In the Dragon's Shadow

rasping actual toys in their hands. There were just as many fathers as mothers strewn about. I wondered how different my life would have been if I'd had a fa

outcome. Very few girls made it to my age before being taken, though there was one who looked older and could be around my age. She sneered at everyone and lo

friends if she q

, but most let silent tears fall down th

t to eat except

e very center of the kingdom. The castle loomed before us, high upon a

om

made of iron greeted us with a chain that ran all the way to the top of the stone mountain. Once up top, I knew there were walkways

ween us and the Seat we

was the only way to reach the Seat itself. The entire noble quarter

nto one cage like cats and abandoned us. Ther

ld us, though his eyes lingered on me. Then, as one unit, the

together. So much for that burgeoning friendship. She quit pushing after that, merely scowling at everyone around her to back off, but there was no room. There were

bars. We all flinched and a few even screamed as the cage made a horrible l

g yet exhilarating thing

he noble's quarter which awaited us high on the Seat. The art quarter was beautiful, a shimmering jewel compared to the dark streets of the mud quarter and the simplicity of the stone and bread. The arti

te anyone I m

e and clutched the iron bars as if they would somehow save us should we fall. A fireguard at the top unlatched the cage and held it steady. A

d and I'll h

marked him as someone who had mud descent like me. Nobles usually guarded desirable characteristics fo

usually running from any I encountered. He surveyed all of us with silver eyes tinged with green, his face showing interest in us instead of the usual di

gin. Rema

ance of the cage, each wanting to be the first to take this handsome fir

, but he kept his grip on the lucky girl who'd snagged his hand first. He pulled her with him as he fell, and she landed safely on top of him. The two girls after her weren't as lucky, slipping int

ipped a horn from his wais

ll for every time som

to. All the while, the cage swung back and forth wildly in the wind. Death had reared its ugly head, and I froze

ed to b

reamed. "Let th

her. I don't know if it was because I was older, my rough appearance, or because I simply scared them, but they

he back of the cage. "If you rush it aga

e by one over the open air and onto solid rock. Mr. Handsome stayed in the back, eyes stormy. The

it was

.