18. Tempest
18
TEMPEST
“ O f course,” I said with a huff. “The fae deserve to be called wicked.”
“I can’t disagree.”
My friends dismounted from their dragons and started pacing around, stretching their legs.
Drask, who’d flown beside us for the last stretch, landed on my shoulder and slumped against my neck. My poor little guy was tired. He’d sleep tonight. We all would.
I’ll take the others to the aerie, Madrood said. Call for us in the morning.
What do you know about what Vexxion and I were talking about?
Do you think I can understand everything you fae say around me?
I assumed you did, I said.
If that was the case, there would be no need for hand or foot gestures, now would there? Trainers could verbally instruct us and if we chose, we’d do as they asked.
I snorted. If you chose.
We do as you command because we want to, not because we’re forced to.
Other than with Ivenrail, though I didn’t point that out.
I quickly shared Vexxion’s confirmation about Nullens being lesser fae and the Claiming.
I knew all that, he said. The dragons split as well, the lessers going with the Nullens—as they named themselves.
That must be why Seevar and those bred in Nullen territory were smaller.
My friends took their bags off the dragon’s spikes, and I used magic to place mine in the grass near theirs.
Everything’s tied together, isn’t it? I asked.
You’re clever. One day soon, you’ll sort it out, and then you’ll know what you must do.
What’s that?
He didn’t say anything.
What is it with dragons and riddles? I asked.
Which dragons have shared their obscure thoughts with you? He almost sounded shocked, though I doubted much surprised this ferocious dragon.
Iasar. Amronth.
He stilled, and I sensed a wall rising around his thoughts before he finally spoke. What do you know of the only remaining Eratis dragons ?
A lot and very little. I could play this game as well as anyone else.
Tell me.
I freed them from the front doors of Bledmire Castle.
Of course you did. Now, he sounded proud.
You’re not angry that I did it?
Who was angry that you freed dragons that never should’ve been bound? he asked.
I’m sure the king will be when he discovers what I’ve done. I understand he wanted something from them, but they refused to share it.
A spell of sorts.
What do you know about the riddle they told me?
Only that you’re the one who most needed to hear it. He shifted his claws on the ground. I need to take the others to the aerie. Dismount, please. Make your mate go with you.
I flitted off his back, and Vexxion did as well.
You didn’t tell me who was angry you freed the Eratis dragons, he said with an edge to his voice.
Vexxion.
Of course. With good reason.
And what might that be? I asked.
Iasar will kill him if he can.
What? I barked. I won’t allow him to do something like that.
Leave this between them. Do not get involved.
Despite his rejection, I love Vexxion. I won’t let anyone, and I mean anyone, hurt him.
As it should be between fated mates. Now go to the inn. Eat. Sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow .
I’d rather stay here with you and talk.
And I’d rather go to an aerie and rest my weary wings. He ruffled them, stretching them out far enough to touch the woods on either side of the meadow. I’m hungry enough to eat impertinent fae ladies like you.
I stroked his cheek and kissed his snout. You’d never eat me.
Are you sure about that?
My snort rang out, but I stepped away from him, watching his eyes like I used to do whenever I worked with a dragon. I found no sparks of irritation there, but you never knew how a beast might behave if you irked them.
Would you have told me any of this if I hadn’t asked? I asked.
Perhaps, he drawled. Perhaps not.
Could you tell me everything else I need to know?
No. Madrood’s gaze lifted toward the village nestled beyond the trees.
Seek a man named Prager, and he might be persuaded to tell you.
In the distance, people moved about, speaking in low voices. Madrood huffed, shooting sparks down my front I absently brushed away .
I’ll see you tomorrow, he said.
I’m sorry I keep pestering you.
He nudged me with his snout. You’re a good person. You’ll do the right thing when the time comes. Trust in that.
See you in the morning. My left thigh on fire, no longer conditioned to riding, I limped over to my waiting friends with a half-asleep Drask bobbing on my shoulder. If I thought he’d let me carry him like a baby, I would, but he’d squawked the last time I tried. He’d only let me hold him like that the day I found him injured.
The dragons took flight, leaving us staring after them.
I should’ve picked Madrood’s mind the entire time we flew here, not spent every second sulking at Vexxion, which had only fed my frustration.
Being with him was torture, but it would be worse if I wasn’t with him.
What if I couldn’t make him fall in love with me again? A vast wasteland without him stretched ahead of me. I’d taken our love for granted. I’d trusted it would always be there for as long as we lived. And now it had been plucked from his heart like a cancer that needed to be destroyed.
Reyla’s gaze flickered from me to Vexxion. The sympathy in her eyes gouged through me, making my chest spasm.
She put her arms around me and tugged me close, pressing her forehead against mine. “It’s going to be alright,” she whispered for my ears alone. “I know it. Trust and keep trying. You didn’t give up on me, and I know you’ll never give up on him. He’s waiting there, hoping to come back to you, like Brodine and I were when we were trapped in the ether.”
Pain swarmed through me, an angry nest of bees stinging every exposed surface. “Thanks for being here for me. For believing in me when I’m full of doubts.”
She backed up a step, giving me a smile. “There’s time yet. We’ve only started this journey.”
“Yup.”
“You’re good? ”
As good as I could be. Forcing a smile that would never match hers, I nodded.
She scanned the meadow.
The weight of Vexxion’s gaze remained on me.
Could I tease out the man I loved and bring him to the surface? He no longer wandered the ether—or part of him didn’t. Had some of his soul been lost there? If so, I’d search forever to find it.
My skills lay in dragon training, and I supposed, my newly awakened magic. I said what I thought, often to the dismay of those around me, and I more often than not acted before giving anything much thought. Could a woman like that woo the man she loved?
Despite being abandoned and left to raise myself, my heart lay wide open most of the time for everyone to see. Manipulation was more Vexxion’s thing than mine.
I was woefully unprepared for this battle.
“It’s not far to the inn,” Vexxion said, hefting our bags onto his shoulder. He pointed to the sparse woods on our left and started in that direction. “The path is this way.”
Reyla’s bag had come undone, and the top had split open to reveal what she’d packed inside. Ignoring my protesting leg, I stooped down and gathered the sides. I’d started to bind them back together when something in the gloomy interior snagged my attention.
A book?
Late-day sunlight pierced through the clouds, hitting my face and blinding me to what I thought I’d seen.
“Oh, thanks,” Reyla said in a breezy voice. She scooped up her bag and hugged it against her chest, her gaze seeking mine before it darted away.
As I straightened, she hurried to catch up with Vexxion.
Stumbling, I followed, trying to fathom what I’d seen.
Ember’s Shadow was inside Reyla’s bag.