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“Come in!” I call, straightening the tunic. It’s a little big on me, but still preferable over a dress. The door opens and I look up…only to stop dead in my tracks.
“Mina?” My voice is barely above a whisper. Vivia had said Mina was getting better, but the scar on her face will most likely be permanent now. A harsh pink cut runs from her left eyebrow horizontally down to her neck. Most of the skin has knit itself back together, but some of the cuts had been so deep it would take longer for them to heal completely.
I’m not sure who moves first, but soon we stand only inches apart. I throw my hands around her neck, pulling our bodies close. Mina’s arms come around me and tighten, as if she too can’t quite believe she’s here.
“You’re okay. Oh fuck, Mina, I’m so damn sorry. I’ve wanted to come and see you, but Vivia said you were still recovering, and I didn’t want to intrude. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you and…and…”
“Goddess, Rose, I need you to breathe.” Mina laughs, the sound nothing but joy. I don’t know what I expected. For her to hate me? To yell at me for leaving? “I’m okay. I promise.”
“But you’re hurt.”
“You mean this?” She pulls away to point out the new scar across her face. “Listen, did it hurt? So much. But it doesn’t anymore, and I don’t blame you, so stop blaming yourself. I chose to help you and I told you to run when things got dangerous. And you want to know something else? I would do it again. Not because you’re my queen, but because you’re my friend.”
“I’m sure I’m your most high-maintenance friend,” I attempt to joke and it causes Mina to smile. The scar doesn’t diminish the light in her eyes when she smiles. If anything, it makes Mina appear fierce and that holds its own type of beauty.
Her smile soon fades, and I notice what causes the abrupt change. Mina isn’t looking at me anymore but behind me to the sleeping Malix on my bed. “Vivia said the king fell victim to the curse, but I didn’t want to believe it.”
That makes two of us.
“I’ve tried to wake him up. Every night since this happened,” I explain. He’s only been asleep for a few days, but it feels like a lifetime has passed. “I don’t want to leave him in case…”
In case I fail, and the Nephilim invade Dragon’s Keep. Saying it out loud feels like a bad omen. Still, Mina nods like she understands. Maybe she does, since her own wife will be at my side, leaving her wondering if she is okay or not.
“I know the fight you have ahead of you, and I don’t want you to worry about Malix…as impossible of a request that is.” I wonder if she’s thinking of Vivia and if she is capable of not worrying about her wife. I feel like I already know the answer.
“I’m going to stay with him,” she continues. “Me and my son, once he wakes up. I figure since you’ll be watching over my wife, I can watch over your husband.”
Despite wanting to both cry and scream over the situation, a laugh bursts out of me. “Deal. Then let’s promise to never have any more scary adventures.”
“Honestly, I’m too old for this.” She laughs, despite hardly being older than me. Mina reaches out and squeezes my hand. “I’ll protect him while you protect the rest of us. Just come back to us in one piece, okay?”
“No promises.” We share one last hug, neither of us wanting to be the one that lets go first. In the back of my mind a dark thought appears, making me question if this is the last time I’ll see Malix and Mina. I don’t let it take form though. I can’t afford to think like that.
When we finally break apart, Mina’s eyes are glistening with unshed tears. “Good luck, My Queen. I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back.”
When. Not if.
Casting one last look at Malix, I squeeze Mina’s hand before leaving to find Vivia.
I find Vivia waiting for me in the meeting room, alone. I frown, wondering if I missed something. “Where is Aracelia? Were you not able to get any of the dragons to help?”
Vivia doesn’t answer me. Instead, the dragoness takes my hand and starts pulling me forward. “You’re going to want to see this, My Queen.”
My stomach drops. “I swear if this is another bad thing, I’m going to explode.” Vivia laughs, but still says nothing about what she wants me to see. I’m helpless to do anything but follow.
We go straight out the door and down the hallway. Vivia makes a right to a different hallway that leads us straight out to the castle grounds, closer to the gardens. I have to jog to keep up with her. She may look human right now, but her strides and swiftness are pure dragon.
I squint against the sun the moment we walk outside. It takes my vision a moment to adjust and another to comprehend what I’m seeing.
Aracelia walks up to us, a smirk on her face at my dumbfounded expression. “Morning, My Queen. We have a few dragons that will be assisting us today.”
“A few?” I choke out. There’s nothing “a few” about the number of dragons waiting out here for…me? And these are full-fledged dragons, large and fierce. The only ones who wear their human skin are Vivia and Aracelia and I’m sure that’s for my benefit.
“Well, more than a few. I would say a hundred or so, give or take. I lost count,” Aracelia shrugs flippantly, as if she were commenting on the weather rather than the small army she procured.
My head swivels between her and Vivia like a defective bobblehead. “How did you get all these dragons?” More importantly, what did they promise, and do we have the ability to deliver it?
“I told them their queen needed warriors. These are the dragons that came,” Aracelia says.
