Page 155 of Frozen Hearts and Death Magic

“I got knocked back to the hollow, like I told you. That was months. Then I went on with my plan. I only realized you had power over me in the Frostlake castle, when you called me to your room.”

That didn’t sound right. “I called you?’

“Somehow you did. And I had no option but to obey.”

“Why then did you leave me alone here, when I asked you to stay?”

He shook his head. “You didn’t order me to stay, Naia, you just complained I was leaving you.”

“Great.” She was still trying to trace his steps. “And why did you decide to ask me to marry you?”

“I saw you, and you were so beautiful, and so powerful, and I thought you liked me and you would like that. Maybe I thought we could work, maybe I thought it would be a way to keep you safe. Maybe I thought it was how I would fulfill my duty of eternal devotion. There were lots of things going through my mind. And most of all, I know I’d never want anyone else by my side.”

She wanted to believe his last words, and it was tempting to believe them, knowing he couldn’t lie. And yet. “Sure. Then you said you’d marry me and you didn’t.”

“I wanted to get everything settled first. I also knew that one day you would find out everything I did, and you would see me very differently. I mean, if I had married you while still keeping things from you, it would be…” He paused and looked down. “Wrong. I couldn’t.”

“You said you wanted to declare your love for me to your father, knowing well you couldn’t go there.”

“I thought I was going to find a way to get back. I think Ironhold is hiding a dragon heart. If I found it, I would be welcome back. Only then, when everything was settled, when you knew who I was, would you be able to say yes or no. Had I been selfish, I wouldn’t wait. I did it to honor you.”

“No. You did it because you knew you would make me angry, you knew you were doing things I didn’t like, and you wanted to do them anyway, hoping that I would just turn around and walk away at the end, so that you’d feel no guilt.”

“Maybe.” He grimaced. “Stop it. Stop making me talk.”

“Not until I know what I need to know. Why are they saying I’m a dragon? Did you know that?”

“I had no idea, but I should have noticed it. Quite an oversight from my part. I mean, your fire, your brother’s bright eyes, your ability to circumvent the magic keeping this house away from the Ancient City…”

“But my father’s a deathbringer.”

River bit his lip. “I don’t think he’s your father.”

It couldn’t be true, it couldn’t. It made no sense. “You might be wrong.”

“I might. Stop it, Naia.”

“No. You’re going to tell me what you are avoiding telling me. More secrets. Tell me.”

He sighed. “I’ve met you before. Twice. Don’t you remember?”

She shook her head.

“It’s what I thought. I sometimes wondered if you were the same person. In the Dragon Lair, you saved me. I… sometimes wish you hadn’t. Then on my way back to Aluria. You saved me again, but it was as if you were dead. I… I don’t understand it.”

“But didn’t you spend like some twenty years in the hollow?”

“Yes.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Do I really look like I’m forty?”

He shrugged. “I’m just about nineteen. Time acts differently in some cases. The people in my city didn’t age either. I don’t know, Naia. I never understood it.”

“Tell me about it in detail, how I saved you.”

River sighed again, then went on to tell her about the war against the humans, then how he decided to get the dragon’s staff. Naia was surprised to hear that he had traveled to Fernick. Aluria had been isolated for so long that it felt strange to hear that there used to be boats going to the continent, and a lively city with a port. Of course, she had heard about Formosa, but that was the kind of stuff that sounded like legend, and when he described his trip, it made it seem so real, so tangible. He went on to explain how he’d stolen from the dragon lords using something he called lapse stones, and how she had saved him.

“How could she have been me?”

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