a Robbi

the grime on the lower ward's single

not

saw his face as it had been e

warning still ringing in my ears. Twins, she had said. And the girl is

re he lifted his eyes from his ledger. When he

wife says it will be dangerous.

ned the page. "I have no time for birthing ro

in her fingers. When a draught came through the casement she had shivered-once, and barely at all. Kraig had been on his feet b

ile. I had not seen it once

ris a cold man. He had sim

hey were hers. When she wanted the verses I wrote at the kitchen table, she wore them on her lips at every feast in the province and curtsied for the applause as though the words had been hers. When I was seven,

risk their precious daughter on a dying lord, they gave me to him instead. A docile, Dragonless se

had taken me the way a ma

bs, the stiff edges digging into my sk

, Nora let out a weak cough, her ti

if sewn together with hot twine, and reached out t

he door gave a measu

of Nurse Elara, nor the care

s, and a tall figure stepped over the t

my arms sweeping across the wooden trou

m, his head tilted slightly downward to a

stine, snow-white wool o

intricate threads of pure gold, catching the faint gray light and ca

adiant crest-a golden dragon soarin

e Stephens fami

ghtly in an open, placating gesture. "I am Eben Stephens.

rried an undercurrent of soothing po

agnant air of the ward, carrying the rich, sharp scen

se stuttering at the overwhelm

ranking

served only the Grea

phens lineage doing down here, in t

ifting in a desperate attempt to look dangerous despite my shaking limbs. "Lord Harr

Royal Healer want with a charity cell? The upper wards sit three hund

did not answ

ged with faint rings of pal

nd, the man's breath cau

low. "It is the law of the Royal College. Someone must look at the faces of the poor, or no one ever would. I read them every m

at worke

did n

bones, the straight line of my nose, the cur

f ancient molten ore, staring back

rely perceptible twitch rippli

ered by the soiled straw on the ston

ne me, his eyes drifted toward

idden beneath my hair, lay a faint, pale bir

l-the terrible, absolute stillness

led as he reached down and unclasped a polished black-wood

look at a Dragonless stray like that. He recognized someth

register so thick with restrained emotion that the hair on my arms stood

La

a dry, bit

gh. The nurses here call me the lord's stray. Call me what yo

ot rise to

ess toward the trough, giving me ample

h-colored warmth-a low-tier therapeutic dragonfire that rad

of his fingers against Nora

her shivering, her tiny hands uncurling, letting out

antly, his little mouth worki

glowing hands, my heart h

hours just for a bowl of warmed bro

is sacred inner fire to comfort

s. The words stru

ars. Nora. Leo. I had named them in the dark with no one to hear me, and I

he withdrew his hands and turned fully toward me. "Very strong. Bu

knuckles turning white a

said softly, lifting a small

als and a single, slender needle crafted from a da

slayer

s death, the ancient bane and absol

screamed at m

touching Dragonslayer Gold u

anded, shrinking back

ghtly at the edges. "I need a single drop of your blood to ensure no childb

eedle to the peaceful faces

this cell, Nora and

nded my right arm, bruised

y," I w

ook my

ers holding my arm as though it

ld needle down, the tip pricki

any iron cut I had ever know

red blood welled up f

with ligh

of thick, ceremonial parchment

kit, he withdrew a small, dull red ingot of Dragonslayer Gold from his p

ouched my blood, the air in

umped into a smelting furnac

furiously, bubbling and spittin

ped away, peeling back like dead leaves in an autumn gale,

brilliant, warm halo across Eben's face, illumi

tting the iron table and sending th

is mouth, a choked, ragged

red, his voice cracking into piece

s, staring at the glowing, golden st

voice trembling. "What is wr

he damp straw, his pristine white robes dr

y touched the edge of my cot, his hands ca

rror. "My brother's wife has your mouth. Your jaw. Your brow. I have hunted for that face in every crowd, in every provin

broke clea

kingdom has ever known. You are ho