Page 77 of A Witch and Her Dragon
But all I can think is that I’m the one who left Alina there, who rode away and didn’t even bother to turn around as she screamed my name. The kidnappers acted as soon as I was out of the picture, as soon as they could steal her away beneath the cover of night.
They will regret it. I will not falter.
When I was being bound in chains and loaded into the back of the wagon, I paused to tell the king one thing.
“No matter what happens to me,” I said as the padlock was secured about my chest, “ensure Alina is safe.”
And though his eyes were troubled, he said, “We will. I promise you.”
I believed him. He’ll keep his promise.
I shift on the hard bench, making the metal around me sway and clink. The chains are not because I plan to fight back—they are another of the Veiled Hand’s demands, sent after the original correspondence was received. There’s a cloth wrapped around my eyes as well, blinding me to the world.
But I have my hearing, my sense of smell, the instincts that guide me even when my dragon is held at bay.
If the Veiled Hand thinks these chains and a flimsy blindfold will stop me, they’re wrong. The only thing that will stop me is the charmed chain about my neck.
The king tried to remove it, saying I’d need my powers, but I refused. My blood is already boiling, and the links burn my skin. If not for this magic, I’d have already torn free of these chains and the wagon I’m being carried in, and I’d be headed for the meeting location with every intention of decimating the people who dared lay a finger on Alina.
But to do so would be to endanger her, and I refuse to do that again. The chain must remain around my neck.
At least until she’s safe.
Then I will fight it with everything I have.
OLD SERPENT ROAD IS LONG and winding, and given how rough the going is, I imagine it is not often traveled. I’m jostled about, but the heavy chains weigh me down, grounding me.
For it is almost time.
I can feel Alina at the edges of my perception. My magic yearns for her, reaches out with stretching fingers, tries with all its might to grasp her and pull her in. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess to banish my thoughts of her.
To think of her now will only make me emotional, and I need to be cold, focused, calculated. I need hersafe. Apart from that, my desires cannot get in the way.
Despite being locked inside this creaking wooden box, I detect sounds in the nearby trees: arrows being nocked, boots rustling the fallen leaves, low whispers being exchanged. Without my sight, my other dragon senses are heightened.
But no one makes a move toward us. I imagine they’re lying in wait, ensuring the king and I came alone, as the first letter demanded.
His Majesty would hear none of it when Sir Larsen argued against the two of us coming alone. With Alina’s life on the line, the king was unwilling to budge. And I’m left hoping it was the right decision.
To kidnap the princess is nefarious enough, but to kill the king would drag the Veiled Hand into a battle they would never, ever win. If their reputation and the whispers surrounding their organization are to be believed,they are not unintelligent, and they will not start a war they cannot win.
And besides, they don’t want Alina, or even the king.
It’s me they want. But for what purpose—and client—I can only guess.
For ten years, I kept my dragon a secret from everyone except my mother and the king. No one knew the truth of what lurked beneath my skin. I was always careful, always hid myself in darkness when I would take those rare delicious flights over the untamed wilderness outside of Wysteria.
But Alina changed all of that. She freed my beast, allowed me to feel the rain on my scales and taste the never-ending expanse of the sky.
A burning realization takes root in my mind.
Someone must’ve seen me that night. The rain and fog shielded me from many of Coven Crest’s windows, but someone had to have been there to see me change.
A student? A faculty member?
Anger and shame rise inside me.
This ismyfault. If only I’d been able to control myself, no one would’ve discovered my secret. And Alina would be safe. She’s in this situation because of me.
