Page 61 of The Dragon Queen

I felt a hand grab mine. Felt small fingers, felt a strong pulse. I squeezed it back.

Khazmuda’s snout dropped down to my head, and he gently brushed me with soft scales.

I turned into him slightly, feeling his warm breath wash over me. He’d saved me from the courtyard before Barron could burn me, saved me when I’d taken my own life, and without him, this moment wouldn’t be possible. “Thank you…for everything.”

He rested his snout against my shoulder.We did it together, Talon Rothschild.

Chapter 13

Talon

I stepped into the home I once shared with Vivian. The sunlight came through the windows exactly as I remembered, and for a brief moment, I was taken back in time, like I’d just come home from my night duty with the guard to find Vivian in the kitchen making me breakfast. She was always waiting for me to come home, no matter how late it was.

The home had been inhabited by Jairo or Kael, based on the clothing and items in the rooms. The furniture was mostly the same, but all the items that had belonged to us had been tossed or donated to the poor.

But when I stood there, I could still feel her…distantly.

You’ve accomplished everything you’ve wanted—but your sadness is worse than it’s ever been.

My sorrow was aggressive like a disease that invaded the body. It’d been tendrils before, but now the infection had run rampant. If I didn’t take the antidote, I would die. I stepped outside to the grass and looked at the tree where Vivian and I would sit in theshade and look at the view. We’d spend hours waiting for the baby to kick.

Khazmuda was there, his black scales a contrast to the color of the grass and the sky. The fires had been put out. Though there was a lot of destruction and the scent of human flesh was still in the air with the ash—the war was over. He bent his neck to bring his face close to mine.Why does your heart bleed on the inside?

It was the perfect description and made me wince involuntarily. Like a soldier facing a battle where he was outnumbered a hundred to one, I was too overwhelmed to make a decision. And I knew I had very little time to make it. “There’s something I need to ask you.”

Anything.

“If I asked you to do something for me…with no questions asked, would you do it?”

Khazmuda studied me with his dark eyes, taking a pause as he absorbed the weight of the request.

“Even if it meant doing something bad to a good person?” Like Queen Eldinar. I couldn’t look at him as I said these things. If I did, I would see myself in his reflection…and hate myself.

Khazmuda remained quiet.

I waited for his answer.

My loyalty to you has no bounds. If you asked me to do something, no matter how horrific, I would do it without reservation—because I trust you wouldn’t make such a heinous request without good reason.You know I would do anything for you, Talon Rothschild—and I would take your secret to my grave.

I kept my eyes on the ocean beyond the cliff, feeling a flush of pain at his words. I could hear the sincerity in his voice, trust that he would keep his word if I asked him to. If I told him to snatch Queen Eldinar out of the courtyard and fly her to Bahamut’s domain, he would do without hesitation.

I could spare my life—and my soul.

“I apologize for my absence.”

Calista had left to help the wounded in the village and the fields. She seemed to understand that I needed my space once Barron was dead, to roam the grounds of the castle where my family had lived and died. She seemed to understand I needed to say my final goodbye to Vivian—like she could read my mind. Now, she’d returned to the courtyard, showered and cleaned up after the long night. “I know you must feel a lot of different things right now.”

She had no idea.

“I hope peace is one of those emotions.”

I felt it briefly. Then the stress of my decision covered it like storm clouds. “My entire purpose for the last twenty years has been fulfilled. It’s hard to accept that my life’s ambition has been completed.”

She watched me with soft eyes.

“It brings me peace. It brings me satisfaction. Even pride. But the pain… Nothing will ever cure that. I returned to the place where Vivian and I used to live, went down the hallways where we’d walked, remembered conversations I thought I’d forgotten. I know it’s time to say goodbye…and let her go.”

“You don’t have to let her go, Talon.”

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