Chapter 51
ARIEL
I awoke to a commotion of shouting and chaos.
Darkness swam in my vision as I opened my eyes, and I wondered just how long I’d been asleep. It took only a moment, though, to recognize where I was: in Hemming’s arms at the gates of Kaplyn’s estate. And crashing through the familiar mansion’s grand doors came the fae lord himself, fear twisting his beautiful features as he sped toward us.
“Is she all right?” he shouted as he launched himself over the gate toward his son. His gaze then turned to something outside my line of sight, and his brows furrowed. “Shayfer?”
“My apologies, Lord Kaplyn, but I must get Eldrien to the healer.”
I craned my neck in time to see Shayfer reach between the claws of an emerald green dragon and place his hand on the unconscious Minyade leader. They disappeared in a blink.
Kaplyn’s body stiffened as he edged closer to us, as though he could sense a threat that I could not. “I just want to see her,” he said in a placating tone. “Assess her injuries.”
“I can stand,” I said as I tried to wriggle free of Hemming’s hold.
“Ariel—”
“Please, Hemming,” I pleaded, “Just put me down. I have something I must say, and I’d rather say it standing on my own two feet.”
With reluctance, he did as I’d asked and gently helped me stand, though he braced me as I wavered. Kaplyn watched us like a hawk the whole time. Once steady, I took three careful steps toward him. He went still as a statue as I approached, hands tight at his sides.
We stood there in silence for a moment, staring at each other, as I tried to find the words I so desperately needed to say. “Kaplyn, I—” Thick emotions cut me off, and I struggled with what little energy I had remaining to force them out.
I never should have doubted you…
I regret how we left things…
I was wrong.
I’m sorry.
… I love you.
But those words wouldn’t come. Instead, I looked into his eyes as tears sprang forth from mine and whispered, “please forgive me.”
Every thread of tension in his face and body unraveled, and his arms reached out to wrap around me. “For what?” he asked as he rested his cheek gently atop my head. “You sweet, silly girl…there is nothing to forgive.”
I relaxed into his hold as my legs gave out, and he scooped me up in his arms like a child.
Then a low, warning growl ripped through the dawn.
Kaplyn hesitated for a second before he gently passed me to Hemming. “I am not a threat,” he said, using that same commanding tone I’d heard him use with the beast before. “Now get her inside.”
He led the way, running through the manicured yard and up the front steps with Hemming tight on his heels. As soon as they set foot in the building, I found Delphyne lingering in the hallway, clutching Sophitiya in front of her. The moment her eyes landed on me, she gasped, and Soph began to whimper.
“Ariel?” she called to me as Kaplyn and Hemming ran past.
I looked over Hemming’s shoulder at her tear-stained face. “Don’t worry, Soph. It’s going to be all right.” My response did nothing to stop her tears. Her sobs followed us all the way to my bedroom.
As we rounded the doorframe, I heard her little voice ask Delphyne, “will Ariel make it, Auntie?”
“Of course she will, my darling—she has to.”
Hemming kicked the door closed behind him and laid me down gently on the bed. What felt like an eternity later, the healer walked into the room in all his pale glory to loom over me. Flashbacks of Vesstan assaulted my mind, and my hand shot out to capture Hemming’s arm as he moved to make space for the healer.
“Don’t go,” I whispered to him.
He knelt down next to the bed with my hand in his and kissed it softly. “Never.”
“Do what you must,” Kaplyn ordered. His grim expression gave me little comfort.
In fairness, my state left room for concern.
I squeezed Hemming’s hand as the healer laid his upon me and waited for pain to overtake me. But this time, pain didn’t come. Instead, an overwhelming sense of calm and ease floated through me as he worked. And by the time he finished, my body was whole once again.
I turned to Hemming and smiled. “I cannot shake the feeling that we’ve been here before.”
He forced a smile in return, but his features were still taut with concern. “Except last time, I was in this bed wounded—and I much preferred that scenario to the current one.”
“That will be all, thank you,” Kaplyn said, dismissing the healer, who walked silently to the door and disappeared into the hall. With a heavy exhale, he made his way to the other side of the bed and sat down on its edge. “I…I do not know if I can put into words how terrified I have been these past few days. Not knowing where you were, or if you were alive.”
“I know,” I said, reaching my other hand to him.
“I don’t care about any of that now. I’m just glad you’re both here and safe.” He patted my hand, then lifted his eyes to meet mine, a sea of questions swimming in their depths.
