14. Nice Haircut #2
Aaryn didn't know how to tell her that if Rolim was a druid… it wouldn't be.
They trailed through the hallways together, Runa at their backs.
Had Rolim betrayed Carissa? Was she to suffer the same fate Aaryn had?
Although, Thea had never made such promises of love and marriage to her. If Rolim truly cared for Carissa, then why would he leave?
Maybe he hadn't had a choice.
As they neared Carissa's room, the sound of voices echoed through the hallway.
All of their steps slowed as they left the stairs, spilling into the next hall.
In front of Carissa's door… was the prince himself. With a few guards.
"Your majesty?" Carissa asked, her voice cracking. "Have you found him? Great scales, please tell me he's alright. This isn't…"
Aaryn laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't think this was a death notification. The prince looked far too relieved at her presence.
"Tethered Carissa, Tethered Aaryn," he tacked on upon seeing her. "Guard Runa," he added. "We've come to see Tethered Carissa."
"Is it about Rolim?" she asked.
He nodded sharply.
"Is he alive?" she begged, and stepped toward the prince.
He hesitated, then—"We believe so. And we believe he will return. That is why we need your help."
Aaryn studied them. This had to be about the druids. She wanted to demand that she be included, but what place was it of hers?
Carissa turned toward Aaryn and squeezed her hand. "It appears your kindness is not necessary, but thank you for offering it anyway."
Right, she wouldn't have to ask the prince about Rolim's location after all.
"Then I suppose I shall… retire," Aaryn said, attempting to catch the prince's gaze. It flicked once in her direction, dismissive, before turning his attention to Carissa.
It wasn't as if she could announce that she wanted to help with whatever was going on. It wasn't her place as a Tethered, and no one else was supposed to be aware of their training sessions, how close they'd become, outside his First Guard. Friends, surely?
So was he going to just let her walk away, knowing that curiosity would burn her up in the meantime?
Aaryn waited until the prince and his guard had left the hallway with Carissa, reassuring her that everything would be alright as they disappeared around the corner, their steps echoing through the stairwell.
"Tethered Aaryn?" Runa asked, and Aaryn snapped to attention. "Are you alright?"
She turned a fake-feeling smile toward her guard. "As alright as I ever am. Shall we return?"
In her room, Aaryn trailed to the window that overlooked the dragons’ caves, the training and grooming grounds. It was empty. The caves were dark. The dragons were likely asleep and their Tethered the same.
Except Carissa.
Meanwhile Aaryn was alone, in her tower, wondering and waiting.
She glanced up at the crescent moon and wondered…
What, exactly, was she waiting for?
Aaryn blinked giant eyes awake, huge talons stretching from the tips of her fingers, digging into the earth. Her heart began to race as she realized she was with Starspark. Or she was Starspark.
Oh, how she wished she could run her hands over his scales once more, scratch beneath his large chin. Instead, she felt his hum vibrate her own scaled torso.
"It's okay," a familiar voice cooed, and Aaryn's breath caught. "I told you I would try to find her, and I still intend to do so."
Thea.
She rounded Starspark, and Aaryn fixed her eyes on the familiar figure. The short hair still surprised her, unruly and jagged, framing her face, lips turned down.
"I just wanted to check in on you," she said, holding her hand out. Starspark leaned forward to sniff at her palm, and a gasp spilled from Aaryn's lips, the sound slicing through the silence of the room her body laid in.
The mattress was soft beneath her, but she felt like she was floating, there and not there all at once. It was a jarring feeling, and yet she let herself sink into it. It had been so long since she'd felt Starspark this way.
Starspark must have grown warm to Thea in the passing time, because he bumped his snout against her outstretched palm, even though he grumbled while doing so.
And she beamed, brighter than the moon behind her, the very same crescent that Aaryn had seen from her window.
Aaryn studied her. Privately, secretly.
Great scales, she was so pretty. The shorn hair gave her an… edge that made Aaryn itch. But past that, she seemed tired, too, with circles beneath her eyes, and Aaryn considered if they were seeing the same moon; it had to be near the same hour, which meant it was very late to be awake.
Did druids sleep at different hours, or was Thea just so busy she had not been offered rest yet?
Why did Aaryn care?
"See? I told you you'd like me eventually," Thea said, brushing the back of her hand over Starspark's snout. "You'll like me even more tomorrow," she whispered, leaning forward.
