Falling for the Ashfather

Chapter 3

I sat in the carriage bringing us to the Ashwalk ceremony. Over the last week, my mother had kept me busy, so I hadn’t been able to see Konrad at training. In fact, I hadn’t trained the entire time, making me feel restless and uncomfortable.

Added to that was the look mother kept sending my way, looking over my dress as if she couldn’t believe it was the same one she had relegated to me. To be fair, it didn’t look the same. Not that I had the skill to pull it off. I had begged and pleaded with the local seamstress to fix it for me. And it had taken the promise of training her brother, whenever I was home to get her to do it when everyone in the village was asking the same thing.

Granted, the dress was still the same, unfortunate, yellow colour. It didn’t make my white hair stand out the way the red dress did, and it tended to make my skin look sallow, but the cut was perfect, and it fit me to perfection. It was the best I had hoped for on such short notice. I chose not to look at my dress on Kami. It would only make me angry, and I didn’t want to be angry on the day of our Ashwalk.

I rode in silence, letting Kami fill the carriage with her restless chatter. Once we were there, I was the first to climb out, and I instantly started looking around for Konrad. I missed him. And this might be the last chance I had to see him for a while, if one of us got chosen for the Drakesworn and one of us didn’t.

“We’re late,” my mother said as she stepped out of the carriage. “I’m sure he’s already waiting for his turn for the Ashwalk.”

I stiffened and turned to look at her. “You said this was the time we were told to be here.”

“Hmmm, did I?” I watched her look me over, as if waiting for my reaction. She had never treated me like this before. An afterthought, yes, but deliberately cruel? What had I done to her to make her do this?

“Late!” Kami cried as she tumbled from the carriage. “We need to get inside! We have to take our places! Mother, what if you caused us to miss our turn!” Her voice was a pitch that made me wince, and mother sighed.

“Calm down, Kami. I haven’t made you miss anything. Let’s go in. I can’t wait to see what your dragon form is.”

They walked in front of me, mother not even looking back in my direction, and I hugged out an annoyed breath as I followed after them. She had planned it too well. There was nothing I could do if the ceremony had already started. No way I could pull him aside and wish him luck. No way I could promise to find a way to see him, even if we didn’t end up together.

My arms crossed over my middle as mother kissed Kami good luck and the two of us moved to the back of the amphitheater to take our places. Someone was already announcing the boys to the crowd. There would be five in our village going through the Ashwalk, and the first was already up.

I leaned back against the wall when we joined the girls. Konrad would be the last of the boys to be called, so I had time to work through the anger that had settled in my chest.

My eyes had barely closed, though, when Kami let out a loud gasp, and my eyes flew open. I was halfway to her, when she said, “The prince is here!”

The prince? I blew out a breath and shook my head. “Someone from the royal family always comes to the Ashwalk. They are required to be here,” I told her.

Kami shot me an angry glance. “I know that!” She spat out. “But we didn’t know it was going to be him.”

The prince, only son of the Ashfather and heir to his throne, was too good-looking for his own good. I’d only seen him from afar, but his dark hair paired with his bright blue eyes made women lose their heads. I had to imagine his confidence hadn’t suffered from all the attention, either. He certainly didn’t seem like someone who had to fight for what they wanted.

I leaned back against the wall, leaving Kami to keep ogling the prince in the audience. I paid attention to what each person was announced as after their Ashwalk. A Grey Silverback. A Red Starling. A Green Hinterland. And one whose Ashwalk failed. My stomach twisted when they were announced. And then, it was Konrad’s turn.

Finally, I pushed myself away from the wall and found a spot where I could watch his Ashwalk. He looked just as nervous as he approached the eternal flame. His eyes almost seemed to glow in the flickering light as his hands clenched and unclenched by his side. He had dressed in what I had to guess was his nicest clothes, but even those were patched and worn. Their family had fallen on even harder times when his brother’s Ashwalk had failed, and I wished more than ever I had been able to see him before this. Tell him it would be okay. Tell him, I was watching.

Then, he thrust his hand over the flame.

I knew something was wrong when he threw back his head and screamed, and I almost raced out onto the stage then and there. Someone held me back, and I barely recognized the voice of one of my trainers telling me not to interfere.

Konrad’s body contorted, my stomach with it. It looked all wrong. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. The sound of bones breaking and cracking filled the amphitheater, and he screamed the whole time. As if he was in the worst pain of his life.

I fought against the hands holding me back, desperate to get to him. And then, it was over. I sagged into the arms of the person holding me back when he finally collapsed onto the stage, his dragon form a heap of shivering, heaving flesh.

Then he straightened, and I stiffened. Because Konrad, my best friend in the world, wasn’t a dragon at all. He was a wyvern.