Page 73 of Heart Cradle
“Good. Starting tomorrow, you’ll train for combat in the mornings with Eiran and the three boys. You’ll cover weapons, tactics, close-range fighting and flying. You’ll need to be able to hold your own in the sky.”
Maeve’s eyebrows shot up. “Dragon flying?”
Taelin gave her a small smile. “You’re with Eiran. You think you’re not going to end up in the sky with him at some point? Dragons are important in battle for us, they’re our weapons and protectors.”
She laughed softly, then nodded. “Alright. Bring it on.”
“Then, in the afternoons, you’ll have magic training with Aeilanna, Yendel, Hettae, or one of the others, depending on their workload for the day. It won’t be easy. You’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
She grinned. “Sounds like a challenge. I like those.”
“You’ll regret saying that by day three,” he said, but there was a smile tugging at his mouth, then he sobered slightly, glancing towards her wrist where the Chain still pulsed softly.
“We’ve established communication with the Runekeepers,” he said. “They're… difficult, but interested. We’re trying to learn as much as we can about the Chain, its origin, its bond to you and what it means that it’s active again after all this time.”
“They’re Yendel’s bosses?” Maeve asked.
“Not quite, they’re more scholars. They know things we couldn’t start to comprehend and Yendel would be the first to admit that.” Taelin said, looking her in the eye. “They will try to understand what is going on.”
Maeve shifted, propping her chin in her hand. “I had a vision,” she said quietly. “When I was unconscious. The Chain didn’t just stay with me. It reached out to Jeipier, wrapped around his leg. And he liked it, said we could trust it. That we must.”
Taelin’s brow knit. He stared at her for a long beat, lips pressed into a thoughtful line. “It reacted to him?”
“Like it knew him,” Maeve nodded.
He gave a genuine smile and said, “they’ll know what to do, or at least steer us in the right direction.”
Then Taelin stood, muttered something under his breath, and the door swung open and Eiran was standing right outside, arms still crossed, clearly having been eavesdropping the whole time.
“Seriously?” Maeve asked, amused.
Eiran stepped in, glaring half-heartedly at Taelin.
“I did want to check in with you,” Taelin said to Maeve with a shrug. “But mostly I like to see him squirm.”
“I certainly do not squirm!” Eiran exclaimed.
Maeve rolled her eyes and looked at Eiran. “I’m going to be training. With you, your sister, brothers, dragons, and magicers.”
Eiran raised an eyebrow. “All that?”
“Yes, all that,” she said, grinning. “I hope you’re ready.”
Eiran just winked and Taelin clapped his hands once. “Now that that’s settled, try not to get each other killed in training, or at least not before lunch.”
Chapter Thirty-Four – Let’s Torch Your Mate
Maeve and Eiran left Taelin’s drawing room hand in hand, the heavy door closing behind them with a soft thud. The hallway was quiet and she gave his hand a small squeeze, looking up at him with a soft smile. “Do you think… I could spend some more time with Jeipier today?” she asked.
Eiran glanced at her, something like pride flickering across his expression. “You can do more than that,” he said. “You can fly with him.”
Maeve blinked. “Really?”
Eiran nodded. “Your saddle’s ready.”
She grinned, then narrowed her eyes playfully. “And why couldn’t you just magic one up? You can open doors with your mind, you can undress me in a second but you can’t make a flying saddle?”
He smirked. “Magic doesn’t work like that, you can only enchant something that exists. You can’t just conjure something that complex from nothing, it has to be crafted, shaped with intention and built for the bond between dragon and rider.”
