For kings and queens, their hunger wide,

Would trade all love to mount and ride.

They scorn the bond, they steal by night,

To claim the sky through wrongful right.

Ryuki

When a Queen calls, the dragons come. All of them.

As we fly toward the castle where the golden egg was taken, the setting sun glints off silver, bronze, red, blue, and green. And at the very front, it shimmers off our golden queen.

While I can't hear Ylys, all the dragons can speak to each other. I don't have to have a mind link with the queen to know that she's furious. I can feel it rolling off her in waves. Her fury is flaming the rage in the rest of the Thunder.

We're in flight formation, a typical V-formation which I thought was because they are winged animals. However, Bynjym brought to my attention that it's about their numbers not because they can fly. Ylys is in front, by herself, followed by the silver dragons, then the bronze dragons, then blue, red, and finally, greens.

There are only four silver dragons, and I am the only rider of a silver. There is a bronze rider, two red, two blue, and three green riders. That's all of us, nine riders. That's how selective the dragons are about who they will bond their lives to. It makes me even more proud to know that I was not only worthy of being a dragon rider, but worthy of being a rider to a silver dragon.

It makes what these royals are doing that much more infuriating. They think they can force a bond between themselves and a dragon. The dragon chooses the rider, not the other way around. You don't get to decide to become a dragonrider. If the dragon doesn't choose you, and you try to force them into a bond, they'll kill you.

If we weren't talking about fledgling dragons, it wouldn't be a problem. But young dragons can't fly right away. They need to strengthen their wings, and they eat constantly so they can support their speedy growth. Even Bynjym, who is five and a fully mature dragon, still eats a lot. Fledglings require care that a human who isn't bonded to a dragon would know nothing about.

As we race toward the castle, I pull my bow over my shoulder. As a rider, I always carry a bow and arrows. We never know when we might be attacked by royals, have to fight to protect a young dragon, or like now, have to attack to get our dragon egg back.

I can see the soldiers running across the ramparts, getting into position. The arrows that the soldiers shoot at the dragons only hurt if they slice through their wings, or hit them in a sensitive spot, like their eyes. It's the harpoons that we have to be careful of.

We are high in the sky and Ylys slows so we can look down at the castle. Because I can hear Bynjym, I know the dragons are planning an attack strategy. I don't want to interrupt him to ask what it is. I trust my dragon and I know from our battles in the last year that he is an excellent flyer. He's fast and agile in the air. We've spent thousands of hours working to strengthen my leg muscles so I can stay on his back while he dodges and twists in the flight. The stronger I am, the stronger my dragon is. If he's not protecting me, or catching me in the air, he can focus on what's important – finding the stolen egg.

Ylys screams a battle cry a moment before she dives. The rest of the Thunder follows behind her, answering her call to fight.

I lock my legs around Bynjym's body, leaning back as I nock an arrow. All of the dragons have tucked their wings and are barreling straight toward the castle.

I find my target, a person manning a harpoon, and I release my arrow, just as Bynjym extends his wings and blasts the soldiers with fire.

I hear a harpoon launch and Bynjym banks a hard left. I nock another arrow and aim at one of the soldiers on the rampart. There may only be nine riders in our group, but our dragons can all breathe fire.

I watch as several soldiers fall off the top of the castle walls in a fiery blaze, screaming until they hit the ground.

The soldiers have their own formation, but having a Thunder of dragons blasting fire at you causes chaos. There are screams of agony and smoke begins billowing around the ramparts, impeding their view.

I hear what sounds like a rock slide slamming to the ground. As Bynjym turns on his wing again, I see Ylys in the center of the fortress. She's landed and is shooting flames in every direction.

"PROTECT OUR QUEEN!" Bynjym bellows in the link.

The silver dragons all take a side and begin circling the ramparts, shooting fire over the soldiers who begin scurrying to get away.

As Bynjym turns to circle another side of the castle, I see one of the riders, Soma, free-falling in the air. Her dragon, Tyffyn, dives underneath her, catching her easily before lifting up in the sky.

I hear Bynjym rumbling unhappily. Tyffyn and Soma are our most recently bonded pair. They need more training. Soma can't fall off her dragon like that. Our focus needs to be proteicting Ylys and finding the egg.

