The seat of power for the Dragon Queen of the Southlands, Devenallt Mountain was the one place Braith loathed going. As a royal, there were certain times of the year she was expected to come and spend time among other royals, but she hated it. She had nothing in common with . . . well . . . anyone. She had nothing to say. At least nothing that would interest anyone. So she mostly just stood around, holding a chalice of wine she never drank, and waited until she could sneak out without being noticed.Unfortunately, she wasn’t here for a specific royal event but because she’d been sent for by her father. Something that frightened her more than she’d ever admit out loud. She wasn’t close to her father. Never had been. Her father had always made it clear that, to him, she was nothing more than “your mother’s daughter,” which was fine with Braith. She didn’t need her father and didn’t want to be around him, and he had always seemed to feel the same. So why he was summoning her to Devenallt

“I didn’t know I was,” Addolgar replied.“Well, you were.”The brothers were silent for nearly a minute until Addolgar noted, “You’re awfully tense.”“Shut up.”“Braith, I don’t think you’ve met Lady Katarina. Lord Berg’s daughter.”Braith nodded at the fellow royal.“Now,” the Queen went on, “I thought you would be perfect to travel with Lady Katarina on her way back to the Western Mountains.”Braith and Katarina locked gazes, and Braith knew in that moment that she was not alone in not wanting to go on this trip.... Katarina didn’t want her to go either. Braith had no idea why Katarina felt that, nor did she care to know since, in the end, they both had the same desire.The problem was Addiena. How to handle her?“Your Majesty,” Braith tried, “I truly appreciate this honor, but I’m not sure I’m the best one for such a role.”“And I’m sure you are. Your father suggested you himself.”Braith tried not to frown, but it was hard. “My father suggested me for this? Really? My father.”The

Addolgar’s head tipped to the side. “But your father’s loyal to the Queen, is he not?”“My father is loyal to my father. I have always made sure never to forget that.”From the camp they could hear Lady Katarina calling out to Addolgar. Something about tea. Braith hated tea.“We’ll be eating soon,” Addolgar said.“I’ll be there in a bit,” Braith replied, turning her body back around to face the lake.Addolgar stood and began to head back to camp. But he stopped just before stepping into the trees.“Want me to save you some ox?” he asked kindly. Why did he have to be so bloody nice? Braith didn’t even bother to turn around. “No, thank you.”She heard him walk off, which wasn’t really hard since he stomped like a moose. Once she knew she was alone, she let out a long sigh.Briefly, she entertained the thought of breaking her oath to the Queen and just flying off. It would be easy enough; no one really cared that she was here. No one cared about her at all. But she knew she couldn’t do

Rhys, who had been poisoned by more than one female over the years before he’d met and mated with the perfect She-dragon for him, mixed up something to calm Addolgar’s stomach and get him back on his feet.Addolgar was grateful. The poison Katarina had fed him might not have killed him, but it had made him feel like ox shit. Now, however, he was standing over a still-unconscious Braith and explaining to his sister and brother exactly what had happened.And what was at stake.When he was done, Ghleanna looked him right in the eyes and said, “She’d be better off if you kill her now.”“I am not killing her, Ghleanna.”“So you’ll let Addiena do it? Because we both know the Queen will. We both know she’ll enjoy doing it. She’ll take her time with that one, make sure she gets lots of screams.”“Stop. I don’t want to hear this. I’m going to help Braith. It’s up to you whether you help me.”“So what do you want to do?” Rhys asked. “Hide her in your cave?”“I think I should take her home.”Rhy

Braith opened her eyes and screamed at what hovered above her, “Gods! Death comes for me!”The horrifying face of death curled its lip at her and growled, “Well, that’s charmin’.” Death sat back in its chair, hands resting on its knees. “This face is not me fault, ya know?” Death looked off, thought a moment. Its finger traced one of the deep gouges across its jaw. “This one actually is kind of me fault.” She pointed at the other side of her face, where part of her chin was missing. “And this one. A bit of barney at the pub.”Braith studied the beast sitting next to her bed. There were so many scars on that face and neck. Gouges. One eye was crystal blue, but the other was a milky white and grey. But that was the eye she felt saw beyond scale and flesh to soul . . . so that it could steal it right from the body.“What are you?”That milky white and grey eye quickly locked on Braith, the blue one slowly coming along for the ride, sizing her up. “Don’t you mean who am I?”“No.”Those di