Corrupted: An Epic Dragons and Immortals Romantic Fantasy (Fallen Emrys Chronicles Book 1) by E.E. Everly (motivational books for men txt) 📕

He squeezed the handle of his butter knife. Being expressionless wasn’t possible, not with all his flickers of muscle activity. He’d fail at his own game. What did his subtle movements show me? Anxiety? Irritation? No. Impatience, definitely. His eyes were bright.

Triumph, because I was looking at him and only him. Not in him.

“I can’t read a thing on your face,” I said.

One of his cheeks rounded into a lopsided smile. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. You’re more emrys than you thought.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There are two sides to the emrys coin. We sense everything, but we reveal nothing in our expressions. My father was good at that. He wore his cold, hard mask well.”

“Ah, but his cold, hard mask did show who he was, didn’t it?”

Curses. I didn’t know whom to be more frustrated at, my father for always displaying his stern unrelenting exterior or Caedryn for antagonizing me with his words. “I’ll concede if you’ll agree it’s impossible to hide emotion. Something is always evident.”

“So you did see something in my face.”

“Perhaps.”

“So which is it, Niawen? Are we looking at each other or in each other?”

“Why don’t you want me to discern you?” What are you hiding?

“We don’t have to know everything about each other all at once.”

I blew a hair out of my eye. “You’re making this request on purpose, to frustrate me.”

He laughed. “Frustrate you? I couldn’t tell.”

“Why are we even discussing how we should perceive each other? We’d never have this topic of conversation where I’m from.” I balled up my napkin, ready to rise.

“You’re not in Gorlassar anymore. The same rules don’t apply.”

I had enough of playing around. I threw the napkin beside my plate. “So that brings the question, where are the other emrys, or should I say, half-emrys? Where are you from? I assume you’re not Siana’s sole descendent.”

He sighed. “I’m not. They’re a desert away in my homeland, Morvith.”

That explained why I sensed no other light as brilliant as his in this region. The distance explained why I thought Siana was alone. I hadn’t bothered searching farther. “I don’t understand? Why are you here by yourself?”

Caedryn peered over a pair of invisible spectacles. “I’m exiled.”

“What? Why?” Exiled like me. I leaned against the velvet back of my chair, waiting for the story.

He busied himself by cutting a piece of ham. “I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“Why not?”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “You’ll think I’m a rogue.”

I looked at him with disbelief. No one was more rogue than I was.

He cracked a grin. “She likes a rogue. Well then, I shall tell you.”

I almost cringed over his assuming observation, but he wasn’t wrong. “You’re impossible.”

“Do you want to hear it or not?”

“Please, shock me.”

“As you wish. Siana has many descendants. One of those descendants rose to power. She was an awful wench. Cruel and callous. She murdered many people. So I tried to stop her.”

Caedryn spoke matter-of-factly, but my mouth dried as he mentioned murder. The lifeless and charred bodies of those men I’d struck swam in my mind. “Is she the one who exiled you?”

“Yes.” Caedryn’s voice broke, and his eyes darkened. “And she killed my dragon.”

I shot upright in my chair. “Your dragon!” I gulped. “She killed your dragon?” The room grew hazy.

Caedryn rose to his feet, pushing his chair back hastily. He dropped to one knee and gripped the arm of my chair. With one fingertip, he turned my face to his. The faintest red rimmed his eyes.

Sorrow behind them. The same sorrow I saw earlier.

“Easy. Breathe,” he said. “That was long ago. I know you can’t imagine the death of a dragon. Coming to grips with a blow like that took many centuries. I still have nightmares. I felt every one of Neifion’s agonizing pains and every rasp of his tortured breaths.”

“She severed your bond. And left you—”

“In misery. Only then did she exile me. I wouldn’t have survived the desert without the men loyal to me. The darkness that descended over me was unbearable. To have an eternal bond such as the one with my dragon taken… that was my real punishment. Not the exile. I couldn’t see straight. My men made sure I ate and drank, or I would have died. I would have crawled into the desert and let the carrion birds rip apart my still beating heart.”

“So you’ve made Islwyn your home. Away from everything!” I exclaimed.

“After my predecessor died, yes. Lord Rheinallt admired my skills, and he had no heir. His people welcomed me with open arms.”

“So other half-emrys live beyond the desert?”

“Thousands,” he said. “A whole country full.”

“And Siana?”

“She’s there, trying to control her unruly children.”

“And the woman who exiled you?” I asked.

“She rules. Still.”

“She makes no demands on you? She hasn’t challenged your leadership?” I was astounded.

“Listen to you with your questions. We’re worlds apart. What the empress does in her realm is no longer my concern. Saying this saddens me, but I don’t have the military strength to fight a country full of dragon riders.”

“So Nimue has posterity too?”

“She does,” he said.

I shook my head. “This is so much to take in. I can’t even fathom.” A country full of dragons—in the mortal world. My father would be outraged.

Caedryn stood. “Come. Stop your mind from wandering. Allow me to show you around my citadel.”

THIRTY-SEVEN

“So what do you think? Do you think you can make Islwyn your home?” Caedryn asked.

We had concluded the tour of the citadel and its grounds. Caedryn insinuated, with every turn, what a splendid place he had—that he had plenty of stores for the winter, that he had many men who served him. Rolant was a welcome place, for