I nock another arrow and let it fly, just as Bynjym turns another corner.

"BYNJYM!" I yell, watching as the harpoon turns toward Ylys.

Bynjym screams angrily and a bronze dragon, Vyctyr, who is closest to the turret where the harpoon is located, flies down, snatching the soldier manning the harpoon into his mouth and swallowing him whole. I know from experience that the dragon will vomit up the steal of the soldier's uniform later.

Another soldier races to the harpoon. I nock an arrow and just as I release it, Bynjym blows fire over the harpoon and the soldiers surrounding it. I hear their screams of agony, but I ignore it. Their king brought this on them. Not only did they steal a queen egg, but they killed one of our last remaining queens.

Suddenly, Ylys lifts into the air, screaming for the others to follow her.

'What's going on, Byn?' I ask as the silvers surround their queen while her giant wings pump air and lift her higher into the sky.

'The egg is on the move,' he says.

'The egg is on the move? What does that mean?' I ask.

'Someone has our queen. They are trying to escape with our egg,' he growls.

As Bynjym and the others take off in the direction where they can feel their future queen, I turn and look back at the castle. There are fires burning everywhere. However, there are still too many soldiers alive, running to put out the fires.

That means we'll most likely have to fight this group again.

Yet midst these lords who seek to reign,

One soul stands silent in her pain.

She walks in silk and royal thread,

But moonlight masks the life she's led.

Skylar

The moment my father raced off, I went straight to my bedroom. In the very back of my closet, I have the dark cloak that I wear when I steal eggs and sneak out of the castle. I quickly change out of my high heels and into shoes I can run in, and then put the cloak over me.

As I make my way back to the egg, I'm thankful that everyone is either panicking or rushing to fight. In my cloak, no one pays me any attention.

I can hear the roaring of multiple dragons outside, feel it in the shaking of the concrete walls of the castle, and smell it in the dust and debris that shakes loose as the walls quiver, fighting to maintain their position while the dragons roar threatens to bring them down.

The moment I'm back at the dragon egg, I wrap the long silk scarf I brought around my neck, tying in in a knot and letting it hang to my waist. I throw the switch to turn off the trigger, but with so much noise going on around the castle, I can't tell if it turned off or not.

I look up at the flame thrower as I reach out for the egg. Sending up a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening, I slowly move the egg off the trigger. As soon as it's on the edge of the nest, I lift it, finally taking a breath now that the flame thrower didn't burn me alive.

I tuck the egg into my silk scarf, flip the switch for the trigger again, then rush out the door.

Unlike my father, I take a moment to close the door, but without the key, that's all I can do. Rather than heading back to the main area of the castle, I head to the farthest reaches of the castle.

Very few people come this way. There are no bedrooms, no meeting rooms, and no dining halls. This area is reserved for space as my father or I deem necessary, like hiding dragon eggs.

I keep one arm around the heavy egg as I make my way through the castle's corridors, listening to the sounds of the angry dragons above me.

Once again, I swear I feel the dragon in the egg move.

"Hey, little one. Do me a favor and don't hatch yet. I need you to wait until you're back with your kind. Just hang on a little bit longer," I say, rubbing my hand against the egg in what I hope is a soothing gesture.

I've just reached the end of another long hallway when it feels like the earth shakes around me. I hear another angry bellow of a dragon and several others screeching.

When I open the door to exit the castle walls, I stop. I am bombarded with the sound of warriors screaming in fear and in pain. Just before I take a step, a soldier smashes to the ground in front of me. He has literally been burnt to a crisp. His body is still smoking, and the smell of his scorched flesh makes me want to vomit.

I swallow the bile in my throat and turn away from the body. There's nothing I can do for him now.

Because this egg is so heavy, I can't run, but I move as fast as I can through the forest.

Our castle is on a hill, but the best place for me to leave this egg is higher up in the mountains. So, I make my way to a small pathway and I begin to climb.

"Geez, dragon, could you be any heavier?" I grumble as I walk up the steep incline carrying twice my weight.

