Chapter 98
I closed and locked the cellar door after I made it down into the cellar, making sure that I didn't wake up my sleeping mother or siblings later that evening.
My heart pounded steadily in my chest and my breathing was a little ragged, but I knew what I had to do before I went to bed myself and get ready for the day.
I had to talk to Mir?na about today and see if he had anything to do with it...
I took a deep breath and released it with a small shaky whoosh before I made my way down the ladder and toward the table so that I could set my basket down and pull out the dagger that marked me as his rider.
Oh Gods, please, let him answer my call, I silently prayed, closing my eyes before I opened them so that I would be able to see where I was going. Please, because I have no idea what I would do if he doesn't.
I set my basket down on the table before I took a deep breath and released it with a shaky whoosh, trying but failing to calm my nerves before I did what I had to do and get him to respond to me.
Shilan moved forward in my mind with great interest, but he made no move to say anything about what I was about to do next. He knew that I was going to look into this and see if Mir?na had anything to do with what had happened.
Could he have known that this would happen and stopped the bond between the two of us? If so, how?
I reached into the basket and pulled out the dagger that symbolized me being Mir?na's rider. I pulled the dagger out of its sheath and looked into the blade, waiting to see if I would see Mir?na's red eyes staring back at me like he said I would for me to contact him.
"Mir?na," I said, my voice barely above a whisper when I didn't see his eyes in the dagger. "I need you."
The dagger's reflection turned cloudy before two beady red eyes appeared in the dagger's reflection, replacing my own.
There was this pressure in the back of my head, and I accepted it having a feeling that it was Mir?na trying to contact me while the eyes slowly blinked.
"Your Highness," this voice said as soon as I let down my barrier and accepted the fact that the voice was trying to contact me. "How may I be of service?"
"Are you able to hear me like this?" I asked, not saying a word about how Mir?na could be of service to me, especially since I didn't want to have to worry about anyone listening in on my conversation with him.
Mir?na chuckled, and the eyes grew lower as if he bowed his head while he stayed talking to me through the dagger. "I can, Your Highness," he said. "I can hear you if you talk like this. What can I do for you?"
"Were you the cause of the bond breaking between Shilan and I?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.
Mir?na's eyes grew darker, and he nodded. "I was," he said. "I was the cause of the bond being broken."
"Why?" Shilan asked before I could get a word out. He growled, and I had a feeling that he narrowed his eyes at the other dragon. "Why did you break the bond between us?"
"I did it to protect the two of you," Mir?na said and slowly blinked, not phased at Shilan's level of disrespect. "You two would have gotten caught if I didn't."
"How did you break the bond between us?" I asked and mentally hushed Shilan when he growled out his anger and frustration.
"By setting the bond fully up with me," Mir?na replied. "There were markings on your back that symbolized you were my rider, replacing the markings you received from your dragon."
"How?" I asked, remembering how Arden had looked so shocked to see the markings on my back. "How were you able to do it?"
"Magic," Mir?na replied. "I used an ancient magic that gave me the power to do it."
"Will you do that again?" Shilan asked. "I do not know what will happen the next time you do it, if you decide to use the spell against us."
"I will use it if I need to," Mir?na replied and nodded. "You two will be able to link quickly back with each other after the fact, however."
"Why weren't we able to link back with each other quicker after the fact the first time?" I asked and furrowed my brows, biting the inside of my lip. "Wouldn't we have been able to do it?"
Mir?na shook his head no. "Unfortunately, that was not the case because it was the first time that I had done it. Your bond was weak between the two of you and was easy to cut from one another."
"Then how are we going to be able to link each other much quicker after the fact if our bond is weak?" Shilan asked and narrowed his eyes. "And how do you know that our bond was weak? Are you spying on us?"
Mir?na would have given Shilan a deadpanned look if he was here and slowly blinked. "I am a part of you just as much as I am a part of Marini," he said. "I know that the bond between the two of you is weak, but it is much stronger now that you had to do it again."
"Will it keep getting stronger each time we have to mark each other again?" I asked, and Mir?na nodded in confirmation. I sighed and nodded, pursing my lips in annoyance. "How did you know that was going to happen?" I asked, changing the subject.
"I was able to sense it," Mir?na said. "I was the reason why you were feeling on edge."
"Can you see the future?" Shilan asked and mentally raised an eyebrow in question. "Is that how you were able to see what was going to happen?"
"I can see bits and pieces of the future, but I do not know how far into the future they may be. It is never consistent as to what I am shown or what is going to happen next, so it is not of any use for you all."
"I think it would be," I said. "I do not care how far in the future it may happen. Can you give me any indication that something bad will happen?"
"I can," my second dragon said and nodded. "I was able to forewarn you about the danger you were in before that elf attacked you."
I breathed a small sigh of relief and slowly nodded, grateful that he had been able to help me with that. "Thank you, Mir?na. I do appreciate it."
Mir?na nodded and slowly blinked. "Of course, Your Highness," he said. He cleared his throat, and his eyes seemed to grow distant while he looked to the side before he looked back at me. "Is there anything else that we need to discuss?" he asked. "Or was that it?"
"When are we going to start training with each other?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Soon," Mir?na replied. "Keep training with your actual dragon, and we will start training soon."
"Then, that is it. Thank you again for keeping us safe, Mir?na," I said.
"Of course," he said and bowed his head so that his eyes had disappeared. "Get some rest because you are going to need it. I fear that you will not be able to get as much rest in the future with whatever it is that you will need to do."
And with that, and without another word, Mir?na pulled away from the dagger until I was staring at the reflection of my eyes and not his.
Oh, for the love of the Great...