15. New Religion
NEW RELIGION
The party around Thea raged on.
Carissa and Rolim were dancing, arms hooked as they laughed and spun in a reckless circle. Everyone had welcomed Carissa with open arms, and she had adjusted quickly.
Days had passed since they'd escaped Evergale Castle’s trap.
Since Rolim had begged Carissa on the battlefield to come with him, here, where it was safe, where they could be together freely.
Since Carissa had agreed, falling into his arms and taking flight on the dragon while the druids blinded the guards.
Since Thea had seen Aaryn.
Her fingers flexed around the tankard she held, just like Aaryn's hand had flexed around that dagger, the only thing that had separated them. She'd never even felt the sting of the sharp blade thanks to her scaled armor. Now she wished it had left a mark to remember the moment by.
Thea lifted the drink to her lips and swallowed sweet mead.
She'd relived the night over and over again, telling Starspark the tale from the beginning. Every blush on Aaryn's cheeks, the way her eyes had widened, deliciously titillated as they'd danced across the room, their only music the tension between them.
The nervous way Aaryn had glanced at the door, as if afraid of tipping off her stubborn guard.
At the very least, Aaryn was warming up to the idea. Maybe.
She was looking for her own answers, even if those answers were skewed and full of lies. But the deeper she sank into their facade, the more Thea was lost on what to do to convince Aaryn to come with her.
Starspark had eaten that one time, and not since.
He wasn't cooperating with any of the Awakened and actively growled if any other dragons got near him. He was going feral. Which usually only happened if… if a dragon lost their Awakened. The separation between Aaryn and Starspark wasn’t good for either of them.
And Thea had failed again.
Starspark would be happier if Aaryn were here.
Maybe he's not the only one, she thought, swirling the drink in her cup.
"Thea, right?" a feminine voice asked, and she glanced up.
Carissa, face flushed from dance and drink, stood before her, the firelight making her peach hair glow.
"That's me," Thea answered. "We met briefly after you first got here," she reminded her.
Carissa sighed and sank onto the log Thea used as a seat. "You're the one who took Starspark?"
Thea winced, and did not answer.
"Aaryn was beside herself. I heard she had to visit the infirmary. No one knows why."
Guilt swelled. As if she needed a reminder of the consequences of her shitty actions. Thea took another drink, and Carissa hummed.
It didn't really matter that Thea had flown Starspark over Lover's Peak looking for Aaryn. She hadn't been there, and Thea had to leave before the knights could harness another dragon to follow her.
"The prince was placed in charge of the investigation, so he was the first to see her. They questioned her like everyone else."
Thea knew Aaryn hadn't been able to give them any answers. So why did her chest hurt?
Carissa continued despite Thea's silence.
"I didn't think much of it when the prince told us to keep our distance. He said she was distraught. That it was too hard to be around the other Tethered while her dragon was missing."
Thea glanced over at Carissa. "Why are you telling me this?" What did the prince want with Aaryn?
Maybe the same thing you want with her?
The mead swirled dangerously in her stomach as she remembered the way Aaryn's lips had parted on a breath, their shape so cute and kissable and frustrating every time she opened them to speak.
The thought of the prince appreciating her in such a way made Thea feel violent.
Oblivious to this, Carissa shrugged. "She liked you. Talked about you sometimes when we all gathered."
Gossips, Thea thought, dismissing the flattering nudge in her chest.
"She has a shadow now. A guard named Runa. And she meets with the prince every other day. I don't know what they're doing, but…" Carissa arched a brow. "I'm sure you could imagine."
Oh my scales. First Rolim, now Carissa. Those two really were perfect for each other.
Thea drank the last of her mead and stood, lest this bubbling… something burst from her. "I'm glad you're adjusting well. Goodnight, Carissa."
A soft hand on her shoulder drew her back.
"I'm just saying," Carissa continued. "Now that I know the truth, I don't trust the prince, or what he wants with Aaryn. I think you need to convince her of it sooner rather than later."
Thea grumbled and spun on her. "That's what I've been trying to do! She's so fucking… stubborn!"
Carissa cracked a smile. "Yes, she is. Good luck."
With that, Carissa drank from her cup and danced away, back into the arms of Rolim. He dipped her for a kiss, inspiring a few wolf whistles from the celebrators.
Thea glared after her, and jealousy rooted deep, twining through her ribs until she turned away. She resisted stomping as she walked in the direction of her home, but changed course at the last second, heading for the transportation runes.
She arrived in her usual flash of light at the Dragons’ Nest, and followed the small path she'd worn into the ground toward Starspark. They’d attempted to lure him toward the moon blooms, but he wasn’t interested in the flowers at all, even though it usually affected a dragon like catnip affects a cat.
He was laying down as she approached, head resting between his paws. As her steps paused before him, he finally lifted his head—to glare at her. Thea was the only one he allowed to get this close, and she wondered why he spared her his anger when she was the one who deserved it most.
"I know," she said in answer to his silence. She could practically feel his disappointment, still as visceral as it had been the night they'd all returned. The night she'd returned… without Aaryn.
Thea sighed and sat down across from him. He blinked his big eyes at her—a shock of green.
"I wish you could talk. Give me some insight."
Maybe Thea had yet to string together the right words in the correct order to convince Aaryn to come with her. If she was half as charismatic as fucking Rolim, maybe they'd be dancing around the fire too.
"She's just so… ugh," Thea groaned to him. "You know this, surely."
Starspark huffed, and Thea liked to think he understood her when she came to ramble.
She should've brought the mead with her. She rested her head in her hand, propped on her folded knee.
She wished it had been so easy to convince Aaryn. But Thea and Aaryn didn't have nearly as intimate a relationship as Rolim and Carissa.
"Now the prince is isolating her from her friends, drawing her into his… circle, or whatever," she muttered. "Why would he do that?"
What did the prince want from Aaryn? Did he genuinely want to protect her? That idea contradicted everything she knew about the man. "He's an abhorrent little… weasel," she said, waving a hand through the air.
They couldn't be… lovers.
Thea frowned hard at the thought, and leaned her head back against Starspark. "What the fuck," Thea whispered.
Now she wished she had stuck around longer, worked her way into the First Guard, if only to have learned what other secrets the prince hid.
"They wouldn't… would they?" She looked to Starspark for confirmation, as if the dragon had any knowledge on such things, as if he could make Thea feel better.
She paused as he tilted his head, one green eye sliding to her.
Chills danced across her arm at the awareness in his gaze, somehow present and distant all at once, as if she was being watched.
What if Aaryn really was there, behind those eyes? Thea didn't necessarily need a new religion, but—well, Aaryn had already answered Thea's prayers when Starspark had eaten. Probably.
Or Thea was just losing it.
"What are you looking at?" she mumbled, trying to discern if there was anything else behind those eyes.
"If they weren't scouring the lands for you, I'd take you with me to get her," Thea muttered. At that, Starspark picked his head up, nudging his snout against her back. "I can't!" she said, glancing over her shoulder. "They'd spot you in a heartbeat, and we'd never make it back."
He let out a low whine and Thea stretched her arm out to rub it against his neck. "Sorry, bud."
Thea supposed this whole Prince Jarrick and Aaryn ordeal was new information. She should take it to Vaelen, draw on her insight, her knowledge of the Evergales.
But the mead was fizzy in Thea's system, the crescent of the moon was bright overhead, and Starspark was warm behind her.
"You won't mind if I stay here, will you?" Thea asked. Starspark didn't answer, but he didn't thrash her away or grumble, either.
She decided to take her chances.