Page 432 of Kingdoms of Night

“Come with me.” He stepped back and laced their fingers together. “We’ll have to run. I’m certain they won’t let you go so easily. But I have a boat. I hid it on the beach as long as the dragons haven’t destroyed it. We can paddle back home.”

Aster tugged on his hand, trying to get him to slow down when that was not what he wanted to do. This was their opportunity. Not all the dragons were awake yet. If they were sneaky about it, they might actually be able to float on the currents before the dragons found them again.

He just hoped the monsters wouldn’t try to sink the boat after they realized one of their slaves had escaped.

“Rowan,” his sister snapped.

“We can talk once we are free from this place!” He pulled her harder until, once again, he ran head first into a leathery hide.

The amethyst dragon had blocked both him and his sister from going any farther. “Your sister has a lot to talk with you about,” she said, her belly bright with fire. “But you will not kidnap her and bring her away from this place without her permission. There is a reason she stayed, little elf. And I have a feeling it is because many of your people treated her as you are treating her right now.”

He hesitated. Not because of anything the dragon said. Her words were most certainly a lie, but because his sister tugged so hard she ripped her hand out of his grip. Rowan spun, only to see that she’d crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him defiantly.

Aster didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want him to take her from this horrible place, and he couldn’t imagine why.

“Aster?” he asked.

“I’m not going anywhere, Rowan. There’s a reason I stayed here, just like Tanis said.” She swept her arms out and gestured around them. “Have you actually stopped to look at what is on this island? Dracomaquia is not what we were taught to believe.”

“They’ve enchanted you.” He shook his head in disgust. “I didn’t think they would stoop so low, but clearly you are not yourself.”

“Rowan!” Her shout echoed down the lines of the huts, and he saw people stepping out of them. “Would you shut up and look around?”

Elves. Dwarves. Orcs. Even a few witches poked their heads out of their doors and watched them argue with amused expressions. Men and women. Even a few children who stood with their parents.

He saw them all. He understood that the dragons had held his people and theirs in a chokehold for too long.

But then he noticed how well fed everyone was. How their cheeks were rosy with happiness and their bodies not lean with hard work. Instead, they were all rounded. Happy. Their clothing was well made, finer than any the elves would have back home. They didn’t shake with fear at the sight of the dragon behind him. Most actually smiled, and a few of them waved at Tanis as though they knew her well.

He refused to believe any of this. “This place is wrong, Aster. You’ve all been enchanted. You’re all under some...”

She interrupted him. “You think this is all a spell? I always knew you were foolish, Rowan. But I didn’t think you were blind.”

He wasn’t. He could see everything in front of him and he knew that the dragons had taken advantage of these people, but... but...

Rowan let his shoulders drop and relented to his twin, who had always known how to control him. “Fine,” he muttered. “Fine. I will give you one day to prove to me that you are not being controlled by these monsters.”

“I’m not.” Aster held out her hand for him to take again, and the smile on her face reflected the sun rising on the horizon. “But I think you’ll want more than a day once I show you where I live.”

He doubted that.

Rowan slipped his hand into hers and started a whirlwind of a day that blasted by them so quickly he had a hard time remembering anything that happened.

First, his sister brought him to the sapphire dragons that he’d slipped past while they were asleep. In the light of day, they were much larger than he’d thought. And louder. They snorted through their noses and blasted water out of them even when they weren’t in the pools or lakes where they laid. His sister waded into the water around them without a single ounce of fear in her body. She plucked off any leeches or strange looking fish that were stuck to their sides, then went to work scrubbing the algae off their scales.

“Come on, Rowan!” she called out. “You have to work, too. You aren’t here to gawk at them.”

He wandered into the pond nearest to him with a brush and a bucket in hand, wondering when he was going to be eaten. Except the dragon didn’t even try. Instead, it just stretched out its neck and hummed when he scrubbed a part that apparently felt good considering its wing shuddered like a dog who had itched the best part.

By midday, they had finished with the water dragons and Aster brought him to the others to enjoy lunch. The spread was impossibly decadent. The kind of meal that he would only have had during festivals or celebrations back home. He was shocked to find that here it was normal to eat until their bellies hurt.

Most of the others then took an afternoon nap. But not his sister. Aster dragged him all over the island, showing him every dragon that was there and explaining what they did to help.

The forest dragons needed to be brushed and oiled because the sun burned the membranes of their wings. The crimson dragons often worked themselves too hard and forgot to take care of themselves. So they brought them water and made sure they had eaten. Amethyst dragons, although rare, were always in their caves and needed to be sung to sleep. Gold dragons were higher north, and usually they brought their own helpers with them. She said that with a longing in her voice that made him shudder.

At the end of the day, she led him to her home and let him sleep in her bed as they had when they were children. The mattress was so soft it felt like he was sleeping on a cloud.

When they both woke, she rolled over and asked him if he wanted to stay.

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