He cracked it open just enough to speak with the courier, body angled so no one could see past him into the room. His voice was low, calm, but commanding. A brief exchange. A folded parchment handed over. And then the door clicked shut again.
He didn’t open the missive. Just placed it unread on the stand beside his bed, as if whatever it held could wait.
I was still curled in the sheets, my pulse finally steady, but my thoughts weren’t.
Zander undressed and slid in beside me once more, his body warm against mine as he leaned down and kissed me again, soft, searching. His hand brushed over my cheek, and I leaned into it despite myself.
“What’s going on between you and Kaelith?” he asked quietly, his thumb stroking a strand of damp hair behind my ear. “It seemed like things were finally turning… but tonight?”
I swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the ceiling for a moment before I spoke. “I went to Hatchling Isle.”
His body stilled beside mine. “You what?”
I turned to face him. “She took me there. Told me it was the only way to eliminate some of the prophecies.”
His brows furrowed. “That’s… sacred ground. To my knowledge, no human has set foot there. And you saw… eggs?”
I nodded slowly. “A whole clutch. The moment I reached out with my magic, they responded. Moved in their shells like they couldfeelme.”
Zander sat up a little straighter, tension coiling through him like a wire pulled too tight. “That’s not normal, Ashe. That’s… dragon magic responding toyou.Not Kaelith. Not even Hein has seen that.”
“I know.” I pulled the blankets up to my chest, suddenly cold. “Kaelith stopped me before they hatched. Said if they came too early, they’d die. But the way she looked at me after…” I met his gaze. “She wasafraid.Not of me. Of what I couldbecome.”
Zander’s expression shifted—something dark, protective. “She shouldn’t be afraid of you. No one should.”
I gave a bitter smile. “She thinks I could be used. That I could be twisted to enslave the next generation of dragons… or worse, help the Blood Fae become fertile again.”
Zander’s breath caught. “Is that even possible?”
I shrugged, aching. “I don’t know. But Kaelith does. And she hasn’t looked at me the same since.”
His hand found mine beneath the blanket, fingers threading through mine with slow, deliberate pressure. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get through this.”
“You sound so sure,” I whispered.
He kissed my knuckles. “I have to be. For you. For us.”
I lay there for a long time, tucked against Zander’s side, his hand still wrapped in mine, the silence between us heavy withunspoken thoughts. Iwantedto believe in him. In us. I wanted to believe that this, what we’d shared, was more than comfort or desperation.
But how could I, when Kaelith didn’t want me?
When every breath I took felt borrowed?
When an aspiring princess with a crown already halfway on her head was determined to rip him from me?
My throat tightened. I stared up at the ceiling until the patterns of the stone blurred.
Zander shifted beside me. “What are you thinking?”
I hesitated, then said it plain. “Kaelith doesn’t trust me. She barely talks to me anymore.” I swallowed. “But she talks to Hein. All the time. It’s like she confides in him more than she does her own rider.”
Zander was quiet for a moment. Then sighed, voice low. “Ashe… humans were never meant to be involved in dragon mating.”
I blinked, turned my head slowly. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He sat up slightly, resting his weight on one elbow. “Dragons wait until after they’ve fulfilled their service to the continent to choose a mate. It’s their choice. Their tradition.”
My brows furrowed. “Okay… but why are you?—”