There was so much to tell him; so much he needed to know. But I was too physically and emotionally exhausted to rehash it all, so I settled on the easiest answer that would sum it up. “I met Thallen…my grandfather.” Kaplyn’s eyes went wide as I leaned in closer. “I killed him.”
His head tipped back as he closed his eyes and let out a breath. “It’s finally over, then…” Without explanation, he patted my hand and rose to leave. “I have many questions regarding your adventure, but for now, I will give you two some time alone.” He looked at the door, his brow furrowed. “I have other concerns to address at the moment.” He rounded the bed to leave, but stopped next to Hemming, who rose to meet him. “I’m so glad you’ve returned, Hemming.”
The two stared at each other for a moment that seemed to drag on forever; then Kaplyn slipped out the door, closing it behind him.
Hemming climbed into the bed next to me and propped his elbow on the pillow to rest his head against his hand. “I have questions too.”
“Says the dead man who rode a flaming dragon to my rescue.”
“You’re not the only one capable of making a spectacle, Ariel.”
“Apparently not.” I rolled on my side to face him and looped my leg between his. “Believe me when I say that I have never been happier to see anyone in my whole life.”
His hand lifted to brush a stray hair from my face. “Me too.”
The rough pad of his thumb slid gently across my lips. Warmth spread through my body at his touch, and my eyes rolled closed as I focused on that welcome sensation. I might have wanted answers, but I needed his touch and the sense of safety it evoked in me even more. “I thought I’d lost you, Hemming.”
“Like I told Shayfer, I’m difficult to kill.” He flashed me a grin that was genuine enough, but when it didn’t have the intended effect, it fell away in an instant. “I’d be lying if I said I didn't think my time was up as I plummeted to the sea. But then I heard this monstrous roar, and something hard hit my back just as I lost consciousness. I woke up to strange green eyes staring at me in the darkness, an ominous warning, and then searing fire on my wounds.”
“Temrys saved you.”
He nodded. “I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up half dead, the collar that had bound me—and hers as well, I imagine—had disappeared. She said we didn’t have much time. That’s when we came to find you.”
“But how did she know?” I asked, confused by this turn of events. “Do you think it had to do with Vesstan’s magic failing?”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Possibly. As far as we know, you are descended from dragons, however distant. Perhaps she felt your impending peril? Even in the arena, there seemed to be a brief connection between you and the dragon Vesstan used to attack you.”
“Maybe,” I mused as I nestled in closer to him. “I’m not sure I even care. I’m just glad she saved you—and me too, I suppose.”
Hemming raked his fingertips through my hair, lulling me. “Do you want to tell me what happened during my untimely absence?”
No . No, I did not, but I knew he needed and deserved to have the answers he sought, just like he’d just given me. So I told him everything. How something in me had snapped when I’d truly believed him dead. How I’d gone after Vesstan and fought the god. How the man I’d thought was my father had ripped Vesstan’s heart from his chest. How the illusion had fallen, leaving the truth in its wake, and how Shayfer had saved me from him, at least temporarily. That Thallen had been a god somehow enslaved by another; one who’d needed whatever power he’d tried to reclaim from my mother to return to his former glory. The power that now resided in me.
“So all this time, he’s been scheming to get whatever power you inherited back?”
“Yes, that’s the gist of it.”
“His was the name Kaplyn didn’t dare speak,” he mused under his breath, shock apparently still flowing through his system. “He really was trying to protect you—protect us .”
“He’s done much to protect me over my lifetime, I imagine. Kade, as well.”
Hemming scrubbed his hand over his face as his mind worked to put all the pieces together. “I wish we had found the Oracle right about now. It could have made short work of sorting this out.”
“I’m just glad we all got out alive.”
No sooner had I spoken those words than a knock on the door filled the room. Before I even had a chance to speak, the squeaky door knob turned, and I peeked over Hemming to see Shayfer’s smile beaming back at me in the low light.
