Page 20 of Crown of Slumber

Fennick blinked. “On… your dragon?”

“Are you hard of hearing? Yes! Hurry, prince. Before I change my mind.”

Fennick sheathed his short sword and bounded forward, withdrawing a handkerchief to wrap around his bleeding hand. In seconds, he had climbed onto Mal’s back with ease, nestling behind me. The warmth of another body against mine was jarring. I was used to the windy air and the freedom of no restraints tetheringme. To have another solid presence was foreign and uncomfortable.

Not to mention he smelled like pine and mint and waterfalls, reminding me of our dance together. I shoved the thought from my mind before it rattled my brain.

Shifting my weight on Mal’s back, I winced at the scales pressing into me. Yes, my legs would certainly be sore tomorrow.

“You’d best hold on to me,” I warned the prince. “Mal will not care if you fall off. And nor will I.”

Fennick wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. Mal took off, his claws digging into the soil, his muscles coiling underneath us, jostling us with each stride. After a few moments, his wings outstretched, and Fennick yelped behind me.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll get used to that.”

His wings beat beside us, and even I couldn’t stop my legs from sliding. Without the security of my saddle, I was dangerously close to falling off myself. I clenched my legs, tightening my grip around the dragon. Mal seemed to notice my unease, and his wings straightened, allowing me time to secure my hold on him.

After a few moments, we lifted off the ground, and the ride became much smoother. I sighed with relief, wrapping my arms around Mal’s neck and holding him closely.

“Take us to Samiria,” I murmured in his ear.

Mal grumbled his response, gliding higher into the sky.

Behind me, Fennick muttered several curses, his arms shaking as he clutched my waist.

“Gods above,” he whispered. “Bloody burning stars.This is insane. I can’t—Goodgods.”

As Mal arced smoothly through the sky, slicing through clouds, Fennick’s mutterings halted, and I heard him gasp softly. “Incredible.”

Despite the sheer insanity of our situation—the Midnight Prince, of all people, astride my most beloved dragon—I allowed a wide smile to stretch across my face.

No one, not even the prince of an enemy kingdom, could resist the wonder of flying on a dragon.

I wasn’tsure what possessed me to do it.

In my upbringing, Mother had stressed again and again toneverswear by my blood. The price was too great.

But the moment I saw Aurelia—helpless and panicked on the other side of the portcullis—I knew I would do anything to assist her.

Even after I found out who she really was.

I am Princess Aurelia.

My stomach had hollowed, like my insides had been jerked free of my body, leaving a shell of who I once was. This lovely young lady who had charmed me in the forest—whom I believed to be nothing more than a caretaker of dragons—was the very princess I was meant to coerce into helping me.

Seeing her disdain, her loathing and rage, was too much for me. I couldn’t bear to have her believe I was here for duplicitous purposes. That I was here only to deceive and steal from her.

Even if it was partially true.

And now, I was sitting atop a dragon—whose scales were quite sharp even through my leathers—clinging to the woman who despised me, for fear that if I let go, she and her dragon would let me fall to my death. The wind whipped around me so fiercely my eyes burned and watered. My hair flapped wildly as the dragon swooped and dived with expert precision.

Aurelia seemed relaxed in my grip, though her shoulders were set; the only betrayal of her discomfort. I wondered how often she shared her dragon with another rider.

When the dragon dipped again, my stomach roiled, and I shut my eyes, burying my face in the princess’s shoulder.

She smelled of rain and jasmine and embers.

Thinking of her, how lovely she smelled, how warm and perfect she’d felt in my arms while we danced in the forest, certainly wasn’t helping matters. But if it prevented me from vomiting all over her, then I would cling to those memories.

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