House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,75

She was glad that she had been wrong.

They didn’t fly long before Gelryn descended toward another smaller mountain peak. He dropped gracefully onto a summit overlooking the entirety of the valley below and every twinkling light above.

“Whoa,” she breathed. “This is beautiful.”

You speak of more visions. Tell me what you have seen.

So, she spilled her guts, telling him all about her latest visions—the tournament, the raven sigil, and then the bizarre dream she’d had that prompted her to come see him.

“The tournament portions make some sort of sense, but how am I supposed to know what to do with the rest of it? A length of rope? A blue drink? A girl with blonde hair?”

It is as I feared.

“What is?”

The spiritual magic is controlling you, child, and not the other way around. You need to find a way to harness this ability, or it will destroy you.

“And how am I to do that?” she demanded. “They come on completely unexpected.”

Since our meeting, I have been researching the harbinger ability. Others in the past have been harbingers, but it does not appear that we have seen one in millennia. The recorded histories of that time are few. But even without more information, it is clear to me that the closer your visions are together, the more danger.

“That, at least, is true. All of my visions have spelled danger… usually personal danger.”

I fear that dark times are coming for Alandria. If only one vision was enough to reveal the Red Masks riots, how much danger could be coming if you have already had three visions?

She frowned. She had not thought about it in magnitudes. “A lot.”

Indeed. We need more knowledge. That is always the answer.

“What can I do? Scour the library?”

No, child. I fear Fae and humans alike have not been kind to harbingers. Most are seen as mad at best. He looked at her with one wide eye—a warning. It appears almost all have been violently killed for their gift.

She shuddered. “That’s… marvelous. At least I’m on the right trajectory.”

With your visions coming more frequently, I think it is time that I go home.

He said it with such reverence that there was no question in her mind where he meant. He wanted to go to the Holy Mountain. When dragons had first come to Alandria, the story went that they had been exiled through a portal from another world and left upon a mountain of Tendrille. There, they would bring their eggs to feel the vibrations of home. She didn’t know how much of it was even true, but it was a good story. And many dragons lived and pilgrimaged to the Holy Mountain every year, especially those whose riders were too old to continue participating in the Society culture. They retired to the mountain, and immense amounts of knowledge were still recorded there.

“You think that someone will know about other harbingers?”

Unlikely, he said truthfully. But I hope to find more information from our spiritual leaders. They have walked the plane for generations. I will find control for you, child, if I can.

She respectfully bowed her head. “Thank you, Gelryn.”

While I am away, you need to stay close to Fordham. He is in your dreams for a reason. Whether for good… or evil, we will find out with time.

She cringed. Well, that wasn’t exactly comforting. It paralleled what Audria had been alluding to in the caves. Was Fordham here for good or to cause havoc? She had come to believe that he was on her side, but she wasn’t sure if he was on anyone’s, save himself.

Trust your gut.

“I will,” she agreed.

Her gut said he was friend, not foe. She hoped her gut was right.

28

The Tip

Fordham punished her with more running. Okay, it wasn’t precisely a punishment. He thought that he was helping. But her legs ached for days after her climb up the mountainside, and she couldn’t exactly tell him why she hurt so much. She couldn’t exactly confide in him about the visions.

At the third-mile mark, Fordham slowed to a walk. Kerrigan happily fell into step beside him. Her chest wasn’t heaving quite as bad as it had been, but it wasn’t easy yet either.

“You’re improving,” he said.

“Does this mean we can move to weapons?”

He just shot her a look. “We’ll cut this session early. The second task is tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she said, trying not to sound eager.

She couldn’t believe the second task was already here. Half of her time was up, and she hadn’t gotten any closer to finding