House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,107
here with Fordham?”
“Uh… no. I came alone.”
Audria looked disbelieving. “Just stay with me a minute longer. I’d like to keep Roake’s grubby hands far from my silk dress as possible.”
“Why do you put up with him?” Kerrigan asked.
Audria shrugged. “He’s not so bad. Not all the time. But when he’s drunk…” Audria sighed and gestured in a you know what I mean sort of way.
“Ah.”
They entered a small, circular garden lined with benches that would likely be occupied for more devious things later in the evening but were as yet unoccupied. Audria sank gracefully into one and patted the chair next to her for Kerrigan to follow. Kerrigan reluctantly did so.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Uh… sure,” Kerrigan said.
“Have you ever heard of the story of the lost princess of Bryonica?”
Kerrigan froze in place. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Oh gods.
“I think… I think everyone has,” she said faintly.
“Of course,” Audria said lightly. “Well, I actually knew Lady Felicity. We were so young and we became fast friends. Our parents visited frequently, and when we were together, the world was ours for the taking. We were practically sisters. But then, twelve years ago, Lady Felicity disappeared.” Audria turned to look at her. “Lord Kivrin was bereft over his only daughter’s apparent vanishing. The entire kingdom searched for her. The capital city, my lovely Rosemont, was turned over to find the small girl, but not a single trace was found. She was poof. Gone.”
Kerrigan said nothing. Just met Audria’s questioning gaze.
“Lady Felicity Argon, First of the House of Cruse, a Bryonican royal, and the lost princess of our people was just… gone.”
“That must have been… upsetting,” she said around the lump in her throat.
“She was never really gone though, was she, Kerrigan?” Audria asked. “She just came here, to Kinkadia, to the House of Dragons, and changed her name. She’s you.”
Kerrigan felt like a knife had just been shoved into her ribs. All these years, she had hidden her past away, avoided those who could ever suspect who she was, and lived this new life. But now, here Audria was… bringing it all to the surface again.
“My name is Kerrigan.”
“It is Felicity,” Audria insisted.
Kerrigan closed her eyes fiercely. “Kerrigan Felicity Argon,” she whispered. “My father never wanted to use my first name after my mother, Keres, died, but the mistresses in the House of Dragons had no such qualms.”
Audria’s eyes filled with tears, and then she threw her arms around Kerrigan’s neck. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Audria, you can’t…”
But Audria didn’t let her finish her thought. Didn’t let her tell her not to let anyone else know.
“This changes everything,” she said, holding Kerrigan at arm’s length. “You are Dragon Blessed. You have to be chosen by a tribe. I will speak to my mother and have her choose you. You can live with us in Bryonica and on the Row, as you were always meant to. We could be sisters in truth!”
“Audria,” Kerrigan gasped. Fear settled in where unease had previously been. This was a dream come true but also her worst nightmare.
Audria grasped Kerrigan’s hands in her own. “I’m overjoyed. I knew you were familiar, but it wasn’t until I saw you here, among your father’s things, that it all came together.” A tear fell down Audria’s face, and she swiped it aside with a laugh. “Our people will be so pleased to have you back. You’re no longer lost.”
Kerrigan took a deep breath, and then she pulled back from Audria’s grasp and her enthusiasm and the desperate hope that she could have a sister.
“What is it?” Audria asked.
“A person can’t be lost when they were abandoned.”
Audria frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, my father was the one who left me on the steps of Draco Mountain to be in the House of Dragons. No matter how bereft he appeared… he knew what he was doing. He abandoned me.”
“No,” Audria said with a shake of her head. “That can’t be true.”
“But it is,” Kerrigan said, rising to her feet. “Being lost implies that you can be found, that someone wants to find you. Kivrin Argon has known precisely where I have been every day for the last twelve years. How could I want to go back to a life that so easily threw me away?”
Audria stood. “What he did was terrible, but there are people who want you. You could have a home and a life. Don’t you want that?”