Page 22 of The Lost Princess

“N-Nasi,” I rasped, my vocal chords weak and dry from such a long period of neglect and disuse.

Kaida jerked against me, her head snapping to attention. “Excuse me?” she asked, unsure and disbelieving.

I cleared my voice and tried again, gesturing to her. “K-Kaid. Kai. Kaida.” I turned my hand back toward myself, placing it on my chest. “Nasi.”

Her jaw dropped as she stared at me in shock for several seconds. Then a wide grin split her face, more radiant than the sun.

“Youcantalk!” she exclaimed, her hands going to her cheeks in disbelief.

I grumbled, mildly appalled my female had thought me some kind of imbecile for any amount of time. And yet she’d stayed, hadn’t she?

“Yes,” I confirmed, not wanting to overdo it right away. It was difficult to take the words in my mind and force them out of my lips, but at least it was possible.

Kaida barreled headfirst into my chest, knocking us both over. I gave a small whoomph as all the air left my chest in a heap.

“I can’t believe it! This whole time I was talking out loud and blathering on like an absolute simpleton! What you must think of me!” Kaida’s voice was honestly distressed as she sat up, and I propped myself up on my arms.

I frowned. “I c-cannot remember. I was feral.”

Her eyes sharpened at that. “You can’t remember anything? Oh … uh, I suppose that’s for the best. I mean, that is to say, I just wonder what happened to make you snap out of it.” She blushed at that, looking somewhat disconcerted.

It took me precious seconds to listen as the words tumbled effortlessly from her lips, rushed and falling over each other. Once my mind made sense of them, I raised an eyebrow.

“I remember some,” I countered, heat rushing through my body as I remembered how she felt pressed against me. How the taste of her blood had brought me back from the brink of madness. How—

“What else do you remember? Do you remember rescuing me? Have you always lived here? Were there others like you or have you always been by yourself?” Kaida threaded her hands together in excitement, her eyes alight with wonder.

A headache bloomed in my temples. This was much easier when it all appeared as mindless babbling to me. Concentrating on her words took effort. I prayed it would get easier the more I readjusted. I decided to keep things simple and justshowher a bit of what I remembered. Hopefully it would spark her own questions.

After all, I needed to know how an unmated, female draken had seemingly fallen into my lap. Especially one who either thought she was human or couldn’t shift into her true form anymore.

I closed my eyes, and my wings and back spines disappeared into my back and shoulders. My claws retracted into my nail beds, and my scales rippled and disappeared beneath shimmering, peach skin with only a hint of gold.

Kaida’s eyes went wide.

“I remember this,” I stated firmly, not liking how off-balance I felt without my wings. I felt too weak this way—too vulnerable. I didn’t like it.

“You … you—” she stuttered, lost for words.

Finally.

“You are like me,” I managed, figuring that was the simplest way to put it.

Her jaw dropped. “And whatareyou then?” Kaida challenged, her chin sticking up in the air.

This I could answer. “I am draken.Adraken. You are a female draken, stuck in human form. We never could figure out how to hide the shimmer even with blood magick.”

The moment I said blood magick, memories assaulted me: of rituals and knives, of tattoos and sigils carved into the flesh of the males and females by their own hands. Only the warriors needed them. I couldn’t remember what for. Only that it was important.

I didn’t have any such tattoos. Disturbed, I hoped it wasn’t because I was a failed warrior.

“How did you do that?” Kaida asked, breathing heavily now and staring at my human form. Normally I’d be pleased my mate was gazing upon me so intently, but I still felt off-balance.

“I can teach you. All drakens can shift.”

Kaida had nothing to say to that. She just stood there, unblinking.

I leaned in, curious. “Don’t you want to fly?” Surely even humans wouldn’t resist such a skill. I shifted back, and proudly displayed my wings.

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