When I come to an area where I can look to see what's going on at the castle, I'm shocked. There is fire everywhere. It looks like the entire castle is on fire and as I watch, I see a beautiful golden dragon lift up out of the castle's courtyard.

"Shit!" I exclaim. They've probably realized that I have the egg and I've left the castle. I need to drop the little egg off and then get back before my father realizes that I'm gone.

I begin moving faster, using my hands and legs to run up the steep incline of the mountain.

When I get to the top, I race through the forest to an area where I know there is an opening.

I've barely stumbled ten feet into the clearing when I feel the earth shake around me again. This time, however, it seems as if the entire world has suddenly been covered in gold. Even in the dark her body shimmers in the moonlight.

I stop, forcing myself not to scream, run, or lose my bowels, all things my mind and body want to do at this moment. I try to control my heartrate and my breathing. When that doesn't work, I pull the heavy egg out of the improvisional carrier I made from my scarf and, keeping my head bowed in deference, I extend the egg to the golden queen in front of me.

All around me, dragons begin landing. The space here isn't meant for so many large animals and it feels suffocating.

I feel the queen's snout touch the top of my head. She takes a deep breath, making me feel lightheaded and strange. Then I feel the heat of her breath as she exhales.

'What is your name?'

My head snaps up quickly, unsure of who was speaking to me.

I can't see anything past this huge dragon.

"Skylar," I answer, not sure who I'm answering.

'Why are you running away with a queen egg, Skylar?' the voice says. It's a female's voice, but it has an eerily ethereal quality to it.

"I was trying to bring it back to the dragons," I say.

It's quiet a moment and my arms begin to shake with weight of the egg.

"Please, I need to put the egg down," I say. "It's too heavy for me to hold."

The queen reaches out and takes the egg from my hands. As soon as the weight is lifted, I drop my arms at my side, but I don't look up. I continue to leave my head bowed in deference to her station as queen.

"She helped me, My Queen. She's the one who rescued my egg," I hear a higher pitched voice say.

I glance to the side and see a red dragon. She leans over and sniffs me, just like the gold did. Once again, I feel dizzy and I'm pretty sure I sway on my feet.

"She is the one who rescued me, as well, My Queen."

I turn to where I think I heard the voice, but standing there is a bronze dragon.

"So, this isn't the first egg that you're returned to us, Skylar?" the first voice says.

"No. I don't agree with the practice of stealing eggs from a mother. When I can, I return them to the dragons," I say.

"What would you say if I told you they killed this dragon's mother in order to steal her," the voice says.

For a moment, I forget my fear, the horror of what I just heard making me act without thought. I look up into the golden eyes of the queen dragon.

"They killed a queen?" I ask, appalled.

"That upsets you?" the voice says.

"Of course it does! She was a queen. They are so rare."

"There are only two of us now," the voice says.

"Wait ... I can hear you?"

"It appears so."

"I ..." how do you apologize to a dragon for what your father and the other royals have done to them? "I'm sorry."

"You are not to blame. According to Syphy and Yttyc, you rescued them after they were captured. You are, quite likely, the only reason they aren't being held captive in horrible conditions or possibly dead at the hands of incompetent humans.

I stand up straighter and realize that I'm not only surrounded by dragons on the ground, I'm surrounded by some in the sky as well. Of those in the sky, some actually have riders.

I've heard of dragon riders, people who are chosen by the dragons. I wonder if these riders were all chosen by their dragons. I push that thought away and look at the red dragon.

"Syphy? That's you?"

'Yes, human. I am Syphy.'

"I'm glad you're safe and that you didn't come to any harm because your egg was stolen," I say, then turn to the bronze. "And you are Yttyc?"

"Yes, human," a much deeper voice says.

"I'm glad you are safe as well. I'm glad my efforts weren't for nothing."

I turn back and face the queen.

"I am Ylys," she says.

"Queen Ylys, it's nice to meet you. Will the egg be okay, even though the mother is gone?" I ask, worried about the little dragon. "I think she's ready to hatch. I could feel her moving around in the egg."

The dragons around me all begin making a deep rumbling sound. I have no idea if that's good or bad.

Ylys lowers her head so her eye is at my level.

