Page 8 of A Witch and Her Dragon
I reach up to touch the chain around my neck, hidden just beneath the collar of my tunic. The metal links are warm where they rest against my skin, heated from the inside out by the magic that dwells within them. If not for this chain, I don’t know what would happen. I don’t know who I’d hurt.
“I can do this,” I tell my mother, catching the chain with my thumb and lifting it above my tunic so she can see it. “It’s never failed me. The king’s witches are powerful. I trust their magic.”
“Even so,” my mother says, dropping her hand from her face so she can reach across the table and place her palm atop my hand, “what of you? Even if your dragon is contained,youwill still want her. No magic can change that.” Her lips pull into a slight frown. Perhaps she’s thinking of my father.
My whole young life, they were good together. They laughed and talked and danced at night after I had gone to bed. Papa was good to me. He taught me what I was.
But his most important lesson to me came on the day he snapped, the day he accidentally let his beast free and scarred my mother’s face and half of her body, nearly killing her in the process. Then he left, choosing to abandon us rather than endanger us with his dragon. I know now that he didn’t mean to harm her, but as a child, I couldn’t comprehend why someone would hurt the person they love.
Now I understand. I know how it feels to unfurl my wings, to feel the earth crumble beneath my mighty claws. I know my power, an unthinkable,unstoppablepower. And I know that without the magic wrapped around my neck, I’d be a slave to the beast inside me, unable to contain it, unable to control it.
My feelings are small in comparison.
Yes, being around Alina is painful—excruciatingly so—but I will bear that pain if it means my dragon stays contained and my mother and sisters get to continue living here, in this quaint little apartment over Celia’s shop, drinking tea and eating croissants and watching the snow fall while knowing they’re safe from the cold.
I will not make my mother worry for me. She does quite enough of that already.
I draw myself up at the table, filled with determination.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell my mother, placing my free hand atop hers. “It’ll be no different from the past three years. She’s a princess, and I’m her knight. I will do what needs to be done.”
“Raelan—” Mama starts, but she’s cut off when the apartment door opens to admit my middle sister, Clarice. Her dark brown hair has mostly escapedher long braid, and she has to blow it out of her eyes as she steps through the door, hands full with bags from whatever errands Mama sent her on.
My little sisters don’t know of my dragon, nor do they know of Papa’s. They were too young to understand why he left, and they didn’t inherit the shifter gene. So, as far as they know, I’m just their big brother, a knight at the castle, the one who brings them croissants and pastries whenever I visit.
One day, when they’re old enough to be trusted with my secret, I’ll tell them the truth. Until then, it’s safer for all of us that they don’t know.
And with Clarice home, there will be no more talk of dragons and bonds and magic.
“Rae?” she says as she pushes the door closed. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s breathing hard from carrying all the bags up the stairs, but that doesn’t stop her from sprinting the few steps to the kitchen and throwing her arms around my neck.
As I hug her back, I meet Mama’s eyes.
And I just wish they didn’t look so troubled.
Chapter 5
Alina
THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for something. My entire spring and summer were spent practicing my magic, poring over the pamphlets Coven Crest sent out to first-year students, and preparing to officially leave home for the first time.
And now we’re finally on our way. The carriage is loaded up with my trunks, and Mother is seated on the plush velvet cushion across from me, watching me as I stare out the window at the verdant summer landscape rolling by. I’d hoped Father would be here to see me off, but he’s on yet another political trip, this time to Dunmara, the kingdom to the south of Elarwyn. We had dinner together the night before he left, yet I still find myself wishing he were here today.
Coven Crest Academy is located northeast of Wysteria, near enough to be convenient but isolated enough that the students are further encouraged to focus on their studies instead of the bustling outside world. The castle is tucked away deep in the Mistwood,a forest warded by powerful magic to keep anyone who doesn’t belong there out.
We’re approaching the woods now. I scoot across my cushion and stick my head out the open carriage window to get a better look. A moment later, Yuki pops his head out beside me, mouth opening and tongue lolling out as the sweet-scented summer breeze plays through our hair.
A company of knights surrounds the carriage, each carrying the Ravenscroft banner—a raven against a deep purple background, threaded through with hints of gold. The flags flap merrily in the breeze, and the horses’ hooves thump over the dirt as we draw nearer to the Mistwood.
I’m trying to peer ahead, to see if I can spot Coven Crest poking over the trees in the distance, but mostly I see the back of Raelan’s head as he rides alongside the carriage. His horse is draped in purple and gold, and the armor he wears gleams in the afternoon sun. He sits perfectly straight, heels down, his banner carried high.
Somehow, he must know I’m looking at him, because he turns to look back at me, his eyes dark and narrow as they meet mine from beneath the visor of his helmet. His intense gaze sends a shock through me, and I sit back from the window immediately.
Every time he looks at me, I get the feeling hereallydoesn’t like me, though I can’t imagine why. I’ve never done anything to him. I’ve scarcely spoken to him.
But he’s probably as excited about being my babysitter as I am about having a babysitter. That’s to say,not at all.
“How are you feeling?” Mother asks, drawing my gaze away from the window—and Raelan right outside.
