4. Tahlia

Marius opened his mouth to say something, but the tavern door swung wide and the three captains walked in. Titus’s bulky form momentarily blocked Maiwenn and Ewan from view. Titus seemed to be finishing a story.

“The dragon took two fingers before the pirate relented and gave up the sack of grain. I told him he was lucky he’d chosen those particular appendages.”

Maiwenn snorted. “True.” She had a willowy build and moon-white hair like Marius. When she crossed the room, almost every male gazed her way.

Ewan smoothed a hand over his bald head as he grinned. The oil lamps suspended from the rough-hewn ceiling beams flashed in his eyes. Their unique purple-blue color was even more striking against his dark skin.

Claudia and Justus appeared out of the growing tavern crowd too. Claudia had skin the color of the sunset and a long tail. When Tahlia was a youngling, she had been envious of the Fae who ended up with tails. Claudia’s whipped around behind her, making her look like a wild forest creature. All right. Tahlia was still envious. Tails were just fantastic.

Justus was a mess as usual. His tunic had a tear at the shoulder and he’d somehow splattered mud all up his tall boots even though they hadn’t had rain in days.

Titus, Claudia, and Justus made up the rest of unit one, along with Tahlia and Marius. Though Marius, of course, didn’t function as a regular member of the unit since he was High Captain. He just usually flew with unit one.

The barkeep hurried over, his face sweating, but his smile genuine. “Greetings, knights! We will arrange the seating as you see fit and I’ll have my best server right over to take your orders.”

Marius thanked the man and the group settled on chairs, stools, and benches near two tables drawn together. Soon, they had meads all around, a plate of olives and cheese, and three large loaves of fresh bread.

Tahlia was grateful that her whole unit had come, even if it had been because of Marius’s request. She wished all the knights were here, but at least they had the unit two and three captains. She had to get Maiwenn on her side.

“I haven’t forgotten about the cliff climb training tomorrow at noon,” Tahlia said, leaning past Titus to speak to Maiwenn.

Maiwenn’s eyes were ice. “Good.”

“How is the training going?” Marius asked Maiwenn.

Turning away from Tahlia, Maiwenn set her jaw. She took a breath. “Very good, despite my misgivings, High Captain.”

“And what misgivings are those?”

Maiwenn picked at a flaw in her mug’s handle. “I’d rather not say at the moment.”

“We can’t clear away problems by ignoring them, Lady Maiwenn.”

Tahlia wiped her sweaty palms on her trousers. “Just tell me. I’m not afraid of constructive criticism.”

“I thought you’d be worthless in the feats of strength and endurance, human.”

Everyone froze, Titus with his mug halfway to his mouth and Marius’s hand hovering over the olives.

Maiwenn’s nostrils flared. “I only speak the truth. She is human. Though she has done well flying and in many of our training scenarios, there is no way she will be as useful as a full Fae when it comes time to fly north.”

“You believe Queen Revna and King Lysanael made a mistake in pushing for her survival?”

“No, of course not. But that doesn’t prove she belongs in the order. Humans are weak. Selfish. They are not dragon riders.”

The silence at the tables rang in Tahlia’s ears. Gods, she hadn’t thought the female’s attitude toward her was that terrible. How wrong she had been…

“I agree with Lady Maiwenn,” Claudia said, looking into her mead. “She can lie.”

Tahlia struggled to take a breath. “That doesn’t mean I will. I can prove to you all that I am worthy.”

Marius flattened his palm on the table, then curled his fingers into a tight fist. “You don’t have to. You already have. Once you are a knight, you are a knight.”

“Unless you defy orders,” Maiwenn said.

Claudia nodded. “Or betray another knight.”

Maiwenn stared her down. “Both things that Lady Tahlia, with her human blood, could do without batting an eye.”

Tahlia stood, pushing away from the table and looking at each of them in turn. “All I have wanted my entire life is to be here, riding dragons. Ask Fara. She has more Mistgold blood than most of you and can’t lie. She can tell you. Why would I ever risk losing my place? Can you believe I would endanger the bond with my dragon?”

“You aren’t completely bonded yet,” Justus said. At least he had the heart to look sorry for bringing it up.

Enora and Atticus arrived during the tense silence.

Enora’s freckles stood out on her fair skin. She glanced from Marius to Maiwenn, who was her unit captain. Atticus bent his head in greeting, his silver horns reflecting the light of the oil lamps.

“What did we miss?” he said, crossing his silver arms.

Breathing out slowly and giving Enora and Atticus a nod to say hello, Tahlia reclaimed her seat. “Listen, if you still feel this way at the end of the season. Any of you. If you want me to leave then, I will.”

Enora grimaced, her pale red eyebrows bunching. She squeezed in near Ewan on the bench, and Atticus leaned on the half wall beside her.

“No, you won’t,” Marius said. “You are a knight now. You cannot simply leave. We must work out our differences and grow trust as we fly together.”

“Knights have been dismissed though, right, High Captain?” Justus said.

Titus leaned back in his chair, his sharp-edged jaw working like he was gritting his teeth. “It would be dishonorable.”

“For her.” Maiwenn drank the last of her mead.

“For us,” Titus corrected. “Dismissal is a dark spot on the order’s history. We choose. We train. We hold fast.”

Maiwenn stood up and glanced at Claudia. “We are admitting humans now. Our order is changed. We have altered the rules. The moment our king lowered himself to marry one of them,” she said, giving Tahlia a flat look, “the whole realm has gone to shite.”

