AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I will deliver your orders to the dragonriders. We will find the culprit,” he assures me.
I glower at him, before giving a short, sharp nod. I don’t want him anywhere near Isavelle, so out there hunting for the woman who betrayed my mate is the best place for him.
To everyone assembled, I say, “I will stay with my mate. I’m trusting you all to find the person responsible. Fiala, Dusan, join the search. You don’t need to protect Isavelle right now. I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“And if this betrayer has fled beyond the barrier?” Fiala asks.
“Then catch her before she can get there.Go,” I shout, and they all disperse at a run.
I pick Isavelle up and hook an arm under her knees, carrying her against my chest as I walk up to the castle. She’s still crying quietly, lost in the memory of seeing her family and the other villagers dead.
Rage mounts in my chest. She’s in so much pain. Whoever hurt her will pay in blood, that I promise.
* * *
Isavelle isbereft and agitated half the night, but she finally falls asleep in my bedchamber when I offer to soothe her with my scent. I hold her against my chest and she slowly quietens and falls into a slumber.
I’m too angry to sleep. Rage boils through me as I relive every painful moment from the previous day. My Omega is suffering, and I couldn’t protect her. People out there have caused her suffering and they’re still breathing. Inexcusable. Disgusting.Outrageous.
It’s only as the sun begins to rise and my shoulder muscles are cramping from being tensed for hours on end that I realize that my rut is fast approaching. Down at the dragongrounds, there’s a repetitive thud, thud, thud, punctuated by snarling, as an Alpha dragon paces restlessly up and down.
I glance at Isavelle, hoping that Scourge and I are days rather than hours away from erupting into obsession for our mates.
More obsession than usual.
Godric remains awake through the night to coordinate the dragonriders and wingrunners, but he has little news to tell me when he visits my bedchamber just after dawn. They’ve found no woman matching the description Isavelle provided, or the missing wyvern, but they’re still searching. Meanwhile, a dozen Temple Mothers and Maidens have arrived at Isavelle’s village.
I send Godric to his bed and stand over Isavelle’s sleeping form. I should have better news for my mate. I should have fixed this by now.
Just after dawn, she awakens.
“Did they find Odanna?” she asks, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
“Not yet, but we’re still searching.Sha’len, the people in your village…” I sit down on the edge of the bed and tell her as gently as I can that the bodies have been taken down from the spikes and have been laid out in a field.
She nods, pain filling her eyes. “I would like to see to the burials myself. They were my family. My neighbors. I loved them all, and Amriste was my home.”
Was. She speaks in the past tense. Isavelle has given up on returning to her village, something I’ve been hoping for since I first brought her to my castle, but not under these circumstances. Never like this.
I nod and get to my feet. “Get dressed and eat something, and then we can go. There are wingrunners andHratha’lenprotecting the village so it will be safe for you, and I’ll be by your side.”
Fifteen minutes later, we’re down at the dragongrounds being greeted by Scourge and Esmeral. I notice how Isavelle wraps her arms around her dragon’s neck and holds on tightly for a moment before drawing away and reaching out to stroke Scourge’s snout. The huge black dragon half closes his eyes and allows my mate to caress him. He doesn’t even let me do that.
“Would you like to fly with me on Scourge?” I ask, and he nuzzles hopefully against her thigh. If the day wasn’t so wretched, I’d tease him for being so soft on my mate.
She strokes her dragon’s neck and shakes her head. “I will fly on Esmeral. I feel safe with Scourge, but everything feels more natural with her.”
I take off my cloak and wrap it around her shoulders, hoping that it will keep her warm and bring her comfort during the flight, and stave off any sickness that she might feel, if she even feels nauseated by riding anymore.
I watch closely as she climbs up on Esmeral’s back and settles into the saddle, wondering how safe it is for Isavelle to be flying alone so soon. There’s so much she doesn’t know about dragonriding. “Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?”
“Don’t worry. Esmeral won’t let me fall.”
I glance at the turquoise dragon and see how her playful, somewhat chaotic demeanor has settled into intense focus. The dragon has her rider, and nothing is going to separate them ever again.
Up on Esmeral’s back, Isavelle has dark circles beneath her eyes and her color is drained, but she’s straight-backed, and her chin is up. Yesterday she lost her brother and her mother. She’s facing the prospect that she might lose the rest of her family, and half her village is dead. Even so, she’s putting aside her fears to see to the dignity of the people who allowed her to be taken away and beaten and tortured, and there’s not an ounce of bitterness in her heart.
I reach up for her hand and press a kiss to her palm. “You are breathtaking, my queen.”
