Page 44 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

JAXUS

Istruggled to contain the urgency to get her off the ground as she reluctantly climbed my haunches. Each finger clinging to scales reminded me that if I was too twitchy, I’d scare her off and this would be over. On the other side of the coin, if I gave her time to consider what she was doing, she might back out.

It was almost impossible to find the balance, so I waited silently as she got into position.

Once she found her seat, I shifted to stand and felt her tense and try a different hold.

“Hold on wherever you feel most comfortable,”I told her soothingly.“There is no right or wrong.”

“I don’t want to grab something that hurts you.”

“You’re adorable, but I’m made of armor, Kiera.”I wished I could see her expression.“As a healer, you shouldknow that. You seem to forget yourself every time you take the role of ryder.”

“Isn’t that half the problem? I’m expected to be this new thing, and I don’t know how.”

“You can be both. Try not to focus on what you think others want of you. You won’t lose who you already are if you don’t allow it. You just be you, and the rest will simply fall into place.”

“Okay.”

Her lack of snarky response told me I’d hit home with my advice and I relaxed slightly. Winning Kiera over was a battle I was having to fight on so many fronts, I took any win, however small. I hoped she enjoyed our back and forth as much as I did.

“Feel your magic. Let it reach out for mine. Our combined magic will help keep you seated if you let it. You won’t have to think about it. It will just work for you when we are flying. Fully melded, you should even be able to sleep.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,”she scoffed.“I don’t think a meld can change fully expressed magic, let alone a healing power.”

“What do you mean?”I asked.

Bringing up melding when we were finally about to fly for the first time was stupid. But I couldn’t fight the urge to keep nudging her down the path to me. One victory would never be enough. I couldn’t stop until we were one in every way.

“Healing magic isn’t the same as others. It doesn’t change.”

“Why would you believe that?”I didn’t know if she was right, but we didn’t have ryders in Kerani, so I couldn’t be sure.

“It’s never been seen before. It’s not a thing.”

“Not if you don’t let it,”I said only half to her. “Okay, I’m going to launch. You don’t have to do anything but hold on and let your magic find mine.”

“Don’t go too high!” she pleaded.

“I’ll only go high enough to clear the walls, and then we cantake a gentle turn over the pastures so you can get used to it. Alright?”

“Okay.”

“Ready?”

“No.”Her fingers dug into my scales. At least she’d gotten over the fear of hurting me. Or maybe her fear of heights trumped the fear of hurting me.

I made the gentlest launch I possibly could and beat my wings to get us clear of the palace.

Kiera was rigid on my back but she didn’t pass out, so it was progress.

After clearing the walls surrounding the palace, I turned away from the city and flew over the pasture lands. There was nothing but silence from my ryder. No movement. No—breathing.

“Kiera?”

She didn’t answer and the silence stretched in our minds. I followed the threads of our magic to make sure she wasn’t passed out on my back.

“You can breathe,”I urged and felt relieved when she blew out the breath she was holding.“Are you okay?”

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