Oath of Betrayal: An Epic Romantic Fantasy (The Broken Bonds: Slavic Fantasy Book 1) by Olena Nikitin

Author:Olena Nikitin [Nikitin, Olena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Viper Dawn Press
Published: 2024-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

1. Tie her!

As soon as I left Ihrain at the capital, I had told Vahin to take us to my family’s residence. Now I was waiting patiently in my brother’s war room for Reynard to return from the court, wondering why the hell he’d called me this time.

I’d wanted to spend some time with Ani just to reassure myself she was settling in. But between the patrols, managing the fortress, and flying between the capital and the other two dragon rider strongholds, I’d barely had time for this.

That the burning need to see her now distracted me from my duties was disconcerting. Why does it even matter? She’s not for me. The Dagome court’s betrayal of our people stripped me of what little choice I had.

I looked at the map in front of me. The Dagome Kingdom was the closest to the Barren Lands and would likely take the brunt of any attack. Even with Care’etavos and Lumivitae—the dark fae empire and light fae kingdom, respectively—supporting us, most of the fight would happen on our soil, and that was always disastrous for the innocent.

Still, I had Annika; and if she could use Alaric’s necromancy in a similar way to her use of Vahin’s fire … Even if it was an untested theory, the possibilities it opened up made the decision to pursue my own desires feel not only selfish but borderline treasonous.

If I could only move the fight to the Barren Lands, no one except the Lich King’s forces would suffer. I thought, but it was easier said than done.

The dragons could fly at will, and with Annika on Vahin’s back, we could go much further than skimming the borders. Once we gained a foothold, we could set up a permanent camp to secure the ground forces’ arrival; and if other commanders could do the same or join ours, we could encircle Katrass and possibly even take the Lich King’s capital. I moved the pins that represented my dragon squadron into the Barren Lands territory before realising the problem. We had three fortresses and only one conduit mage bound to a dragon.

‘Vahin? How likely is it for a dragon to bond with a conduit mage if we find more?’ I didn’t need to wait long for an answer.

‘I can tell you it is nearly impossible. The danger of dying if the bond is not accepted is not a small one. How many mages and dragons do you know who would accept such a risk?’

‘Why did you accept her?’

‘Do you remember when we rescued her from the avalanche? I didn’t have to search the rockfall; the inferno of her soul called out to me. The way dragons see aether … there are no human words to describe it. My race was born from the primal power that shaped this world, and when I saw her spirit—so similar, so bright and pure—I wanted to have it. I craved for it to be mine.’

There was so much possessiveness in his voice that a

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