Chapter 19

Maya, I’m so sorry,” Amber whispered.

“We never expected this to happen. Not in a million years,” Aurora said.

“No,” she agreed. “In fact, it hasn’t happened in the nearly thousand since the inception of the House of Dragons.”

“It’s bullshit,”Marc snapped, sharp as a whip.

That almost dragged a smile from her features.

“Marc,” Amber admonished.

“It’s true,” he cut right in. “The whole thing is beneath the House of Dragons and the Society. They should have never let that happen.”

“He’s right,” Aurora said softly. “I don’t know how it could have happened. You had already negotiated with Ellerby. He’d been your choice for months.”

“Yeah, and then he disappeared right before my turn came,” she told them.

Amber blinked in surprise. “He disappeared?”

“Yes. He just vanished. Left the room before he could pick me.”

“That’s odd.”

“Sabotage?” Marc questioned.

Maya shrugged. “Or a change of heart because of these.” She swept aside the braids in her hair and revealed her slightly pointed ears.

Am