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Called by the Dragon 31
He was so much taller now than when she had last seen him. Anzi’s stomach lurched for the hundredth time since she had come to the Tower, but this one was the final one, the real one. She was here, looking Oza in the eye and coming face to face with the boy she had left to fend for himself in a world she had known would be too cruel to him. And yet he looked healthy, or as healthy as he could ever be with his frailty. Still as skinny as she remembered, though. He positively swam in his robe. “You’re not wearing initiate’s garb anymore,” she said, partly because she was proud of him but mostly because she didn’t know what else to say. “Congratulations.” He raised one shoulder and made a twitching gesture with his opposite hand, but made not a sound. He blinked, long lashes somehow making his eyes look even darker than they were. Did she look like that, she wondered. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d looked at herself, and fringers didn’t often pause to examine each other’s ap
Called by the Dragon 32
“I’m not wearing that.” Anzi pointed at the door with a commanding finger. “The thought’s appreciated. But no, thank you.” “You don’t mean that.” “Yes, I do.” “I’m talking about you saying you appreciate it. You don’t.” Letti planted her hands on her hips, eyebrows furrowed hard like two swords on the verge of a violent clash. “Why don’t you like it!” “Because.” “Give me a reason. A real one!” “The list is so long you could make new dresses and wraps out of it for every girl in the harem. Take it as it is. I’m not wearing something that clumsy to the gala.” Letti looked like she was going to explode. Her fabulous blonde ringlets bounced along her bared shoulders as if they had a life—and anger—of their own. “But I saw it! That man, the one with the wonderful back and beautiful chest, him—he said, he said he was looking forward to escorting you there!” She hated how fate had arranged things. The woman had apparently been hiding around the corner when Kai had walked her to her ro
Called by the Dragon 33
Anzi couldn’t believe the one time she wanted to see Bastien, she couldn’t. Did he know? Did he know about the possibility of surviving wild dragons yet? It would send him into a raving-mad, delirious fit of ecstasy, but she had to ask him how it could even be possible. He had been there during the Purge, hadn’t he? Despite his looks and his immature, irritating personality, he was an old, old man who could shed more light on the subject than nearly anyone else in the entire Empire. And yet tonight she couldn’t go to see him. No egg-searching, not when she had to accompany Kai all night and entertain him. Entertain. Had the Emperor meant it? Had Kai really told him he intended to couple with her tonight? Maybe he had changed his mind after everything that happened during their afternoon together; he hadn’t told her a thing about it. But wait, he had dragged her to his room and put her in his bed this morning, had even slept beside—around her—for hours. Maybe that was supposed to be th
Called by the Dragon 34
They were in the throne room, and evidently, his Excellency was in grand spirits. The faint laughter filtering faintly through the doors made her pause. Had she ever heard the man laugh like that? It startled her to think that Kai—because he was in there too, as confirmed by the Emperor’s personal guards before her—would be the reason for such joy. Ah. Because of dragons. Of course. Kai was perhaps the only person in all the Empire who could make His Excellency so joyous now. Ironic, considering that Kai blamed the Emperor for the massacre of the dragons in the Purge. How surreal to think that Kai would now offer to bring back those dragons as a gift for the man he had scorned before. Then again, it was hard to defy the will of the most powerful monarch in the land. “I need to go in,” she said. “They’re waiting for me.” The guard looked her up and down with a skeptical eye. “You?” She ref
Called by the Dragon 35
She wasn’t mistaken. This was Noemi, the woman who had slapped Violetta that day in the market district. Her black hair was done up in elegant style with delicate silver links decorating her tresses, but there was no mistaking the poison-green eyes and the beauty mark by her mouth, nor the sour, sharp expression creeping into her gaze. Evening darkness had fallen, but the torch light was plenty enough to see by. Anzi knew. This was her. And for some reason, she had the emerald brooch in her hair that Violetta had bought for her and held onto. Anzi could believe that young harem girls were forced to lend pretty baubles over to their senior sisters on demand, but something was wrong. Not only was Letti nowhere to be seen, but she had disappeared from the harem quarters altogether. After another fight—or more abuse, rather—had she run off somewhere so no one could find her? If Noemi had slapped her again and left another mark, Letti would hardly show herse
Called by the Dragon 36
“Anzi?” She looked up. “Yes.” “I’d like to sit with you.” “It’s not comfortable.” “I’m not looking to be comfortable.” She scooted to the side and made space for Kai on the stone steps that led out to the rear of the palace grounds. This area wouldn’t open up to the milling citizens just yet, not until the gala was truly underway and all the wealthy elite decided they wanted to admire the beautiful scenery here. But she had bullied her way past the guards with a cold look, and surprisingly, they had let her go on through. She wondered if they knew who she was somehow. Kai settled down next to her, but she said nothing to him as the silence stretched on. It was dark now, so she could pretend she didn’t see him staring at the side of her face as if she had the map of the world on it. She didn’t want to talk. He should know that just by looking at her. And he did, it seemed. He remained quiet too, until finally she began to wonder if perhaps she did want him to speak after all. It
Called by the Dragon 37
When it happened, there was no warning. “You’re leaving?” Anzi demanded. “Now? But you never said—” Kai’s hand rose to cradle the side of her face, and for once, she didn’t shoot him a glare or make a single complaint to keep up appearances. She was too stunned to remember to, as he stood there with a small entourage of similarly dressed men standing behind him, all of them waiting in silence. No, two of them were women, now that she looked more closely into the darkness, all various shades of bronzed skin with their heads and shoulders wrapped in the style of the desert nomads. Bodyguards? They had weapons at their hips and slung on their backs. She had never seen them before tonight. Where had they been all this time? When her narrowed eyes continued to dart around at his companions’ silhouettes over his shoulder, he turned her face back to him with a gentle nudge. He only stared at her, nothing else, and for a mo
Called by the Dragon 38
“Go in and look. I’ve got everything prepared for you.” Anzi hesitated outside the chamber. This one was different from the ones she had seen before, but then again, she had only been to the main hall, the egg chamber, and the small sleeping quarters so far. With how cavernous and extensive this underground system had to be, she knew there was much she was missing. This would be one of those things. “Something wrong, girl? You nervous?” How could she not be? There was a dragon egg hatching in there—two—and she wasn’t ready. Not with all her doubts. She couldn’t do this knowing she would have to train her dragon into absolute submission as Bastien had made so clear. A dragon, noble, thinking, feeling, reduced to a pet. She couldn’t do this. Not that he knew what she was thinking. He was no doubt chalking her hesitance up to nerves. She hated that he would think so lowly of her, that he would use th
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