His eyes raked over Hemming’s naked back and my leg trapped between his, and the smile grew to a grin. “Looks like I arrived just in time,” he said as he stepped into the room, hands hidden behind his back. “Please, don’t stop on my account. I don’t mind.” Hemming let out a groan as he flopped onto his back in time to see the grinning fae pull two bottles of wine he’d pilfered from the cellar from behind him. He gave them a gentle shake for dramatic effect. “Or we could drink these and make things a touch more interesting…”
Another rumble escaped Hemming, and I swatted him lightly before sitting up against the headboard. I patted the empty space on the opposite side of me, and Shayfer rounded the bed and lowered himself down elegantly. The sparkle in his eyes dimmed as they quickly searched my body for any signs of lingering injury. Once he was satisfied, they found my gaze and held it. “You gave me quite a fright, Ariel dear. I thought I might never see you again.” His penetrating stare drifted past me to the male at my side. “Or you, for that matter, Hemming.” Mischief flared in Shayfer’s eyes, replacing his solemnity. “To celebrate your triumphs, I brought these,” he said, lifting the bottles again. “Or would you rather the three of us pick up where you two just left off?”
Lightning fast, Hemming’s arm shot out, knocking Shayfer from the bed. But the trickster fae disappeared just before he hit the floor, then reappeared at the foot of the bed. “Wine it is, then!” he said as he popped the cork of the first bottle and handed it to me. “Though I think the latter option would have been far more entertaining.”
I took a sip from the bottle, then handed it to Hemming. He downed half of it at an alarming rate. “I’d forgotten how quickly you two consume alcohol,” Shayfer said with a frown as he opened the other bottle.
It was at that moment that I realized something else we’d forgotten. “Eldrien!” I cried out. “Where is he? Is he all right?”
Shayfer went deathly still. “He’s healed, but I’m not sure he’s all right. Kaplyn demanded an audience with him. He’s in there now, and I was explicitly banned from the vicinity until their meeting is adjourned—an ominous sign, to be certain.”
I leaned over and took his hand. “If Kaplyn had something bad planned for him, he would have just let him die.”
“I took that opportunity from him when I rushed Eldrien to the healer.”
“Ahead of Ariel,” Hemming pointed out in a gruff tone.
To Shayfer’s credit, he looked apologetic. “Ariel had more time on her side than Eldrien did—and the favor of Kaplyn. I weighed the odds and bet on her.”
“Always a safe bet, my friend.”
An earnest smile graced his face as he squeezed my hand. “Yes…yes, it is.”
“So,” Hemming said, shifting closer to me, “what you’re saying is that you came here because you needed a distraction.”
“In the worst way possible, so naturally, I thought of the pair of you.” He raised his bottle like a glass for a toast. “To friends.”
Hemming raised our shared bottle. “To friends.”
As Shayfer pulled his hand away and moved to rejoin us on the bed, the door burst open yet again, revealing a tearful Sophitiya. She shot past him and leaped onto the bed and into my arms. “You’re alive,” she said between sobs. “You’re alive…”
I laid my cheek atop her head and tried to force words past my tightened throat. When I failed, Hemming spoke in my stead. “Of course she is, because she is a warrior of the Nychterides,” he said, wiping the tears from her face, “and because I would never let her die.”
The little girl pulled away enough to pin us in place with a serious stare. “You left without saying goodbye again! Bad things happen when you do that, so you need to promise me you’ll never do it again!” Her stern tone sounded so much like Delphyne’s that I struggled to keep a straight face, even though the sentiment was sobering. While I fought to keep my amusement from my expression, Hemming placed his hand over his heart and leaned in closer to the tiny girl who’d managed to steal it from him.
“Sophitiya, I will never leave you behind without saying goodbye again.”
Her keen eyes narrowed. “You promise?”
“I promise.”
“And a Nychteride warrior would never break that,” Shayfer added in a serious tone. “Would they, Ariel?”
“They would not,” I agreed as I pulled Sophitiya into my lap. “I’m sorry I scared you like that. It was not my intention.”
She turned her tiny face to me and put her hands on her hips. “Nearly getting yourself killed should never be your intention.”
The amusement I’d managed to hold back broke through my defenses, and laughter erupted from deep inside of me. It was a release I needed in the worst way.
“Delphyne would be so proud of you right now,” I said amid my outburst.
“She wouldn’t think this is funny,” the girl countered.
“Nearly dying isn’t funny,” Hemming replied, “and I would know.”
“Then why are you laughing?”
I took a breath to calm myself and cupped her face in my hands. “Because you are a fiery force to be reckoned with, and I think you might be scarier than all the dangers we faced in our adventures combined.”
“That’s a compliment,” Hemming added with a smile. “What a warrior you will be when you’re older.”
A fire in her eyes flared to life like a beacon had been lit. “I will ?” He nodded. “Will you train me like you helped train Ariel?”
“Of course.”
She shot to her feet in the middle of the bed. “When? Can we start today? I want to be ready for any enemies that dare to come here.”
