Page 97 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
I try to empty my mind, to focus on what I need to pray, but it is difficult not to think about how boldly Aurelia just admitted to having dreams about me in which we were…unchaperoned. Can it possibly be that she longs for me just as much as I long for her? That perhaps she might even… want to be with me?
Not out of a sense of duty. Nor mere friendship.
But just… to be my wife? My beloveddrakira?
The dragon inside me rumbles his approval, but I squeeze my eyes shut tight.Naei. I can’t think about that right now. Even though I so desperately want to. Even though I very nearly confessed right alongside her that I dream of her, too.
Not that she would ever believe me. Aurelia has always thought meperfect. A paragon of chivalry. Gentlemanly. Kind and good. Not a single dark desire staining my soul.
But I am far from perfect.
I stumble.
Even before taking up the Corona Ignis and fulfilling the initial terms of my uncle’s curse, I would sometimes fall prey to the siren’s song of my Shade.
Na’Eruv, I pray, falling to my knees.Please, watch over Aurelia. Guide her. Show her the path You wish her to walk. Grant her Your strength, Your wisdom, and Your discernment. Help her not to despair now.
My body shudders as I draw in a deep breath and add a prayer for my uncle.
If there is any of Your goodness left in Malice, let him find it again. If there is a way for him to return to the light, I pray he will see it.
And myself.
And help me to be more like the man Aurelia has always thought me to be. Help me to be better for her sake and for mine. Grant me Your mercy. Help me to observe Your laws and… tonothate my uncle, despite all he has done.
… Despite all that he might yet do.
Chapter 29
Aurelia
Green. That is the color I choose to wear—the color of Earth, in honor of the magic Rowan must have wielded to aid me.
I limp out of my bedchamber, moving slowly, doing my best to pretend to still be in excruciating pain. An easy enough feat, given the heavy chains I drag behind me.
Ghoul hops from foot to foot, impatient. His bare, clawed feet clack against the floor. “Hurry, hurry. We can’t keep King Malice waiting any longer.”
Rowan snaps his sharp teeth at the other goblin and waits for me to finish trudging into the corridor before he closes the doors to my room behind me. “Na’therynwill not be kept waiting long,” he croaks.
The moment the doors snap shut, Ghoul scampers ahead, leading the way. Leaving me and Rowan to shamble along behind.
I slant a sidelong glance at the goblin, studying his sharp features in profile. After a time, I gather the courage to whisper, “Thank you.”
He shoots me a warning look. “I need no thanks,Therya’fey. I have done nothing.”
I bow my head, accepting his answer.
Together, we continue on in silence.
Beyond the windows lining the corridor, twilight creeps over the land, swaths of purple and pink bleeding through the clouds. I have lost track of the time. The days.
How long have I been here?
How long does Bene have left?
I do not know.
I do not even know if Malice will tell me if I ask.
