Page 34 of The Promise Born
“Where did you get off to last night?” the deep voice of the king asked.
Startled, I slipped away from Asante and hid behind Synth. “Give me cover, girl.” I whispered to her.
Synth, who seemed to love me moments before, stepped away from me and I scurried closer to her. “Please. Remember, you like me!”
The serabringer huffed as if put off by my sudden display of desperation.
“I’ll bring you treats!” I offered the bribe I wasn’t sure would work and then, as if I’d uncovered the secret to her heart, she spread her wings as if she understood exactly what I needed.
“I had something to take care of.” Asante offered. “I apologize for not returning to the festivities.”
“It’s alright, things were pretty much done as it were.” His father sounded warm, less abrasive than his mother. “Is that your love?”
“Um,”
“Love is a big statement to make when they haven’t even declared it.” His mother corrected his father’s assumption. Of course she would. She didn’t think I was deserving of her son. “We must be interrupting. But since we’re here, dear the Queen and King of Frostpire would love to meet you,” she said. “This is the woman who crafted those delicious treats last night.”
“Oh, I would love to meet her.” Hiding behind Synth, I heard a voice I hadn’t heard since running away from home. Soft, motherly, and it made my heart break. It was my plan to never see her again, to never face her disappointment.
There was nowhere to go, though. And before I knew it, Asante’s mother had shuffled around Synth, grabbed my arm and pulled me out of hiding. Synth stretched her wings, trying to keep me hidden but it didn’t work. And the moment I was in clear view, the queen of Frostspire clutched her chest.
“Oh, it can't be.” Tears instantly flowed down her face, and I reached for her but pulled back. It was not my place to comfort her.
“Kiala?” The king of the ice dragons stepped closer to me. “Is that you?”
I said nothing.
“You know her?” The king of Starwell asked. His eyes darted between Asante and me. “Asante?”
It wasn’t Asante who answered the question.
“This is our daughter.” My mother reached for my father, pulling him back from me.
“We met your daughter last night. You said you sent her home ahead of you.” Asante’s mother looked furious. “What do you mean, this is your daughter? Are you playing some kind of joke on us?”
“This is our eldest,” my father said softly, then his tone changed to anger when he spoke to me. “We thought you were dead! What are you doing here?”
Panic had me choking on my words, and foolishly I looked to Asante for help. He looked just as hurt as everyone else.
“Is this true?” He asked me.
“I can’t do this.” I tugged on Synth’s wing pleading for her to cooperate with me. She did not.
“Kiala?” Asante stepped closer to me.
“Don’t do this, Asante.” I tried again to get Synth to take me on her back, but she moved away from me, further exposing me to the people who surrounded me.
“You’re just going to run away?”
“I would if Synth would cooperate!” I nudge her. “Come on, girl.”
“She’s not going to because I haven’t told her to.” Asante asserted. And it was like Synth took that as a challenge. Hers was a spirit wanting to be free, just like my own.
Synth lowered her wing, an offer of help in protest of the man who claimed to tell her what to do. I placed one foot on the wing, and she lifted me onto her back. With a last glance back, I found Asante’s face. He looked more confused than anyone else there. “Go.” I whispered to Synth, and she took off running.
Synth’s footfalls were echoed by another’s. I didn’t have to look back to see who it was. Every time Synth sped up, so did Kune. He was like her shadow, matching every stride she took. And when he caught up, pulling his rider to my side, I kept my eyes forward. I couldn’t look at him.
Asante didn’t call out to me. He rode alongside me in silence until Synth came to a stop just beneath the same tree she did the last time I rode her. I hopped from her back and ran for the path into the wooded area where I fell into Asante’s arms.
