PHIN

er, overcast gray, a mirror of my pa

three-headed dragon crest of House Beaumont-Carlisle, but it was noticeably less grand than the

off with a sickening display of false tears, their ey

g into the carriage wit

w at Hayes Manor one last time. It had been my cage

Julian said, breaking the silence. "The

ill do everything in my p

e sight, a bastion of black stone perched on a mountain peak. Ancient dragon ru

ll, stern-faced Dragon-kin knight was waiting.

appointment when he saw me alight from the carria

ood before Gareth and a few of the household staff in the cas

ebration. It was a wedding

wing. He hesitated at the door. "My lady, w

off. "I am Gideon's wife. It is my duty and my honor

s often kept separate chambers; for a bride to insist o

lace where a low, steady flame burned. Dragonfire , I realized, one that would never go out, keeping the room warm a

as a massive bed. And on it

pale but strikingly handsome, the lines of a warrior etched around his

him. I reached out, my fingers hovering jus

e suspicion in his eyes softened, replaced by

h in a basin of warm water and began to gently wash his face and hands. His palms were b

my nightgown and slipped into t

of peace settled over me. Here, next to a man the world considered a vegetable, I felt safer than I e

eep almost

dragon-crystal lamps, the fingers of Gideon's hand, l

eptible movement that