Page 40 of Cinder's Trial
This time the beast rumbled.
“I fear I am not the prince you’ve been seeking, but I am sure there is one out there, waiting for you.”
The dragon roared, a sound to make any sane person wince. It shook its head, and I felt my hair flutter with the breeze of the shake. I stood close enough that I kept expecting it to chomp me in two.
To everyone’s surprise, the dragon whirled around, its whipping tail only missing my ankles because of a fierce yank that dragged me out of the way, along with Killian.
The dragon trundled to the window and, with a smash of glass, threw itself out. For a second, I thought the old woman, now beast, had chosen to kill herself, but a moment later, she rose on extended leathery wings. She flapped off into the bright blue morning sky, a speck that grew smaller and smaller until she was gone.
I whirled on Killian. “I can’t believe that worked.”
“Me neither,” he admitted sheepishly.
Levi, however, didn’t seem as impressed. “What kind of foolhardy bullshit was that? You were told to run.”
“I am not the type to flee in the face of danger, especially when I’m the cause,” he stated.
“Do you know the fucking trouble that would have occurred had that dragon murdered you? And then, to add to your ill judgment, you almost got Cinder killed.” Levi shook with rage, and while his fists remained by his side, the tightly clenched fingers showed him barely in control.
I put a hand on his arm. “But everything worked out in the end. We’re uninjured, and the old woman wasn’t needlessly executed.”
Levi turned an icy glare on me. “There’s a dragon loose. I wouldn’t call that a good thing.”
Before I could reply, Gerome returned, long silver spear in hand. “Where did it go?” he exclaimed.
Hannah pointed to the broken window. “It flew away.”
“Bummer.” The Knight looked utterly dejected.
Killian, however, clapped his hands. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some breakfast after that excitement. Since this one is ruined, I say we find that greasy diner and stuff ourselves with bacon and pancakes.”
“You can’t be serious?” Levi ogled him.
“Well, we can’t exactly stay here. The room is a mess, which means we’ll need to relocate. The question being, where? I, for one, can’t plan on an empty stomach, so what do you say, my fake fiancée?” Killian turned an engaging smile on me. “Shall we dine?” He offered me the crook of his elbow.
Despite Levi’s simmering annoyance, I looped my arm through Killian’s and chirped, “Lead the way, fair prince.”
12
We crowded around a table at the greasy spoon down the street from the hotel. We’d snuck out through the back once more, with the prince wearing a baseball cap and a tie-dyed T-shirt that swirled enough to make anyone staring too long dizzy.
The vinyl-covered booths weren’t meant for large men. I got jammed on one side with Levi—thigh to thigh—while Killian sat across with Hannah. Gerome leaned against the counter, while the other Knights roamed around the block, watching for trouble. It hadn’t taken much to convince the patrons to leave. Levi’s glare sent them scattering, although as each person exited, Hannah mollified them somewhat by handing them hundred-dollar bills for their trouble. The owner had been more than happy to accommodate with the wad of cash thrust her way.
We had the place to ourselves but not a great view since Levi insisted we sit far from the window.
The food emerged quickly and copiously, with Levi tasting everything I loaded onto my plate while Gerome did the same for Killian. Which led to Hannah scowling. “I’m perfectly capable of testing his food.” To which Gerome muttered, “Your taste buds can’t tell good from bad.”
“Are you still going to harp on that damned cake?” Hannah huffed. “It was my first time baking. How was I supposed to know the container with white powdery shit was salt and not sugar?”
“I rest my case.” Gerome moved back to the counter after he’d taken a bite of everything and not croaked from poison.
We ate for a bit before Killian broke the sound of chewing to say, “One good thing that emerged from this morning. I think we’ve found a solution to the Cinderella problem at the upcoming ball.”
My fork paused midway to my mouth as Levi asked softly, “How do you figure?”
“The old woman backed down when I declared Cinder as my intended.”
“And if she hadn’t? Cinder would have been dead.” Levi’s flat reply.