Page 31 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
My future.
Everything.
Her eyes lit up, sparkling with all the luminescence I knew burned in her soul, waiting to be awakened. “Do you mean it, Bene?”
“I do,selira feyra,” I promised.
Foolishly, I meant every word.
Chapter 10
Aurelia
Now
Iam a leaf swept along by the wind as King Friedemar leads me through one dance. Then another. And then a third. A fourth.
I should feel honored, elated. Out of all the women in attendance, I am the only one he has yet deigned to dance with. But all I feel is guilt.
And confusion.
Why me? I am strange. My reputation is blemished.
And yet there stands the King of Briarhold, looking down at me as if I am something special, as if I am someoneimportant. And as the music fades, as I find myself breathlessly staring up into his eyes, for a moment his grip tightens around my hand. Firm. Possessive. As if he doesn’t want to let me go.
But then the moment passes. His touch recedes.
Perhaps I imagined it.
A warm smile returns to the corner of the king’s mouth. “Do not stray too far, Miss Weaver,” he murmurs, brushing another kiss across the backs of my knuckles. “I would very much like to see more of you before the evening concludes.”
My heart hammers against my ribs, wild and confused.
Each skipped heartbeat feels like a betrayal. Each breath stolen by another man feels like a thread unraveling—a thread once tied to a boy with silver hair and dragonfire in his blood.
Bene.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” I promise, retreating with a curtsy—needing to put space between us. Needing to breathe. Needing to make sure I’m not shining too brightly, not drawing unwanted eyes.
But with each step I take, my guilt grows.
It isn’t fair, I try to reason with myself. Bene is a world away. We were only ever friends. For twelve years, I’ve waited. For twelve years, I’ve dreamed he might come back for me.
And he could have. At any time, he could have taken up his father’s crown. He could have opened the Door. He could have returned.
But he didn’t.
All he sent were letters. Money. Gifts. But never what I truly wanted—him.
So why shouldn’t I be allowed to enjoy myself tonight? Why shouldn’t I be allowed to dance with another man? Why shouldn’t I just… be able to let himgo?
It is time to let him go. Ineedto let Benevolence go.
But I can’t.
I wind my way through the ballroom in search of Lord Reginald and Mama. I need to see a familiar face in this sea of strangers. The king’s courtiers blur past in a swirl of fine silks and curious stares, but I duck my head and ignore them all. I ignore everything.
Until the music starts again, and my steps hitch to a pause.
