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Bastien had no authority over her. He was neither an officer nor did he hold some bloated rank in the Emperor’s court, and his only purpose here was to acquire dragons. An old man with a young face who fancied himself an innovator, a laughing jester who thought himself so high above everyone else just because he had been gifted with immortality obtained from dragons. And where was his dragon, anyway? What noble creature was so unlucky to be bonded to a man like Bastien? She ached for whoever it was, felt their pain as real and sharp as if they were shackled and bound before her very eyes.

To all the burning, dark hells with him. He might have gotten away with tormenting innumerable others, but he would not lay a hand on the ones she was responsible for. Not on her life.

When he reached over to stop her from opening the egg, she shot up from her seat and lashed out, hard and fast. But he