears welling as the grit ground into her eyes. Concentrating so hard on her eyes, she didn’t hear the rock that catapulted into her nose. Something snapped, and she cried out. Blood gushed from the wound.
Her eyes flashed cold death to her opponent. Now… she wasn’t losing on purpose.
“Say good night, Red,” Bruiser said.
Kerrigan lifted her hand. She was barely able to see through the sand in her eyes, but her own anger propelled her forward. She froze the air around Bruiser and held him tight in her grasp so that he couldn’t even blink without her permission. If she wanted, if she had the strength, she could crush him right where he stood.
Her hand shook, just holding him in place. It took an immense amount of power to be able to do what she was doing. More than she had claimed to have when she started this fight.
She needed to let him go. She needed to dispel her anger and release him. If she didn’t, she was going to pay for it later.
“Go back to the underworld you came from,” she growled.
She dropped her magic at the same time that she brought her knee up to his balls with a satisfying squelch. He doubled over in pain. Then, she reared back and punched him in his face. He fell backward with the force of her strike. Her knuckles split, and she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking.
But there was only one end here: the end where she won.
She stepped over Bruiser’s body and kicked him in the temple. A perfectly placed shot to knock him out but not kill him.
The crowd went wild. Cheers and shouts and objects fell from the sky above to litter the Dragon Ring while a man hobbled hastily into the ring and held her arm up.
“Winner goes to Red!”
After the fanfare, Kerrigan stumbled out of the fighting ring and into the back room—where, typically, a small weasel of a man waited to give her the earnings from the fight.
That man wasn’t there.
In his place stood the owner and proprietor of the Wastes and the biggest crime lord in the city of Kinkadia—Dozan Rook.
“Dozan,” Kerrigan said through gritted teeth.
She could barely stand. Her nose ached from that last hit. It was definitely broken. Her back was probably already black and blue. Still, she straightened and held her chin up high. She would never let him see that on her.
“Red,” Dozan said with his cocky smirk.
“How can I help you?” she drawled lazily.
“You can take off that ridiculous headband. No one to hide from down here.”
Kerrigan frowned and tugged the gold headband free, releasing her bright red hair from its trapping and revealing the delicately pointed ears beneath. The ears that revealed her for what she truly was—half-Fae, half-human.
Full-blooded Fae had sharply pointed ears. And full-blooded Fae was the only right thing to be in Kinkadia.
Up above, in the city of Kinkadia, half-Fae were persecuted for their heritage. They were looked down upon by the High Fae and much of the ruling class. Many believed that half-Fae shouldn’t even exist especially if they had even a hint of magic. She’d gotten used to hiding her true self. When humans and half-Fae were being beaten in the streets, it was best to remain anonymous.
It was one of the main reasons that she felt so comfortable in the Wastes. No one in this den of iniquity cared whether a person was human, half-Fae, or Fae. They were all too high, drunk, or broke. Unlike above, where she was ridiculed for being lesser, the Wastes had only ever drawn her in as their own. She fought here, she made friends here, and despite her past business with Dozan, he protected her within this bed of sin.
“Do you have my winnings?” Kerrigan asked.
“I do indeed.”
Dozan slid his hand into the inside of his tailored black suit. The cut accentuated his muscular build. He wore the white shirt with a black vest and jacket, complete with a Wastes red cravat at his neck. His hand was nimble, producing a red velvet bag heavy with gold marks, just like the ruthless pickpocket who had taken over the underground.
“Here you are.” He set the bag in her hand. It held way more than what she should have earned. His almost-golden eyes glittered with defiance, as if waiting for her to suggest that it was too much money.
She did no such thing. She pocketed the bag and ignored the way he ran a hand back through burnished hair that showed more red than brown in the light. Not at all like hers. Not that she would ever admit to paying attention.
“You should consider working bigger fights,” Dozan said. “Use more than one element.”
Using only one element in the Dragon Ring kept her safe. She did it to keep a target off her back. Half-Fae and humans were notoriously low with magic use, but not her. She had access to all four elements. And the last thing she wanted was anyone else to know about her elemental prowess.
“I appreciate the offer, but no.”
“I could make it worth your while,” he said silkily. His gold eyes practically glowed in the light.
She swallowed against his infuriating charm.
“I believe that you would,” Kerrigan said dryly. “But no.”
He stepped toward her. Close enough that they shared breath. She held her ground, tilting her chin in that defiance he so desired. Dozan only did this to unnerve her, and she refused to play his games. She wasn’t the same young girl who had landed at his feet five years ago. She’d never be that girl again.
“You know we could practice with… your other power,” he all but whispered against her lips.
Kerrigan narrowed her eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Haven’t had a dream recently, princess?”
Her body quivered with barely controlled restraint. Her split knuckles ached to ram into his smug face. “I am not a princess.”
“Come on, Ker,” he breathed softly around the edges of her name. “I find your powers fascinating.”
“Just because you saved my life five years ago, doesn’t mean that I owe you a thing,” she hissed.
