Page 40 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
I would never survive the fall.
“No,” I whisper, sinking to my knees. I truly am trapped here.
I slump forward, my forehead finding purchase against the cool marble balusters supporting the railing. Through the spaces between them, I gaze out past the walls surrounding the palace, toward Spindleton proper.
Will Papa worry when we do not return home?
Will he even notice?
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I suck in a shuddering breath.
Will I ever evenseemy father again?
My fingers fumble beneath the neckline of my gown, pulling free Bene’s amulet. Beneath the moonlight, the pearly dragon scale encased in silver threads of Mind magic almost seems to glow.
I cradle it in my palm, but I don’t know what to do with it. When Bene first sent it to me by way of the fairy circle, he told me it would help mask my glow. He told me it would keep me safe.
Can it possibly help me now?
“Please,” I whisper to it, feeling ridiculous. “Please, help me.”
Heart pounding, breath catching, I cling to the hope thatsomethingwill happen.
Thatanythingwill happen.
But nothing does.
A wave of bitterness crashes over me, threatening to pull me under. I truly am alone in this. But I can’t give in to the despair of that realization. Not yet. I don’t know how long Friedemar intends to leave me alone.
But I don’t wish to be here when he comes back.
Magic floats all around me, calling to me with its kaleidoscopic gleam. The sight of it merely fills me with more bitterness.
Friedemar thinks I’m this…Jewel. He thinks I’m something powerful.
And then it hits me.
What if he’s right?
I swallow hard and stare at the heavens. Air. Water. Earth. Fire. Spirit. Mind. Iseethem, but I don’t know how totouchthem. I never have.
But what if I did? What if I…couldweave with them?
A hundred possibilities crash through my mind all at once, overwhelming in their scope. I could use Air to carry me down from the balcony. I could use Fire to burn this wretched palace to the ground and free my mother and Lord Reggie.
But as I clutch Bene’s scale in my hand, one thought stands out above all others:Bene.
I could use Mind to call to Bene.
A wisp of doubt immediately unfurls within my heart.What if he doesn’t come? What if I waste these precious moments calling out to a man who may very well have lied to me all these years?
But in the next moment, I silence that doubt.
He will come for me. If he knows I’m in danger, hewillcome.
I reach out with my free hand, trying to touch the threads of Mind magic arcing across the sky, but they elude me like a mirage shimmering in the distance. The only strands close at hand are the ones wrapped around Bene’s amulet.
I study them. I try to understand how one would even begin to unravel the intricate knots visible in Bene’s weave. Feeling even more ridiculous with each passing moment, I try to breathe them in, remembering the warmth of Bene’s breath brushing my skin that time he wove Earth to heal me.
