Page 138 of The Shattered Rite
Eliryn didn’t answer at first. She stepped down from the slope and crossed the grass to him. Her hand found the warm edge of his foreleg—heat like sun-baked stone, alive beneath her palm. Living armor. Solid. Unyielding.
“I can't stop thinking about Malric,” she said.
I know.
She didn’t ask how. Of course he knew. She was quickly learning that dragons heard things not said, felt things not yet formed.
“He told me what he is.”
A killer,Vaeronth said, without hesitation.
She nodded. “Yes. And something else.”
Silence stretched between them. Not empty. Waiting.
Then:You are drawn to him.
Eliryn didn’t answer.
You must not forget why you’re here,he continued.This place is not your home. These people are not your allies.
“I know,” she whispered. “But I can’t seem to stop being human just because I'm supposed to fulfill some ancient prophecy.”
Vaeronth shifted, slow and deliberate, lifting his head until his gaze settled fully upon her. His eyes were deep, endless pools of hammered bronze—ancient and steady, forged to outlast doubt.
You do not have to stop being human. But don't believe that everyone here can be trusted… not all monsters wear their true faces.
She sank down beside him, her back resting against the curve of his massive shoulder. His warmth enveloped her, steady as his breath—a low, constant thunder behind her ribs.
“I went to the kitchens,” she said after a moment. “Talked with Marta and Nim again.”
The young one who gives you the sweet bread?
She huffed a small laugh. “That’s the one.”
And what did they say?
“That someone under the king was killed recently. Someone important, maybe. It had nothing to do with the trials.”
Vaeronth didn’t speak at once. The silence felt heavier now.
It wasn’t an accident,he said finally.
“You think it was a warning?”
Or a test. Of loyalty. Of silence. Of obedience. This place pretends at order, but it is rotting underneath. You are wading through it all.
Eliryn’s throat tightened. She tipped her head back, staring up at the last light bleeding through the trees.
“I’m trying, Vaeronth. I just… don’t know what direction to go in.”
A pause.
You don’t need direction,he said, voice soft as the settling of ash.You have me.
She closed her eyes, the truth of it sinking into her skin like his warmth.
Chapter 21: The Hall of Judgment
