Page 29 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
Finally, I find my voice again. “But… your other guests,” I protest, flashing a look toward the long line of women still choking the ballroom. The long line of women now glaring daggers in my general direction. “The ladies waiting to meet you.”
King Friedemar gently wraps his hand around mine and lifts my fingers toward his lips. “They can wait,” he exhales, caressing my skin with his warm breath.
His breath.
I am suddenly thirteen years old again and back in the garden with Bene as my dragon prince breathes healing magic against my wounded finger.
Mydragon prince.
The king kisses my knuckles, but I hardly feel it. My mind is elsewhere, winging through the heavens, racing all the way to the Door, to Drakara.
To the only man I truly wish to dance with tonight.
Chapter 9
Benevolence
Fourteen Years Ago
“Dance with me, Bene!” Aurelia called out as she twirled in the forest clearing, her skirts flaring about her ankles.
I smiled, perfectly content to watch her frolic like a dryad from my place lounging beneath a tree. Until she turned to face me and insisted a second time, “Dance!”
I sprang to my feet and dusted off the seat of my trousers. “The lady has made a demand of me, and as a gentleman, I am obliged to obey.”
A bright smile curved her lips. “How do you say, ‘You are my favorite,’ in Draconic?”
Warmth thrummed through my heart, sparked by her continued fascination with my native tongue.“Sha sol na’valraen,”I rumbled in the midst of my approach, meaning every word.
By the light of the moon, I watched her cheeks turn pink, her gaze slip from mine.
For a single, awkward moment, silence descended between us.
And then I snatched her around the waist.
“Bene!” she chided, her laughter bubbling forth like a brook as I swept her into the steps of a lively waltz. “Is the paragon of chivalry, Prince Benevolence himself, being cheeky for once?”
Fighting against a grin, I countered, “Naei. If you think this is cheeky, you’ve clearly never met Friedemar.” To prove my point, I relinquished my hold on her waist in favor of taking both her hands within the clasp of mine.
I might as well have flown straight into the heart of one of my mother’s storms for the electricity that coursed through me the moment our fingers touched.
My heart stuttered. My breath hitched.
Sucking in a ragged lungful of air, I hastily asked, “Are you excited to be going home tomorrow, then?”
Aurelia answered with an immediate and exuberant, “Yes! No more finishing school!”
“At last.”
“No more Miss Selina Danbury!”
“One can only hope that holds true.”
“And no more embroidery samplers!”
“What a shame. Your stitchwork was finally improving,” I teased, earning for myself a roll of her eyes. “What do you intend to do first with your newfound freedom, then?”
Her smile returned. “Visit the garden, of course. I’ve missed it so.”