Dozan’s eyes dragged across her face, as if he were waiting for her to change her mind. But she would never change her mind. Twice in the last five years, she’d had dreams… visions of the future. She had never heard of anyone in all of Alandria ever possessing such a gift. She would know; she had thoroughly perused the library to be sure. Only children’s books spoke of such a gift, and in every one, the poor fairy tale child had been hunted down and slain for their sight. She wasn’t stupid enough to think she would be an exception in reality.
But Dozan had been there that unfortunate night and had never let her forget it.
“Fine.” Dozan shrugged once, returning to his overly cocky state of being. “What will you do with your winnings?”
“Same as usual.”
“Give it all back to me in drinks?”
“Not the worst way to spend the night.”
“Not the best,” he said, twirling a lock of her bright red hair around his fingers with a lascivious smile before disappearing up the stairs.
The Wastes
Dozan was… a problem.
He was definitely becoming a problem.
He didn’t like it when his things didn’t do as they were told. And she refused to be his thing or do as she was told. A conundrum that he rarely faced.
Five years ago, he’d saved her life and learned all about her magic and visions. She’d been young and in love. That had been before he had taken over the Wastes… before everything. Then a year ago, she’d had another vision and ended up right back here. He’d gotten her into the fights to give her an outlet. She would thank him if their relationship hadn’t gotten even more complicated. If he didn’t think that he owned her now.
Kerrigan sighed heavily, pocketed the winnings, and went to her corner. She dropped to her haunches and opened up her bag, pulling out clean clothes. She hastily stripped out of her fighting gear and into a pair of loose pants and a crossbody jerkin that cinched tight at the waist.
Despite what Dozan had said, she tugged her headband back down over her ears and rebraided her hair. She had gotten too used to hiding her slightly rounded, telltale, half-Fae ears. She looked at her wan reflection in the faded glass mirror. She pinched her pale cheeks in an attempt to bring some color back into her skin, but it did little. Her freckles stood out in sharp relief against her complexion. The gash at her eyebrow had stopped bleeding, but… she couldn’t hide the fact that she’d been in a fight.
Oh, well. Nothing to be done.
She left the ring and hastened up the stairs. The Wastes had been built in a deep pit. The Dragon Ring resided on the bottom floor, and as she traveled up to the surface, she passed the spectator seating for the fighting ring, the floor full of addicts high on loch, through the haze of heavily perfumed brothels, and to the gambling levels.
Her bright green eyes scanned the smoke-filled room replete with table after table of card and dice games. Patrons desperate to make it rich threw away their last coins on a lark. The Wastes gambling hall was typically packed, but tonight, Kerrigan could barely move through the press of people. With one hand on her winnings, she finally meandered far enough in that she found her target, stopping before a packed card table playing a crowd favorite, Dragons Up.
The dealer was dressed in the typical red Wastes button-up, black vest and trousers. Her black hair framed her face, cut off severely at her chin, accentuating her brown complexion and wide dark-brown eyes. Her hands flew across the table, delivering green and gold cards.
She tapped her fingers twice as she waited for someone to make a move. But the tilt of her cherry red lips said she already knew they’d lost.
“Ah, dragons up,” she said, her smile turning into a frown. “Better luck next time.” She claimed the green and gold cards from the man in front of her. She pointed at the next man.
“Crows and scales.” He held his hand out flat.
The next man did the same, and on down the line, she pulled cards, added them, and laughed at their misfortune.
Because any loss went right back to the house. Right back to Dozan. And right back to Clover.
Clover looked up as she shuffled the cards by muscle memory. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Kerrigan. “You win?”
Kerrigan nodded, unable to hold back a smirk of triumph.
“All right, you heard the lady. One more hand, and then I’m on break.”
The crowd groaned as cards flew from her hands like magic. Which was amazing since Clover didn’t have a lick of magic. She was fully human. Not an ounce of the stuff in her veins. Not that it protected her from Fae hatred, but at least, she didn’t have to worry about accidentally revealing her magic in front of the wrong person like Kerrigan.
Half of the table won this round, and cheers went up all around. A few of those seated tipped Clover big. One man with a pointed wink. Clover just reshuffled the deck and nodded her head at the pit boss before hastening to Kerrigan’s side.
“Red!” Clover crushed her long, toned body against Kerrigan as she pulled her into a hug.
“Clove, are you feeling all right?”
Her brown skin was beginning to lose its pallor, and her big brown eyes were blood shot and red-rimmed.
Clover waved the questions away and fumbled in her pocket for a smoke she’d tinged with loch.
When Kerrigan had first met Clover a year earlier, she had been disgusted with the habit. Loch was an addictive drug on a good day, and she smoked too regularly to not be obsessed with the stuff. But then Clover had accidentally left the cigarettes behind and debilitating pain had wreaked havoc on her body. The disability had made Kerrigan see the smoking in a whole new light.
With the first puff, everything about Clover loosened. “So, how’d it go? You look like shite.”
“Thank you very much,” Kerrigan said sarcastically. She palmed the pouch Dozan had given her.
“Holy scales,” Clover said, snatching the bag out of Kerrigan’s hand. She pushed up the sleeve of her red button-up and weighed the bag in her hand. “Who’d you swipe this from?”
“Dozan came to see me.”
Clover rolled her eyes as she headed toward the bar on the other side of the room. “Of course he did. He has it so bad for you. You should just give in.”
Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “No, thank you. Dozan likes to own things, and I won’t be owned.”
“I’d let him own me,” Clover said. She dropped her smoke in a passing drink. Already, she looked so much better. Her skin more vibrant and her eyes somehow even wider. As if the smoke had breathed life back into her.
“He already does. You work as a dealer in his gambling ring.”
“Well, I meant, my body, Kerrigan.”
“Red,” she muttered. No one here was supposed to know who Kerrigan was. “If you please.”
“Right, Red. Sorry. But back to Dozan…”
“Let’s not.”
“You’re no fun.”
“You tell me constantly.”
Clover rolled her eyes. “Anyway, what are you going to do with your earnings?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “Get you drunk?”
“Get drunk with me,” Clover said, raising her eyebrows.
“You know I have to go back to the mountain. The tournament starts tomorrow.”
Clover sighed heavily and pulled out another smoke. “Fine.”
Kerrigan pulled out a few marks from the purse and dropped them on the bar for Clover. “Meet me tomorrow. I’ll get you a seat to watch.”
“Dragons up,” Clover said with a wink.
Kerrigan left her at the bar with her loch and watered-down ale. She headed up another level and out the back way onto the streets of Kinkadia. She breathed in the clean air from the valley and turned her head skyward to take in the twinkling night stars overhead. A dragon passed across the moon, briefly shadowing it. She missed flying. Gods, she seriously missed flying.
She trudged across the cobblestones through the Dregs of the city of Kinkadia. The old familiar walkways were notoriously the worst part of the city. Primarily humans and half-Fae lived in squalor on the north side of the valley where the city was located, bracketed on three sides by an impressively large mountain range and a winding river running diagonally along the southern border.
She should have headed straight for her home in Draco Mountain, but her heart wasn’t in it tonight. The mountain had been her home the last twelve years, after she’d been left at the base of the mountain with no note or any belongings. And while she remembered enough from her time before the mountain had swallowed her up, she hated nights like tonight where it all came to the surface.
Like her horrid father who had left her behind so that he didn’t have to be responsible for raising a half-Fae.
Her father—Lord Kivrin Argon, the High Fae royal party boy, who had equally destroyed and saved her life.
And she hated him for all of it.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she picked up her pace through her dark, dank streets, accessing her favorite shortcut. A noise sounded behind her and she stopped in her tracks. Something was wrong.
Then, a rock whizzed toward her face. Kerrigan dodged the blow with a gasp. Adrenaline flooded her sore muscles and revitalized her dwindling magic.
Scales, what was going on?
A figure stepped into the center of the alley—Bruiser.
“Hello, Red.”
“You again,” she grumbled. “Didn’t have enough fun the first time?”
Bruiser had cleaned up. He wore a bright white button-up and a fancy black jacket with gold thread. She never would have guessed he could afford that. Not when he was fighting in the Dragon Ring.
But now that her senses were awake, she saw him for the distraction he was. This was an ambush. Three more men slunk out of the shadows.
“You couldn’t beat me in the ring, Bruiser, so you brought friends?” Kerrigan placed her hand over her heart. “I’m flattered.”
“Shut up, leatha,” Bruiser spat.
Kerrigan stilled at that word. She didn’t flinch. She would never let someone see her flinch away from that word again. But anger—deep-rooted fury—settled into her veins and brought forth a fount of magic from the depths of her stores.
“How original,” she said, but her voice had lost its humor.
Leatha was a word from ancient High Fae, a dead language, save for the few hundred books within the mountain. It technically meant half-Fae or, sometimes generously, pixie. But that wasn’t colloquial usage. That wasn’t what Bruiser here had meant when he called her by that disgusting word.
Here, it meant, half-breed whore or bitch.
It was not something said in polite company.
“I can’t suffer a leatha thinking she can best me,” he snarled.
Really, she hadn’t asked for this fight. But the ones that came to her, she rarely expected. Right now, the most enjoyable thing in the world would be to crawl into her bed, across from her roommate Darby, and never think of this moment again.
But no, she couldn’t allow someone to call her that. She didn’t even know how he’d found out that she was half-Fae, but he’d kill her all the same for it. She could see that in his beady eyes. He’d rather she be dead than be beat by one of her kind. She knew the type. The racist assholes who abused people on the streets just because they could… because Fae had all the power.
Today would be different. Bruiser had seen her fight and thought that he was entering a match he could win. He had no idea who he was dealing with.
Kerrigan reached down into the core of her magic, and then… she unleashed.
She took on the grunts first. A wave of air crushed one into the stone wall at his back. She raised her left hand into a claw. The ground sprouted upward out of the stones around the second man’s legs, holding him in place. The third at her back rushed toward her. She snapped her fingers and set him on fire.
She stepped toward Bruiser with passion in her eyes. But he didn’t look frightened. He should have looked frightened.
Then, he thrust his hand out toward her, clutching a rock tightly in his massive fist.
She froze in place. She couldn’t move. Not in the way that she had held Bruiser in the ring with her air magic. This was something else. As if her feet were glued to the cobblestones.
Her head snapped up to meet his eyes. How was he doing this?
