“There’s no time for that!” cried Asha from the roof.
“Thank you,” Roa whispered, kissing Dax once more before grabbing the clothes, ducking inside, and getting dressed.
By the time she reemerged, Asha and Saf were both seated atop Kozu on the roof. Dax and the golden dragon stood waiting on the terrace.
“This is Spark,” he said.
Spark stared at Roa with pale slitted eyes. She smelled like smoke and sand. Stepping closer, Roa realized she had no idea how to mount a dragon.
Seeing it, Dax got down on one knee and cupped his hands for her to step into. The moment she did, he pushed her up, telling her where to step—on the back of Spark’s knee. And where to grab hold—the bump of his shoulder bone. It tookseveral tries, but Spark remained stoically still and eventually Roa pulled herself up.
Dax lifted himself easily behind her. As if all those days he’d gone missing in the afternoons, this was what he’d really been doing. When his arm came around her, he looked up to Asha and Safire, mounted atop Kozu.
“Ready?”
Before Roa could respond, Spark crouched low, spread her golden wings, and leaped into the sky.
They flew through the night. Roa fell asleep curled up inside Dax’s jacket, and when she woke, the highlands were rising out of the horizon. Roa could just make out the lights of Song in the distance. Lanterns and candles and heart-fires were being lit. The day was breaking. And though the sky was lightening in the east, the stars were still bright in the sky.
Roa looked up. Shining directly above them was a star she’d never seen before. One that burned a little more brightly than the rest.
Roa tipped her head back against Dax’s shoulder, watching it.
Kozu flew beside them. Roa could hear the muffled sound of Asha laughing at something Safire said. And at some point in the night, they’d been joined by another dragon. The rider’s sandskarf masked his face, but from his tall thin form, Roa knew it was Torwin.
Spark propelled them closer and closer to the House of Song. The fields rolled beneath them. And all the while, thehum glowed warmly within Roa. Telling her Essie was near. That the bond they shared would always be there, whether Essie was physically present or not. Whether Essie was alive or not.
Because it was just like Dax said. Love withstands all things. Even death.
Especially death.