Starspark snuffed inquisitively, and Aaryn wondered if he could really understand them, or if he just recognized their speech patterns.
"Wanna know why?" she asked, and Starspark's breath rushed out to blow the strands of her hair. Her chuckle was soft, and it made Aaryn's heart ache. "I'll bring her back to you tomorrow," she whispered.
Aaryn startled so greatly that it awoke her, and she sat up in bed, her connection to Starspark shattered, gone, and with it any possible information she could've discovered.
No!
Aaryn stared at the wall across the room, mind racing. What the tear had Thea meant?
Tomorrow?
What was tomorrow?
Her first thought was that she should tell the prince. Tell him… what, exactly? That Thea planned to… come and get her?
Aaryn's chest swelled with what should have been panic. At the very least she could categorize it as nerves.
…That's what butterflies were, right? A form of nerves.
"What are you thinking?" she hissed, and threw herself from bed and toward the window, as if she could leave the thoughts behind.
From the lack of light in her window, the moon was well above the castle, and she had been correct. It was far late into the night, and Thea should have been asleep. Instead, she had visited Starspark to say hello. To check in, and offer him comfort the only way she knew how…
Aaryn tried not to be charmed by her ways, but it was rather bold of her to do say such a thing.
Did this mean Thea planned to find her? Was she going to sneak into the castle, or…? How in the world would she manage something like that? Especially with Runa shadowing Aaryn at all times.
Scales, Aaryn hated not knowing.
The mountain range to the west of the castle served many purposes.
The very caves of the dragons were excavated from it, offering them cool, damp earth to live in.
Watchtowers had been placed along its peak, providing a view down onto the castle, but more importantly, a view of the opposite cliffside.
The scouts would know if any enemies approached days before an arrival.
And the castle's rear faced the terrifying, steep drop of the canyon.
The east was the most vulnerable, Aaryn reflected, where the Tethered's tower, its walkway to the castle, and the gardens lay. Beyond the east walls were empty land, rolling hills, and the city of Evergale.
Her room in the tower offered an easy view of the training grounds, which she watched from her window. The sun was setting, and it was growing dark, and yet Carissa and her dragon Stormstrike were still in the yard. Past hours. Eerily quiet.
Carissa made good bait, Aaryn supposed, resting her cheek on her hand and watching the Tethered brush his scales past curfew. She could not see well enough to spy facial expressions, but she imagined Carissa looked as relaxed and calm as Aaryn felt whenever she'd cared for Starspark.
Aaryn couldn't shake her nerves, and stood to pace. She supposed night would be the best time to plan an attack… or a kidnapping—dragon-napping?—but she hated waiting for night to fall.
The sun was striking itself from the sky, sending great shadows of the castle itself across the field. Ever so slowly.
She didn't know what to expect. The prince had left her in the dark, utterly dismissive when she’d approached that afternoon, and she did not like it. Did he expect the druids to scale the canyon? Drop in from the sky?
Aaryn frowned and leaned out the window, glancing up the length of the tower toward the darkening clouds.
She just wanted Carissa and Stormstrike to be safe. Her gaze trailed to them once again, in the center of the field. She prayed to the Great Dragon that no harm would come to them.
And what of the fighters? she asked herself. They were tucked away in the caves, in the arched walkway, ready to burst onto the field at any moment.
What of the druids?
Do you really want Evergale to capture someone? They'd be sent to the dungeons. Or hung for using magic so frivolously.
What if it was Thea?
Her heart seized at the idea of Thea in such a place, of such a fate becoming her.
Thea may have taken Starspark, but she cared for him too. Kept him fed. Even if her dreams were still filled with the ache of deep longing for her dragon companion, all because of Thea… she still did not relish the idea of her in the dungeons.
What did that say about Aaryn? What did that say about her loyalty to Evergale?
Aaryn frowned. Maybe Prince Jarrick knew her better than she knew herself. Had he somehow sensed the doubt she harbored? She’d kept her vision and Thea’s promise to herself, and now she watched from what she considered to be the best view of the dragon’s yard.
Maybe Aaryn was right where she was supposed to be.
What was she even waiting on? Why did she feel the urge to lean closer in anticipation?
Aaryn gasped as a single person materialized in the field, next to Tethered Carissa.
Magic.