Page 11 of Wynter and the Stone Dragon

“I love you, too,” she said.

ChapterFive

“Wynter, your mother and I need to visit the Mage Council for a few days,” Arastan said at dinner that night.

“I thought you were still avoiding them.”

Her mother smiled. “It’s different now that Harmonia is working for the Council. Your father doesn’t think they’re idiots anymore,” she said with amusement.

Wynter laughed and her father scoffed.

“Theonlysmart thing they have done is give Harmonia a position,” he retorted.

“I’ve made some meals for you. Will you be alright for a few days on your own?” her mother asked.

“Of course! And I won’t be on my own. I’ll have Pow-pow.”

“We’ll check in,” her father replied, peering at her across the table.

Wynter rolled her eyes. “There is plenty to keep me busy. I’ve started organizing the library. That will keep me busy for a month!” she said.

Her dad shook his head. “You and your obsession with my library,” he teased.

“I love every one of the worlds that you’ve cataloged. It is a priceless collection,” Wynter said.

“Well, that should keep you out of trouble for a little while,” Arastan agreed.

Two hours later, with a lot of encouragement, reassurances that she would be fine, and a little nudge, her parents departed for Wall, the closest city, to catch the red-eye shuttle to Enyo. Wynter was practically dancing by the time they left and could barely contain her excitement any longer. Pow-pow bounded out of his shelter, twirling in circles and hopping up and down.

“Where we go? Where we go?” Pow-pow impatiently demanded.

Wynter bit her lip and thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Why don’t I grab a couple of rings and we’ll choose one at random?” she suggested.

“Not serpent place,” Pow-pow warily responded.

Wynter stroked Pow-pow’s nose and shook her head. “No. No serpent place. Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Wynter hurried back into the castle, running through the corridors until she reached her bedroom. Falling to her knees, she summoned her treasure box. It had grown over the years.

She carefully lifted the clean tunic from the box. Unconsciously, she touched the ring of power tucked between her breasts on a gold necklace. She stroked the soft material of the tunic and thought about her dreams and her memories of not just that night but the years she had watched the boy named Khalid through the portal.

Her fascination with the boy from that distant world had grown to the point of obsession. To protect herself from heartache, she had eventually forced herself to stop watching him, but she was unable to completely cut ties with him. Wearing the ring had been a compromise. It had been years since she had seen him through the portal.

In her treasure box lay the dozens of other power rings she had secretly collected over the years. She grabbed a handful and stuffed them into a small leather pouch before pulling tight the string at the top. She replaced the shirt in the box and touched the ring she wore on a necklace again. Sighing, she resealed the box and put it away.

Glancing around her room, she collected her long dark brown coat and the largest bag that she could wear draped across her chest. She exited her room and hurried down the hallway to her father’s lab.

With a swift scan of the room, she found her power staff. The device was very deceptive, like all of their creations. It appeared to be only six inches long, but she could extend it by one or both ends with a thought. She pulled her coat back far enough to secure the staff at her waist.

As she turned away, her elbow caught a tome she had left on the corner of her father’s workbench. She cursed when it fell to the floor. A gold power ring fell out of the book and rolled across the floor. Wynter picked the book up and placed it back on the workbench.

“Wynter, hurry!” Pow-pow grumbled.

“I’m coming,” she called.

She scooped up the ring that had fallen out of the book and exited the lab. Sliding the ring into her pocket, she broke into a jog. If she didn’t hurry, Pow-pow would come inside, and she would spend the next few days repairing the damage instead of having fun.

Pow-pow backed out of the doorway and wiggled his nose when he saw her. He blew a puff of hot air around her, she coughed pointedly.

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