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“Oh, Hanna. I am sure Damyn and Talisyn and the others can confirm this if you want to ask them, but I'm not always brave or strong or clever. Honestly, it feels like I hardly ever am. We can all do our best, but we don't owe anyone beingperfect.That's an unfair standard to hold yourself to. You've made up a story, and you're trying to live up to it. I couldn't live up to that story either.”
She squeezed me a little tighter, then let go. She swiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I can really leave the Academy?”
“Absolutely. No one is going to be disappointed in you.”
She nodded. “Then I can stay a little longer, and see how it goes. If I'm free to choose my own path, then I can try different ones. I just didn't like feeling trapped. And insufficient.”
“You can leave at any time.” I promised her.
“There are some pretty cool things at the Posselbaum Academy,” she admitted. “it's the only school where noble girl is going to learn as much about pick-pocketing as dancing.”
I laughed. She tucked her arm in mine, and we spent an hour shopping and chatting before we wandered back to the Academy together. I knew my men would have things well in hand back at the palace, and Branok was right. For right now, Hanna needed me.
When she had gone up the steps of the Academy and waved at the window, I finally turned and walked away. I glanced back over my shoulder to see another girl join her at the window, the two of them speaking quietly to each other, and my heart rose, hoping she was making friends. This world is impossible without friends.
Speaking of which...
I turned and said quietly, “I know you're there. Which one of you is it?”
Talisyn stepped out of the shadows, smiling at me. That smile made my heart flip flop and I rushed toward him and threw my arms around his neck. He caught me easily with his hands around my waist, not swaying despite my momentum. His head dipped to meet mine in a sweet kiss.
A sense of gratitude and well-being washed over me. Talisyn was really mine, and I could put my arms around him to my heart's content. He smelled like his spicy aftershave and the faint smoky scent that all the dragon shifters carried, and his smile and twinkling eyes were full of that easy magnetism; two girls passing by stared at him until they tripped over the curb. He didn't seem to notice.
“I'd apologize,” he murmured. “But you know how dragons are with their treasure.”
“I do.”
“I'm not sure you fully realize yet. Wait until you see what Branok has done to the bed already. I'm not sure you'll be able to use the bathroom at night without having to climb through piles of gold coins and gems.”
“He has a funny way of showing his love. Presents and sarcasm.” It was funny, but it was Branok, and I didn't mind.
“Don't we all? I don't know why you put up with us.” He offered me his arm, and the two of us walked hand in hand along the streets. Dusk was falling.
Lanterns glowed ahead of us as the street lights began to come on, casting a magical glow against the falling night. The windows of the bookshop on our right were bright, and beautiful gilt edged books crowded the shelves of the display. A familiar green sign creaked in the breeze.
“Our bookstore,” I said.
“Do you want to go in?”
“Are you seriously asking me if I want to go into the bookstore as if there’s a chance I’ll say no?”
He grinned. “All right, book dragon.”
He held the door open for me, and I ducked under his arm. His word choice lingered with me. I wished I was still a dragon. Some of the shifters reported they could shift again—and not just into the dogs or cats or birds they had once been, but into other small creatures.
I hadn’t tried since I fought Ebba, though. Then I had turned into a dragon and into all kinds of animals as our battle raged across the fields. In that moment, though, I’d pulled all the magic from the land—from all my people.
Now that magic had returned to the kingdom, and the people’s ability to shift was returning. But would I ever have enough magic to turn into a dragon again? I wasn’t ready to be disappointed, and there had been a hundred other things to worry about. But I knew I needed to try soon.
The shopkeeper called out a greeting as soon as we walked in, but when he turned and saw Talisyn, his face brightened. “How are you, my boy?”
The two of them made small talk while I wandered ahead into the warm, cozy shop. After a moment, Talisyn joined me.
“I’m glad I remember this now,” he said in a low, quiet voice, taking my elbow. “It would have been a sad memory to lose.”
“You didn’t know what the memories were to miss them,” I told him lightly.
“No, but I knew I was missing something, and that may have hurt even more.” Before I could say anything, his gaze met mine, and he said, “It’s all right—it was horrible at the time, but I don’t think I’ll ever take us for granted.”
