“Is there a way to remove the bond? I don’t want to rip him from his?—”
She snapped her head up as I spoke to her mind, narrowing her eyes on me as her jaws opened, revealing hundreds of sharp teeth. The lead weight of fear dropped in my stomach, threatening to pull me to my knees until I was prostrated in front of the mother dragon.
“Are you saying my offspring isn’t good enough for you now?”
My hands snapped up as I reasoned with her.
“No! I just don’t know anything about being a rider, as you called me, and I don’t want to take him from his family! I feel like this was a mistake.”
A whine sounded from my bonded as he turned his white eyes to stare at me, like he could sense my feelings.
“Buddy, I’m sorry,” I pleaded, finding myself a lot more comfortable with the big feelings of animals than those of humans. It was only days ago I was considering asking Tillie to stop crying. How far I’d come in such a short time, at least with the upset baby in front of me. “You are worthy of the best human out there. I just don’t know how to take care of you.”
Here I was, wanting to wrap my arms around this dragon until he made happy trilling sounds again. I’d grown soft.
“His name is Kaida and his sister is Katla. I am Sinda. If I am to guess, you are the new queen?”
Kaida.The name felt right, and as I gazed at my dragon and the sadness radiating from him, I knew I’d never be able to walk away from him. He was mine. And I was his.
I walked over to him and ran my hand along his cheek, loving the way he leaned in to my touch and closed his eyes. “Hi Kaida, my name is Sia. Do you want to figure this out together with me?”
A trill of happiness sounded and I laughed, already shocked at how easy it was to sense his emotions. I wished more than anything that we could speak, but for now, I hoped our bond would allow me to know his needs.
Glancing back at his mother, I nodded.
“Yes, I am the new queen.”
She stopped licking Katla and regarded me once more.“I was bonded to the previous queen. Perhaps you will live up to her and become worthy of Kaida.”
She had to mean Theo’s mom, right?
The thought had me reeling with shock, and then it hit me how profound of a loss that must have been, if they were bonded. It had been mere minutes since I had bonded with Kaida’s, and already I couldn’t imagine the pain of losing him. Nor could I imagine how much worse it must be for the dragon, who would live for centuries without me if I were to die young.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
Her large body settled as she sank to the ground, and instantly Katla got up and wobbled to curl up against her mother’s chest. Meanwhile Kaida settled onto the ground next to me. I glanced down as a tickle ran along my ankle and smiled asI found the tip of his tail wrapped around me possessively, or as if he didn’t trust me to not leave him.
“Thank you. She was everything I could have asked for in a rider. Regal and beautiful. Strong yet soft. When our souls touched, it was instant, like you and Kaida, it seems. She didn’t deserve what that foul king did to her.”
I felt the immense sorrow in Sinda’s voice, aching at the loss of a woman I’d never met, yet seemed to mean so much to those I was now meeting.
While I didn’t want to pry, this could be a chance we wouldn’t get again. I wasn’t sure of Theo's knowledge or relationship with Sinda, but I had to try and gain information, anything that could help bring an end to this curse damning the drackya and the women of my kingdom in turns.
“Did she ever tell you of the witch who cursed her husband and all of the drackya? Did she ever mention that she might know how to break it?”
Sinda’s chest swelled as her eyes glowed and sparked with magic.
“I don’t know, but if I could get my jaws on that witch, I’d tear her apart limb from limb, slowly. Why she had to curse an entire species of drackya instead of just killing the king is something none of us will ever understand.”
My shoulders drooped as the excitement of possibly getting some answers fled like a rabbit into the underbrush in the face of a predator.
“But, if you are seeking an answer, you should go to the elementals’ domain. They have the power you are looking for.”
Dread and pride swirled within me in the strangest combination. On one hand, I was thrilled that perhaps I wason the right track of thought with the elementals, but also, they were sentient beings. I was just a mere human asking for help. They could, and likely would, strike me down for wasting their time. Would the reward ever be worth that big of a risk? Yes, I decided in an instant. Yes, if it saved more women and released Theo from a curse he did not earn yet shouldered the weight of daily.
“I thought the same, but I don’t know how to reach them; and if we do, would they even help us?”
Her rumble shook the ground beneath my feet as her head settled down on the ground.
