Page 29 of To Fight and To Fold

And all her mother cared about was maintaining her status.

The hopelessness she’d felt so long ago raged in her chest, just like when her mother was promising to marry her off, despite her age, when Aaryn had been dashing through the rain to attend the lottery, her last hope before a life of wifely duties.

As the castle finally came into view, Aaryn wanted to scream.

Instead she led the horse to the stables and thanked the stable hand before returning on shaky legs to her room.

Upon her entry to the castle, the guard she’d met the night before appeared, and followed her.

“Stationed at my door again tonight?” Aaryn asked.

She dipped her head, armor clinking. “As I’ve been directed to, Tethered.”

“Thank you for your diligence,” Aaryn said, and paused with her hand on her door. “If you hear a muffled scream, just know it is me. Into my pillow.”

The guard narrowed her eyes. “Okay…”

“I’ve just returned from visiting my mother.”

“Ah,” she said with a nod, understanding filling her features. “If you do require assistance, shall I listen for a less muffled scream?”

Aaryn chuckled, but it was lacking mirth. “Yes.”

“Good night, then, Tethered Aaryn.”

“To you as well,” she said, and closed her door.

Part of her wondered if the prince would check up on her again. If he did, she’d have the chance to ask him why the news of Starspark had not been shared with the kingdom.

In the meantime, she wouldn’t have to worry about her mother telling anyone about Thea or Starspark. She was far more concerned with her cottage and the neighborhood gossip. The last thing she would do was willingly admit that it was her daughter who’d had her dragon taken from beneath her nose.

Frustration bubbled up again inside her, nestling behind her breastbone and expanding⁠—

Aaryn stared down at the duvet and blankets that made up her bed, and breathed. Not that it helped, but it gave her something to concentrate on instead of the thrumming pain.

With every draw in and out, it quelled the rage within her, bit by bit.

Aaryn did what she did best and buried the feelings deep, shoving them aside to deal with later.

Maybe she did not need to scream into her pillow after all.

7

ORCHARD YOU GLAD TO SEE ME

Aaryn dreamed.

She dreamed of being warm despite the star-filled sky above. She dreamed of being bigger than she’d ever been before, her breaths disturbing the reeds and grass before her. And of little orange glowing flowers, which was… odd, certainly. Captivating. She was… safe. But confused. Worried. And… still. Too still.

Aaryn was oddly aware of the shape of her own body in bed, the pillow beneath her head, the weight of the covers over her torso. And yet she was also… elsewhere.

It took her a moment to recognize the sensation. She’d so briefly felt this before, just a flash, the night… Starspark was taken.

A familiar face came into view, though she looked smaller than she ever had from this vantage point, and Aaryn gasped, the air of her room cold as it passed her lips, so very different from the warmth she felt in her dream.

It was Thea, the woman who’d stolen Starspark. The same girl who'd met Aaryn for lunch each day and sparred with her, mostly through wit, except for a few treasured times their bodies had pressed together as Thea had attempted to show Aaryn something exciting. The same Thea with that freckle on her jaw, visible now as she stared down at…

“How are you doing, Starspark?” Thea’s voice was muddled, as though Aaryn were listening through a wall.