by Chandra Ryan
A dragon’s fate will seal their love…or destroy their future.
When Kavin Hunter appears on her doorstep to recruit her into the king’s guard, Saraphina Raven knows her secret—an unwanted telepathic ability—has caught the attention of the king. If she refuses to use her gift to discover who’s plotting against the throne, her last link to her royal heritage will be forcibly stripped away. It's a threat that's guaranteed to work. She'd do anything, even help the king that deserted her family, to preserve the only connection to her past.
It’s a past Kavin is all too familiar with. Once upon a time, his brother was betrothed to Saraphina, until the raid that destroyed her family. Now Kavin struggles with his own part in the mess her life has become. And a growing connection made stronger by the power of his healing touch. Though his loyalty lies with the king, Saraphina is becoming the woman of his heart. And nothing, not even a dragon in disguise, will stand in the way of their love.
Warning: Contains a former princess who gets cringe-worthy glimpses into others’ thoughts, a knight in slightly tarnished armor with talented…hands. And a dragon betrayed.
eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Ravenborne
Copyright © 2011 by Chandra Ryan
ISBN: 978-1-60928-573-9
Edited by Lindsey Faber
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Ravenborne
Chandra Ryan
Dedication
To my family. This dream would never have been realized without the unwavering support of my husband, Charlie, our boys, my mom, and my sister, Toshua. You guys are amazing. I’m truly blessed to have you in my life.
To my editor, Lindsey. Some people are born writers. The craft comes as easily to them as breathing. I, however, am not one of those people. That you believe in my stories and take the time to polish them until they shine is awe worthy.
And to my writers group, The Wandering Gnomes… You guys patiently read and gave me feedback on this story in all its incarnations. And there were a lot of them. Thank you. I never would’ve finished if it weren’t for you. I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. And that we’ll be laughing over the incorrect use of the word immolate for years to come.
Prologue
Leissa was going to be found guilty and she was going to be sentenced to death. But she had come to terms with that. She was ready for this to be finished.
Flexing her wings against the weight of the chains, she watched as the judges entered the open-air coliseum. They glanced in her direction at the loud clanking, but then continued to their daises. There was a representative from each dragon tribe, including one from her own. But she didn’t expect any help from the large Red.
“Anneleissa Dawnsfall, come forward.” It was the Silver judge, Nalevi, who issued the command.
So the Silver tribe was presiding today. It wasn’t a comforting realization. Silvers were known for their logic and intelligence, but this wasn’t going to be a run-of-the-mill hearing. It’d been the death of a Silver that’d started the whole damned war, and Leissa was betting the Silvers were after more than blind justice.
Not that they could do much more to her. The war had taken everything—everyone—she’d ever loved.
Her head high, she stepped forward and did her best to ignore the humans that were trailing alongside her, holding on to the chains that were fastened around her ankles.
As if the chains would hold a dragon and keep them safe. She nearly laughed at the idea but managed to stifle it at the last minute—coughing instead.
“Anneleissa Dawnsfall, do you understand the charges that have been brought against you?” Nalevi asked. The sun beamed down on the judge, turning her scales into iridescent rainbows.
“I do,” Leissa answered, her voice steady and sure.
“And the seriousness of such charges?” the judge asked, her voice strained.
“I do.”
“And do you deny these charges?”
“No.”
The ridge of scales above the Silver’s eye rose slightly, but she didn’t show any other reaction to Leissa’s answer. “Your brother was a traitor as well, was he not?” Nalevi asked.
The thought of Lyman, her slain brother, made her heart ache, but she refused to show any emotion. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of knowing they had hurt her. Scratching her ivory talons against the stone of the floor, she smiled tightly. “He healed the humans who fought against you.” She was proud of how steady she kept her voice.
“Would you like to argue coercion or deceitful recruiting practices?” the Silver continued, reading off the procedure scroll in front of her.
“No, I am responsible for my actions and have accepted my fate.”
“Have you, young one?” Nalevi looked up from her scroll with a thin smile.
“If my life is the cost of our failure, then I am prepared to join those who fought beside me.” She hoped none of the others could hear the slight waver in her voice.
“Ah, if only it were as simple as treason then your life would be enough.” Her smile turned menacing.
Nervous energy knotted Leissa’s stomach and fear made her heart race. “What do you mean?”
“Did you not read sub paragraph five, section thirteen?” The judge’s voice was calm—too calm.
“There was no sub paragraph five, section thirteen.”
“The changes must have gone through too late to provide you with a copy. Tragic. Especially since you’ve already plead guilty to the charges.”
She could feel the trap close around her. “I plead guilty to treason, nothing more.”
“No, you plead guilty to treason and enslavement.”
