Chapter 14 #4
“Ifs are pointless. There’s only the present. Right now, I want to spend time with you.”
“I thought all you wanted was… you know.”
“Was what? Refresh my memory.” His smirk is a challenge. “Say it.”
“The whole thing where I’m supposed to scream your highness.”
“Then you misunderstand me. It’s just part of it.” He takes my hand. “I happen to like you.”
My cheeks get hot. More than my cheeks. I want to tell him I like him too, want to kiss him, but something holds me back. I smirk instead. “You do have impeccable taste, after all.”
He gives me his heart-stopping smile, lets go of my hand, and holds my face. “Magnificent.”
I close my eyes, bracing—or waiting—for the kiss, but it never comes. He’s moving away from me and descending the steps. I shake my head, remembering that I need to get to the restaurant, and follow him.
When we reach the path toward the city, we cross many men in red robes—Auranius’s acolytes, who deal with our guardian dragon. They’re transporting carts laden with heavy, human-shaped forms covered with burlap sacs. Bodies. My stomach churns.
The images I saw from Alayel’s window come to me. Gliders colliding, sentinels or recruits falling. And yet there must be at least twenty dead bodies here, as there are five carts with bulky cargo, all meant for Auranius, who’ll cremate them.
Beside me, Alayel stops as well, our mood turning somber at once.
I ask, “Do you know how they get them up? To Auranius’s lair?”
He shakes his head. “It’s a secret, but I’d think they have some pulleys and cables somewhere, to make it easier. I’ve seen acolytes delivering ashes to recruits, when they have no other family, but I don’t think I ever checked how they do that. Too morbid for my taste.”
“It’s sad,” I say. “All these lives lost.”
“It’s what they sign up for when they join the Sky Academy, Mayara. In fact, it’s something you wanted for yourself.”
“I still wish I could fly,” I confess, that old yearning still a pulsing flame in my chest. “Despite everything.”
“Who doesn’t? But if you stay on the ground, you know you’ll never fall.”
The thought makes sense, but it still settles on the back of my throat like an odd lump, and grim silence envelops us as we walk to the Grease & Spice.
The back door is open, and even before I enter, I glimpse my brother cutting vegetables while the assistant cook stirs the stew.
“Hey,” I say as I step into the kitchen, Alayel by my side.
“Mah!” My brother smiles at me, then looks at his vegetables. “Are you here to check that no dragon roasted us?”
Everything looks so normal that my worry feels foolish. “Sort of,” I confess. “We hadn’t had an attack during the day in a long time, and… I’m glad you’re fine.”
Laristella comes out of the pantry holding a huge pile of plates and smiles when she sees me. “Hello, dear. And your friend. We’re a little bit behind now, so—”
“Don’t worry,” I wave my hands in the air. “I was leaving. I just came to see if you were all right.”
“I am!” Kaio grins. “I’m even serving the tables.”
He’s happy, healthy, and the restaurant is running fine without me.
“Nice,” I say. “Well, I’ll leave you to your job. But I’ll come visit soon.”
My brother chuckles. “Yeah, I got my hands full.”
I turn around and leave. Perhaps what surprises me is how joyful Kaio is. I always felt that working in the restaurant was a burden too heavy for him, but he doesn’t look like someone who’s suffering or even like someone who missed his big sister during the dragon attack.
Alayel turns to me. “At least you can feel at ease, knowing nothing happened.”
“Yes. I had to check. It might seem silly—”
“Love is never silly. You’re right to care for your family.”
“Did you have anyone?”
He looks down. “My mother only. She died when I was young.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Perhaps it was fate.” He looks up and points at Auranius, flying over the bay. “Do you think he took a nap or something?”
Sensing he wants to change the subject, I keep the same light tone. “Sleeping during the day is always a nap, so yes.”
The gigantic dragon flies in low circles around the city, as we keep walking back to the academy. When we reach the central plaza, I hear the distinctive beating of his wings. Too close.
A bang shakes the street—and I turn. Auranius has just landed, his eyes dark and dangerous, his wings so broad that they’re wider than the plaza.
Some people scream and run. Of course we consider him our guardian, but when he’s flying in the sky.
From up close, the enormous dragon is terrifying, each leg taller than a tree, jaws so large that he could easily eat a bull in one bite.
I tell myself there’s no reason to fear him, and yet his behavior, landing like that, eyes full of hatred settled on me, is strange.
He advances toward me and Alayel and the only reason I don’t turn around and run is because I fear it will make him chase me. Cold prickles across my skin, and my body starts to tremble, even as I try to take deep breaths and remember this dragon saved me once.
He’s an ally.
And yet it doesn’t feel like it.