Free Dragons Among Them (Kingdoms of Fire and Ice) by Kyra Jacobs Page A

chuckle, Zayne shifted his gaze from the road ahead to Addie’s face, which was turned to cast him a glance over her shoulder. “You have become a little bird, hungry for knowledge and chirping tirelessly until I feed it to you.”
    “Is that such a bad thing?”
    A pout formed on her perfect lips, and the urge to press his mouth to hers surged within him again, as it had so many times since he first laid eyes upon the fair maiden. Again, he resisted. She was his traveling partner, nothing more. It must remain as such.
    “No, dear Addie. Just an unusual thing. Most people with whom I converse seem to know more about myself than I do.”
    “So you let rumors and legends define you, then?” Her brow cocked.
    “Sometimes,” he admitted with a smirk. No other peasant in his kingdom had ever spoken to him so boldly. In fact, such a manner could easily land a person in Edana’s deep, dark dungeon. But Zayne found Addie’s curiosity and unending questions to be a breath of fresh air amid his stale, scripted life.
    “Not me.” She crossed her arms as she shifted her gaze to the passing landscape. The horses had slowed to a walk again on the increasingly uneven terrain. “Though, that may be because I don’t stay in one place long enough to allow rumors to start.”
    “And what say your parents about that?”
    “We weren’t talking about my parents, we were talking about yours.” Color crept across her neck. “So? What are they like?”
    “Hmm. How best to describe my parents… Well, my mother is an angel. My father, the bloody devil himself.”
    “Ouch,” said Addie with a grimace. “That must be tough.”
    “It could be worse. I could have been born to a pair of poor peasants.”
    “I’d take a poor, loving family over a throne any day.” She paused, then tipped her chin in his direction once more. “Can I ask you something?”
    “’Twould be a surprise if you did not,” he said with a laugh.
    “Who is Rosalind?”
    The question was as unexpected as it was unwanted, and Zayne felt the smile slip quickly from his lips. “Princess Rosalind is the daughter of King Jarin. Why do you ask?”
    Addie’s shoulder lifted and fell. “I remember Emeline saying something about her when you two were checking on me last night.”
    “When you were pretending to be asleep.” He frowned.
    “Yeah.” She shifted in her seat. “So, are you two…close?”
    “Not particularly.”
    Before he was asked for further details, the men leading their caravan slowed to a stop at the crest of a small hill up ahead. Zayne pulled back on his steed’s reins as they drew beside the others. Several hundred yards ahead lay Forath’s grand iron gate, the lone break in a massive stone wall stretching from north to south as far as the eye could see. Beyond the wall stood a dense forest, its foliage a curtain of varied greens. A thick, perpetual fog masked any view of the vast foothills and rocky terrain standing between the wall and Forath’s castle.
    Addie leaned away from the view and pressed uncomfortably into Zayne’s still-healing wound. He didn’t complain, for it was a far less painful experience than what he was about to endure.
    Korey turned in his saddle. “Shall I announce our arrival, sire?”
    “Announce our arrival?” Addie whispered.
    “’Tis customary to sound the horn before approaching Forath’s gate,” said Zayne. “If they grant us permission to approach, their guard will sound the horn back.”
    He looked to Korey, one of his youngest but most trusted warriors. The boy was hardly a day over seventeen, but his body was massive and the beast within him strong. In every skirmish, every battle, Korey had fought valiantly and without hesitation. Never did he question the prince’s orders. As such, he’d be one of the three to continue into Forath and escort Addie back to the village near where she was found.
    Zayne felt the knife of loss prick at his heart as he gave Korey a solemn nod. “Sound the