She dove deep into her magic, which was already a wavering, stuttering mess. She could feel her well bottoming out. She had only found extra power out of the depths of her emotional pain, but she needed more of it right now.
“You’ll get what you deserve, leatha,” he crooned as he stepped toward her until he was right in front of her.
She glared at him and with the last vestiges of her magic, she broke free of whatever spell he’d cast over her. His eyes bulged in shock and alarm.
“How?” he sputtered.
Kerrigan had only enough energy to push his hand out of the way. The rock he’d been holding onto so tightly dropped and shattered into a million pieces at her feet. And then… he turned and fled.
Kerrigan laughed. She wanted to run after him. She wanted to see him suffer for calling her that filthy name. But she was drained. Her magic sat, an empty vessel in her body. At this rate, she wasn’t sure if she’d make it back to the Wastes. She stumbled a half a block before she collapsed onto the stones.
“Gods,” she muttered.
Her head pounded. Everything hurt.
“No, no, no,” she whispered.
It was happening. She knew why she was so weak. Why it felt like all of her power was draining out of her.
Another vision was coming.
She’d only had two in five years. Both times, she had ended up incapacitated. The visions worked like a siphon. One minute, she had energy, and the next… it claimed the powers for itself. And she had no control. No way to stop them.
She cried out hoarsely, praying to whatever god would listen that someone would find her. That Bruiser wouldn’t come back and claim her weakened body.
Then, her sight disappeared, and in its place a tangle of images flew before her eyes. The arena filled with people cheering for the start of the tournament. Black smoke and darkness. A figure clad in black. She couldn’t make out what the person looked like. Who it was. A girl hovering in the sky. Trapped. Screaming. A large crowd in front of a building. The people chanting and cheering like a mob. A figure stepped forward in a black cloak. Their features obscured by a red mask. Chaos.
“No,” she gasped out as she came back to herself.
Her eyes were glassy, and what she’d seen raced across her mind over and over again.
The first vision had been so clear, and the second had at least made sense. But this? What even was this? And why did it make her want to throw up all over the cobblestones?
Her vision dipped again. Her ears were ringing. She felt like she was going to die here.
A familiar voice sounded through the cacophony in her head, “Here you are.”
“Dozan?”
Dozan leaned over her. “Red, how many fingers am I holding up?”
“Six?” she muttered. “Wait…”
He said nothing more, just easily lifted her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest, ignoring all the reasons this was a bad, bad choice. But her vision was black at the edges. She had mere minutes.
“You shouldn’t walk alone on the streets in the Dregs after humiliating Basem Nix.”
Her eyes wrenched back open, fighting the spiral. “That was Basem Nix?” she croaked in despair. No wonder he’d been wearing that jacket.
Basem had started as a Dregs underling, who had reaped the benefits of new trade from the south to haul himself out of the slums. Now, he was a formidable merchant with terrifying, powerful friends. He was not someone she had ever wanted to meet… let alone get on the bad side.
“Why would I be fighting Basem?”
“It was a test, Red. You passed.”
She groaned, certain her head was going to split in two. Dozan was silent as he carried her through the back halls of the Wastes and deposited her into Clover’s empty pallet.
Kerrigan was unconscious before her head hit the pillow. Otherwise, she would have reminded someone to wake her for the tournament tomorrow.
The Tournament
Someone was shaking her awake.
Kerrigan groaned. “Just one more minute.”
“Kerrigan, are you out of your mind?”
Her eyes flew open to find a tall boy with short blue hair staring down at her. “Hadrian?”
“Yes, it’s me, you dolt. What are you still doing in the Wastes?” he demanded. “You were supposed to be at the arena hours ago.”
She jolted out of bed, her heart racing like she’d just performed a tight roll on a dragon’s back. She rubbed her hands over her eyes as she realized where she was. She was in Clover’s room. Her room in the Wastes. Oh gods!
“The tournament!” she gasped.
“Yes! You didn’t come home last night. We were all worried. I drew the short straw to come here and collect you.”
“Can you keep it down?” Clover grumbled from the pallet next to Kerrigan.
“Clover, get up! It’s the day of the tournament.”
“Scales,” Clover gasped, rolling over with wide eyes. “Are we late?”
“Late?” Hadrian asked with a stilted laugh. “We’ll be lucky if we make the trek back to the mountain before it starts. Now, get up. Let’s go.”
With this new information, both girls moved at lightning speed, throwing on fresh clothes, and scrambling out of the room.
Gods, how had this happened? She wasn’t particularly punctual, but she had never wanted to miss something this important. Then the night before came back to her—the fight, the winnings, Basem Nix.
She winced. She’d fought Basem Nix. Scales. That wasn’t good. She had never seen Basem in person before, but she sure as hell knew his name. And the echo of it still rang in her ears. He was full-blooded Fae, had money, and enough connections to make her shiver. She hoped that she never came across him again.
“This way,” Clover said, grasping Hadrian’s collar and throwing him toward another set of stairs.
Kerrigan followed at a close clip. They burst out a side door that led into the Dregs, all a little breathless from the climb.
“You are going to be in so much trouble,” Hadrian said as they started forward through the crowded streets.
“I know. Don’t remind me,” Kerrigan grumbled.
