36

“Boys!” she called. “Listen, I’ve been watching some of your training sessions down at the barracks, and I’ve got to pick your brains about some of the sword styles I’ve been seeing…” She dropped into the seat by the generals and turned toward them, unperturbed by their sour expressions.

Elias guided me to the seat Kodan had vacated, while he took the one next to it, positioning himself between King Draunar and me. This made Draunar stare at him with thunderous rage, which Elias met with a demure smile.

I sat down. A servant immediately swept in and poured me a glass of wine, which I accepted gratefully, taking a sip to ease my frustration and my immediate irritation at the level of noise.

Here I was again, a pawn in the two kings’ game, relegated to the sidelines as they postured and butted heads.

“That’s nice,” Adora murmured, “him making sure you don’t have to sit right next to him.”

“I could’ve handled it,” I murmured back. “Your ears are so red, is everything okay?”

Adora squeaked and reached up to touch her ear like she could will the flush away, but that only made her cheeks change color as well. “What?”

“Is it the outfits?” I asked, glancing out toward the crowd where the dragons were dancing—or, more accurately, writhing—to the music. “It’s a lot different than Frasia, that’s for sure.”

“No, it’s not—I’m not a prude, Reyna,” she huffed. “It’s nothing.” She swallowed and looked up. From the other side of the table, Kodan caught her eye, and she grinned. Adora bit her lower lip and turned her attention to her wine again.

Before I could start to ask any nosy questions, the music increased in volume as servants streamed from the side doors into the throne room. They were dressed in plain dark outfits, carrying trays and trays of food: steaks, ribs, stews, flatbreads, lush greens, bright roasted root vegetables, fruits and more carafes of rich wine.

King Draunar took his seat at the center of the table and gestured dramatically to the food as the servants set the plates down. “Please,” he said with a grin, “eat, eat!”

He started first. We didn’t get plates of our own—apparently the custom for a feast like this was to eat directly from the shared plates, knocking hands and spilling onto the table. Fina dove right in, delighted, and Kodan kept her pace with the generals. Elias sat back, waiting, and I stuck mostly to the fruit.

King Draunar set his gold canines into a seared, bleeding steak, ripping the tender meat with ease. His green eyes burned into me the whole time. I took a sip of my wine and looked out into the crowd instead, ignoring the shivery feeling that crawled up my spine under his gaze. The servants carried platters of food into the dancing crowd, and guests snatched meat and bread from them, eating as they danced and drank. There was something hypnotic about it, about the ease with which they moved and ate and laughed. There was something almost animalistic too. I half-expected them to shift on the dance floor.

We ate in relative peace—or as peaceful as the space could be, with the wild dancing and the loud music and meat spilling off the platters and onto the tables.

Then, the air crackled with power. King Draunar stood from the table and shifted—his dragon burst forth like a wave, wings extended and green scales dotted with gold gleaming in the dim light. He parted his immense jaws, golden teeth shining, and released a low, guttural roar. The sound vibrated through the air and into my bones like an earthquake. It carried easily over the music and brought the dancing to a sudden stop.

The guests turned their attention to the king, then began to stomp their feet in anticipation of whatever he was going to say. The music ceased but the stomping continued, intense enough that it rattled the dishes on the table. I snatched my wine glass from the table before it could spill as my eyes widened at the display.

Then the king shifted back into his human form with just as much ease, still dripping in gold fabric and jewelry. The roar earlier seemed to linger in the air like smoke. He spread his arms wide and the stomping ceased.

“Dragons of Shianga,” King Draunar boomed. “We are here this evening with this fine meal and fine music to wish our new friends, the King and Queen of Frasia, a good future and a safe journey, and to celebrate a new bond between the two nations.”

His green eyes fell to me again. This time, I held his gaze steadily.

As far as I knew there was no new bond, and from Elias’ stiff posture, he was thinking the same. The treaty hadn’t been signed. There had been no resolution to Draunar’s demands. This was just a simple way to placate the crowd—and a way to push Elias into agreeing.

“Now, my friends,” Draunar said grandly, “please enjoy the wine!”

Then he swept into a dramatic bow, smiled at us, and left out the side door of the throne room.

“What’s that about?” I asked Elias. On the dance floor, the party got somehow even more energetic, as if the chaperone had just left the event. “Where’d he go?”

“I’m not sure,” Elias murmured back. “I don’t have a good feeling about it, though.”

I didn’t either. I sat back in my chair, wine in hand, and racked my brain for why King Draunar would just leave the room after such a big speech. A dragon stepped onto the dais, briefly grabbing my attention, but he simply asked Fina for a dance. She grinned and nearly leaped to her feet in her eagerness to join him on the dance floor. Then another dragon came to invite Adora; she glanced at me for confirmation and all I could do was nod. She looked a lot more hesitant as she stepped of the dais.

Elias threw a look at Kodan, who tore her gaze away from Adora to nod, then stepped off the dais to prowl the dance floor and keep an eye on the girls.