Chapter 10

The fight was set for dawn the next day.

Our people crowded around the training ground to watch.

I stood on the dais with my father. Emma pressed against me, clutching my skirt in her little hand.

In silver-white armor, Derek gave the three men a cold, mocking look. "One at a time, or all together?"

Lucas scowled and charged first.

Flames from his dragon breath coiled around his sword as he swung at Derek.

Derek dodged and leaped into the air.

Darian hurled lightning at him from the left. Farther back, Silas murmured a prayer. He shaped ice crystals into long arrows and sent them flying.

Derek calmly summoned a heavy shield and met every attack head-on.

Lucas seized the opening. His blade scraped Derek's shoulder armor.

I tensed.

But Derek seemed in no hurry to end the fight. He kept defending himself without striking back.

My anxiety grew. Emma tugged at my hand, tears streaming down her face. "Mommy, they're hurting Daddy!"

She was too young to understand the fight.

All she knew was that three men kept attacking her father, and he wasn't fighting back.

Frowning, I braced a hand against my lower back and walked down from the dais. I worried that fighting after such a long flight would unsettle Derek's dragon breath.

He glanced my way.

Then he shifted into dragon form.

A huge silver-white frost dragon rose into the air with a deep, rumbling roar.

His icy breath nearly froze the entire training ground.

Everyone went still under the sheer force of his power.

Apart from my father on the dais, almost no one could stay standing. The pressure forced them to one knee.

Lucas clutched his chest, trying to push himself up with his sword.

Darian and Silas raised their arms against the icy blast. Frost spread rapidly across their skin.

They couldn't hold out much longer.

The fight was over.

With a hand braced against my lower back, I walked toward Derek.

He shifted back, looking a little pale.

I knew he'd done it to end the fight quickly, but shifting so often had unsettled his dragon breath.

Lucas suddenly thrust his sword at him.

"Stop!" I lunged in front of Derek.

Light burst from my palm and snapped Lucas's sword. The broken blade grazed his cheek.

Darian and Silas rushed forward.

"On your knees!" I roared.

My dragon breath swept over them with overwhelming force. All three crashed to their knees on the ice.

I'd never released so much power before.

"Mommy!" Emma ran over from the sidelines and planted herself in front of us.

She spread her arms and glared at the three of them. "Don't you hurt my mommy and daddy!"

Lucas dropped his broken sword. It rang against the ice.

Darian's expression changed. For a moment, he looked lost.

Silas took two hurried steps toward Emma, then dropped to his knees ten feet away, reaching out with a trembling hand.

I understood.

Emma looked like me.

They were probably remembering the girl they'd grown up with.

Derek leaned against my shoulder and gave a small cough. He beckoned to Emma. "Come here, sweetheart. Daddy's all right."

She ran into his arms and buried her face against his chest.

He picked up our daughter and wrapped his other arm around my waist.

Then he gave me a sly look.

I turned to the three men. "Lucas. Darian. Silas."

Lucas looked up as if waking from a dream, his eyes pleading.

I took a deep breath and spoke firmly. "You say you love me, but you couldn't even believe me! You say you're sorry, but you're just feeling sorry for yourselves. You staked your heartscales because you thought I'd take pity on you? Then let me make this clear. I will never give any of you another chance. Not for the rest of my life!"

Darian recoiled.

Still kneeling, Silas called hoarsely, "Evelyn—"

I raised my hand.

The three scales flew from their palms into mine.

In front of everyone, I gently closed my fingers around them.

The scales shattered into dust.

Lucas coughed up blood and reached for the drifting powder. "Evelyn!" he roared. "You can't do this to me. We've known each other for 20 years!"

"Twenty years," I repeated softly. "And you broke your promise on Kassan's very first day here.

"Don't bother my husband or me again."

Derek smiled.

He seemed to enjoy being protected. He leaned closer and rested his head on my shoulder.

I supported him as we walked away. I never looked back.

Three months later, we returned to the north.

After his heartscale was destroyed, Lucas lost his dragon breath. He was expelled from the dragon knights and would never wield a sword again.

Darian's lightning power turned on him. My father locked him in the lowest level of the dragon crypt, where his own power surged every seven days, tormenting him.

Silas could no longer receive prophecies. After the priests cast him out, he knelt outside the court for three days before the guards finally dragged him away.

My father told me all this in a letter.

I wasn't interested. I wrote back and asked him not to tell me about them again.

After putting our sleeping little girl to bed, Derek came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

He was so warm.

After a long time, he said, "They followed us to the northern checkpoint."

"Mm." I leaned against him and stayed still, my eyes closed.

"Do you want to see them?" He smoothed the hair beside my ear, his breath warm against my skin.

"No." I shook my head and smiled. "My husband gets jealous. If I saw them, he'd probably start another fight."

He laughed and rested his hand on my belly. "Always looking out for me."

I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist again.

Outside, wind and snow howled past the windows.

But inside, everything was warm.

There would be no more false knights in my world. Only someone who truly loved me.