"I will be interested to see what happens with you, human. But no, this egg is not ready to hatch just yet."

She carefully takes the egg in her claws and looks at the other dragons.

"The human lives," she says and then lifts into the air, carrying the dragon egg with her.

The others lift off behind her. I notice the dragon riders watching me, but I ignore them.

I need to get back to the castle quickly so my father doesn't know that I was gone.

Lo, Skylar named, of royal seed, 

Born a crown of ruthless deed.

Her sire, Augustus, he is cold,

He hunts the eggs to find the gold. 

Ryuki

'You want to tell me what just happened?' I ask Bynjym testily as we fly away from the woman who returned the egg to Ylys.

'We got our queen back. I thought that was obvious,' he says, just as testily.

I know my dragon understands what I'm asking. He's always in my mind. The moment that woman said she could hear Ylys, I knew something was wrong. Ylys wasn't acting like Bynjym did when we bonded. So, this woman, this dragon thief, can hear not just one dragon, but three dragons without being bonded to one? How is that possible?

'She can hear all of us,' Bynjym says softly, as if it will lessen the betrayal of knowing that someone else can hear the dragon who is bonded to me, the dragon that only I should be able to hear.

'It is not a betrayal,' he says.

'You are MY dragon, Bynjym. You bonded with me!' I insist.

'Of course, I am. A dragon can only bond themselves to one human in their lifetime. You know that if you die, I die. That's how the bonding process works. We've been over this, human.'

He always calls me human when he's trying to annoy me or he's irritated with me. Right now, he's irritated. Well, I'm more than irritated.

'What does this mean?'

'I don't know. Ylys doesn't know either, but she accepted that the human could hear her, so we will as well.'

I'm not sure if it makes me feel better or worse that Ylys doesn't know either.

'What was that about her feeling the queen moving in her egg. You seemed shocked, so did the other dragons.'

They'd all begun rumbling in surprise at her words.

'Dragon eggs are hard, harder than stone. Even if Skylar had dropped the egg ...'

'Skylar?' I growl. He's using her name?

'She wouldn't have broken it, even if she'd dropped it. Dragon eggs are made to withstand the growth of a dragon. They are not fragile like other animals' eggs," he continues, ignoring my outrage.

'And?' I ask, not following along with his train of thought.

'Stop being jealous and pay attention, Ryuki,' he says, finally losing his temper with me.

I rein in my frustration, and yes, my jealousy. It never occurred to me that someone could take my dragon from me.

'No one can, not even Sky ... not even that human. Like I said, I don't know what this is, but it's not something that breaks our bond.'

I sigh, taking a couple of deep breaths as Ylys begins her descent into her nesting grounds. I only know where they are because Bynjym has mated her in the past and he came to watch over his eggs and hatchlings. Dragons, even male dragons, are very protective of their young.

Usually, females will only let the father of their eggs approach while she's nesting. But it seems that Ylys is willing to allow the silver dragons to remain near and keep this little queen safe. I'm not sure if it's because the egg isn't hers, or if she's that worried about losing the last queen.

Her nesting area is at the highest point of a tall mountain. The area around her nest is covered in snow, but she blows fire onto her nest, melting the snow around it and heating the rocks before landing and setting the egg onto them.

The silver dragons take positions on the four corners surrounding her nest, acting as sentinels for their two remaining queens.

'Explain it to me again, Bynjym,' I say, forcing myself to remain calm.

Whatever is happening, it's very important. I need to understand it as best I can.

'Have you ever felt an animal move inside stone or a rock, Ryuki?'

'No.'

'Exactly. That human should not have been able to feel our queen inside her egg, especially since she's not ready to hatch.'

I watch as Ylys wraps her body around the egg, protecting it even further.

'What does Ylys think it means?' I ask.

He's quiet a moment.

'She thinks it means the human will become a queen rider,' he says, his voice part awe, part surprise.

'A queen rider? But you said there's never been a queen rider in the history of the dragons.'

'Exactly. That is why Ylys left her alive. Well, that and she is the one who returned Syphy and Yttyc to us in the past, and now she's returned our queen.'

