AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cleared my throat. “We dragons will miss the magic. We’ll miss flying.”
He gave me a long look as if he understood what I was worried about, what I wanted to hear. But it wasn’t Damyn’s nature to lie to us. When he finally spoke, he just said, “Yes. We will.”
“Do you think I did the right thing?”
The words hung between us, vulnerable and terrible. I hated to be vulnerable.
“Yes,” he said. “But it’s possible to mourn choices we don’t regret, Honor. You did what had to be done. All of us appreciate that you did what was necessary. Even if it hurts.”
Something that had been tense and brittle inside me relaxed at his words, and sudden tears stung my eyes. I hated the thought of losing my dragon forever, but most of all I hated the thought that I had taken their dragons from my men.
Damyn moved between me and my men, his broad shoulders giving me privacy. I hated to have people see me cry, and when I realized what he’d done, it touched me, and I blinked, the tears spilling down my cheeks.
“Sorry,” I said smiling through my tears, because Damyn never cried.
Damyn wiped my tears gently with the back of his calloused hands. “You never have to be sorry with me, Honor. I like knowing every side of you. You don’t always have to be perfectly confident and cheerful.”
I didn’t feel confident and cheerful, and it made me wonder how he saw me.
“Do you ever regret living your life the way you have…” I didn’t want to sayfor me, but we both knew it.
He’d given up a normal life. He’d stayed in the shadows. He’d even put himself in the way of Pend and the other Royals and their sons in order to protect me. He’d surrendered another life he could have had, and everything that could have unfolded. For a second, I imagined a smiling wife, little dark-haired children whose giggles melted my stone-faced mentor.
“You have been worth every moment,” he assured me. “You know I would die for you, Honor.”
“But I don’t want you to die for me,” I said. No matter that he probably didn’t want to hear it again. “I want something else… something you won’t give me.”
He gave me a long look. “There’s time enough for talking about the duties that we both carry when this is over, Honor. When there are no foreign enemies on our shore, and you’re safe on the throne.”
That wasn’t enough. “But life is short and there are no promises and I don’t want to wait.”
“But Iampromising.” His deep blue eyes sparkled at me, crinkling at the corners. “Your life will be long. And I will be at your side to guarantee that it is, no matter how much you protest.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, and he folded me into his arms. The light leather armor that covered his shoulders was cool against my cheek, but the warmth of his body still radiated against me. He was so powerful, so dangerous—and yet here I was, with my arms wrapped around his lean, muscular waist and his chin propped on my hair. It was a moment I could’ve dreamt.
He gave me a tender kiss on the forehead, one that surprised me and I froze, my heart hammering. For a second, time seemed to freeze between us. I could’ve sworn he froze too.
The next second, he ruffled my hair and stepped back, smiling, as if that had been nothing.
CHAPTER53
Jaik
I walkedthrough the sleeping fighters, driven by my restlessness. The guards were all awake. The night sky was deeply black—and our camp was as well, with no fires to alert Kallus’s forces to our presence—and I missed being able to call on my fire.
I might not have been able to transform into a dragon anymore, but I could have sworn he was still inside me, beating his wings furiously against my chest, desperate to escape. He wanted nothing more than to reach Honor, to pull her away from the danger and carry her away to his nest.Mine,he growled at the possibility she was in danger far from him.Mine to protect.
But I wasn’t just the dragon; maybe I would never be the dragon again. I had to trust her and I had to do my part to protect our kingdom.
We had a plan, flimsy as it felt when I woke up in the middle of the night, surrounded by my fighters, knowing how many of them would die.
Kallus and his men marched toward our capitol city of Rylow. They couldn’t carry more than they could eat for a night—so they were burning the villages as they went. Villagers fled in front of them, begging me for help, and I wanted nothing so much as to help them. To punish Kallus for daring to invade our shores.
But we didn’t have enough people to mount a meaningful defense yet. The prey shifters had been scattered, and I had to gather them back together again. And I had to make sure they evaded Kallus’s patrols, which had spread to either side of their advancing forces, burning every village they could. They kept being attacked by Scourge, though, which terrified Kallus’s forces.
I paused as I heard voices. A few Fae were creeping from the encampment, hunched over, carrying their bedrolls. The guard had just paced by and didn’t see them, and I froze, watching them.
They moved into the forest, and I followed silently. Were they betraying us to Kallus?
