22. Freshly Planted #3
Aaryn paused, a reply caught on the tip of her tongue. Before she could organize her thoughts into an answer, he stepped forward and thrust his drawing at her proudly, big eyes turned up to her. "Sorry about your family. Here. I'll make Thea another one. This one can be for you."
Aaryn slowly took the paper and flipped it over. In streaks of color and elementary, scratchy drawings were dragons with stick people on the back, flying away from an inferno of flames.
He leaned around the paper to point. "This is us being saved. We can pretend you were there too—right here," he said, and tapped another dragon with less defined stick figures.
Her chest went tight.
The tallest one pulled him away. "You made her sad," he hissed, and Aaryn realized her eyes were wet with unshed tears.
She smiled and dashed them away before they could fall. "I'm not sad," she told them. "Promise. I'm very thankful for your drawing, that's all. Thank you very much," she told him, and laid a hand on his head, ruffling his hair.
He grinned. "Since you're staying with Thea, you can show her too."
"That's a great idea," the small girl said. "Here, take this. You can give it to her."
"Yeah!"
And that's how Aaryn ended up with a handful of six drawings, as the giggling kids scampered away.
She watched them make their way around the corner before she slipped back inside.
As the door shut behind her, she wished it was just as easy to shut away whatever emotion was bubbling in her chest.
With a shaky breath she spread the drawings out on the small table. The one gifted to her stood out, its inferno somehow still threatening despite the messily drawn flames.
The others were more… peaceful. One of them was actually a surprisingly detailed drawing of a dragon napping in the sun, which she found quite charming.
The others were sweet, like Thea holding hands with them—denoted by the tiny purple horns on top of the figure's head—or themself on a dragon's back, or holding hands with their family beneath a blue sky with a bright sun.
She swallowed tightly.
What happened to them? Their homes?
Were they from Timberscale?
Aaryn braced her hands on the table and hung her head. The idea that she had been so at peace and living such a lavish life full of ignorance while Evergale was razing the homes of kids like these…
Surveying the land for weak spots to take advantage of? On the back of her own dragon?
Bullying towns out of their resources and taking them by force when they couldn't come to an agreement?
What kind of ruler did such things?
Indignant heat rushed to her face. She had sat at the king's table. With Jarrick, while these things were happening.
They lied about so much.
She turned her palm over, her scar dulled by time but still pink, still obvious. In Evergale it was an honor; it proved her worth as a Tethered. She'd lifted it to countless guards to grant her safe passage through the city, through the castle.
But now she knew the truth.
She closed her fist tightly, until she could feel the bite of her nails into her palm.
Aaryn returned to the Playground, and found Starspark watching intently as Lucille and her dragon flew through the course.
She offered a wave before continuing on, and Aaryn joined Starspark.
She leaned against the fence and studied as a dragon rider prepared her dragon, movements quick, efficient, and…
loving. The way she stroked her dragon's scales, scratching him until his leg kicked before she latched the harness in place.
"We'll get you one of those one day," she said. Starspark huffed in what she thought might be impatience.
Aaryn stared, maybe a little too intensely, searching for any kind of marking on the Awakened. A pin. A sash. A scar. A piece of jewelry.
What if this was Evergale all over again? What if the druids were hiding something huge from her, like Evergale had? Was she so easy to fool that it could happen twice? Was she blinded by the excitement at the lack of rules and her… stubbornly growing affection for Thea?
The sun was hot as it moved across the sky, and Aaryn began to sweat just from standing beneath its warmth as she squinted through the rays to watch the Awakened rise into the sky and practice different maneuvers.
Handlers or trainers were on the ground, ready to activate at a moment's notice, their gazes locked on the dragon and his rider for any sign that they should step in.
Not that they had to.
It was organized. Practiced. The bond between the dragon and the Awakened was obvious. The dragon would no sooner let her fall than she would let go.
The fence next to her creaked as a figure joined her in her observation. "Thought I'd find you here," Vaelen said coolly.
Aaryn swallowed down the urge to greet her formally, and settled for a simple nod.
"Thea is going to be at the Hatchery for a while. So I wanted to check in."
"Is there a dragon hatching?" Aaryn gasped. It was so rare—almost unheard of.
Vaelen nodded, prideful. "Yes. Our first in a while."
"Wow. Thea just does… like, everything, hm?" Aaryn mused.
