Page 140 of Feralheart

A long time, and I’d never learned his name.

I kept my voice level. “Eradin, Lyndie, and Reece need bedding. Basic provisions. Everything they might need, actually. Tents. Food. Extra supplies.”

Boren shot a look in their direction, but his expression didn’t change. “Your Highness, the standard protocol is⁠—”

“I’m changing the protocol. Will you arrange that?”

He studied me before nodding, a touch of respect shining in his eyes for the first time. “Yes, Sire. I’ll see to it personally. I assume you mean if they…survive until the next rest period.”

“Tonight.”

He blinked. “Very well. Right away.” He bowed and left.

My team—my co-team, that is—ate at a table someone had assembled. They sat in actual chairs, savoring roasted meat seasoned with spices. Vegetables drizzled in butter. Bread still warm from whatever magical heating process kept it ready for consumption.

Eradin was tearing at dried meat with her teeth.

My tent flaps gaped open behind me, revealing luxuries I hadn’t earned. I couldn’t make myself go inside. How could I rest in comfort while she had to sleep on sand?

A servant approached with a plate, holding it out. “Your meal, Your Highness.”

“Leave it,” I said.

The servant set the plate on a low table nearby and retreated.

Eradin walked over to Selira, and the creature draped her wing over Eradin, forming a wall between her and the rest of the world. A necklace had slid out from beneath her tunic. It caught the light, silver-purple that matched the dragon’s scales.

Aristus shifted on his haunches, his attention following mine. Through our new connection, I felt his awareness spike.

Wonder rippled through our bond.

Aristus had never seen a dragon move like Selira did, fluid instead of controlled obedience. He’d never known it was possible. The longing that followed wasn’t just curiosity but also grief for something he’d never had.

Fabric whispered behind me. Vella. I’d heard her approach and chosen not to acknowledge it.

She didn’t argue this time. She stood at my shoulder and followed my gaze across the dark grass to the commons fire, to the bedrolls I’d ordered delivered, and processed it the way her father had taught her.

“I hope it’s worth it,” she said. “Whatever you think you’re finding.”

She left without waiting for a response, and that unsettled me more than shouting would have.

Vella only stopped negotiating when she’d started reporting.

Across the camp, Boren still hadn’t started toward the commons section, though I’d said tonight. This wasn’t defiance but sequence. He’d deliver my order the moment he finished sending an imp about it.

Which meant my mother would soon know about that as well. Good. Let her read it twice.

Eventually, I made myself enter the tent and after closing the flaps, I washed in the basin a servant had provided. Hot water. No bathing in the river for me.

I laid on my bed, staring at the canvas ceiling.

As was the norm lately, sleep wouldn’t come.

I gave up after an hour of lying on bedding too soft, under blankets too warm, listening to sounds I’d trained myself to filter out but couldn’t anymore. After dressing in clean leathers, I stepped outside.

Faelights bobbed overhead in slow spirals, their captive sprites glowing, and I watched them drift, searching for answers they couldn’t provide.

The cavern’s black sand held heat differently than normal ground. Stones scattered across the shore radiated warmth absorbed during whatever passed for day in this place. The air wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t freezing either.