The statement shook her to her core. They’d fought—they’d died—to prevent the humans from being enslaved. Or, at least, that’s how it all started. “I enslaved no one.”
“The humans tell a different story.”
“We protected them. The dragon queen wanted to use them as an energy source.”
“And you have proof of that?”
She could only shake her head. The only proof had died almost a century ago. Not that the bitter boy would have argued in her defense. He’d died hating dragons—every last one of them.
“It makes for a very interesting story, but without proof that’s all it is—a story.”
Leissa wasn’t ready to give up. She’d die for treason, but she’d fight tooth and nail before she allowed them to label her a slave-master. “The humans had free will. We would have left if they had asked it, but they begged us to stay. Begged us to help them.”
“Because you disguised your form and told them you were gods,” the Red judge snapped.
“Vianisha, I am presiding.” Nalevi’s horned head swung to face the other judge. Vianisha harrumphed, but then nodded, allowing Nalevi to focus on Leissa once more. “She may have been out of order, but our Red does make a fine point. You tricked the humans into believing you were go
ds.”
“I’m sure it was meant as a title—an honorific—nothing more.”
“Title or faith, you manipulated them. And when the threat of damnation no longer held them you bribed them. You gave them our magic.”
There’d never been a threat of damnation, unless having your essence sucked out by the dragon queen counted. And Leissa had never seen sharing their magic as a bribe. Never thought it more than what it was—survival. She’d been attracted to, even respected, the humans she’d bedded. And they respected her. She wasn’t a common whore, trading her body for food and shelter.
Just because she’d never stooped so low, however, didn’t mean all of the rebels were as innocent. “Orlara bears the guilt for that.”
“You never laid with a human, never bore a dragonspawn?” the Silver asked, her face a mirror of her disgust.
“But…” Leissa stopped. She wouldn’t beg for mercy. That’s not how she wanted to be remembered. “I did.”
“In light of your crimes, I am sentencing you to humanity. You will spend ten lifetimes in service to this race.”
“No,” she whispered, her heart stopping. She had known better than to expect a fair trial, but she’d never dreamed they would stretch their authority this far. “You haven’t the right to enforce such a punishment.”
“We haven’t the right?” Vianisha blustered angrily. “Do you have any idea what you have done? You created an entirely new species.”
“We created no new species.” Having been handed a sentence worse than death, she doubted they could do much more to her for an outburst. “The magic will breed out of them over time. The humans will return to what they were before, a non-magical race.”
“Ten lifetimes of servitude,” Nalevi repeated.
One of the humans stood at the sentence. “Our servant?” His face split in a sickening smile as he asked the question.
Leissa recognized Collin Dair easily. He embodied the worst of humanity: vile, arrogant, manipulative, and corrupt. She’d not only rebuked his affection while he was under her command, but had also reprimanded him several times for conduct unbecoming. Growling at the disgusting worm, Leissa heard Nalevi clear her throat loudly before saying, “And a lifetime for any lives you take during your sentence. Including your own.”
Her attention focused on the panel of judges once more as another wave of anger sweep through her. “You cannot leave me without defense.”
“I leave you at their mercy, just as they were at yours.”
“You can’t.” Leissa flexed her large wings as she remembered the others who had died for their cause. For the first time, she was beginning to believe they got the better end of this.
“I assure you we can, and just to make sure you follow the intent of the order,” the older dragon continued, “you will be confined to the shape of a human for the duration of your sentence.”
Leissa cried out in agony as she was reduced to the size of a human. The chains jingled as they slipped from her now too-small wrists, but she didn’t rejoice in the freedom. Instead, she shuddered as she glanced down at her fragile frame. It was the body she’d hidden in while living with the humans, but then she could transform back whenever she liked. Being trapped in it was unbearable.
Standing in front of the tribunal, covered in nothing more than the flesh of a human, she clung to the only thing she had left—her pride. “During this long war I’ve had to make many hard choices. I left my home and family. Watched my brothers and sisters die. Led many to their certain deaths. And over the years, I sometimes wondered if I should’ve stayed out of this war, but today I have my answer. As many sacrifices as I’ve made, as many as I’ve asked others to make, it’s worth it to know I tried to stand against the tyranny that the Empire has become.”
“Criminals often mistake justice for tyranny,” the Green judge said.
“Then you have your justice. I hope the true gods are more sparing when it’s your turn to stand in judgment.”
There might have been a spark of doubt in Nalevi’s golden eyes, but it passed too quickly for Leissa to be certain. “Take her,” the Silver told the human captors.
Hearing the words, Leissa shivered in horror. Her fate was sealed.
“Don’t you worry none,” Collin whispered into her ear, his breath sickly sweet with alcohol. “I’ll keep you warm on the trip back home. I’m sure we all will.”