Vaelen hummed. "She gets bored easily." The words made something in Aaryn's stomach sink. "So she bounces around from place to place, helping where she can."
"She's been here a long time," Aaryn said.
"That she has."
Aaryn watched the rider attempt another maneuver, one where she slid down his back before running up it, bow drawn. She gaped as his wings flared to accommodate her weight, to balance her.
"So that's… a pattern, then? Thea growing bored of something?"
Vaelen chuckled softly. "You were so adamant for so long—Thea returned alone again and again. The thought crossed my mind that you might be a lost cause."
"I like to think I'm hardheaded, not heartless," Aaryn mumbled. "I want to do the right thing. I want to be on the right side."
"I think Thea knew that. It's why she didn't give up on you."
"Oh," Aaryn offered intelligently.
"If Thea was going to grow bored of you, Aaryn, I think it would have happened while the two of you were separated by miles and an ongoing feud."
"That's…" Aaryn cleared her throat, and moved on. "Is ‘feud’ really the right word?" That made it sound like a simple misunderstanding, something petty and familial, rather than a kingdom lying and taking advantage of its people, and those standing up to it.
A hum sounded from Vaelen. "You're right. The crown will go to great lengths to protect its legacy."
Her statement gave Aaryn pause. "Do you mean a family legacy, or the legacy of Evergale?"
"I think by now, the two are indistinguishable."
Aaryn drew in a deep breath, Vaelen's eyes on her like a weight.
"I wish I could spare you the heartache that comes from something like this."
Aaryn shook her head. "No. I don't want to live in this limbo anymore. I don't want to guess. I just want to know the truth."
Vaelen waved a hand out. "Even if it directly challenges everything you know now?"
Aaryn sighed. "Thea has already been doing that since I met her."
Vaelen's lips twitched, and she turned away, hiding her smile by looking elsewhere. "Thea tends to do that."
Together they watched the dragon and his Awakened practice. Every time he went into the air, Aaryn's breath caught and she didn't release it until they were both safely on the ground once more. They observed in silence until Vaelen spoke again.
"There was another Tethered. Before you. Before Carissa."
"I know," Aaryn said simply. "And there was one before her, too." She cast her gaze on Vaelen. The first.
Who smiled, and glanced off to the side. "Ah, yes, pray tell, what does the prince say of me?"
Aaryn winced. "I don't think that's very important."
"Oh, come on. I'm curious." Vaelen nudged her elbow into Aaryn's side.
"It's not nice," Aaryn warned.
"I'd be disappointed if it was," Vaelen drawled.
"He didn't give me much detail, honestly. But he spoke with… if not disdain, then outright bitterness, anger."
Vaelen nodded, accepting, as if she'd expected it.
"He spoke as if you had changed Astrid for the worse. As if you'd done something to her."
Vaelen stiffened at the name—a minuscule tightening of her jaw.
Aaryn now knew it was Astrid who'd done it to herself, slashed through her brand in order to awaken her power with her dragon.
"Does the prince know what interrupting the brand does?" Aaryn wondered aloud. Would the prince really mourn something that was inhibiting his own sister? Disconnecting her from magic that inherently belonged to her?
"I think he must," Vaelen answered, "because he was there when mine was burned away.
" She wiggled her fingers. "An unfortunate accident that ended up showing me the light.
But he would've learned eventually. I would think the king would share such information with the one who would inherit the throne, if only so it became a tighter-kept secret. "
Aaryn let that information seep in. Once upon a time, Astrid would have been the one inheriting the throne.
Vaelen smiled wistfully. "I think if Astrid became queen, she would've learned about the brand. And I think she would've awakened the other Tethered."
Aaryn gasped at the possibility, the difference it would have made. Her eyes widened. "Was that the plan?"
Vaelen nodded. "Yes. Originally."
And instead…
"She left to be with you?" Aaryn guessed.
Vaelen blinked, and smiled. It was both longing, and full of guilt.
"Yes. I tried to leave without telling her.
She—the Tethered were offered much more freedom then, you see, and the circle hadn't been created yet.
" Vaelen waved a hand. "I'm getting caught up in the details.
She found me. She learned the true purpose of the rune.
And for a while we thought we could do it, await her turn on the throne, wait for real change.
But somewhere along the way, something changed.
She came for me, and we started this place together after she awakened her magic. "
Aaryn wanted to press, wanted to know how they'd gotten here. With Astrid dead and Vaelen here, alone.