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When I do not answer, she sighs heavily. “I figured as much.” She moves around behind me. “Probably injured yourself worse when you shifted to save her, did you not?”
I still. She was not there. Olmar had to retrieve her after Freyja fell. “How do you know that I changed forms?”
“You think I’ve gotten this old without learning a few things?” She shakes her head. “I would recognize the deafening roar of fully shifted Dragon anywhere.”
Her hands ghost over my sore left wing joint and I huff out a curl of black smoke.
“There it is,” she murmurs, more to herself than to me. “Now, stay still and allow me to work.”
Warmth pools at the site. At first, it’s painful, but then it slowly ebbs into a soothing heat. I knew Dwarves possessed healing magic, but I did not know it would work on Dragons.
The pain fades away into nothing, and when she steps back, I cautiously flex and extend my wings, testing the joint. I’m surprised when I feel nothing. Not even a hint of discomfort. Tucking my wings into my back, I turn to face her. “How did you—”
“I believe the words you’re looking for are: thank you.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and I arch a brow. “You’re welcome, by the way, Dragon King.”
Now that I can shift forms and fly without pain, I must take Freyja to my kingdom immediately. I pull her into my arms and hold her tight to my chest as I turn for the door.
“Where are you going?” Trian calls out even as the other Dwarves, including Olmar, move out of my way.
“To my kingdom.”
“She needs to rest,” the healer states firmly. “She should not be out in that cold until she’s fully recovered.”
I hate that this did not occur to me. Clenching my jaw, I turn to Olmar. “Your best room. Where is it?” Now that they know who and what I am, I am done playing a pauper.
He motions for me to follow him. Before I do, I look back at Trian. “You will assess my T’kara first thing in the morning.”
She dips her chin in a subtle nod of acknowledgment.
As soon as I step through the door, I hear someone murmur under their breath. “That poor girl… stuck with an arrogant Dragon like that.”
“Aye,” Trian agrees in a hushed tone, oblivious to the fact that Dragons have sharp hearing. “But she’ll never want for a better protector.”
Fierce pride swells my chest as her words ring true in my heart. Freyja is my T’kara, and I will burn the entire Order to ash and raze their temples to the ground if they dare try to come for her.
CHAPTER25
FREYJA
The sound of an argument startles me awake, followed by a low and menacing growl. My eyelids flutter open, and I turn my head to find Aurdyn snarling at an elderly Dwarf woman, his wings fully extended and his tail lashing agitatedly behind him. “You said she would be fine, but she has not awakened,” he snaps. “What is wrong with her?”
“She has been through much,” the woman replies. “You must let her rest and—”
“Aurdyn,” I force the words past my lips despite my intense exhaustion, and he spins to face me, his angry expression softening instantly as he moves to my side.
“Thank the gods you’re awake.” He takes my hand, squeezing it gently as he stares down at me in concern. “How do you feel?”
I struggle to push myself up to sitting, but the world begins to spin. “Help me sit up,” I tell him, and he places an arm around my back, pulling me up the rest of the way and bracing several pillows behind me.
“I’m Healer Trian,” the elderly Dwarf woman says. Her gray and black hair is braided atop her head and her amber eyes are full of warmth as she moves to my bed, nudging Aurdyn aside a bit as she leans over me.
He growls at her, but stops when I give him a pointed look.
“How are you feeling, Princess?”
Panic spikes through me, but Aurdyn quickly adds, “She knows who we are. She is”—he glowers at her—“a friend,” he grits through his fangs, and I suspect he used this word to assuage my concern more than anything else.
It’s confirmed a moment later when she shakes her head and gives him a wry look. “Oh, we’re friends now, are we, Dragon King? Well, let me tell you: friends do not growl and snarl at one another.”
