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“I’m beginning to see that.”
A somber silence falls between us, and I loop my arm through hers. The saying misery loves company has never been truer than in this moment.
“So, what is the plan for today?” Mina says after a while, probably tired of listening to our feet tread down the stairs.
I fill her in on what I plan to accomplish today. I made a promise to Malix that I wouldn’t overextend myself when it came to waking the dragons. It’s a promise I intend to keep, but that doesn’t mean I plan on sitting down and twiddling my thumbs until he returns.
The goal today is to awaken two dragons, an adult and a hatchling, something I have not yet attempted. I’ve kept the awakening process to one dragon per day, but at that rate, it will take forever to wake the rest of the kingdom. We don’t have time for that, as Aeron likes to remind us daily.
Two isn’t much of a difference either, but it’s a start in the right direction. This process will take time and I can’t go too hard too fast. No matter how much I wish to wake every single one of the sleeping dragons.
We reach the bottom of the stairs and the sheer number of dragons still in need of help overwhelms me. Mina reaches for my hand and gives it an encouraging squeeze. “How about we start with those two over there? Mother and daughter.”
I look at where she’s pointing and see a medium-sized brown dragon curled in on a small girl in a blue, long-sleeve dress.
“Do you know them?” My heart breaks for the mother and daughter, but the only silver lining is that they are together in their slumber. How much harder would it be for the little girl to be without a mother? Or the mother’s pain of not knowing if her daughter would ever wake up again.
“Not well, but yes, I know them. They are sweet people and don’t have any other family as far as I know. Just each other.”
Mina stays a little behind me, making sure I have enough room. “How long have they been cursed?”
“I’m not certain, but I want to think it’s been close to a month.”
A month. A month of your life stolen from you. No wonder these dragons wake up disoriented. Nephilim are doing more than simply cursing them with sleep, they are taking away their time and memories that could have been made during the days, weeks, or months they’ve been asleep.
I place my hands on the mother’s rough scales and the child’s hand. The love between a mother and a child is supposed to be the purest kind of love there is. I don’t have children and frankly, I don’t know if I’ll ever want to have kids, it’s a discussion Malix and I need to have, but I know how much my mother doted on me and my sister.
She was the person I ran to if I had a bad day. The person I would tell all my secrets to. She knew how to make me laugh and knew exactly what I needed even if I didn’t always want to hear it.
I got eighteen years with my mother, and I wouldn’t trade a single day of them away. Of course, I wish I had more, but I didn’t. That’s life. It’s fucked up and messy. Unpredictable and draining. But it can also hold the most exciting and thrilling time as well. It can lead you down paths you never saw yourself on and make you realize how much you deserve the good when it comes your way.
I want this mother and daughter to have more time together. Despite the dangers outside our borders, despite the lack of promises for tomorrow, I know if they had to choose, they would choose to spend their time together and be conscious.
“Rose, step back.” Mina’s voice cuts through the fog in my brain. Soft hands tug me backward and I stumble. And not a moment too late. The dragon thrashes once and shifts before us. Her frail body drapes over her daughter’s and she sobs. Long wails of agony and fear.
The faintest of movement underneath her has the mother pulling back. “Zuri?”
“Momma?” The girl—Zuri—cries. “Momma, what happened?”
Mother and daughter turn toward Mina and I, pupils blown wide with terror. “What happened? Where are we?”
Mina is at their side in an instant, taking off her own cloak and draping it around the mother. She pulls it taut around her neck, more so to keep the chill out and less for her own modesty.
Mina speaks softly to the pair in the gentle way I’ve come to associate with her. I’m glad that she’s here because I don’t think I could conduct myself in the same manner she does. There is a certain motherly quality she possesses that I’m not sure I have, despite the years I spent raising my sister.
“Let’s get them to the kitchens for food and water,” Mina says, helping the mother up. I reached for Zuri, but the dragoness lurches and pulls her daughter close to her chest. A deep inhuman growl leaves her lips.
I put my hands up in a way that I hope conveys that I mean no harm, but her hold on Zuri doesn’t loosen. I try not to take it personally because this woman doesn’t know me or know that I’m their queen, but it still stings. It’s a stark reminder that just because I’m queen doesn’t automatically make me one of them.
“On second thought.” Mina smiles apologetically. “Let me take them upstairs and fill them in on the happenings while you rest.”
Unlike the others, I don’t feel the same fatigue or grogginess I did before. If anything, I feel slightly winded. So maybe that’s progress?
Even though I want to help, I see logic in what Mina is saying. She’s a familiar face and someone the dragons can trust. I nod my acquiescence.
“I’ll check in on you later. We can have dinner together,” she suggests.
“I would like that.”
