Page 52 of The Lost Princess

I hoped she was faring well and received the reunion she so desperately craved. The more I thought of it though, the more my own anxiety grew. What if her father didn’t accept her? What if they viewed her as they viewed me—a monster? What if they caged her?

My inner drakens raged at the thought. I stood abruptly as if ready to tear after her here and now.

Wait. No.

Kaida was fine. She could take care of herself.If she wanted you to come, she would have asked.

She doesn’t want you, the voice whispered. I knew that wasn’t true. She’d promised to come back. She’d been willing to mate with me to prove it.

Even still, I couldn’t stop imagining all the terrible things that could happen to her alone and caught unaware by some stupid human male with grabbing hands. Or attacked for being in her draken form. Even something as mundane as running out of water and passing out from heat stroke while she was flying. She was technically an adult draken, but essentially a child when it came to knowing her body and its limits.

My anxiety intensified.

I was curious to find my homeland and answer questions about my past. It was important, but it was also a place of pain and trauma for me. It could wait. It would always be there.

But Kaida?

It wouldn’t hurt to simply follow and watch from a distance, would it? Then I could ensure she was alright. If she seemed happy enough, then I could continue on with my mission.

There, that seemed perfectly reasonable. Logical even.

It didn’t make sense to wait. Another night of sleep wouldn’t make my wings any stronger. I spread them wide, testing them slightly in the wild winds that were common this high up on the mountain.

They ached a bit when the wind stretched them, but nothing worse than a sore muscle would after a hard day’s work. Kaida was smaller than me and an inexperienced flier, so catching up and then staying near her would be easy. I would fly slow, and not overdo it.

This could work.

Using the moon to guide me, I got a running start and jumped off the cliff. Pain stretched through my wings the moment they caught the weight of my body, but they didn’t crumple. The muscles and tendons had healed, they were simply stiff and out of practice.

Well, I would warm them up.

Kaida had taken off toward the south so that’s where I started. I kept along the mountain range, my eyes peeled and my ears straining to catch any sound. In the air it was impossible to scent anything.

I would find her. I kept flying.

* * *

I kept up a pattern of sleeping during the day, and waking at dusk to find water and food. Then I flew all night. I did this for five days until I felt I was growing close to my goal. I had expected to catch up to Kaida before this, and the fact I hadn’t yet made me uneasy.

The longer I flew, the more houses and humans I came across. It started as a few isolated farms, like the ones near my cave. Then more houses built closer together, then closer, until the ground below me was nothing more than a sea of squished structures. I stayed on the outside edges, observing. Off in the distance on a high cliff sat a massive castle.

I frowned. How many kings could humans have, anyway? Drakens only had the one, and it suited us just fine.

I jolted. I remembered him now in flashes—dark hair with turquoise and purple coloring. He could vanish in wisps of smoke, but that couldn’t be right, could it? He had a booming laugh. He loved his family.

I wished I could remember his name . . . Wait! I did! King Fane.

I flew behind the castle, thankful it was built right into the rocks themselves. This would make it easy for me to hide and retreat during the day, if needed. I landed somewhere level with one of the top spires of the castle. I sniffed deeply, trying to scent Kaida in this air.

Nothing.

I frowned. I hadn’t seen her while flying, and I’d kept my pace slow as not to accidentally overtake her. So where was she?

There was a tiny opening behind me. Too small to be called a cave, but large enough I could crawl under it and still have a view of the entire castle and anything approaching it.

As much as I loathed doing nothing, I would have to keep vigil and wait. Either for Kaida herself to appear, or her scent.

I was patient. I could do this.

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