Page 15

Kaelen grunts. "She'll be terrified."

We both look at him.

"Think about it." He jerks his chin at the bed. "She wakes up in a strange cabin. Three men she's never seen. Then she finds out we're dragon kings, and every one of us thinks she's meant to marry him." His mouth twists. "I'd run back out into the storm."

It's more words than Kaelen usually says in a day.

He's also right.

"We need to be careful," I say slowly. "About how much we tell her. And how fast."

"So we don't tell her," Rhydian says.

"We don't lie to her."

"I didn't say lie." He leans forward, elbows on his knees, and for once, there's no joke in his face. "We give her our names. Zarek. Rhydian. Kaelen. That's all. She'll see the cabin, the clothes, and assume we're lords of some kind. Let her."

Frowning, I turn it over. I don't like it. I've never liked half truths.

"Zarek," Rhydian says. "Think about it. If she knows we're kings, what happens? Maybe she agrees to the bond because she thinks she has to. Because you don't say no to a king. Because she's scared of what we'll do if she offends us."

My mother comes to mind. What she agreed to, and why.

"I want her to fall in love with me," Rhydian says quietly. "Not my crown."

That ends the argument. He knows it does.

"Fine," I say. "Names only. For now."

"And we keep her here," Rhydian adds. "As long as we can."

"Rhydian."

"The storm's real enough." He waves a hand at the windows, where the snow is still battering the glass. "Nobody's crossing that pass for a week. Maybe longer. We tell her the truth. It isn't safe yet. She stays until it is."

I look out at the storm.

Every year, the three of us come up to this cabin for the winter solstice. It started as a celebration. Garlands and candles everywhere. Roasted meat and too much wine, and Rhydian singing until Kaelen threatened to throw him off the roof.

Somewhere along the line, that changed. The decorations went up to the attic and never came back down. Now we come up here to let our dragons roam where they can't hurt anyone. We drink. We brood. We sit around the fire feeling sorry for ourselves and pretending we're not.

Solstice is only a few days away.

A few days with her.

Maybe that's enough to start.

"I'm already thinking of ways to charm her," Rhydian says, and some of the light is back in his eyes. "I'm extremely charming. You'll both be embarrassed for me."

"We already are," I say.

"Don't," Kaelen says.

Rhydian blinks. "Don't what?"

"Charm her. Crowd her. Any of it." Kaelen's voice is rough. "She nearly died tonight. Let her be warm. Let her eat. Let her be comfortable."

Rhydian opens his mouth, then closes it again. "That's fair."