“You’ve always been reckless, but this is next level,” he said.
“Hey, leave her alone, pretty boy,” Clover cut in.
He shot a seething glare at Clover. “Did you really have to come in that?”
She glanced down at the Wastes uniform she’d donned without thought and then shrugged with a smirk. “You don’t like it.”
“Leave it,” Kerrigan snapped at Hadrian. “I’m tired enough without hearing you two always at each other’s throats.”
Kinkadia was arranged into six main quadrants on the city. The largest section the Dregs lay to the north and west. Central, which was full to the brim with markets, merchants, inns, and taverns, especially with all the tourists in town for the tournament. Row to the east was the nicest, most affluent part of the city with wide lanes, freshly manicured parks, and stately mansions for the Fae aristocracy. Riverfront, a new money section of the city, lay southwest and Artisan Village filled with artists to the southeast.
And the final section was the mountain. Draco Mountain towered high above everything. It housed the Society, a talented company of dragon riders and the formal government of the country, as well as her home—House of Dragons.
“I should stop being surprised that you don’t care about being Dragon Blessed,” Hadrian grumbled.
“I do care,” Kerrigan spat back.
“Dragon Blessed is only the greatest honor of a lifetime.”
“I know the spiel. The House of Dragons is an elite training program for Fae.”
She touched her ears. Fae. Not half-Fae. But no one had argued with her royal father when he’d dropped her off apparently.
“It’s more than that. It’s our duty to help raise the dragons, to better ourselves, to one day get to return to the world and make a difference, Kerrigan. And you’re squandering it all.”
Clover rolled her eyes. “It’s not like she dropped out of the program.”
“She can’t drop out,” Hadrian said as they finally passed the Square at the center of the Central district and turned south bending toward the arena. “That’s not possible.”
“I’m not dropping out anyway. I just miscalculated the time. I know how important the dragon tournament is.”
And she did. It was single-handedly the most important event in all of Alandria. Every five years, the twelve tribes came together and presented competitors to enter the tournament. A contestant was chosen out of each tribe to compete in three tasks. The winner of the event won not only a dragon but a place in the Society, a place in the ruling class. And this year there were five dragons up for grabs. The most in nearly a century. It was going to be a spectacle to behold.
It was Hadrian’s turn to look exasperated. “You’re not acting like it.”
“Yeah well…”
Clover punched Hadrian in the arm. “She had a rough night.”
“This is too important.” He dragged Kerrigan to a stop. She looked into his honey eyes and at his golden-brown skin. Saw the boy who had stood by her side all of these years. “You remember what happened five years ago. A human foreigner entered the tournament. She won a dragon and then left. She dismantled the entire system. This year has to go off without a hitch or we’re going to have riots in the streets… again.”
“I know,” Kerrigan whispered.
She could hear Hadrian’s concern. And she remembered exactly what it had been like five years ago. She had gotten caught in those riots… and nearly died.
“Are we going to go to the arena or what?” Clover asked through pants.
“Yes,” Hadrian and Kerrigan said together.
They finally pushed out of the crowded alleyways and to the entrance of the arena, which loomed in the shadow of the mountain. She panted as she stared up at the giant construction. They were late. They were so late.
Hadrian led the way to the box that was reserved for the House of Dragons. He opened the door, looked around once for Mistress Moran, the keeper and guardian of all Dragon Blessed, and then when he saw no one, ushered them inside.
A figure stood pacing anxiously in the darkness. She jumped when the door opened and her midnight eyes rounded into saucers “Kerrigan!” she gushed, throwing her arms around her roommate.
“Darby,” Kerrigan said with a laugh.
Darby laughed demurely and released her. “Hadrian, here to save the day, as usual. Where was she?”
Hadrian rolled his eyes and then gestured to Clover standing behind her. Clover’s hands were in the pockets of her black slacks. She still wore the red button-up shirt and black vest that denoted she worked for Dozan.
“Hi, Clover,” Darby said, ducking her chin to her chest at the sight of her long-time crush.
“Hey, Darbs,” Clover said with a wink.
“If Mistress Moran sees her in that outfit…” Hadrian said with a sigh, pressing his fingers to his temples. “I should have told you to change.”
“Hey, no sweat off my back, sweetheart,” Clover said, retreating into street slang as she put up a defensive position against Hadrian.
No matter how often they were together, he always raised her hackles.
“I brought an extra set of clothes,” Darby said hastily. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a frock. She shrugged as she glanced at Kerrigan “They were for you.”
“Perfect,” Kerrigan cried and snatched the clothes up to give to Clover.
“I’m not sure I’d say it’s perfect,” Hadrian muttered.
Kerrigan slung an arm around Darby as Clover went to change.
“Did we miss anything?” Kerrigan asked.
“Just a few speeches. We should hurry so we don’t miss the dragon presentations.”
Though Kerrigan had many reasons to distrust this world, Darby and Hadrian certainly weren’t part of that. Together, they were her rock.
Hadrian the straight-laced practical type, who always sighed when she ran straight into danger. And Darby her perfectly coiffed and manicured healer, who never fled from the sight of blood and at the same time somehow, wanted to be a lady in a royal court.
