Page 100 of A Witch and Her Dragon
His Majesty awarded it to me the week after Alina’s abduction. The Emerald Eye is an honor bestowed upon thosewho go above and beyond in their duty to the kingdom. There was a ceremony and everything. And yet somehow, I feel I don’t deserve it. Because there is no world in which I would’ve let anyone take Alina from me. I would’ve given my last scale to save her.
And I need no recognition for that—not now, not ever.
I’d have preferred not to even wear the pin tonight, but the king seemed delighted to present it to me, and I will undoubtedly speak with him tonight. And besides, there’s very little I can do these days to avoid the curious eyes and stares of the court.
I used to blend in with the shadows, but they all know who I am now. The knight. The shifter. The princess’s dragon. I can’t say I’m quite used to it, but in time, I hope for their stares to not cause me to wish to crawl from my skin and fly until all I hear is the wind over my wings.
“Sir Ashvale,” says a voice, and I turn to find Princess Rowena standing beside me. Her hair is pulled up and away from her face, and the dark blue gem nestled at the base of her throat makes her blue eyes—the very same shade as Alina’s—sparkle in the flickering candlelight.
A man stands beside her. He’s tall and light skinned, with the same eyes as the king.
Alina’s father.
He’s still mostly a stranger to me, but I have a feeling we’re going to have more opportunities to get to know each other now.
“Your Highnesses.” I bow my head to them both.
“What are you doing over here?” Princess Rowena asks. “You’re much too young and handsome to be lurking abouton your own. Don’t you care to dance?” She uses her wineglass to gesture to the couples twirling across the floor. “Or do you have two left feet, like my husband here?”
Prince Jorin smiles, and his eyeglasses glint in the candlelight as he tips his head to regard his wife. “We all have our weaknesses, dear. Remember when you tried to make Alina a cake for her third birthday?” His gaze cuts to me, blue eyes twinkling. “It was adisaster. Remind me to tell you all about it.”
I’m starting to learn that the Ravenscrofts like to tease, and as of late, I’m usually their main target. Even His Majesty’s behavior toward me has changed slightly. But I suppose that’s what happens when you’re suddenly included in family dinner and given invitations to parties instead of having to work them.
I’m still not used to it yet. At least my sisters are enjoying it though.
I draw myself up and smile down at Alina’s mother. “I’ve not yet found a dance partner.” I tip my head. “Unless you’d like to do me the honor? Perhaps you can tell me about that cake.”
Her blue-eyed gaze flicks to something over my shoulder just as the orchestra finishes their waltz. A smile tugs on her mouth. “Hmm, I don’t think so. But perhapsshewould.”
Heads turn, the chatter dims, and when I finally shift to look at what has caught everyone’s attention, I find my breath suddenly trapped within my chest.
Up on the second floor, the doors to the ballroom have just opened, and Alina steps onto the balcony looking down at the room below. Her roommates file out behind her,regarding the ballroom with smiles and whispers, but my eyes never leave Alina.
She is... beyond radiant. She’s a gem the likes of which human eyes have never beheld, something worth more than all the gold and silver the kingdoms have to offer.
She’s everything.
And now she’s looking right at me.
Princess Rowena lets out a low laugh and nudges me with her elbow. “Well? You’d best go get her, sir knight.”
She doesn’t have to tell me twice.
My feet move across the ballroom floor as though they’re moving through clouds. People part around me with whispers and stares.
But it’s Alina they should be staring at. She’s the candle, and I’m but her shadow, completely content to go unnoticed so long as I can be near her, can bask in her heat and light.
I arrive at the foot of the stairs just as she’s approaching. Her dress hugs her frame, inviting my gaze to appreciate the curve of her waist, the dip of her low back, the column of her—
Her throat.
The dress leaves her neck on full display, and the glittering necklace she wears fastened snugly about her throat only serves to draw more attention to the pink scar in the shape of my jaws.
Tonight, she wears my claiming mark like the finest jewels, an adornment she’s proud to let others see.
Something stirs in my chest—it makes me want to smileandcry. I opt for the former.
I lift my hand to her and feel the weight of one hundred pairs of eyes as her palm slips into mine.
