Dragon Bound

Chapter Eight

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Chapter Eight

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The silence was deeply unsettling to the five people seated at the massive round table. It had been ten minutes since Jason had told the Sun King he did not want Lune to be a riding dragon. Ten minutes of the heaviest, tensest and most blood pounding silence he had ever experienced. The king's eyes flashed.

'He is large enough to ride,' the king stated. Jason nodded, clearing his throat as the man's eyes narrowed towards him.

'He is,' Jason admitted.

'Then why would I allow you to waste him as a strike dragon?' the king asked. The gold and polished bone of his headpiece glinted in the light as he tipped his head. Jason tried to work around his own dry throat.

'It sounds to me as though you can't be bothered training him. I get he's a pretty thing to look at but sometimes a dragon needs a hard hand,' Sir Dane added matter-of-factly. He was the neutral third party, so to speak. Usually, Jason got along fine with the older man though on this topic, he really didn't need to hear what the other knight thought.

'This isn't about marking him up,' Jason growled. 'This is about the opportunity to have him tamed and willing by his own choice.'

Dane snorted indignantly. 'His own choice?' he said, amusement colouring his tone.

Jason nodded stoutly. 'We may strive for perfection but none of us can claim to have never made mistakes. Would your dragon save your life if you were struck from the saddle mid-flight?' Jason posed the question with a meaningful look at the woman standing behind Dane.

The woman was a tall muscular figure, her blazing magenta hair and cat eyes giving her away for not human. She had many battle scars just as her master had battle scars. For all his drinking, boasting, and taunting, Dane cared for his filly. The other knight gave an annoyed grunt. 'Aye. She would,' he said, already knowing where this was going.

'Do you think Sir Kyril's dragon would do the same for him?' Jason asked, treading into dangerous territory. The king's eyes narrowed but Dane still answered.

'No,' he said simply.

'Lune wants to be here. He wants to be mine, just not as a riding dragon,' Jason insisted.

'He is an animal. What he wants is irrelevant,' Amara said from her seat.

Jason looked to the king. 'He will fight for you sire. He will fight for this kingdom. I'm not even convinced he would be able to manoeuvre and fight the way he does with the added saddle and weight. His wing structure is so different to any other species in the stable. We haven't even been able to fit him with a proper saddle,' Jason urged.

The king glanced over at the forge master. 'Your thoughts on this?' the king murmured.

Gabe was silent for a long moment. 'The dragon has a good temperament. Quiet and curious. I've seen many young riders use force to make their mounts bend and to that end, I'm not sure such an approach would work with Lune. The beast would rather shut down and accept pain than be forced into action. He has bonded with Damon though, that much is obvious,' the old man said, scratching at an old arrow wound on one shoulder.

'Bring him to me and I will make a decision.' The silence settled back in, thick and unwelcome as a lightning strike. Jason bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood.

'Sire, he isn't-'

'That was not a request to be subjected to your opinion. Tomorrow night.' The king's voice was like the desert sun, utterly unforgiving and unnegotiable. Jason bowed his head. He could feel Damon's tension radiating down his own spine. Painful, and constant.