Page 36 of The Promise Born
“Don’t say that.” I corrected him. “If I had told you before, you would have judged me just like you are now. You would have sent me back to Frostpire to build a bridge with my parents. Right? Isn’t that why they’re here now? Do you think you would have hesitated to use me as a pawn in this?”
“Don’t do that. Don’t tell me what I would have done. I told you I knew you were for me before you first spoke to me. I wouldn’t have sent you away like that!”
“If it was me, if what you felt was real, wouldn’t you offer me some understanding now instead of treating me like this?”
“Release me from the promise.” He didn’t bother answering my question.
“What?”
“Release me, Kiala.” He repeated. “I made a promise to you. I can no longer keep that promise. It is not fair to lay my life down on your lie.”
“Okay. You’re right.” I looked down at my hand and for the first time in years, I spoke to my dragon. She responded eagerly and the familiar sensation of tingles spread across my hand. Within moments, my fingers stretched and the dragon claws appeared. With teary eyes, I bared my chest and looked Asante in the eye. “Prince Asante, I release you from your dragon’s promise.”
I dragged the tip of the claw across my chest, spilling my own blood.
With a tightened jaw, Asante turned his back to me. “There is no need for you to stay here anymore. Everyone knows you’re a liar. Just go.”
And then he walked away.
I stood there, watching him until he was out of sight. And then I heard the hooves of one serabringer leave. After my tears stopped, I returned to find Synth waiting for me. She lowered her head to nuzzle my chest, where the wound healed slowly.
“You like me again?” I patted her head, and she snorted. “Alright, let’s go back. I have to face this.”
Synth lifted me to her back. That could have been my chance to run away, to leave the stench of betrayal and the weight of guilt behind. But how many times would I have to do that? And my family knew I was alive now. I knew my mother would search for me. I had to face this, if only for a chance to end it the right way.
Before we made it there, I looked up to see Asante flying above me.
“Follow him.” I whispered to Synth.
It was good I did, because it wasn’t long after we started trailing him that the large boulder ripped through the air and hit Asante, knocking him from the sky.
Chapter 12
Synthcouldn’trunfastenough for me. Even with the boost from her wings, my mind couldn’t fathom taking any longer to get to him. I wanted to call my dragon to the surface, but I was afraid. What if whatever attacked him took aim at me? I had to be smarter.
Why was there no one there with him?I knew the answer to the question that repeated in my mind. This was my fault. He wouldn’t have been alone if he wasn’t trying to escape me.
When we reached him, Asante lay in the middle of a field. The tall grass crushed by his dragon left him exposed in the center after his body shifted back. I jumped from Synth’s back before she came to a complete stop, no longer concerned with being attacked.
“Asante!” I called out to him as I ran to his side.
His body was slick with blood, his eyes were swollen shut, and his skin burned with fever when I touched him. I looked away from him just long enough to survey the area. There was no obvious threat, no one there to continue harming him. When I lifted his head to my chest, he coughed, but the sound was weak, hollow.
“No, I have to get you back.” I looked at Synth and realized there was no way she would move fast enough. So, I gave her an order. “Go home, girl.”
She neighed softly, tilting her head in uncertainty.
“We’ll be okay. Go.” I encouraged her.
Synth backed away from me slowly, but when I called to my dragon, I could tell she felt the response the moment I did. And as Synth ran from home, my dragon emerged. For the first time in too long, she was free, but I had no time to survey myself. Asante was in trouble. His life on the line. I gently picked his body up into my hold and took flight.
As I flew to his home, staring down at the ground, I saw them. Trolls, running from the scene.
It was unbelievable how tiring it was to fly. My tired wings carried us right into the courtyard, where the guards met us with prejudice. I was an ice dragon flying into their territory. It was a wonder I wasn’t shot down. Maybe they recognized the prince. It didn’t matter. We landed safely, and I quickly laid him down.
Any threat I posed became secondary as they rushed to help him.
“Move aside!” I looked up, still in my dragon form, to see his uncle running toward us. He dropped to Asante’s side and checked his vitals. Then he looked up at me. “Thank you.”
