Page 46 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
“Because of Lord Harcourt,” she whispered. “I can’t imagine he would…approveof our friendship.”
I breathed out a quiet sigh through my nose.Lord Harcourtagain.“Naei,” I dryly agreed. “That would be a little too scandalous, even for us.”
Retrieving my handkerchief from my pocket with my free hand, I gently tucked the cut strands of her hair inside and wrapped them up before putting away the bundle.
When I next looked Aurelia’s way, tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Aurelia—” I began to ask, confused over what had upset her now.
But before I could finish the question, she flung herself into my arms and buried her face against my neck.
I forgot how to breathe. How to think.
For a full moment, my heart stopped beating.
“I don’t want to marry Lord Harcourt,” she choked out between sobs, her hot tears soaking the collar of my shirt. “I don’t want to say goodbye. I don’t want to be a lady and live in Spindleton. Can I not go to Drakara with you? I can live in the woods with the pixies and the pegasi, and I won’t be any bother to anyone at all, I promise.”
Breath returned to my lungs in a shaky inhale.
Aurelia was embracing me. She was clinging to me.
My eyes fluttered closed as I carefully wound my arms around her back, afraid of hurting her. A ridiculous fear. She was no delicate flower. She was a Jewel.
My hold on her tightened as my inner dragon roared again.
Protective. Possessive. Defiant.
I couldn’t give up yet.
“I will see what I can do,” I promised, murmuring the words against her hair. “Give me until our next birthday, and let me see what I can do.”
Don’t give up on me yet, Na’therya.
I still had one year left. One year to fix everything.
For her sake, I had to finally succeed.
No matter what.
Chapter 13
Benevolence
Now
Idrive forward into the night, my wings carving a ruthless path.Faster. I must be faster.
The Corona Ignis blazes where it rests above my brow. The Air bends to my will, carrying me onward. Over villages. Cities. Farmlands. Forests. Faster than I have ever flown.
Chasing something bright. Something fierce. Something impossible: a thread of Mind so powerful it binds me to Aurelia even across that great distance.
A thread that snapped into place the moment I ripped open the Door.
“Bene!”
Her voice cracks through me like lightning. Undeniable. Unmistakable. I know it just as surely as I know my own pulse.
But it is not just her voice that fills my thoughts. It isallof her.
