“Oh, no, I still had questions. Just not about whether I was in.” He huffs, not quite a laugh. “Me and Goldie see eye to eye on most things. We both want to see Serrane burn. The Citadel must fall. After that, though… The only things we argue about are Cal and the monarchy. I know it’s the way to go, but Talen fucking hates the idea.”
“You argue about Cal?” I ask too fast, my boot catching on a rock hard enough to jolt me.
My mouth opens to ask more, but as we step into the clearing he stops short and checks his watch, the rough cut gemstone hanging around his neck swinging with the movement and catching the light.
“Shit—didn’t realise the time,” he mutters, turning toward the lake where the two dragons are still playing—or perhaps fighting. I still haven’t figured out which.
Lifting his arm, Lucien cocks his head and his blue dragon answers immediately. Peeling away from the water, she slices through the air and lands on his shoulder in one fluid motion.
“JC can’t fly for long today,” He notes, giving her a small scratch that earns a low rumble from behind her jaws. “She hasto save her energy for the trip back to the Citadel. But we can do a quick flight.”
“No, I need to train with Ahria, not JC.”
“Look, I heard what happened when Goldie took you up. Your fear bled straight into her. No way I’m risking that again. You fly on JC,” he checks his watch again, “or you don’t fly at all.”
My eyes flick between his blue dragon and Ahria, who has now flown over and landed on a small wooden post nearby, the towering Southern Peaks rising behind her while she seems as unimpressed as ever.
“I don't have all day, Bloom,” Lucien folds his arms across his chest. “And you're lucky I'm even agreeing to this, but you’re already distracting Talen too much and if this helps him stop stressing and focus, then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.”
Squaring my shoulders, I lift my chin at him, ready to push back.
I want to train. I want to get over my fear of heights, but I want to do it withher. But as I watch Ahria ripping the head off a cricket, I know. One wrong move… that’s all it would take and I lose any chance at bonding.
Turning back to Lucien, I let out a long breath. “Okay, I’ll fly on JC.”
Lucien flashes a wide smile and nudges JC from his shoulder. She launches in a blur of blue wings, climbing hard before her body surges, stretching and expanding midair, then drops back down beside us in her full, colossal form. The impact kicks through the ground, reverberating up my legs and knocking the air from my lungs.
Fear needles through my veins at the sight of her, at the thought of how high we’re about to go. Shit. Maybe this is a bad idea. Still, Lucien is already moving, grabbing the ridges of her scales and hauling himself up, and if I stop long enough to think, I know I won’t follow. So I grit my teeth and go after him.
No more than a minute later, we land with a jarring thud. JC’s wings haven’t even settled before I’m sliding down her side, boots scraping uselessly against her rough scales as I drop the last stretch to the ground below.
The impact sends a painful jolt through my knees. I try to pull in a breath but my stomach is already raging, the next contraction hits and I fold over dry-heaving into the dirt.
“Well, at least you lasted longer than with Dave.” Lucien chuckles, stepping up beside me.
Lifting my head, I try to respond. Bad idea. Another surge of nausea hits, harder than the last, and I choke on it, shoulders jerking as I fold forward and brace a hand in the earth.
“Same time tomorrow?” he asks.
I shove my hand out and give him a thumbs up. It's the only thing I can manage as more bile rises, burning the back of my throat.
For the first time today, I'm actually glad I didn’t eat anything.
Lucien lets out a quiet laugh, his boots scuffing up dust as he turns away like that settles it—but then he pauses.
“Hey… uh, sorry I didn’t clock what Beth was planning…” I risk a glance up, long enough to catch him dragging a hand over the back of his neck. “When you came back after the Ashvale attack, Talen told me everything. I was supposed to help keep an eye on you… but, yeah… Beth had me pretty distracted...”
I don’t have the energy for this, and Idon'twant to talk about Beth.
My hand lifts again, a weak flick of the wrist—it’s fine, go—before I drop it back to brace myself against the ground while another wave rolls through me, eyes watering.
He stays for a second longer. Then he gets the message and leaves, his footsteps drifting into the distance.
After another minute of gagging, my guts finally settle enough to sit up, except the moment I push myself upright, it cinches tight again when my attention catches on Ahria.
She’s still perched on the wooden post, wings tucked, head angled—but she’s no longer looking bored. This time, she’s watching, really watching. Taking in every miserable second of me puking my damn guts out.
Fucking great.