Darby was truly her opposite in every way. Soft and lithe with midnight skin instead of hard and fit and spattered in freckles. Long, straight black hair and depthless black eyes while Kerrigan had her mess of tangled curls, and her eyes were so green, they rivaled the emeralds mined in the north. Darby was soft-spoken, ever polite, and the best in their year for all things dancing, etiquette, and propriety.
“Let me see what I can do with your hair,” Darby said, settling Kerrigan into a seat.
“And my nose,” Kerrigan muttered. “I think it’s broken.”
Darby sighed. “This will hurt.”
“Just do it.”
She reached up, pressing her fingers to Kerrigan’s nose. Then, a crack sounded out again in the quiet. Kerrigan bit her lip to keep from crying out. It hurt just as bad as when she’d broken it.
“I wish I knew how to do more with my healing magic,” Darby lamented.
“You’ve come such a long way. At least my nose won’t be crooked.”
Darby laughed as she set Kerrigan down to try to control her curls. “I suppose that’s a benefit.”
Then, Clover stepped out of the shadows in an oatmeal-colored tunic dress with a black belt wrapped tight around her narrow waist, accentuating her curvy figure. A long, tarnished gold chain was tucked into the front.
Kerrigan felt more than heard Darby’s breath catch at the sight of Clover. She squeezed her friend’s hand.
Darby had confided to Kerrigan that she liked girls years ago. But Kerrigan had never seen Darby have a crush until they started hanging out with Clover a year ago.
“I look like an idiot,” Clover said, breaking the silence. She plucked at the dress.
“You look great,” Kerrigan reassured her.
Just then, a cheer rose up from the stadium. They jumped at the noise and raced to where the rest of the Dragon Blessed were congregated. Hadrian elbowed his way to the front and they all gazed out across the sand-strewn arena.
The arena was a long oval construction with graduated stands that went up and up and up. Besides the House of Dragons box on floor level, there were a series of boxes high above the rest of the stadium crowd where the master of ceremonies and the wealthy aristocracy could watch the proceedings.
“What’s happening?” Darby asked from Kerrigan’s side.
And then they got their answer. A dragon swooped down into the stadium and another roar rushed through the crowd.
“Avirix,” Hadrian whispered.
The House of Dragons, first and foremost, helped raise the young dragons. Every Dragon Blessed knew each dragon by name. Over the years, they had all grown close to certain dragons. The hardest part about leaving the House of Dragons was going to be leaving the dragons.
Kerrigan would recognize Avirix anywhere for his bright seafoam green scales. He was the largest dragon of the five who were part of the tournament this year, but he made up for his scary demeanor by always being in perpetual good spirits.
After Avirix left, a bright red jewel soared into the arena. Netta was a nimble flyer. One of the reasons Kerrigan loved her so. They had long been friends, as they shared the same mischievous nature.
“Oh!” Clover gasped when Tieran burst into the arena next.
He was the most beautiful of them all. His scales were midnight blue and glistened in the light. Though he was one of the smallest dragons, he was completely adept at every maneuver. Unfortunately, he was also a total jerk.
Darby reached her hand out with wide eyes as Luxor shot out into the arena with his sapphire-blue scales and muscular form. Luxor was one of Darby’s favorites despite the fact that he still didn’t understand sarcasm or figures of speech.
But it was Evien that made Kerrigan lean out as she sailed into the arena with her majestic purple scales. Evien, like Kerrigan, loved to fly more than any other. They used to sneak out together and take to the skies. The pain that she wasn’t going to be able to do that much longer hit her fresh.
Now that the dragons had been displayed, it was time for the twelve tribes to present their potential candidates for the tournament. Anyone over the age of eighteen could submit themselves to be in the tournament as long as they were sponsored by a tribe. After all the potentials were presented, each would be tested, but only one person would be the final candidate for the tournament from each tribe.
The representatives of the twelve tribes strode into the arena, guided by the sponsor Society member in long, flowing black robes. Each held a banner in their tribe colors with the coat of arms embroidered in black. When a tribe was announced, a cheer went up in the crowd from the others of their home. But it wasn’t until the four blue-and-silver banners denoting the royal lines of Bryonica strode confidently into the stadium that the entire place seemed to erupt at once.
Kerrigan looked over their faces, wondering if in a different life, she would have known them, would have been one of them. She gritted her teeth and averted her gaze. It hardly mattered now.
“Look at that pomp,” Clover muttered in distaste. “A hundred potentials? Absurd.”
“It makes perfect, logical sense,” Darby said. Her voice was earnest.
“It makes them look desperate,” Clover countered. “Twenty to fifty potential competitors are sufficient to guarantee that you find a champion. A hundred is ridiculous.”
“It’s a show of strength.”
“I’d expect that from a warrior tribe. But Bryonica? They’re healers. It’s beneath them.”
Kerrigan tuned their argument out. Her attention was drawn to what no one else had noticed now that all twelve tribes were assembled. Black smoke was spinning into existence at the center of the arena.
Black smoke. Her insides coiled as a memory floated back to her from her vision the previous night.
“Gods, do you see that?” Kerrigan whispered.
Her friends snapped to attention, taking in what was happening.
