The Dragonprince's Heir by Aaron Pogue Read Free Book Online Page A

bother lying. I just nodded. He said nothing else.
    After a while I raised my head. He didn't look angry. I turned down the corners of my mouth. "I'm sorry I bit your hand," I said. "That was childish."
    "You were fighting to be free," he said. "By that point, it was the only thing to do."
    "I don't—"
    "You should apologize for leaving your room," he said, still quiet. "That was childish. You should apologize to your mother. To every man, woman, and child in this place. You have cost them...everything."
    "You planned to kill the king," I said, but it sounded hollow.
    "Your mother would not allow it," he said. "Nor would your father, if he were here. It's a shame, though. It would have saved us much suffering."
    "Then why the forges?" I asked. "Why have carts been bringing them new iron since the king arrived?"
    "Hm. In some ways, you are as clever as a crow. In others, you're as dumb as a cow. You're difficult to understand."
    I opened my mouth to object to that...and shut it again. He'd already done as much to humiliate me as could be done. There was little sting left in an insult from his tongue. But after a moment I shook my head and asked again, "Then why the forges?"
    "For all the reasons you suspect, and none of the purposes," he said. "To arm us every one, in case it comes down to a fight to the death. I think it won't—I think your mother will not let it—and I think we'll all be sorrier for that."
    "Why would it—" I tried to ask, but he cut me off with a shake of his head and a raised hand.
    "Your mother will be along shortly," he said. "She will speak with you. For now, sit and think. Perhaps you will find some answers on your own."
    I did as he instructed. Not out of obedience. But I had no other choice. I leaned my head back against the hard stone wall and fought a groan as I replayed the events yet again in my head. I'd made a fool of myself.
    Worse, I'd embarrassed Mother. She'd driven me to it, but she had been forced to stand idly by while the king called me down, while Caleb dragged me kicking and screaming from the room. She'd been left to deal with the aftermath I'd been spared. I owed her an apology for that, if nothing else. I'd been trying so hard to protect my dignity that I'd stained hers.
    Even as the determination settled in my breast, my door swung open. And she was there. She swept into the room, and I noticed a nervous look in her eyes as she glanced back out into the hall. Then she pressed the door silently shut and turned back to us.
    I opened my mouth to apologize, but she gave me no chance. She turned to Caleb, her back to me, and said, "You must disarm them all." She sounded breathless.
    Wrinkles appeared around Caleb's dark eyes when he frowned. He grunted. "Things went badly?"
    "The king has gone back out to his men. To organize them. They will move inside the walls before nightfall."
    Caleb growled, low in his throat. "You didn't invite them—"
    "I was not given the opportunity," Mother said. "The king expressed his intention. He brings his army inside the walls. He is most unhappy. If he sees so much as a naked kitchen knife, he might order his men to end the insurrection here and now."
    I started to my feet. "Insurrection? This is Father's fortress. These are Father's people."
    Mother turned to me, and her eyes were sad. "Daven holds no official claim. This land belongs to the king."
    "What? But he's a hero! What he did during the dragonswarm...that has to change things."
    "No!" she snapped. "That is the point. Everything Daven did he did to prevent the dragonswarm from changing things."
    Caleb shook his head. "That was his problem. For all his talk of true reality, he never could see the darkest aspects of human nature."
    Something unexpected and hot boiled up behind my breastbone. I took a step toward Caleb, but Mother dropped one hand lightly on my shoulder, and the fury died on my lips.
    "Caleb's right," she told me. "And that blindness is the only reason your father was able