Chapter 72
Rosomon
Alfryd drops his regal posture and slumps in his chair. “I don’t remember our mother at all.”
“She loved you so much.” I lean over and rub his shoulder.
In fact, even Nurse thought our mother spent too much time with him, saying he’d never develop into a proper heir if he was coddled.
Starved for our mother’s attention, I used to sit at her feet while she cuddled and played with Alfryd. I’m quite certain she didn’t spend as much time with me when I was a babe. All my memories of that kind are of Nurse.
Since the Reformation Committee meeting ended, Alfryd and I have been talking about our home and reminiscing about our childhoods, and while many of our memories match, I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked that he remembers some things differently—or not at all.
I’m so proud of how well my brother has adapted to leadership. In the past months, he seems to have matured five years.
Zogar approaches from behind me. Alfryd shifts in his chair and straightens his posture. He may have matured, but he’s still not fully comfortable around my powerful husband.
Zogar’s hand is warm and heavy on my shoulder. “My love, I don’t want to rush you, but when you are ready, the three of us have planned a surprise.”
“A surprise?” My entire body starts to tingle. I have no idea what this surprise might be, but I’m overjoyed at how well all three of them continue to surprise me every day. And how my love for them continues to grow, and how they’ve all clearly grown to care for each other as well.
Alfryd stands. “I won’t keep you from your—” he cuts himself off. He also isn’t comfortable with me having three loves in my life, and he lacks the words to describe my situation.
To me, our family unit is perfect, even if I’ve heard whispers that others have openly questioned why Zogar is willing to accept it. But those whispers are quickly shut down.
Most live in fear of my husband, even though I know he wouldn’t harm anyone—not without good cause—and his thirst for vengeance was tamed when Vanora was imprisoned for life.
I’m told she’s aging rapidly, and her ability to access the Darkness has all but disappeared, now she has no access to Grymper’s blood.
Grymper’s wife and children were finally located in a secluded dungeon, and they’ve settled in a small cottage in Catha. They may be the last known manticores, but at least they are safe and happy now they’re together. And away from the Darkness, they are no longer hunted.
Zogar drapes his arm around my waist as we approach Saxon and Tynan—the former looking uncharacteristically nervous, and the latter looking characteristically mischievous. My excitement builds.
“Where’s my surprise?” I ask.
Saxon and Tynan each lean in to give me a chaste kiss in greeting.
“If we told you—” Saxon rakes back his luscious mane of hair “—it would no longer qualify as a surprise.”
Saxon and Tynan take my hands, and Zogar leads us out of the building toward the field that lies between the main camp and the dragons’ enclaves.
Some of the shifters prefer to spend the majority of their time in dragon form, and many still choose to sleep there, especially now that the man-made walls have been demolished.
The sky is clear, and the warmth of the afternoon sun lifts my mood even higher. Smiling, I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with fresh air and happiness. Surath and Xendus join us in the field. If they’re involved in this surprise, there’s a high probability that we’re taking flight.
“What’s going on?” Dropping Tynan and Saxon’s hands, I look between everyone, hoping to discover clues, trying to get one of them to reveal the big secret.
“My queen,” Zogar says, “your surprise awaits you in Lymbo.”
“In Lymbo?” I study my husband’s expression. We haven’t been back across the veil for months. Instead of us, Treacher and Ersot led the charge to free the other dragons. “Is it wise to leave the Light for so long?”
With the way time passes more slowly there, even if we stay an hour, it will be more than a day here. “What if something happens—”
“Surath and Xendus aren’t staying long,” Saxon says. “And society here is stabilizing.” Saxon strokes my arm. “We don’t need to be on high alert all the time. Not anymore.”
“But if Xendus and Surath leave us in Lymbo, how—?”
Xendus’s laugh cuts off my thought. “We’ll come back to get Saxon and Tynan.”
“Maybe.” Surath smirks. “If we’re not otherwise occupied.”
This feels wildly dangerous. I don’t like the possibility that Saxon and Tynan could be trapped over there.
“Fear not, my love.” Zogar bows his head. “If the Queen and her King don’t return as agreed, I’ll carry these two back in my talons.
“The fuck you will.” Saxon shakes his head.
But even if Zogar’s kidding, I’m happy there’s a possible escape route, should the worst happen.
Saxon and Tynan drape their arms over my shoulders, and the three dragon-shifters move into the field. They quickly remove their clothes and transform into the beautiful, powerful creatures, I’m still astounded by every time.
“Is one of you going to tell me what’s happening?” I ask Saxon and Tynan.
“Not a chance,” Saxon says, and it overlaps with Tynan saying, “Where’s the fun in that?”
The three of us mount the dragons, and we quickly soar into the air, heading through the mountains toward the veil.
The cold air close to the snow-topped peaks snaps at my skin, in contrast to the warmth of the sun, and my perception of the world around us further brightens and sharpens to match the sensations. Tynan and Saxon are also grinning. It’s been many weeks since the six of us have flown together.
There have been no breaches to the veil since Zogar and I returned from the Darkness last year, but it’s patrolled daily to be certain.
“Do you think Gabreal’s still alive?” I ask Zogar. The absence of minion breaches gives me hope that the urgent need to send messages to Zogar has decreased.
What made you think of that demon? Even if he’s alive, he can’t find you here, or in Lymbo.
“I’m not frightened,” I tell him softly. His concern is palpable through our physical connection. “I haven’t thought about him for a very long time.”
I’m not certain whether or not he’s alive, he replies. But given how quickly his mark on you healed, I suspect his threats were hollow.
Most days I can almost forget Gabreal’s threats to my life, and while Zogar doesn’t fully believe he has the power to carry out those threats, he isn’t willing to return to the Darkness to test that theory.
Surath plans to travel to the Darkness, once things have settled in the Light.
My chest squeezes.
Calm yourself, my love. She’s not planning to take Saxon.
“Who will go with her?” I don’t like the idea of any one from the Light, human or dragon, passing through that dark shield.
Even though I’ve told the riders I’m currently training that traveling there is a possible duty they’ll face.
And their classroom training includes learning the vocabulary and scientific advances there.
Surath hasn’t decided who will go. She is Queen and I don’t like to interfere. He grumbles. But the first trips will be dragons alone, or dragons bonded with male riders. The Darkness is too dangerous for the new riders you’re training.
“I agree.” I shiver at the thought of what might happen to any of the new female riders if they go to the Darkness. Many of the riders and candidates were former concubines, or Wives of Othrix, and I don’t want any of them reminded of how they were forced to perform sexual favors.
I love how protective you are of your riders, Zogar says. You will be a fine mother. Someday.
I’m warming to the idea of having Zogar’s children, but not while life in the Light remains so unstable.
You assume they would be my children? Zogar has a question in his voice, but I also sense his pride and joy.
“You are my husband.”
He grunts. Then, with a long exhale, he parts the veil.