The Ninth Saddle: A Dragon-Bond Romantasy

Sable Quint forged her enlistment papers for one reason: to discover who killed her brother.She never expected the dragon to choose her.Korrath has refused every rider for a year, grieving the man who died in his saddle. Now the old war-dragon chooses Sable.But his bond demands two riders. Two bodies in battle. Two minds laid bare. No secrets. Nowhere to hide.Her co-rider is Wing-Captain Veyr Castellan, the man the army calls the Widowmaker.Sable knows him by another name.The man who watched her brother die.Through the bond, Veyr will feel her hatred cooling and her fear sharpening. He will sense every doubt she buries and every secret she tries to protect.And when she lies about why she enlisted, he will feel the deception fracture through their shared mind like cracking iron.To uncover the truth behind her brother's death, Sable must trust a grieving dragon, survive the captain she despises and deceive the one man who can feel every lie she tells.No way out but through.Perfect for readers who came to dragon-rider romantasy for the bond, the war college and the enemies-to-lovers - and would rather have it without the spice.Enemies to lovers. Forced proximity. A grieving war-dragon who chooses badly. A shared mind neither rider can close. A revenge she cannot admit to, and the slow, unwelcome discovery that the man she blames may not be the man who did it.Slow burn. Closed door. No profanity.