I'd gathered that from the one-sided conversation I could hear. This isn't the first egg this woman has returned.

The silver dragons begin to hum softly, watching over the two dragons, one who is their current mate, and one who could become their mate in the future. Two of these silvers are Ylys' children and can't mate with her. Only Bynjym and Thyyd can mate with Ylys, and Ylys hasn't produced a golden egg in several years according to Bynjym.

It's why the dragons had trumpeted excitedly when Tymyr had laid a golden egg. But now, she's gone. The future of the dragons lies with this little egg in front of me and it seems that even before she's hatched, she's bonded to her human.

I slide off Bynjym's back, holding on to his wing so I don't miss the rock and begin falling off the mountain.

Bynjym snorts. Even if I did fall, I know my dragon would catch me.

'Talk to Soma. I've already talked to Tyffyn. They need more practice,' he says as I begin making my way to where the other dragons and riders are waiting. I don't think anyone will leave Ylys now, but she still won't allow the others to get too close to her or the egg, especially the other females.

That was something else that surprised me. Even though the dragons get along fine when they aren't nesting, females always worry that another female will steal their eggs. Even as a queen, Ylys would worry that a blue or a red would try to steal her eggs. I'm not sure I totally understand the reasoning behind it, but Bynjym and the other dragons accept it as truth, so I do as well. Perhaps in the past, a dragon like Ylys who can no longer produce a queen egg, would try to steal from the nest of another queen. I don't know and since Bynjym isn't inclined to ask Ylys, I'll probably never know.

I walk a couple of miles down the mountain to where the other dragons and riders have settled. As the rider of a silver, I've been given the position of leader of the riders. If another silver bonds to a human, I don't know what that will mean, maybe we'll both be leaders, but for now, I'm the leader.

"Soma ..." I begin as I walk into the area where the riders are making camp for the night, confirming my suspicions that the dragons are going to stay and add another level of protection for their queens.

"I know. Bynjym already talked to Tyffyn."

"And now I'm talking to you as Tyffyn's rider. You put yourself, your dragon, and the entire thunder at risk when you can't stay seated on your dragon. Practice, three hours a day, every day, until you can keep your seat," I say.

"Yes, Ryuki."

"Okay, I have a question. Am I the only one who heard that woman talking to Ylys, Syphy, and Yttyc?"

"Did you ask Jyshy if he could speak to her, Shao?" I ask. Jyshy is a bronze, which makes Shao second in command.

All the riders stare at me, and I see several dragon heads turn in our direction as their riders ask them.

"What the hell?" Mara, a red rider, exclaims. "She can hear ALL of them. Did Bynjym say that, too?"

"Yes," I say, sitting down around the fire.

"What does that mean?" Aris, a green rider, asks.

"According to Bynjym, they don't know, not even Ylys knows. He swore that it won't impact our bonds though," I tell them.

"That's what Jyshy said, too," Shao says.

"What did Bynjym say Ylys thinks this is?" Carme, a blue rider, asks.

"Did you catch the part about the woman feeling the queen moving in the egg?" I ask.

"Yes. Jyshy said she shouldn't have been able to feel a dragon moving inside its egg," Shao says.

"Right," I say, looking at the others. "Ylys thinks the woman might be a queen rider."

"I didn't think there was such a thing as a queen rider," Dion, a green rider, says.

"There never has been, not according to Bynjym," I tell them.

"So, we may have the first ever queen rider, who can talk to all the dragons, and feel a dragon moving in it's egg when she shouldn't be able to, and none of the dragons know what this means?" Elina, a blue rider, asks.

"Pretty much," I say.

However, I do know one thing for sure. If I'm the leader of the riders because I bonded with a silver dragon, then that woman, if she bonds with a queen, will outrank me and become the leader of the riders.

That, more than anything, makes me nervous. We know nothing about her. We don't know what kind of person she is, or if she's a good leader.

'They didn't know that about you either,' Bynjym says.

I turn and look in the direction where my dragon is guarding the queens.

'A dragon always knows. You were a good leader because you were worthy of being my rider. She will be a good leader if she is worthy of being a queen rider.'

I wish I felt the same certainty as my dragon.