Ratcli

ge stopped at the desolate western suburbs. Stepping out onto the dry,

g his dirty hands together as he stared in disbeli

the lord asked again, terrified I might change my mind. "Not even low-gra

gnet ring into the red wax on the parchm

repeatedly and scrambled into his dilapid

To the rest of Dragonreach Kingdom, this place was an abandoned dragon graveyard. Only I knew from my p

om now, using its forbidden metal to forge invincible weapons and tra

back toward my carriage

undown posthouse a hundred yards ahead, fo

squad of elite soldiers in black dragon-scale armor-the R

dragged out a middle-aged woman dressed in

I had secretly paid fifty gold coins to spread rumors around th

their dungeon before she finished her

black-armored soldiers. "Wait! I am the Lady of

an

ed right in front of my

ing King's law," a guard said col

nded by high-ranking officers, a tall man in a raven-col

ni

s, Ennis frowned slightly and raised two finger

tsy before him. "Commander Lynch, Brenda is a matchmaker working for my hous

ooked down with icy blue

. "Lady Whitaker, do you have any idea what

ivate errand for me," I said, meeting his gaz

lose that the toe of his riding boot brushed the hem of my cloak. His pure-blood Dragon-G

h brushing right against the shell of my ear. "Since when is trafficking

y secrets? In my past life, Brenda had just b

s, Brenda-who had been kneeling limp and terrified

, she lunged straight at me. A curved dagger coated in glowing bl

legs locked up, and I could only w

ting

r that sounded like an anci

Instead, Ennis thrust his bare left forear

ue

at and sank deep into his flesh, scraping against bo

urned like liquid fire-pure gold Drag

bed my collar, and yanked me backward against her chest. Before I could strugg

was no longer the shrill tone of a greedy matchmaker, but

Guards drew their steel longswords