Page 15 of A Bond of Fire and Roses

That’s when I hear it. The distant lulling of waves crashing over rocks.

My entire body freezes to the spot as childhood memories come flooding back to me; summers spent lounging on the beach with sand in my hair and the whole west ocean stretching before me. It was rare that my governess would take me to the beach where my parents had private access to. My mother was always frightened I would somehow end up drowning in the water, so she never let me go, but my governess—my dear, sweet governess, who was killed in the fire—would take me there as a treat when I pleased her with my studies.

As if called back by the waves themselves, I face the door again. It’s been so long since I’ve heard their beautiful whooshing or felt the coldness of their salt water caress lapping at my feet.

Excitement builds within me. Since turning around the bugs have gathered the keyhole, leaving just enough room to insert a key. One of them flies down to perch itself on what remains of the handle.

I bend over, grasping it in my hand and turning it over in my palm. To my utter surprise, a slightly rusted key rests half-lodged inside its mechanism. A tinge of cautionary fear begins to cloud my excitement. If I believed in signs, then this is as good a sign as any. It’s like the gods themselves want me to open this door.

Despite the king’s caution echoing in the back of my mind, I pick up the key and insert it into the gap. The bugs use the tip of their wings like claws to hold on to it and slowly turn it around. The door opens out into a corridor, only it’s not really a corridor. It’s more like a passageway typically found in a cave.

The bugs cover the walls on either side of me, glowing in that same spiral pattern as before. But it’s not them I’m focused on now. It’s the exit at the end of the passageway where the sound of waves can be heard. The ocean has always calmed me—always made me feel less alone in a world burning around me.

Relief washes over me when I step out of the exit. There is a beautiful rocky shore lake stretched out far in front of me, hidden under the branches of thick trees so it cannot be seen from above. The branches are so tightly woven that it is hard to even make out the sunlight through them but it’s bright enough here. What strikes me as odd are the torches outside the exit. There are two of them at each side mounted on iron dragon statues with their claws holding them in place. Both of them are lit. I scan the shoreline again. The only other habitants are the dragonflies skimming the surface of the lake and embankments like flickering blue stars.

There doesn’t appear to be anyone else out here. I stretch up onto my toes and yank out of the torches. Lochlan would tell me to turn back. I can just hear his voice in my head. For as long as I’ve known him, Loch has a fear of deep water and the things that could lurk in their depths. I’ve always been the opposite. The lakes and ocean have only ever smelled like home to me, and this is the closest I’ve been to home since it was taken. I’ve waited years to do this.

I’m not going to turn back now.

I now believe there is a reason I have been brought here tonight. None of this coincidence. The gods don’t believe in coincidence, only fate. And so, do I.

Extending the torch to help guide my way, I approach the water’s edge. Pebbles replace the grass beneath my feet and crunch against my slippers. I slide the torch between two rocks to hold it in place. My hands shake with excitement as I remove my nightgown and slippers, placing them a foot away from the torch.

There’s enough light now that I can clearly see where I’m going. I roll my night dress to my thighs and tie the edges into a knot just below my hip. Goosebumps rise over my body and the cool night air feels amazing against my skin, like an embrace from an old friend.

I dip my feet into the water, surprised to find the temperature warm. The beach at my parent’s had been cold but invigorating. The water here is so different. As I step further into the lake, it’s like sliding into a warm bath. I close my eyes and allow myself to just soak everything in. The way the current laps at my body, the softness of the kelp cradling my feet like down pillows. Gods, even the salt in the air fills me with a sense of relief I haven’t felt in such a long time. It’s like I’m dreaming again instead of succumbing to nightmares.

It’s like I’m home again.

Something brushing against my leg prompts me to open my eyes. I glance down at the murky depths, figuring it’s some kind of fish swimming by. With only the moon and stars to light my way this far out, there’s little I can see under the surface. The fog creeping in from the opposite side is only making it harder. Where did that fog come from?

Disturbed water rippling beside me makes my heart jump.

I turn around, scaling the water around me. I catch only a glimpse of something flicking out of the water in the corner of my eye, something huge and glistening. It causes the current to change and for the waves to pull me in deeper.

I dig my heels into the slippy floor and lift my head to prevent any water from entering my mouth. The salt stings my eyes as the waves crash over me regardless, dragging me to its depths. The water is no longer a warm embrace but an icy chokehold where rocks claw at my body and algae ensnares me in its slippery trap, causing me to sink faster.

I keep trying despite the weight of the water crashing down on me. In my heart I know I’ve come too far to give up now. I’ve endured too much just to surrender to this water when I know there’s still a small chance, I could be free of all this. I use it to fuel my determination, and I manage to push myself high enough to gasp a single breath into my lungs before I’m dragged down again.

The breath is enough to keep me going.

I swim against the current, giving everything I’ve got until there’s no energy left in my bones. It’s then that I see it—the blast of electric blue light hurling its way towards me. It lights up the bottom of the lake, illuminating the depths to which I’ve been brought. There are eyes down there.

Dragon eyes.

The water muffles my screams as I try to swim away. With only moments to spare, I use the last of my strength to grab hold of the kelp, but I’m too weak.

Too exhausted to pull myself up.

I close my eyes and brace myself for the impact, and whatever will follow it. But nothing comes. There’s no pain, no burst of light slamming against my body.

Only darkness.

Then air rushing through my body to fill my lungs again.

I roll to the side, my chest burning as I cough up water, and dig my fingers into a rock-hard surface as cold as ice. For several moments I can see and do nothing other than that, my vision completely blurred and my eyes stinging.

Something pulls me back, away from the lake, and settles me by the torch in the rocks. A blurry silhouette moves through the light towards me and leans down.

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