92. Jia
Jia stood at the edge of the battlements, watching as the familiar blue and white war dragons circled the Northern castle, preparing to land on the grounds. The four much larger transfer dragons chained at the base of the castle rumbled and roared happily at reuniting with some of the dragons they’d grown up with.
Jia kept her eyes to the sky, looking for one dragon in particular. Skydancer. She was a handsome white dragon with a proud set of long twisted horns that always pointed to the sky.
The great beast would sometimes nuzzle her like a cat and rumble a deep purr as she rubbed her nose against Jia’s stomach, even though the tip was larger than Jia’s whole torso. Skydancer was the fastest dragon in the House of Ice’s arsenal, the fourth largest war dragon, and Jia’s favorite dragon in the world.
When her brother, Ye-Jun, had bonded to Skydancer, Jia had started sneaking into the dragon hold in Koppar to toss the dragon venison cubes or calf tongues, which were Skydancer’s favorite.
When she became a Heilstorm, she chose to forgo a dragon—choosing instead to fight alongside Volla.
Jia clenched her teeth, trying not to feel the ache in her chest, when she caught sight of the great white dragon at the end of the train.
Jia abandoned her spot on the wall and blindly ran through the corridors, barely seeing anyone or anything in her haste. She made it outside, moving to where the massive white war dragon had landed, and then she heard someone call her name.
“Jia!”
There he was, in his saddle. Ye-Jun. As tall and powerful, and as safe as she’d always remembered. She didn’t speak, barely reacted as he dismounted his dragon and rushed to her side. He cupped her face with the second most familiar hands in her life and raised her face to his.
“Jia,” he said, searching her face with purple eyes identical to her own, undoubtedly seeing the desolation she wouldn’t be able to hide from him. “Talk to me.”
Her face scrunched up as she desperately tried to hold her pain inside.
“Tell me what’s wrong, what happened with the Torch? I’ve only heard rumors.”
The moment he asked, everything inside of her crumpled. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t pretend anymore that she was okay.
She wrapped her arms around Ye-Jun’s neck, displacing his hands on her face, and sobbed into his chest. He patted her back and did not tell her not to cry.
“Where’s your room?”
“This way.” She stepped back, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve, and led him to her room, avoiding prying eyes as they walked through the corridor.
Ye-Jun sat on the end of her bed and opened his arms. “Come here.”
She sat next to him, pushed her face in the crook of his neck again and cried. For the first time in months, Jia felt wholly and utterly safe, and she became completely undone.
Rorax was her friend but she had always been Volla’s friend first, and she was here, fighting for her life and trying to escape from the Choosing. She didn’t have time to grieve in the same way Jia needed to.
But Ye-Jun was her brother, and he was loyal to her, first, foremost, and forever. Her blood. And she was going to soak up every ounce of comfort he could give her.
Ye-Jun rocked them back and forth, rubbing her back gently. “I didn’t even know you two were together.”
“I . . . I didn’t want to tell you,” Jia admitted, blubbering over her words. “I didn’t trust you to keep the secret from Mom. If she knew, she would have had us separated, and we wouldn’t have been able to be in the same unit.”
Ye-Jun didn’t bother trying to lie to her, just continued to make soothing motions down her spine.
“She asked me to marry her the day before we left for Lyondrea, a few days before . . . a few days before . . .” Jia choked on her tears.
Ye-Jun held her tighter, letting her sob into his shirt. “I’m sorry, Jia. Volla was a good solider and a good woman. I never got to see you together but she is exactly the type of woman I would have wanted for you.”
Jia wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Me too.”
When the tears finally stopped, Ye-Jun asked, “How is Rorax?”
“She is . . . alive,” Jia laughed humorlessly. “She spends her time training and looking for a way to free herself from the Choosing. She’s also been fucking the Lieutenant of Death to help get her through the influxes. It helps.”
Ye-Jun stilled beside her. She knew Ye-Jun and Rorax didn’t have romantic feelings towards one another, but he still cared about her deeply. The king, on the other hand . . .
Ye-Jun released a long sigh. “I have to tell Raengar.”
“He isn’t going to be pleased but I think it’s safer for everyone if he finds out when he can’t legally come here to kill the Lieutenant.”
Ye-Jun laughed humorlessly. “This situation is an absolute clusterfuck.”
Someone knocked on the door. “The Guardian is asking for you, Commander.”
Ye-Jun grimaced and released Jia. “Let me get this over with, and we’ll talk some more later.”