Page 84 of Beautiful Beast

Aweight sat on my chest.

Everything happened so quickly, and I felt like I was standing in the middle of a storm, untouched. It almost felt like the morning of the wedding, but instead of the fear of being forced into something, now I was afraid of losing it.

Somewhere deep I had known we wouldn’t be able to escape what they’d been sent to do. But I hoped the Elders would listen. And if not, I would ask the Elders the same thing I asked of them. That I be able to choose and administer my own death.

Varí purred next to my ear as Belleo pulled clothes out of the pile and somehow folded them enough to fit in a small bag. Far, far too many clothes.

“Did you have fun in the workshop?” I asked Varí quietly. He purred louder in answer and climbed down my arm, perching on my hand and watching Belleo. His pouch rested between his wings as he nuzzled my thumb.

“He slept most of the time,” she said. “But yes, I would say he enjoyed himself. Now, come here. You need something more than that slip.”

I still wore the simple silk nightgown I’d had on when we woke late and went down to the water. Would I ever have a chance to see the ocean again? I stopped the thought in its tracks. Dwelling on an unknown future was a recipe for madness.

She wrapped me in a dark green dress, the material thicker and more study than what I was used to. No doubt it would fare better in the wind. She tucked my locket beneath the neckline so it still rested on my skin. “There’s a coat as well.” Belleo lifted the long, warm garment, and winked at Varí, where he now rested on the back of a chair. “With pockets more than large enough for Varí to sleep in.”

“Thank you,” I told her.

“Don’t thank me, Lena. If I’d been there to stop Soza from her games, perhaps you would not be in this mess.”

I frowned. “That isn’t remotely your fault. And what on earth am I going to do with something like that?”

She folded a gorgeous dress down into impossible smallness. The colors were similar to what Soza had tricked me with, but the dress wasn’t the same. It was something I might have worn to court, or even a ball, back when my mother was still alive and we still celebrated things.

“Doro Eche, though different that what you’ve known, will also be similar in many ways. They care about appearances. You will need every weapon you can have, and I am giving you what I can.

“Do not trust anyone but the Heirs themselves and Idroal. You will have allies, I promise you, but it is risky to voice such opinions, as you have seen. They will make themselves known if and when they are able. And,” she stood to her full height, cinching the top of the bag closed tightly. “If you see Soza and have the opportunity to slap her across her traitorous bitch mouth, do it and tell her it’s from me.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “I’m not sure that would endear me to anyone.”

“No, but it would feel incredible.”

There was no denying that. “Thank you, Belleo.”

She gave me a watery smile. “I hope I see you again, Lena. I still have so many things to ask and no other humans to ask them.”

The embrace took me by surprise, but I welcomed it. It made me miss Helena. But even Helena, though a true friend, had been given to me. I’d never had a friend who’d simply chosen to be one, and like her, I hoped I would see her again.

When we broke apart, I pulled open one of the large pockets she spoke of. “In you go.”

Varí looked before tensing to pounce, wiggling his behind and tail and leaping gracefully into the pocket. I laughed as he curled himself up, settling comfortably against my hip. He would be much warmer than we’d been when we’d come here.

Belleo carried the bag full of clothes as she walked with me to the same large, open-aired room where I’d entered the mountain. The same space where the Heirs had condemned Soza. It was a relief to know that even if they had not taken those actions, the result would be the same. If Soza hadn’t been the one to go to the Elders, someone else would have. They would have found out eventually.

So, despite the bitter taste in my mouth when I thought about her flying all the way to the dragon capital in order to hurt me, I had no thoughts that we could have prevented this. It wasn’t Belleo's fault, or theirs, or mine.

I froze. Soza could no longer fly. “How did she get there?”

“What?”

I looked at Belleo. “Soza. Her wings are severed. How did she get to Doro Eche?”

Her mouth tightened into a line. “The same way you’re about to.”

“Someone took her?”

She nodded once, and it was all I needed to know. Another dragon who hated me had flown her to the capital. Of course.

My jaw dropped as we stepped into the room. A dragon stood near the open drop into the Bowl. Scales of the freshest spring green, like new leaves, sparkling in gentle pinks and purples in the evening light.

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