Chapter Thirty-Three #2
Within a half hour, we spot Mingi in the distance and catch up to him within another few minutes, flanking him.
He glances at us in turn, face passive, then rides faster without a word. We match his pace easily.
It’s another hour before the Winter Dragon is visible through the wild flurries. The long, pale body twists and turns in the air, releasing roars of anger and frustration.
All three horses stop on their own, not wanting to get nearer. I dismount and carry Bear over to Iseul.
“Hold them for me?”
“What are you going to do?” she calls over the wind, but I’m already moving toward the storm.
“Stay back!” Mingi shouts at the same time. “You’ll—” he cuts himself off. The unspoken warning hangs in the air, loud and clear. “You’ll end up like the others.”
I hold up a hand. “It’s all right.”
I have no idea how true that is. I don’t even have a plan beyond following my gut about my earlier revelation.
Flecks of ice pelt my body as the swirling tempest doubles in strength within the sphere surrounding the Winter Dragon. My cloak whips, snapping with the violent gusts.
Using my arm to help shield my face, I step into the heart of the storm.
“Joon!” I call at the top of my lungs. The sound is snatched from my throat before it passes my lips. I lower my arm and try again. “Joon! You have to stop!”
The dragon twists back on itself. A single bright blue eye narrows in on me. There is a moment, no more than a fraction of a second, where it pauses.
With a roar that rattles the ground beneath my feet, it spirals higher toward the clouds in tighter and tighter circles before diving. The dragon swoops, leveling out and sending waves of snow cascading to either side as it barrels down on me.
The massive mouth opens as if preparing to send out a blast of freezing flames. But I stand my ground, willing Joon to see me from within.
Deafening silence fills my ears as everything ceases entirely. I peel open my eyes, unsure when I closed them.
Several yards ahead, the dragon hovers about as high as the top of a forest canopy, gazing at me as it had back at the palace. It’s even more massive up close than I realized.
My body trembles. I tell myself it’s from the cold as I walk forward, one slow step after another, getting as close as I dare.
“It’s all right.” I am amazed when my voice comes out calm and gentle. Holding out a hand, I continue speaking, “You can stop now.”
The dragon descends as gracefully as a feather and lands. I close the remaining distance, still murmuring assurances until I’m able to rest my palm on the massive muzzle.
The scales are unexpectedly warm. Just as he is now.
So different from the night we met…
I stroke the top of the long snout, stunned into silence at the beauty of the dragon—the scales shimmer like frost over deep blue ice. Its white mane is like a pile of down surrounding the two antlers that sprout from the top of the head, jutting backward.
The electric-blue eyes gaze at me, then grow heavy and close, but I keep contact as I move. The dragon releases a deep sigh, and with it, a light that emanates from within so bright I’m forced to turn my face away.
When it fades, the dragon is gone, and in its place, Joon curled within the imprint left behind in the snow.
Mingi races forward and kneels before the prince. He throws a hooded cloak over him and helps him to his feet.
Joon mutters his quiet thanks as he straightens his clothes, keeping his eyes downcast, refusing to meet my eye.
I move back out of the way. Seeing him like this makes it hard to hold onto my anger.
A myriad of emotions shuffle over his features when he finally looks for me.
Mingi is saying something to Joon, too low for me to hear from where I stop. He cuts off abruptly when he realizes the prince is not listening.
Joon rises and walks toward me as if drawn by some unseen force, unable. His uneven gait shows just how weakened he is.
I pull in a breath and hold it. After such an immense use of power, Joon needs to siphon, and even with my battered and bruised heart, I know I will do it if he asks.
He stops just before reaching me, then calls over his shoulder, “I want a moment alone with Violet.”
“This is not the time nor the place,” Mingi protests.
Joon shoots him a look, making it clear that it wasn’t a request.
Neither of us speaks until Mingi rejoins Iseul back at the horses.
“Violet…”
“You lied to me,” I say harsher than intended.
Joon averts his gaze. “I never lied to you.”
“Not outright, no, but you deliberately misled me.” As soon as the words are out, I see what I’ve missed all along. Joon had every reason to mistrust me when we met.
No one in their right mind would tell a thief their secrets.
“You have every right to be angry, but how could I tell you after seeing your family? It seemed too cruel.” Joon takes a step closer and holds his hands out to the side, beseechingly.
With those words, my anger melts away.
He wanted to spare me that pain. That is why he promised to free everyone from the dragon’s cursed ice after we already agreed to the terms—not as an incentive or blackmail, but to atone in the only way he was able to because he couldn’t bear telling me everything.
I think part of me realized the truth when he killed Minister Ilseong, and every time I saw the flashing shimmer of scales race over his skin when he siphoned.
Joon sags, taking a half-stumbled step before catching himself with a wince. He is worn out and in pain. It’s strange seeing him so vulnerable.
My feet carry me to him without thought. When I reach for him to offer him support, he wraps me in his arms, body curling around mine in a hug, pleading for a type of compassion that has been lacking in his life for too long.
Unable to deny him, I return the embrace. “You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.” His voice is small.
“You still deceived me,” I say halfheartedly.
Every inch of him radiates defeat, unbefitting of the man I know and love. Joon pulls away, releasing me. “I tried to tell you I was a monster.”
So much hurt is an awful burden for one heart to carry.
Were our situations reversed, would I have been able to tell him, or would the fear of losing him have been enough to hold my tongue?
“You are not a monster, Joon.”
“What does the truth matter when the world chooses to believe the lie?”
“No matter how many believe it, it does not change the truth. I have seen the truth. I know who you are, and I love you. Faults and all, just as you love me for mine.”
His gaze snaps to mine, lips parting.
Whatever else needs to be said can wait. I take his hand and pull him with me toward the horses. Iseul holds Bear against her, wrapped in the edge of her cloak, while Mingi waits, holding the reins of the horse Joon and I will share.
We mount and begin the trek back to the palace. The two siblings ride ahead, giving us privacy to talk further.
Joon’s arms circle my waist, clutching me as if he’s afraid I will disappear if he lets go, and he rests his head on my shoulder.
We are silent for so long that, for a moment, I wonder if he’s fallen asleep.
He turns his face, bringing his mouth closer to my ear. His breath is warm against my neck when he says, “Why do you forgive me so easily?”
“None of this is easy, Joon. I thought the worst of you. I almost left.” It isn’t everything, but it’s enough.
“I forgive you because I think I would have done the same. Because I want to forgive you. Because I have made mistakes, too. Because I love you, and I can’t just…
stop. I don’t want to waste what time I have left in this world holding onto anger instead of you. ”
Joon’s arms tighten briefly. “I do not deserve you, or your heart,” he whispers, then presses a kiss to the side of my neck.
He is wrong. He deserves to be surrounded by love.
My throat tightens as emotions threaten to choke me. “Everyone deserves to be loved—even cursed princes.”