Page 40 of Redeeming the Dragon

Inside my room, my hands closed on my pouch of sewing tools, which I tucked away in my pack. I’d not made much progress on the family mending, I thought, glancing at the basket. They would have to finish that task on their own.

“Make haste!” Mama ordered, and I heard my sister flee out the door. The next thing I heard was the door to my room opening. “Lorna.” Mama slipped inside. My heart plummeted into my stomach, though I took pains to keep the emotion from showing on my face.

“Yes, Mama?”

“You remember our plans,” Mama said. It was a statement, not an inquiry.

The heavy feeling descended even further into my stomach. I nodded reluctantly. “Aye, Mama. I remember.”

I wished that I didn’t. I was ignoring every bit of the dragon’s advice. Deep in my heart, I feared it would go against me. And yet—the damage had been done. My mother had wormed her way into my ear with counsel that sounded good on the surface. Certainly, she raised fair points.

She walked closer to me, catching me by the shoulders, forcing me to stop packing and look at her.

“You will remember, Lorna. You will do this. You must. It is the sole way to break the dragon’s spell.”

I wanted to protest. I wanted to say, “I had a plan to break free of the dragon’s spell, and the first part worked so well. Why do we not trust my instincts and continue the slow, methodical way I had planned? Why, Mama?”

I was her daughter. She was my parent. I could only argue so much.

“I will not forget, Mama,” I said, even as I squirmed, gently extricating myself from her hold. “I must pack. I’ve no wish to anger the dragon by delaying our return.”

Surprise, mixed with a little hurt, creased my mother’s features. “I do not understand you, Lorna. You seem almost…eager…to return to that cave.”

“No.” Quickly, I shook my head, even as I stuffed more clothing carelessly into the pack. They would be wrinkled, but what did that matter? Who was there to see me? No one, except the dragon-man, and that at night. “No, I am not eager to go back.”

“Aren’t you? I half-wonder, child, if you’re not bewitched by this dragon. No matter what creature our plan reveals—even if a Simathe, a Cistweight, a troll. The Light forbid! I fear you’re lost to him already.”

“Mama!” Aghast, I stopped packing completely, feeling my jaw drop open. “Mama, that is not…that is not true at all,” I protested.

Pain punctured my heart like my needle piercing the blue satin. I had given up my life to protect my family, and this was what I received in return? Accusations that I was bewitched by my captor?

“Oh, Lorna. I meant no offense. I simply want you home and back to yourself so badly,” Mama said. She threw her arms around me, hugging me close. “One day, no matter how long it takes, I want you to come home and be the little Lorna you used to be.”

Although I hugged her back tightly, I did not tell her that Lorna was gone. The Lorna who didn’t know dragons existed, beyond wild tales of brutish people far away in another corner of the realm; the Lorna who didn’t know what it was to volunteer herself in sacrifice to a mythical beast to preserve her island and family; the Lorna who had never had a strange man visit her chamber at night, speaking kindly to her and dispelling her fears…

That Lorna no longer existed. She would never return. I could never again be my mother’s innocent youngest child.

Her little Lorna.

“Mama, I want my life back too,” I replied quietly. “We will have faith and we will be patient. One day, I will redeem myself from this dragon’s curse, and I will come back to the Jeweled Isles to live in peace.”

That was the closest I could get to fulfilling her promise. I dared pledge nothing further.

“I love you, Lorna,” Mama said, drawing back. Sniffling, she dashed away her tears. “Now, do you need my help packing, or…”

“No,” I said quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. Mama raised an eyebrow but didn’t remonstrate.

“Very well,” she said. “I will go and keep watch for your father. Please promise me you will not leave with that…that…beast until he’s come back. We all want the chance to wish you farewell.”

“I promise,” I agreed, even though the words evoked pain in my heart.

I had promised the dragon too. I had broken that promise. I was weak. I was a liar. I was a coward. What punishment would I have to suffer before I could make this right?

Chapter 25

Did you keep your promise?

Beneath an evening sky, streaked with red, purple, and gold, I wended my way homeward on the back of the dragon. His powerful wings beat in a steady rhythm, keeping us aloft. His breath rushed in and out of his lungs like bellows on a mighty forge. I clutched the spikes on the back of his neck, marveling at the smooth scales beneath my fingertips, scales that glistened in the moonlight.

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