"Wait—WAIT, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Renille screamed as he grabbed her by the waist.
With terrifying ease, the masked man vaulted off his dragon and dumped her straight into a pit.
She flailed, skirts flying. "Hey! That's no way to treat a woman—learn some manners!"
From above, his deep voice rumbled, maddeningly calm. "Don't worry. They won't eat you. They've already eaten..." He tilted his head, as if reconsidering. "...I think."
"You THINK?!"Renille shrieked, stumbling back as glowing eyes began crawling out from the darkness into the light. Sparks hissed on the stone floor, shadows moving, wings rustling.
Her breath caught. If she had known her father's new position would drag her here—to the mercy of the infamous Dragon Lord Warmogerer—she would have chained herself to their village gates.
But fate, as usual, had other plans.
And to understand how she ended up staring down hungry dragonlings with a villain smirking above her, we need to go back.
Back to that bumpy carriage ride.