Kindle the Flame (Heart of a Dragon Book 1) by Tamara Shoemaker

relief flashed across her face, and Cedric suddenly understood that she had been afraid he would steal the horses. Not a bad idea, actually, now that he thought of it. He would get much farther much faster if he did.
    But he was no thief. Shaya had taught him that truth and honor would conquer in the end, even if it sometimes seemed that lies and injustice were the traits that rose to the top.
    “It's like chaff, Cedric,” Shaya's gentle voice had explained as she'd smoothed his hair one evening before a glowing fire. “Chaff is light. It rises to the top of the harvest, gets caught in the wind and blown away. The real meat stays below, held there by its abundant weight of goodness. Do not be impatient, my son, when you fight to see the light. It will come in its own good time.”
    How he missed her.
    The girl relinquished the tray into his hands. He tore into the cold chicken and brown bread, half forgetting to chew as he filled his starved stomach. The girl watched him in silence, sliding to a sitting position against the barn wall, her arms wrapped around her knees.
    Cedric made quick work of what was on his plate before sipping from his tumbler, his stomach pleasantly appeased. He peered at the girl over the rim of the cup.
    “Where did you go tonight?”
    Surprise flickered across her face. “Out.”
    “Your parents were upset.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that?”
    “I heard them. So did you have any harrowing adventures?” His fingernail scraped a piece of chicken wedged between his teeth.
    She frowned. “I really don't think that's any of your business.”
    “No, but it does make me curious. You've got an ugly scrape down the side of your cheek that doesn't look like it came from that horse.”
    The girl traced her cheek with a finger, a blush flooding her face. She stood. “If you're quite done, I'll take the tray back now, and be off with you.”
    Cedric glanced regretfully at the piles of warm straw around him and rose. He straightened to his full height and bowed, his arms stiff at his side. “I do appreciate the use of your barn for my bed for one night, as well as the food you were kind enough to spare me.”
    She stared at him, and Cedric was confused. Shaya had spoken to him about the proper way to interact with people of like kind, but she seemed surprised. He mentally shrugged it off and turned for the door.
    “Thank your parents for me, as well, though they don't know that I'm indebted to them.”
    She nodded once, and Cedric stepped out into the gray light of predawn. The chill hit his bare skin, and he made a mental note to kill a goat or deer before long so he could fashion a mantle from its hide.
----
    I t took another two weeks of walking before he saw signs of a denser population. Here, the homes weren't just feeble structures along the ground. There were stairs that led to houses on top of houses, and other houses on top of those. The grass had no chance to grow in the streets; too many people crossed the dirt ways, narrowly avoiding each other, several even brushing against Cedric as they passed.
    Cedric had never been close to anyone before except Shaya, and as he turned his head to take in everything, his temples pounded with sharp jolts of pain shooting to the backs of his eyes. He pressed his hands over his face, anxious for some relief. But none came. Only more noise and bustle and people pushing and shoving to get to where they needed to be.
    They were everywhere, hanging from the open windows of the stacked houses, lining the paths. Several of them had long sticks in their mouths, out of which curled a ribbon of smoke from the bowled end. Children ran, babies screamed, horses clopped past pushing people out of the way.
    Was this what Shaya had wanted for him? To find his people?
    No, he didn't belong here. Not in this prison. Not with this mass of humanity surrounding him.
    Shouts behind Cedric turned him. Six horses coated in the red and gold markings of West