Page 3 of Wynter and the Stone Dragon

I pet you,Wynter soothed.We keep you safe.

“Father, I need some help with Astra again. She’s escaped her pen,” Wynter’s sixteen-year-old brother, Castor, said from the doorway.

“Give me a minute,” Arastan grumbled. “Wynter, time to go find Harmonia. Ask her to give you a bath for me. This may take a while. Off you go, now.”

Wynter nodded and held her arms up. Her father lowered her to the floor and fluffed her hair fondly. She walked to the door, but looked back in time to see her father wave his hand in a wide arc. Dozens of gold rings fell to the floor. He picked them up and dropped them into a woven basket on his workbench.

“Go to your sister, Wynter,” he gently repeated.

Wynter hurried out of the room ahead of her father. She rounded the corner and paused, biting her lower lip. The sound of her father and brother’s voices faded as they left the lab.

She peeked around the corner, waiting until they were outside. A smile lit up her face as she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the gold ring she had discovered earlier. She liked to collect the pretty rings.

After looking down the corridor, she ran to the workbench and climbed onto the chair. She pulled the basket of discarded rings closer to her and rummaged through them until she found the ring she was looking for. With a grin, she climbed back down and hurried out of the room.

Several minutes later, she pulled a wooden box out from under her bed and placed the two gold rings inside with great care. She closed the lid of the box and wiggled her fingers over it. The box faded from sight.

“Wynter, bath time!” her mother called.

“Coming, mama!” she replied.

* * *

Two hours later, Wynter’s mother was telling her that it was bed time.

“I’ll take her,” twelve-year-old Harmonia volunteered.

“Thank you, love,” Lyia replied.

“I’ll help,” ten-year-old Electra said.

Wynter kissed her mother and father goodnight. Anyone who saw them would notice the stark physical differences between Wynter and the rest of her family. Where her parents and siblings had brown hair ranging from light to dark and eyes of similar variations, Wynter’s curls were the color of a lightning bolt and her eyes were like emeralds. Sometimes the blue strands in her snow-white hair glowed almost as brilliantly as her eyes.

Wynter wrapped her arms around Harmonia’s neck when her oldest sister picked her up and carried her. As they went to her room, she listened to her sisters chatting about the spells they were working on. She absorbed everything they were saying.

“Here you go. Do you want to see the stars?” Harmonia asked, tucking her into her bed.

Wynter eagerly nodded. Electra muttered and clapped her hands. Above, millions of tiny lights glowed. Wynter squealed with delight before snuggling down under the covers. Harmonia leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Goodnight, Wynter. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, Wynter,” Electra said, tickling her sides before blowing a raspberry kiss on her cheek.

“Love you, Ele,” Wynter giggled.

Harmonia and Electra walked out of her bedroom. They didn’t shut the door all the way behind them and their quiet conversation echoed in the cavernous hallway. She sat up, listening.

“Do you think she will ever find her powers?” Electra asked.

“I don’t know. Father and Mother say it may not be something that her kind can ever do,” Harmonia replied.

“Well, we’ll just have to protect her if she doesn’t,” Electra declared.

Wynter looked up at the stars glowing on her ceiling and wiggled her fingers. Planets, moons, and comets appeared. She smiled. She liked the game she was playing with her family. No one knew she could do so much more than they could—even her mother and father. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings. Besides, it was much more fun watching what they could create.

Sliding out of her bed, she wiggled her fingers again. The magical box that she kept hidden under her bed floated into her hands. She opened the box and worried her bottom lip. Which ring… which ring…

She had collected almost a dozen of the rings so far. Most of the rings were ones that had fallen to the floor or her father had discarded. A few were ones that she had especially liked and had taken to add to her collection. Every once in a while, she would exchange them. The basket in her father’s office was always full of the rings.

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