Chapter 12 Khiona
Andar was already off Sabir and leading him to Peaches by the time I dismounted.
He took both leads and lifted an arm toward me.
I did not want to stand by the manipulative worm, but a flock of dragons grew in the sky behind us, and Andar acted like he knew what he was doing…
so I inched around the horses toward him.
He slipped one arm around my shoulders and tugged me closer, so one of my shoulders pressed against his chest while the saddle immobilized my other.
“Andar—” I hissed.
“Quiet,” he breathed, bowing his head over mine. He kept one hand on my upper arm and spread his free hand above his head, as if he were holding up the sky. “This is not easy magic.” His voice grew low and ragged. “And it is far more difficult if you move, speak, or are not touching me.”
The ice dragons pounded their terror drums louder and louder, until I could not help covering my ears with my hands. Andar grunted, and I whispered an apology. But I kept my hands on my ears.
Ice dragons often lived and traveled on their own or in groups of two or three.
Larger flocks were uncommon. This was fortunate, since it took more strength to fight them off.
They had the fire power of every other type of dragon, but they also had ice magic in their scales, making freezing them much harder.
Even with all my royal advantages, I would only confidently take on one or two.
And I counted six as they passed directly over our heads.
Andar’s grip on my arm tightened, and his chest rose and fell against my shoulder with exertion. I could not see him using any magic, but the hand he lifted up above us trembled.
I didn’t move, my hands still on my ears, even after the dragons passed over us.
The way Andar held me close was more intimate and secure than I ever expected.
It wrenched my thoughts back to where they’d been just before the dragons arrived.
This had not been part of our bargain. He didn’t need me any longer.
Why would he hold me here like he cared?
What was motivating this behavior?
Did he, perhaps, see something in me worth sticking around for after all? And was that something I wanted to risk encouraging?
He lowered his raised hand to rest on the saddle and released me.
I stepped away from him, and Andar leaned against the saddle. “You—” I hesitated. He did not seem like the sort of fae who would appreciate me pointing out his exhaustion. ”What did you do?”
He straightened up and met my curiosity with an impassive gaze I could not interpret.
“I bent the light, smells, and sounds of us and our horses so they would not rise above us. I curved the light around us so the spot we stood on looked like an empty part of the path. In short, I made us invisible and undetectable to the dragons.”
My jaw fell. “Who are you?” I whispered. “And why are you not ruling one of the summer kingdoms?” He had to be the most powerful fae I’d ever met.
He shrugged and climbed onto his horse. “There was a situation with a lamp.”