I glanced out the window at the sun shining down on the five dragons outside the gates. “I have a better idea,” I said, sliding off the bed. Her eyes fell upon my bloodied body as I stood, and she froze in place for a moment. But when I beckoned for her to follow, she was at my side in a flash. Hemming and Shayfer, realizing what I had planned, were soon at my other side as I walked to the door. “I have something to show you.”
All four of us walked down the long hallway to the front door, then out into the front yard where the sun reflected off the dew-covered grass. It was nearly blinding at first, and Sophitiya buried her head against my side to shelter her eyes as we walked toward the gates.
“I have a surprise,'' I told her as I ran my fingers through her unbound hair, “but you have to promise not to scream. Can you do that?” She nodded her head against me. Temrys and the others noted our approach and lifted their heads from the ground they’d been resting upon. I stopped just shy of the wrought-iron barrier marking the edge of Kaplyn’s estate and draped my arm around Sophitiya’s shoulder. “Soph, I want you to meet our new friends.”
She pulled her head away and looked up at the massive dragons sprawled across the lawn beyond the gates. Her hands clapped over her mouth as she squealed in either delight or horror. “ Dragons !” she exclaimed once she found her voice. “They’re real dragons !”
“They are—and they helped save us.”
Her excitement slowly faded, and she walked toward the gate with her shoulders back and head high. She stopped right in front of Temrys, as though the girl somehow knew who the leader was, and bowed her head. “Thank you for bringing my friends back to me.”
Temrys leaned her head closer and inhaled deeply. “We are free because of them. And a debt must always be repaid, child.”
Sophitiya lifted her chin to find herself face to face with the midnight dragon. Unafraid, she slowly reached her hand between the bars and placed her palm on the bridge of Temrys’ nose.
“She is not afraid, Temrys,” the emerald green dragon said in a curious tone.
“She is not, Emral.”
The copper-scaled dragon, Freka, slinked her lithe body over to Temrys’ side and stared at Sophitiya. Hemming stepped closer to keep her at bay. His gesture was met with a disturbing grin “I think I like this child,” the dragon announced as her eyes narrowed. “We should most definitely not eat her.”
Fear ricocheted through my body. ‘There will be no eating anyone in these lands,"I said, “by any of you. Ever.”
“Unless Ariel tells you to,” Sophitiya added in a casual tone that was a touch unnerving.
A strange huffing sound escaped the dragon; it took a moment to realize it was laughter. “I most definitely like this child,” Freka said before turning to walk away.
Soph beamed at the bizarre dragon’s approval. “Can I ride one, Ariel?” she asked, unfazed by the eating comment.
“You’d need to ask Temrys,” I replied, “and probably your aunt, too.”
“Who’s scarier than the lot of them put together,” Hemming muttered under his breath.
“You may, child,” Temrys said.
Soph moved to open the gate, then exclaimed, “oh, wait!” before running back to the mansion. What seemed like only moments later, she emerged from the home, tiny burgundy wings strapped to her back. “I can’t fly without my wings!” she yelled as she darted past us. Hemming opened the gate and escorted her to Temrys, lifting her up onto her mount. He moved to join her, but Shayfer suddenly appeared behind Sophitiya, smiling broadly yet again.
“I’ll escort her this time, Hemming,” he said, letting his honey gaze drift to me. “Ariel needs something to ride.” My cheeks flooded with heat, which only fueled Shayfer’s amusement as he climbed onto the dragon. Before I could say anything, Temrys shot high into the air, which was soon filled with Sophitiya’s delighted squeals. I watched as they swooped over the trees just beyond the estate until they became a dark speck in the endless sky.
“They’ll be fine,” Hemming said as he stepped in front of me. His pale stare slowly raked over me, and the fire in my cheeks stoked further.
“Should we go back inside?” I asked as I inched closer. “Maybe see if Shayfer was right?”
Those beautiful grey eyes went wide at my boldness. “Most definitely.”
He hefted me over his shoulder and started running toward the mansion, the sound of my laughter trailing behind us. As he reached the stairs to the entrance, I looked out at the sun-filled horizon, peppered with dragons, and smiled. A sense of rightness coursed through my veins, and it increased exponentially as Hemming laid me down on my bed. After all the darkness we’d faced, we deserved this moment together—the promise of something better.
And later, as we lay together naked, Hemming’s arms wrapped tightly around me as exhaustion dragged us into slumber, I wondered if that promise really could be ours.
Or if it all was all a little too good to be true.