Chapter 26
Becky
“I don’t see why I’m getting the silent treatment when you all went along with the idea. Including you, squirt.” Blade bumped Lyssa with his elbow, maintaining the reins as Fluffy soared above the clouds, out of view from the Valiant Guard or any King Benedict loyalists.
“Because I told you not to,” Becky gritted out, unable to look at him without her blood pressure spiking. “I knew Evie wouldn’t approve, and you went behind her back! You used what I told you against her. How could you do that?” she seethed, and Blade stared. “There! Better than silence?”
“Would you think me sick in the head if I said yes?” Blade asked seriously.
She groaned, head tilted up toward the sun, begging for aid from the gods so she would not throw this man she somehow loved over the side.
“In all fairness, Rebecka, it was me who pushed for it,” Tatianna chimed in.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m also mad at you.” She huffed, folding her arms.
“Wonderful!” Tatianna replied brightly, leaning her head on Clare’s shoulder.
“Are you mad at me?” Lyssa asked curiously. “And Blossom?” She held up the small clear enclosure with Lord Walter inside, and Rebecka groaned.
“Yes. I cared so much less about things before you showed up. Now look at me.” Frantic and worried about a ten-year-old girl. “And, Lyssa, you cannot keep calling a lord of the realm ‘Blossom.’”
What madness was her world descending into?
“But he’s not a lord of the realm anymore. He’s a snail.” Lyssa patted her arm, explaining this slowly, then quickly pulled away when a low growl worked its way out of Becky’s throat. “Oh dear.”
They landed as quietly as Fluffy could manage, and the beautiful animal nuzzled his large head into Becky’s neck when she dismounted. “I’m not mad at you; don’t worry.” She patted his scaly snout with the tenderhearted feelings she’d always had for dragons.
And, foolishly, their trainers.
The dragon chuffed, as if to say, Obviously. I’ve never done anything wrong.
“I’ll unhook the net cage and rig it to those hooks I put up there this morning.” Blade motioned for Becky to look, and when her eyes flickered over it, she was begrudgingly impressed with the ingenuity.
After their discovery of the eggs by the impromptu flight with the male guvre, Becky and Blade had confided in the Malevolent Guards.
There had been discussions on the merits of moving the eggs to a more convenient location, such as the manor.
But ultimately, they’d decided they’d fiddled with nature enough.
And the mother would remember where she’d left her babies. Of that, Rebecka was certain.
“How will I know how to make the eggs viable?” Lyssa asked, staring at the nest ahead.
“I have no clue,” Blade said, and Becky’s ire sparked anew.
“You brought her all the way out here. You better have some clue, or it’s going to be a nice long walk back to the manor.” Becky narrowed her eyes, but Blade only appeared amused by her anger, like he was enjoying it. “You’re provoking me on purpose.”
“I promise you it’s not difficult,” Blade responded, laughing when she shoved at him with a grumble, then took her position behind the large oak tree’s branches.
It was her job to be prepared to grab Lyssa before the net cage closed, lest she be trapped with the furious creatures whose breath could melt metal.
Evie never would have agreed to this plan if she knew. It made Becky angrier, thinking of how she’d feel if someone did this with her little brother. Furious. Resentful. Scared.
Becky had worked for a villain for the past few years of her life—she was no stranger to necessary evils. She just violently hated them.
“Lyssa, starlight is a more complicated type of magic,” Tatianna explained, walking the little girl toward the abandoned nest and kneeling beside it. “It’s said to have been gifted from the stars themselves. It’s very, very rare.”
“How many sorts of magic are there?” Lyssa asked, peering down at the eggs in hushed awe.
“Many,” Clare answered, moving to sit on Lyssa’s other side. “Healing, death, protection, flight. The list goes on and on. But all magic awakens from a similar driving force.”
“Trauma.” Blade clicked his tongue, adjusting Fluffy’s saddle and urging the animal behind the brush to blend in with the trees, away from the guvres’ eyes.
“A traumatic event, yes. But not everyone has magic sleeping within them. If something like that happens, it wakes up to protect you.” Tatianna held out her yellow-glowing hands and, not for the first time, Rebecka wondered if she should be using hers.
But there was no need. Plants responded to her the same way they did to Renna Fortis, her mother, and before that, to her grandmother. It wasn’t useful in combat, nor could it heal. It was a power to be utilized best at the Fortis Family Fortress. Or for one’s own enjoyment.
Rebecka could find the same joy from color-coding the filing cabinet.
Still, the magic vibrating in her muscles reminded her it was there, waiting.
“With my own magic, I must think of something warm in order to use it, something that makes me feel safe. It’s how I’m able to heal others,” Tatianna said.
“And I think of laughter. The sort where you can’t stop even if you tried. It’s how I imbue the inks and other magical objects,” Clare explained with a smile. “And your starlight, little one, will be summoned by something only you know to look for.”
Lyssa frowned, playing with her fingers before holding them out over the eggs. “I bet I know what to think of.”
“Well, most don’t get it on the first try,” Tatianna soothed. “It can take days, but we have a little time before—”
Lyssa’s hands glowed in the silvery white light, and she let them hover over the eggs with a smug expression.
“Never mind. Everyone else just sucks at it, apparently,” Clare relented, moving to sit on her bum. “If you can hold the magic outside your body, think of what starlight can do. Heal, create—”
“Sparkle,” Lyssa whispered under her breath.
“Ah yes, the most important,” Blade whispered to Becky, who laughed before she could remember that she was mad.
She shuttered her expression. “I was laughing because you’re a buffoon.”
“I’ll be sure to continue if that is my reward.” Blade blinked at her innocently.
“Blade, you’re meant to be keeping watch for the guvres.” Tatianna pointed to an open clearing with a clear view of the sky. “Hop to it, dragon boy.”
Blade chuckled good-naturedly, turning on the balls of his feet to stand sentry for them.
And Rebecka realized that if anything went wrong… No. Nothing would go wrong. Everything would be fine.
Still, just in case…she turned Blade around and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
“Be careful,” she said, “and do not die. Or I will be very displeased with you.”
The smile on his face glowed as brightly as Lyssa’s hands as he saluted her, then turned back around.
The two eggs continued to glimmer underneath Lyssa’s hands, now beginning to roll back and forth within the nest, clanking against each other, the faded rainbow scales on them so similar to the male guvre’s skin.
They listened for the rustle of wings for several minutes before Lyssa spoke. “How long is this going to take, do you think?”
“Have an appointment to keep?” Becky asked from the other side of the oak tree.
“Yes, it’s Tuesday. Lord Trystan and I have our tea party on Tuesdays.” The little girl was dead serious, and Rebecka laughed again. The act wasn’t as unpleasant as it once had been.
“It could take hours, Lyssa, but we won’t stay long past nightfall. And if you’re tired or at all uncomfortable, we’ll return at once and try again tomorrow,” Tatianna offered kindly.
More silence followed, Lyssa’s hands growing even brighter.
And then—
A crack.