Page 133 of Throne of Ice and Blood
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
The door bangs against the wall as Draven throws it open and runs inside. Isera, Alistair, and I hurry after him into the Black Dragon Clan’s barracks. Torches are burning along the wall, their flickering light dancing across the stone walls, and the soft murmur of voices comes from several rooms along the corridor.
“Everyone into the gathering hall!” Draven bellows, his voice cutting through the calm atmosphere like an explosion. “Now!”
Clattering and rustling and creaking sound from the rooms as everyone leaps to their feet and scrambles out the doors. They cast surprised glances at us when they make it into the corridor, but they don’t stop. Instead, they just hurry into the massive gathering hall like Draven ordered.
Draven turns to Alistair. “You, watch the skies.” His gaze shifts to Isera. “And you, watch the road. If there’s even a hint of anyone coming this way, you run back in here and tell me.”
To my surprise, they don’t argue. Or even look offended that Draven is giving them orders. They just jerk their chins down in a nod and dart back out the door. They have probably realized that Draven is their only ticket out of here.
The final few soldiers scramble out of their rooms, putting on their armor while they run. Draven stalks after them towards the gathering hall. I follow him.
“We don’t have much time, so I’m only going to say this once,” Draven declares as he strides inside and positions himself at the front of the room.
I take up position by a medical cabinet on the wall next to the door. Everyone else, all the soldiers in Draven’s clan, have already formed orderly ranks throughout the entire room. They watch him with a mix of confusion and suspicion on their faces.
“You’re all leaving,” Draven says, his voice echoing between the stone walls. “Right now. You have two minutes to grab what you can’t bear to leave behind. Then all of you are flying back to our islands.”
Shock crackles like lightning through the room of dragon shifters.
Galen draws back in confusion and blinks at his commander. “What?”
“Don’t stop for anything or anyone,” Draven continues as if he hadn’t spoken. “Don’t obey any orders from outsiders. And if anyone, and I meananyone, comes and tries to get you to return here or to force you back into the Icehearts’ service, you fight like hell. Understood?”
“What?” Galen replies, that shock and utter confusion still pulsing across his face. “No. What the hell are you talking about?”
“You no longer serve the Iceheart Dynasty. Go home.”
“What does?—”
“Draven is the Red Hand,” I cut in, my voice slicing through the confusion in the room like a blade.
Everyone stops talking. Galen and Lyra and all the others turn to stare at me. Draven shoots me an exasperated look. I just shoot one right back at him. His people deserve to know that.Hedeserves to not be hated by his people for something that he hasn’t even done.
I shift my gaze back to the stunned soldiers. “And the Icehearts have just figured that out. Which is why we all need to leave. Right now.”
“You heard her,” Draven says, also turning his attention back to his clan. “So grab your shit and get ready to leave. You fly out in force.”
No one moves.
“That’s an order,” Draven growls in frustration.
But they all just keep staring at him in shock.
“Youare the Red Hand?” Galen says. It’s something between a question and a stunned statement. “You’ve been secretly working against the Icehearts?” A flash of anger pulses across his face and bleeds into his tone as he demands, “Why the hell haven’t you said anything?”
“Because I couldn’t endanger you like that,” Draven snaps back. “Now get a move on!”
“Endanger us? If we had known that you?—”
“Do you know why I never used the half-shift during those first six years?” Draven cuts him off, frustration lacing his every word.
Galen frowns and shakes his head in confusion. “Because you were being submissive and letting them show dominance?”
“Because they whipped my wings. Every day. For six fucking years.”
The entire room sucks in a sharp breath. Lyra’s orange eyes are wide with horror. Next to her, Galen staggers a step back as if Draven had physically hit him.
