Page 40 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

"All the more reason they're a strength. With them on our side..."

It hits me all at once. I came here to plead their case on humanitarian grounds. It's cruel to keep my mate separated from her other mates.

But what if there are practical advantages as well? Surely my mother will be receptive to those.

"Controlling stone and fire would give us a chance of fighting back. We could fend off any enemies--we could even..."

Blue flame sparks to life in my chest.

We could go home. Retake our ancestral lands. Start over in the wider world of dragons.

It wouldn't be easy. We've been in hiding for so long. But we could reemerge and show the other kingdoms what we're made of. We could be a part of something bigger once more.

My mother yanks her hand back. In one harsh move, she stands, and a shiver of ice flashes through my veins.

"Mother--"

"No." Her voice is firm. In the distance, a wave crashes against the shore, and I can feel the energy rippling through the water.

The hope I'd harbored for an instant collapses into sand and dust. "But--"

"No," she repeats, even harsher this time. "We don't harness this energy. It's too dangerous. They're too dangerous. These outsiders..."

"They're Ember's--" I swallow the word mates. It's too dangerous right now. "Friends. She trusts them." I grit my teeth together. It's killing me to say this, but it's true. "So I trust them, too."

She turns to me, a sudden desperation to her eyes. "Don't you see? They'll betray us. We'll be beset again. I can't-- I won't lose--"

"We don't have to lose anything, Mother." I say the words slowly. There's something going on here that I do not understand. "We stand only to gain."

New knowledge of the other elemental dragons. New abilities. New power over the environment surrounding us, new confidence to defend ourselves.

A new chance at a new life. For all of our people.

Visibly struggling to get her feelings back in check, she shakes her head. "We're safe here. After everything we've sacrificed... After everything we lost..."

I dare to rise and move toward her. I reach for her hand once more, but she pulls away.

"What are you so afraid of, Mother?"

The force of her laughter startles me. Her gaze connects with mine, and her laughter trails off. "Isn't it obvious, my darling boy? I'm afraid of everything."

"But you're so strong."

"Because I've had to be. No one else was going to pick up the pieces after your father..." Her voice breaks. She puts a hand to her stomach. "Your brothers..."

My own vision threatens to blur, but I blink hard, working to maintain my composure.

"It's been a decade, Mother."

Has she truly been living so deeply in the past? For all this time?

"It was yesterday," she tells me, utterly serious. "And it could be tomorrow."

"But--"

"Don't you see?" And there's that wildness to her tone again. The loss of her composure rattles me. How much has she been hiding all these years? "Sacrifices must be made."

"Believe me, I know." Everyone in our kingdom lost someone. Everyone let something go.

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