House of Dragons: Royal Houses Book One

a small flame appeared in her hand. She cupped the remaining page. The fire burned it down to ashes. As if it had never been.
“Kerrigan,” Mistress Cressida said.
She whipped around as if she had been doing something wrong. “Yes?”
“Fordham passed through to the tournament. I am going to escort him. He is the last. You can return to the House of Dragons.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Mistress Cressida nodded at her and then continued down the hallway.
Kerrigan was alone once more.
She stepped out into the empty hallway. The sounds of Cressida’s footsteps echoed faintly. Kerrigan knew that she should return to the Dragon Blessed, as she had been told to do. She was already in enough trouble as it was. She had to clean up after the dragons for a week, and she was assigned to Fordham… who had just been allowed to enter the tournament.
At least, in a week’s time, she would be through her ceremony and be part of a tribe. She would get to watch the rest of the tournament from the safety of the crowd. She wouldn’t get in trouble for not being there to help with preparations. She’d be just a normal member of society once more.
Still, she didn’t go back.
Her eyes flicked to the testing door.
What was behind it? No one knew all the secrets of the tournament. Her curiosity was like a living, breathing thing inside of her. What would happen if she just took one peek? No one would know. It wasn’t like they would ever let her compete anyway. Only full-blooded Fae could enter the tournament unless they had a Society sponsor… and even then, with the way things were now, she couldn’t imagine anyone ever allowing a human or half-Fae in again.
Kerrigan stepped up to the door. She looked left and right to make sure she was truly alone.
Then, she opened it and walked through.

6
The Testing
Kerrigan stepped into darkness.
The door swung shut behind her. She lunged for the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. It had locked itself.
Scales, what had she gotten herself into?
There had to be another way out. Just because the competitors all went in and out of one door didn’t mean there wasn’t another way to access it. She’d learned that on dozens of occasions while she snuck through the mountain with Lyam at her side. Always Lyam finding new and more dangerous ways around. Darby and Hadrian coming up in the rear after they scoped ahead. That had been a long time ago. But it didn’t change the circumstances now.
She’d gotten herself into this mess. She could get herself out of it.
She snapped her fingers to conjure another small flame and shrieked. She jumped back, the flame going out.
There was something else in here.
Hello, Kerrigan of the House of Dragons.
Kerrigan shuddered. Her heart thundered in her chest at the voice speaking directly into her mind. A dragon. It was just a dragon.
She released her clenched fists and straightened. “Hello?”
It came out more of a question than anything.
Are you here for testing, child?
“I…”
Was she?
She had just wanted to see what was inside. She wasn’t eligible for testing. The Society had rules for the dragon tournament. One, a competitor must be eighteen years or older. Kerrigan had only just turned seventeen, but still. Two, a competitor must be a member of a tribe. In a week, she would be but not today. Three, a competitor must be sponsored. Yeah, she had a lot of doubts that anyone would want a half-Fae competing for a dragon. Especially considering the unspoken rule—Fae only.
I have not known you to be quiet, Kerrigan Argon.
She trembled at the use of her full name. Very few people knew her father was Kivrin Argon. Her other Dragon Blessed friends, of course. You couldn’t be friends with someone for longer than a decade without revealing your heritage. But outside of them and Helly, it was a closely guarded secret.
“Might I know who you are?” she squeaked.
Suddenly, the room filled with light. All of the bracketed torches ignited at once, and before her stood a great and towering beast. He was easily the size of a house. His shimmering black-and-gray scales muted in the flickering light. His powerful jaw leveled with her face.
It took all her self-control not to scream again.
“Gelryn,” she breathed faintly. “Gelryn the Destroyer.”
Aye, young halfling. I am Gelryn of Roan and Fryldran, dragon bound to Master Mexes of Erewa. May his ashes replenish the Great Mother.
Halfling. Kerrigan tasted the word with disgust. She knew Gelryn didn’t mean anything by it. He was ancient. One of the oldest dragons in existence. Older even, considering his rider had perished and he had survived. She hadn’t heard of any other dragon that had lived through that. One typically meant the fall of the other.
“My apologies, Gelryn,” Kerrigan said evenly, slowing her breathing. “I was startled. I didn’t know what to expect.”
You are here for testing. I have been expecting you.
She jumped. “You have? But I’m not eighteen.”
The rules of man do not govern me.
He puffed his chest up, and heat radiated throughout the room. She saw him stretch up to his great height. She had seen Gelryn before but not like this. Here, she could see him, the slayer of the Great War. The dragon of nightmares who had razed villages and slain other dragons. The dragon of legends.
“Of course not. I just… didn’t expect…” She trailed off again. If he had been expecting her, then she was meant to be here. If she had learned anything from her visions, it was that there was a great force guiding her hand. A fate or destiny that led the world on its path. How else could she see the future? “Yes, I’m here for testing.”
Good. Touch my snout, and we will begin.
Kerrigan stepped forward. She had spent much of her life around dragons. She knew their mannerisms and what they found offensive. She didn’t think that she had ever touched a dragon’s snout. With the young ones, it was