Page 16 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
Even from the grave, he will still mock me.
“I am left with no other choice,” I growl. “If I wish to stop Malice, I will need the power of the Corona. You all know this.”
My pride smarts, but it is the truth. I am no prodigy with the elements like my uncle. Compared to him, I might as well still be a hatchling. I am a mere Master of Earth.
According to Lady Prudence’s latest reports, he is a Master of Air, Fire, Water, Spirit, and Mind.
Velda glides toward me until her silvery form fills my vision on my right side. “We all have more than one choice, Bene.”
She shares a brief look with her sisters and parts her lips, clearly having more to say.
Before she can speak further, Brisa bites out, “Have you considered that instead of asking the Great Weaver for permission tokillyourself, you might beg Him again to take away the curse instead?”
Another growl escapes from me as I surge away from my godmothers, making for the gleam of the Living Waters in the distance.
How many times have I begged the Great Weaver for that very thing? How many times has He ignored my cries for aid?
Too many to count.
My aunties follow me, flying in my wake. Shadows I will never be able to shake.
“Is this not what you have been preparing me for? Is this not what you have always wanted from me?” I ask, snarling the words. “To take up the Corona? To be king?”
Velda calls out to me over the rush of the wind, “What we want is for you to be happy, Bene! The Corona is a heavy burden. The decision to don it should not be made lightly.”
Glorana agrees, “Even without the threat of Malice’s curse hanging over you, there will still be a seventy-three percent chance of you going mad from the power of the Corona alone and succumbing to your Shade without aTherya’kaito help you bear the burden.”
Brisa shoots her green-clad sister a withering look. “That isnothelpful.”
“How can he make an informed decision if he doesn’t have all the facts?” Glorana asks, always matter-of-fact. “Never in the history of Drakara has any king donned the Corona Ignis without aTherya’kaiat his side.”
“Then I will be the first.”
Three sets of eyes bore into me with that declaration, but I ignore them.
Aurelia, daughter of Liora, is the only Queen of Drakara I will ever recognize. If I cannot have her for myTherya’kai, I will have no one.
I will bear the burden of the Corona alone.
I will finally accept my cursed fate.
This is what I have decided.
Iwillsave my people. Iwillprotect Aurelia. This is what must be done.
And once I receive the Great Weaver’s blessing, itwillbe done.
Off to my left, I spy a flash of bronze swiftly approaching—Lady Constance. One of my many subjects who longs for the day I will finally claim adrakira, a bonded mate. The day I will raise up thatdrakiraand make her myTherya’kai.
That day will never come.
But true to her name, Lady Constance is a terribly persistent woman.
Before she can reach me, I slick my wings against my ribs and dive through the clouds like a dolphin through seafoam, plummeting back toward the earth. I am in no mood for the distraction she wishes to provide.
“Na’theryni?”Lady Constance calls after me, confusion tinging the words.
Ever the diplomat, Velda hastily apologizes, “Do excuse us, Lady Constance,” on my behalf as my aunties scramble to follow me in my latest free fall.
