Yesmin clasped together her hands, which were black as night, and cleared her throat. Her voice had a slight tremor in it. “It is ultimately the dragon’s decision. They must find you worthy.”
Kerrigan trembled as the shock of the moment coursed through her. All these memories that she had suppressed because she could never speak of them. This was the real reason that they never wanted someone from the House of Dragons to compete. Dragon Blessed knew too much. They waited in the sidelines to help with the tournament. They worked with the dragons day in and day out for years. And most of all, they knew about the final task for the competition. Dragon Blessed would have an unfair advantage, getting to this point. But it didn’t mean a dragon would choose her. She hadn’t proven her worth in the competition. She had just landed here by accident. Maybe it would all be for naught now.
“We will begin with Tieran,” said Tara.
The dragon stepped forward. His midnight-blue scales twinkled in the lantern light inside the cave. He was the smallest of the lot but also the most beautiful. And like any male who had that much beauty, he knew it. She had watched him primp and preen, and the females went crazy for him. But she had never gotten along with him. Not that he was anything like March—he was a dragon after all, and they had keen intelligence and were regal figures—but his attitude always rebuffed against her.
Tieran surveyed the five competitors. His golden eye narrowed when it got to Kerrigan and then whipped back to the other four. And he did nothing.
Kerrigan shifted uncomfortably. The last time, each of the three dragons had known immediately which competitor they wanted to bond with. It normally took a few seconds to come to that conclusion. But Tieran looked torn as he judged each of the five people before him.
“Tieran?” Tara prodded after several agonizing minutes.
I am Tieran of Essex and Thiery. Born of the Holy Mountain. Proud and tenacious with a heart that sings for the skies.
Kerrigan swayed at the sound of his musical voice in her ears. But he stopped again right before he made his choice. She furrowed her brow in confusion.
My choice is one of honor. For I value it above all else. And thus, this choice is difficult because honor and power sing different songs.
Kerrigan and Tara caught each other’s eyes. Tara shrugged her shoulders in confusion. At least Kerrigan wasn’t the only one.
But the music thrums louder than sense. Thus, I must make my decision against my own judgment. If you will accept, I will be dragon bound to… Kerrigan of the House of Dragons.
“What?” she gasped, frozen in place.
Tieran’s words swam all around her. Was he saying that he didn’t want to accept her but that something about her was louder than his own sense? Well, that sounded like a ringing endorsement.
I choose you, Kerrigan, if you will accept me.
She wanted to ask, Why? Why her? When he didn’t even like her. She had hardly expected to be in this position, but if she had thought any dragon would pick her, any at all, the very last one on that list would have been Tieran.
Her mouth hung open as everyone awaited her answer.
“Kerrigan, your answer?” Tara whispered.
This was all she had wanted all her life. She’d wanted to fly. And if this meant that she could join the Society and fly the rest of her life, then she and Tieran could figure out their differences.
“I accept,” she gasped.
“Follow me,” Tara said. “From here, your magic will be bound.”
Kerrigan stepped forward on heavy feet, away from the rest of the competitors, and up to Tieran’s side. Tara walked them to a small pool. A table was set up next to it with five goblets and a book. Tara picked up the book and began to read the binding spell in ancient Fae. Kerrigan wasn’t fluent in the old language despite her tutors’ attempts to get her to understand it, but she could still feel the magic winding around her and Tieran, drawing them together.
One of the goblets was offered to Kerrigan. “Drink from this. You will pass into the spiritual realm, where you and Tieran will meet. When the binding is complete, you will be dragon and rider.” Tara touched Kerrigan’s hand with a wide, genuine smile. “I’m so happy for you. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” Kerrigan whispered, staring down into the goblet. It just looked like water, as it did in the pool, but she knew it was part of the spell. She looked to Tieran. “Ready?”
As I’ll ever be.
Kerrigan frowned and then downed the drink at the same time Tieran lapped from the pool. For the second time today, her vision went fuzzy, and then she blacked out.
For the last five years, Kerrigan had thought constantly about what it would be like to go through the dragon-binding ceremony. Having witnessed it firsthand, she had seen each of the competitors drink from the goblet and then enter a state of sleep, coming to with excitement as the bond set in. She’d imagined every scenario for how the binding was actually accomplished.
But she hadn’t envisioned this.
Kerrigan stood on a bridge. It was small and wooden, overtop a bubbling creek that ran through the lawn of an estate. A white marble gazebo stood tall and proud with large columns and a statue of a woman at the center in a scandalously revealing gown. The gardens were massive, even compared to those in Bryonican territory, where the land was fertile and lush. This was a monument to meticulously maintained flora and fauna. And the mansion that sat at the top of the hill, all white stone and iron balustrades and glass windows, was the largest single building home she had ever seen in her life.
“Tieran,” she whispered.
She craned her neck. Tieran was supposed to be here, right? That was part of the binding. Or at least, she had thought it was. That they would have to go on some adventure together. Maybe she had just assumed what she wanted to happen… not reality.
Kerrigan uneasily stepped off the bridge and onto the thick dark-green grass. Her eyes shifted to the horizon. She startled, nearly falling over at the sight. There were mountains in the distance. She had grown up in a mountain and had a pretty good idea what the Vert Mountains looked like. Sure, there were other mountain ranges in Alandria, up north in Tosin territory. But she knew without a doubt that she had never seen these mountains in her life. There was nothing like this on Alandria.
She shivered in fear. Where was she? And why was she here?
Voices rang out from farther away. Anxiety shot through her, but she was here for a reason. She couldn’t just stand here in front of a bridge all day.
She swallowed hard and then walked past the gazebo and down a carefully laid stone path.
A man raged from the front of the house. “How dare you think to rise against your betters!”
The man stood in the doorframe. He was enormous, six and a half feet tall, with a cruel, sneering face and golden-tan skin. He wore a strange garment draped across one shoulder and belted at the waist. A circlet of laurels fit onto his golden hair. He was monstrously beautiful.
Screams could be heard from inside the house.
“Stop, Vulsan! You can’t do this!”
“Restrain her!” he cried back as he stepped out onto the back patio. His massive hand was fisted into the dark hair of another man. He flung the man forward at his feet, as if he were a rag doll. “We will teach you manners.”
The man coughed blood onto the white stone floor, injuries from a previous beating visible on his pale skin.