think of. “What right do I have?” he burst out suddenly. “Why give me all this power, instead of someone else? What makes me so special? Don’t tell me it was an accident of birth. It was no accident and we both know it.”
“I’ve wondered how much you knew about that,” she responded calmly. “It wasn’t entirely my doing. Oh, I might have pushed Milar toward Zehava, but neither of them needed much pushing.”
The first high-pitched screams came from the hatchlings as they emerged from the caves and died. There was the smell of blood on the warming breeze.
“My father had a man in mind for me,” Andrade went on. “I refused. So it was up to Milar. She had the spark, but never used it. She passed it to Tobin, and I suspect you’ll pass it to your children, strengthened through Sioned. If you’re looking for a grander design, Rohan, there isn’t one. My father and I wanted the same thing: to see our family powerful.”
There was more, and he knew it, but something else was of deeper concern to him right now. “At least you sent my father a maiden, not a faradhi whore,” he said bitterly.
Andrade sucked in a breath. “You young fool,” she breathed. “If that’s how you view Sioned, then I wish you much joy of your life with her. She’s in your blood now, Rohan. You’ve made Fire between you, and whether you warm yourself at it or let it sear your soul is up to you.”
He kicked his horse forward again, and she did not follow. The morning wore on and the slaughter continued. Sometimes a small frantic shape would take wing through the canyon, and he rejoiced that at least a few dragons would fly free. There were long periods of near silence as the hunters waited for the dragons to break down the walls, but as more caves opened the air grew thick with screams and death. One of Rohan’s elderly vassals, Abidias of Tuath Castle, climbed down to his horse, the heat too much for him. From his saddle was hung a limp-winged corpse the size of a four-year-old child.
“Here’s one who won’t be gobbling down my sheep!” He patted the little body almost fondly. It was a reddish dragon with black underwings. “I’ll cure his hide for my favorite chair, and string his claws and teeth from my war standard.”
An agony of hate throbbed in Rohan’s skull, hate for this spectacle and for himself in being ultimately responsible for it. He felt every death cry like a sword in his heart. He could do nothing.
“Rohan!”
He swung around, furious as he recognized Sioned’s voice. How long had she been watching him—and how dared she intrude? But the terror on her face swept away his anger. She pointed at the canyon wall, where far above them was a small cave, the ledge narrower than most. Shadows dripped from overhanging rocks so he could not see whether there were dragon-made walls, but he saw very clearly two small figures clinging to the ledge. Jahni and Maarken hauled themselves up and stood looking down into Rivenrock.
Rohan yelled to the boys as he jumped down from his stallion, but dragon screams and human shouts echoed too loudly through the canyon for him to be heard. He started climbing, scrabbling for footing in the loose stones, and heard Sioned follow. His gaze on the cavern ledge, he gasped aloud as a flash of light came from the shadows. Sioned’s harsh breathing sounded behind him, in time with his own. As they scrambled upward, the boys cried out in fright. He shouted an order for them to find shelter, but the ledge was neither deep nor wide, without large rocks for them to hide behind. If anything happened to the twins, Tobin would murder him—and he would want her to.
Rohan struggled to the ledge on all fours. Heaving himself up, he saw Jahni huddled against the face of the cliff, trembling head to foot, as far away from the cave’s mouth as it was possible to get without falling into the gorge. Maarken was frozen on the stony shelf, staring at a hatchling dragon as small and terrified as he. Rohan knew he would never be able to draw his sword in time to kill the hatchling. The little creature’s eyes had kindled and his lungs expanded in a deep inhalation, teeth gleaming like fine white needles as his jaws opened for a burst of flame