Hadrian touched Kerrigan’s shoulder. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
“No,” she lied. She had seen this before, but she had no idea what it meant. Her visions weren’t clear. They didn’t tell her what was going to happen. Only a hazy idea of images. If this were true… what the hell else had it shown her?
“I thought they had extra security this year,” Clover said.
“They do,” Darby confirmed.
Kerrigan frowned. The smoke grew stronger, almost solidifying at the center. Even though she had seen this happen in her dream, it was so much different, watching it happen in reality. How was it even possible? Hundreds of barriers around the arena kept anyone from penetrating the grounds. No one should be able to enter without permission from the Society.
The crowd grew restless, talking over the master of ceremonies as he attempted to calm the arena. Society members on the ground reached for their magic, stepping forward to protect their contestants. Others in black robes appeared on the outskirts. Kerrigan recognized the protections they were reinforcing on the perimeter. And still, that black cloud continued to spiral.
Then, just as soon as it had come, the smoke disappeared, and standing at the center of the entire arena was a man dressed from head to toe in black. He was tall—impossibly tall—with long, lean legs in fitted black pants. He wore a suit jacket at the height of fashion with a black shirt buttoned high, nearly to his collar, just barely exposing his pale, nearly translucent throat. He ran a hand back through his dark-as-night hair and then leisurely surveyed the crowd with eyes that were pure sin.
Kerrigan’s throat bobbed as those eyes cast across her box. Gods, he radiated sinister energy. And yet, he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life.
“What is the meaning of this?” the master of ceremonies managed to recover his voice to ask.
The man tilted his head just slightly and smiled something wicked. “My name is Fordham Ollivier, prince and heir to the House of Shadows. And I have come to enter the dragon tournament and reclaim what was once stolen from us.”
The Punishment
“Gods,” Kerrigan breathed out.
She ground her hands into her eyes. This couldn’t be happening again. It just couldn’t. She didn’t want to see the future. She didn’t want to know that things she had seen in her weird dreams and visions would come true. And she had no idea what would happen now that they had… again.
None of them had ever particularly spelled out rainbows and sunshine. It usually meant some bad luck for her and that a lot of people would die.
“Ker, you okay?” Hadrian asked in that calm, authoritative way of his.
Sometimes, the only person who really understood her was Hadrian. Even though they fought and she drove him crazy with her antics, he was always there when she needed him. No matter what.
She shook her head but slowly peeled her hands away from her eyes. “This is a nightmare.”
“They’ll figure it out,” he said confidently.
They would. Of course. But it spelled disaster.
The last time someone had entered the dragon tournament against the wishes of the Society, thousands of people had died in the protests. If Kerrigan had seen this prince in her vision, she could hazard a guess that he spelled similar disaster.
Clover arched a penciled eyebrow. “Headache?”
She nodded. “Now that the ceremony is over, we should probably get you out of here. Don’t want Moran to find you here.”
“I want to look at the dark prince a little while longer,” Clover said with a wink. She nudged Darby, who dipped her chin in embarrassment. “He’s quite nice to look at.”
Hadrian rolled his eyes. “Is that all you ever think about?”
“Absolutely not,” Clover said. “I admire the women too. Look at the head warrior in Galanthea this year, Darbs. I sure do like when they dress up in their gold-plated armor.”
Darby coughed into her hand and shot Kerrigan a look of panic.
“Clove, come on.”
“Hey, Kerrigan,” a voice sounded behind her. “Is everything all right?”
She sighed softly and turned to find Lyam hovering nearby. Lyam used to be a part of her inner circle with Darby and Hadrian. They’d been close for years. In fact, he was the first person she’d ever flown with. He had an even bigger rebellious streak than she did. He wanted the skies for himself, and he’d do anything to have it.
But everything had changed in the last year. He started tiptoeing around her. He withdrew from all his rebellions. And he constantly worried about her. He followed her out to the Wastes and tried to drag her back to the mountain. The whole thing was embarrassing enough… if he hadn’t confessed his love for her.
“Everything is fine, Lyam,” Kerrigan said.
“You never came back last night. I went looking for you.”
She breathed out through her nose. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“You look like you’ve been fighting again.” He reached up to touch the spot on her eyebrow, but she pulled back, and his hand dropped. His cheeks tinged a soft pink.
Gods, she wished she could go back to when there wasn’t this awkwardness between them. When he’d just been the other daredevil in their quartet.
“Lyam! Kerrigan!” Mistress Moran cried.
Both of them snapped to attention. They’d heard that tone one too many times from the keeper of the House of Dragons.
“Yes, Mistress Moran,” Lyam said.
“Why am I not surprised that it’s you two who are in trouble?”
Lyam glanced her direction, a half-smile on his lips. He shot her the look. She had to stifle a laugh. This was the Lyam that she knew and had grown up with. The one she had always gotten in trouble with. Who she’d weather any storm with.
“You two will follow me to the mountain,” she said in exasperation. She turned to Hadrian, who apparently she hadn’t realized had disappeared this morning to collect her. “Hadrian, darling, would you mind getting everyone else back to duties for the afternoon?”
“Of course,” he said, always the mask of decorum.
He rounded up the rest of the Dragon Blessed. Kerrigan noted Clover slipping out past Mistress Moran. She had a knack for disappearing at just the right moment.
