Page 55 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

My jaw drops. How can he tell? He’s not even looking at me. My gaze dips to watch him bandage me with efficient yet surprisingly gentle hands. “Have you dressed a lot of wounds? You seem to know what you’re doing.”

He hesitates for so long, I’m surprised when he responds. “I spent a lot of time traveling with soldiers, sometimes in remote areas. There wasn’t always a medic nearby, so I learned how to treat an assortment of wounds.”

“Do you ever miss your home?”

His throat bobs with the force of his swallow. “I do. I’ve been away a long time, and I can’t help but wonder how much I’ve missed over the years or how things have changed.”

My heart aches over the yearning in his voice. “Do you think you’ll get a chance to go back again soon?”

He hesitates. His gaze darts to my face before returning to the task. “I hope so.”

I place a bandaged palm on his arm and squeeze. “I hope so too.”

His eyes linger on my hand. His harsh features soften for an instant before a shadow crosses his expression. Straightening, he steps away again. “Finished.”

The extra distance between us loosens the tightness in my lungs a little more. I examine his handiwork and realize my hands no longer throb. “Thank you for the ointment. I’ll bring gloves tomorrow.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t thank me. I should have remembered to provide gloves to begin with. That’s enough cleaning for today. Your hands need a break.”

For once, his scowl doesn’t bother me. I don’t think it’s directed at me.

We reach the end of the aisle, where a saddled Zephyr waits.

“Ready?” Thorne asks.

I regard the alicorn like he might explode at any moment. “No, but let’s do it anyway.”

My flight instructor gives his approval. “Good answer.”

His big hands circle my waist and hoist me into the saddle with the same kind of effortlessness I’d expend to lift a cat. I tense and grab for the reins. Reaching for the lead, he unties Zephyr. As the alicorn takes slow, steady steps to match Thorne’s pace, I concentrate on breathing.

Stay calm. Nothing bad will happen. You can do this.

Thorne leads Zephyr through the stable, toward one of the paddocks. “So far, so good?”

“Sure. If your definition of good is me only considering flinging myself from the saddle every few seconds rather than every single one.”

“That’s still progress.”

“Right.” I search for a distraction. Anything to keep my mind off the giant winged beast prancing beneath me. “That dragon last night. What do you think happened? Was he old? I thought dragons usually lived hundreds of years.”

I regret broaching the topic when his expression darkens. “They do, and he wasn’t old. He wasn’t a juvenile, but I bet he wasn’t fifty years yet.”

“Was he sick? Are dragons susceptible to diseases?”

Thorne shakes his head. “Not usually, no. Something about their high body temperature seems to prevent most illnesses from taking hold.”

That eases the tension in my shoulders a little. At least I don’t need to worry that sickness might spread to the other dragons in the aerie. “What, then? What could cause a dragon to drop out of the sky?” Which, by the way, has done no wonders for my fear of flying.

Staring straight ahead, he rubs his chest. “That’s a very good question. I only wish I had an answer.”

Me too. The memory of that huge body, unmoving in the crater formed by the crash, cleaves my heart into pieces. Seeing any animal die like that would be upsetting, but somehow the fact that it was a dragon makes the pain so much worse. My extreme reaction seems odd, until I contemplate how the majestic dragons soar through the sky, and how their intelligence supposedly rivals a human’s. They mate for life, too, and take great care in raising their young.

I’m starting to understand Leesa’s obsession with them better. Maybe dragon lovers run in the Axton family.

“How did you know?”

The question pulls me from my reverie. “How did I know what?”

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