She leaned close enough for him to hear her clearly. “If you come near me, I’ll tear your throat out.”
“You wouldn’t. The others would kill you,” he spit back, his calloused hand grabbing her wrist.
“Then I would still only have ten lives to serve and you would have none.” He stared at her for a second as if digesting the information. “Make no mistake in what you’re dealing with, Collin. I may look human, but I’ve the soul of a dragon.”
He glared at her, but said no more as they began the procession out of the coliseum.
Her head held high, she allowed herself to be led through the streets of the town. Everywhere she looked she saw shame and pity reflected in the other dragons’ eyes, but she did her best to ignore them. She knew she wasn’t the traitor they saw and that was enough. Or, at least, that’s what she tried to tell herself as her procession made its way to the harbor and to the ship that would take her back across the oceans to the foreign land that had been her home, but was now her prison.
When they reached the ship, though, some of her resolute calm faltered, exposing her to the fear she’d buried deep inside her core. Surely there had to be a way out of this. But rough hands pushed her up the wooden ramp when she froze, only stopping when she fell face first onto the deck.
“Here,” Collin snarled, throwing a scratchy blanket over her. “Wrap up in this. We wouldn’t want to waste one of those lives on a case of shivers, now would we?”
She took the heavy blanket and, standing as gracefully as possible, wrapped it around her shoulders without saying a word.
“That’s okay,” he said belligerently. “I’ll get my thanks later.”
She quirked an eyebrow at the statement, but remained silent. She had meant what she’d said. She would kill any that touched her. But there was no sense issuing a challenge to the entire crew over a couple of words of bravado.
Taking a step away from him, her spot was quickly taken by the men who had accompanied them on the journey. Not that it was a great surprise. He had the wine.
She’d always been amazed at how easily humans were to bend. Collin gave off an air of corruptness. She could actually taste the evil that rolled off of him. But the others could be persuaded to ignore the blackness that surrounded him by an offering as simple as wine.
As vile as he was, though, she never expected the bitter scent of Heartsbane that tickled her nose. Turning back to the group, she saw Collin palm something as he handed one of the goblets to the man named Isis. It made the acid in her stomach sour with dread. This voyage wasn’t going to end well. With her kind dead, it only stood to reason that the humans would need someone to lead them. And it appeared as if Collin was about to stack the deck in his favor.
Imagining what her life would be reduced to if he were put in power sent her into action. The boat began to skim through the water effortlessly but she barely noticed. The only thing that mattered to her was the people on that deck. If she was going to have any influence on who was named king she’d have to act quickly—pick someone before Collin had poisoned all his opponents.
Looking around, her gaze fell on a young captain who’d fought under her command. He had shown both valor and honor during his service and had never pandered to her in return for political favors. More importantly, he had something to fear and she knew how to turn fear to her advantage.
The ship rocked under her as she made her way over to him. “Captain Raven,” she said, taking the seat next to him.
“No offense, my lady,” he said quietly. “But I’d prefer you seek another’s company.”
&
nbsp; “None taken, I understand your reputation is important to you. Being associated with me could be damaging.”
“To say the least.”
She paused for a second, weighing which path would be most effective. “I only wanted to warn you. The others will be choosing a king soon. If you value your life, you would do well to stay out of their way.”
Humans tended to stubbornness and it was sometimes easier to ask for the opposite and let them believe they talked you into what you truly desired.
“A king?”
She could tell by the look of shock on his face he hadn’t even thought of the possibility. “Of course. With my kind gone they’ll need someone to rule.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” he said, already accepting the rule of another. “But I don’t see what the danger is that you warn of.”
“Oh, then there are procedures and rules for selecting a king? I’m glad to hear that.” She stood and took a step as if she were ready to walk away.
“Well…I mean…I don’t think there’s anything formal set, but the crown should go to the highest rank, shouldn’t it?”
A sincere smile broke on her face for the first time that day, but she was quick to hide it before turning back to him. “Maybe in an ideal world at an ideal time. But on a boat, in the middle of the sea, after a long war?” She let the insinuation hang between them.
“No, we’re not animals fighting over what scraps of power are left. The highest rank will ascend to the throne,” he asserted, looking around the deck quickly. “It’s Isis. His rank was the highest. He was a brilliant leader and just in his decisions. He will make a fair king.”
She loved his conviction, but loved that he was about to be proven wrong even more. “It is not rank nor skill that’ll determine this king.” She gestured to the small group of men gathered around Collin.
“Isis will be king,” he repeated stubbornly.
“Would you care to wager on that?”
Isis raised his glass of wine. His throat moved as he swallowed the first drink. It only took a second for the poison to take effect and soon he was writhing on the cold wood of the deck.