Mistress Moran snapped her heels together and then marched back toward the mountain. She was dressed in the flowing black robes of the Society and had been the head of the House of Dragons schooling for as long as anyone could remember. Her face had lines in it, and her hair actually had wisps of silver. For a Fae, that was almost completely unheard of.
Kerrigan and Lyam had taken much pleasure in finding ways to add to that over the years. As Mistress Moran constantly reminded them.
Kerrigan grinned as they entered the mountain that was her home. She could weave her way through the maze of corridors and climb her way up into all the dragon eaves. So few were accepting of a half-Fae girl here, but it still felt more like home than anywhere else.
Mistress Moran dragged them both into her office. “You were both out of your beds last night. Explain yourself.”
Kerrigan kept her mouth shut. No explanation would be satisfactory for Moran. Fighting in the Dragon Ring in the Wastes? She might as well tell her that she’d completely lost her mind. Moran might believe her more.
“It’s my fault,” Lyam piped up.
Kerrigan raised her eyebrows. Since when did Lyam take the fall?
“Explain, Lyam.”
“I snuck out last night to go to a tournament party,” he said solemnly. “Kerrigan tried to stop me because we had to be here so early. Eventually, she came with me to keep an eye on me. But there was faerie punch.”
Mistress Moran’s lips pinched.
“Our senses were addled, but it’s my fault, not Ker’s.”
What in the gods’ name was he talking about?
“How magnanimous,” Mistress Moran said dryly. “Unbelievable, considering the amount of trouble you and Kerrigan get into. But magnanimous all the same for taking the credit for it.”
Lyam winced at her words.
“Kerrigan?” Moran asked.
She just shook her head. Literally nothing would excuse her.
“Very well. You are both on dragon cleanup duties until the Dragon Blessed ceremony. That’s one week and no fussing,” Moran said crisply.
Lyam and Kerrigan groaned in unison.
“But, Mistress Moran—” Lyam began.
She held her hand up. “I don’t want to hear it.”
A knock sounded at the door behind them, and then a small figure peered inside. She might have been diminutive in stature, but she was all grace and dominance. A leader of the Society and last dragon tournament’s adjudicator. Also, one of Kerrigan’s closest allies within the mountain—Helly.
“Mistress Hellina,” Moran said, jumping to her feet, “how can I help you?”
“Helly will do, dear,” she said with a kind smile. Then, her eyes flickered to Kerrigan. “I need to borrow Kerrigan right away, if you please.”
“Of course,” Moran said deferentially. “Kerrigan, go with Helly, but do remember your duties.”
“Yes, Mistress Moran.”
Kerrigan hastened out of Moran’s office, and she and Helly began to walk purposefully through the mountain.
Helly looked over at her once and shook her head. “Wipe that grin off your face, dear. I know all about your indiscretions. You hid much of it from Moran, but I know that you’ve been sneaking out to that heathen den. I know that you’ve been fighting. I know that you brought one of Dozan Rook’s spies into the House of Dragons box.”
Kerrigan wilted. “Clover isn’t a spy. She’s my friend.”
“I don’t think you know the difference.”
“You treat me like I’m still that twelve-year-old girl.”
“No, I don’t,” Helly said. “The twelve-year-old Kerrigan had respect for authority and herself. She got into trouble, but it was all just a game of fun. Not this… rebellion you have fancied yourself in now. It is not representative of the Society.”
“I’m not part of the Society.”
“You are Dragon Blessed. You represent us. You’ve been here nearly your entire life. I know you already know all of this. I just don’t know what has gotten into you.”
Kerrigan clenched her hands into fists. “You have no idea what I’m going through.”
Helly pulled her aside. Her dark eyes were warm with concern. “Then, tell me. Surely, we have known each other long enough for you to know that you can tell me anything. You have so often in the past.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Helly raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”
“I’m a half-Fae, Helly. Half. You can’t possibly understand how everyone treats me because of who I am. I can’t tell people about my abilities.” She looked at Helly pointedly. She had been the one after all to tell Kerrigan to hide her visions in the first place. “I can’t show who I truly am. And even if I could, no one would accept me for it. My father is full-blooded Fae. He’s a royal in Bryonica—your tribe—and I’m stuck here because he didn’t want me.”
She was breathing heavily from her outburst. Only Helly would allow her to speak to her like this without reprimand. All Kerrigan saw was pity in her eyes, and sometimes, that was worse.
Kerrigan straightened again. “At least, in the Wastes, no one judges me for these.” She touched her short ears. “I can just be me.”
“I can’t understand that,” Helly said gently. “You’re right. But I do know you. Things are hard now because of the racial tensions among our people. They will get better. I know they will. And things will get easier for you after the Dragon Blessed ceremony.”
Kerrigan wasn’t so sure.
In one week, every member of the House of Dragons over the age of sixteen would be a part of the Dragon Blessed ceremony. Each Dragon Blessed would be selected by one of the twelve tribes and leave the mountain behind. For many of the students, it was the only way to advance in the world. Most of the Dragon Blessed had been left at the mountain like Kerrigan and being selected at the ceremony meant a new life—wealth, security, and a place in this world.
