Page 103 of Enchanted Crown
But Queen Aurelia said isolating Morana was our next step,I reminded her. I almost wanted to tell her we were on the right path, but then I thought maybe I had just spent too much time in Corsha.
Still, it was a relief to know that though we planned our steps and tried our best to outwit the shadows at every turn, the path we were currently all on was one that would lead somewhere better than the ones behind us.
Are we returning to the dock in Keld?I asked. If Morana had been seen there recently, was that still the plan?
Yes,she answered.I will be there, but I’m bringing an entire group of shifters with me. Zaccai and Zaire’s teams will fly with me. I’m somewhat hoping that she is out there somewhere and sees just how many shifters are healed now. So she knows what she’s up against.
Though I had used our bond to communicate to Estanumerous times while we were in Corsha, I realized I hadn’t told her about Avril yet.Speaking of that, we now have a prophet of sorts to help us....
What?!
I continued to explain the trip to Esta. The intricacy that was Corsha’s Enchantment. Before I knew it, an hour had passed, and there I still stood, talking to Esta down our bond. Something which weeks ago seemed like it would never happen.
I was grateful every day to have found her for numerous reasons. She might be the love of my life, the dragon queen, the woman who I yearned for and desired, yet she was also my friend. I valued every facet of her, but the last one still sometimes stunned me. I genuinely enjoyed talking to her and couldn’t imagine a day when I could not.
At dawn,at the exact moment Dra Skor first came in view as a blur in the distance, three dragons took to the skies, flying out to meet our ship.
“Glad they’re on our side, eh?” the captain chuckled while numerous members of the crew agreed.
Rather than landing on the ship, the three dragons simply flew with us back the rest of the way. Someday soon, I’d get to fly with them. For now, I kept my wings out of sight, grateful that I had gotten to use them some on the way back.
And as soon as I stepped onto the sandy shores of Dra Skor, there she was, running for me. My ring on her finger.
I easily caught her, kissing her hard. “I missed you.”
She breathed deeply, pressing her forehead to mine. “Can we wait until things calm down before your next trip?”
I laughed. “I am in no hurry to leave you again any time soon.”
I felt down our bond that she was curious about something. “What is it, Es?”
She smiled at me. “I need some sleep now that you are home. But after that, I have a favor to ask.”
I pinned her with a fake glare. She knew she could ask me for anything, and I would give it to her.
But I wasn’t expecting her to ask, “Would you heal my brother?”
CHAPTER 35
“When?” My eyes intently stared at Esta.
“Tomorrow, if you feel rested enough for it.” She paused for a moment, as if she were biting the inside of her cheek.He is my brother. And his fiancé is carrying an heir to Dra Skor.“He wishes to be healed to better protect Charlotte, should Morana find out. And though I don’t think either of us trusts him enough to let him go free yet, if Morana is the real enemy and he didn’t help her, I owe it to my brother to at least give him the opportunity to protect his family.”
I reached for her hand as we headed up the shoreline. “I have never hated him, Es.”
“He thought you might kill him.”
“I would have if I had solid proof he was responsible.”
Her smile was soft, only a half of one. “He said that he respects that about you. And he doesn’t want to intrude on the lottery, on Nana’s ban on the dragon shifters, so he requested you to do it as extra healing, to not upset the lottery. There are no hard feelings.”
So he thought I was going to kill him, but still trusted meenough to use that same power to heal him? What sort of complicated mess was this? My gut churned as I realized that the closest I had gone to acting like Theon Valanova while being in Dra Skor had been when I was trying to scare Jagen Mallick. In the end, it had been worth it, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still ashamed of it. I owed him at least that much.
“Of course I’ll do it,” I told her.
“I’ll let Malachi and Zaire know. Let me shift and let’s head for home.”
I found it odd that “home” to her meant my room and not her own. Would we ever switch to her room? Her room which was designed with her dragon size in mind. “I want nothing more than to hole up with you in my room for at least a day or two, and I know you need sleep, Es, but there is something I must do first.”