She strode away, Claudia joining her.

Sweat trickled down Tahlia’s back. She’d thought the other riders, except Maiwenn, were coming around, but obviously Claudia and Justus were less than thrilled at her presence. She was pretty sure Titus was on her side and maybe Ewan. But what about Atticus and Enora? What about the riders who hadn’t even shown up tonight? Marius had led her to believe it had only been a secret order to unit one, so the others weren’t in defiance of the High Captain or anything, but they weren’t here and their absence spoke volumes.

Titus whistled through his teeth quietly. “Well, that was dramatic.”

“Treason usually is,” Ewan said. “Will you report her, High Captain?”

Enora hummed. “That wasn’t really treason.”

“It was close enough,” Atticus said. Then he exchanged a whisper with Enora and they both glanced at Tahlia.

Marius’s eyes flashed with restrained rage. “I’m not reporting anyone.”

Tahlia felt a tiny bit bad about how much she loved how angry he was on her behalf.

“We need time to heal this order,” he added. He took a pull from his mug, then set it back down and eyed her over the rim. “We will be stronger for it when we are through this challenge.”

Ewan nodded as Enora, Justus, and Atticus murmured words of agreement.

Tahlia had to improve the mood. She hated conflict like this. “If that’s done for this evening, can we play some dice?”

Ewan clapped his hands once and laughed loudly. “Aye. Now, this is what I came here for.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Justus’s mouth, but his eyes were cold.

Marius gave Tahlia a measured look. He had more to say on the topic if she had to guess, but he seemed all right with letting it go for now.

Taking the dice from one of the small bags tied to her belt, Tahlia looked over her shoulder to make certain Fara, who had a serious weakness for gambling, hadn’t slipped in. “Let’s start the pot at two gladecoins.”

“Can we play the night version of Fly or Die?” Atticus asked, grabbing another stool to sit on.

“Sure. Threes are wild?” Tahlia wasn’t certain how they played the basic dice game up here on the mountain.

Atticus went over the rules, politely addressing everyone, even though all knew it was only for Tahlia. She felt more of an outsider than ever. She knew so little about the culture here. Maybe she needed to talk to Fara about it. She knew more.

The game went on, everyone taking a turn, losing and betting as they went. The tray of food was polished off. The barkeep brought out bowls of stew and a bottle of crystal wine.

“Ewan, you must have some sort of blessing from the Old Ones.” He’d been rolling pretty much perfect numbers. She leaned toward Marius. “You should bet big against him on this round. He’s due for a fall, surely.”

Marius glanced at her, amusement brightening his eyes. “I don’t do reckless.”

That voice. The low sound of it in that whispering tone turned her stomach into a thunder of tiny dragons flitting from side to side.

“Not even in a game?” she asked.

“Never.”

She drummed her fingers on the table. “What if recklessness was the only way to win?”

“I do sometimes act in a way that is not likely to succeed,” Marius said. “It’s oftentimes required in battle. But I always consider every angle first, therefore avoiding reckless action.”

The way she wanted to see him lose control… She licked her lips, blinked, and took another drink of mead.

“Now Ewan,” Marius said, “he is more like you, Tahlia.”

“I am?” Ewan tossed the dice and watched them land, eyes like a hawk. A one and a five. “Damn.” He pushed a gladecoin into the pot at the center of the table.

“You delight in taking risks and perhaps enjoy games a fraction more than the usual knight. Would you agree?” Marius asked Ewan.

Ewan shrugged and grinned at Tahlia. “I guess so.”

“Definitely,” Titus said.

Marius nodded and slid the dice toward himself. He gathered them and threw his roll. Two sevens and a three.

A cheer went up and Marius collected the coins. “Patient application of probability and reason always win in the end.”

“That line isn’t as rousingly inspiring as you might think,” Tahlia teased.

Marius narrowed his eyes in her direction, but his lips twitched like he wanted to laugh like everyone else was. Well, except Justus, who had gone quiet after Maiwenn and Claudia’s departure.

The evening was fun. Marius relaxed and their conversation wove its way through favorite pastimes as younglings to first loves. The riders shared stories of victories and of their first flights.

“Ragewing tried to kill me the first time I rode him.”

Tahlia laughed along with the others as she rolled the dice. Ugh. Another set of singles. “Really?”

“He was rather dedicated to my death, yes,” Marius said.

“But why would he choose you and then want to be rid of you?”

“Maybe it was a matter of instinct versus desire. His dragon soul called to my soul, as it does in a strong bond. But he desired to remain independent. He was torn.”

They played three more rounds, gobbled down a plate of spiced nuts, then everyone broke off and headed to their chambers for sleep.

Marius led Tahlia along the dark streets and through the firelit corridors of the keep.

“I lost some money I didn’t know I had tonight,” Tahlia said, laughing.

“I might have pushed a silver your way a time or two.”

“How naughty of you, High Captain.”

He took her hand as they climbed the staircase to his floor. “Would you like to stay the night with me?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

His hand ran up and down her back and her breath lodged between one rib and the next. She swallowed, her body warming.

“Once we get there, you should take charge,” he said, his voice silky and achingly alluring in the darkness.

“We will take turns.”

They rounded the corner, and he kissed her temple quickly. “Already comfortable ordering me about, I see.”

He dismissed his guards and unlocked the chamber door. The scent of Marius along with the perfume of lemons—possibly from cleaning—drew her inside.

“Will you make me a drink?” she asked, giddy with nerves, her body humming with desire.

“Of course, little salty.”