“You’re not telling me the full truth.” I couldn’t put my finger on it before we left, but now it was crystal clear. He didn’t trust his brother.
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“That goes both ways,” I growled, knowing I was pushing my luck.
Nyx’s willingness to let me be my own dragon would only extend so far. He studied me. “What changed?”
“Nothing,” I hedged. “I came as a favor to you, and now I need to leave. Kol will back you up if there are any problems. You’ll be fine.” I turned to face the sky again, but his words stopped me.
“Need to leave? This suddenly? I’ll ask you again, what changed?”
I hung my head and tried to find any words that would shake him off my back, but I realized I was cornered and perhaps he would help me out of this before it went too far. I turned to him, not stepping off the balcony rail. “It would seem that I have a ryder.”
Nyx’s eyes widened.
I held up my hand. “Before you speak, it doesn't matter what the Goddess has decided. It can’t happen, and I’m leaving before it really takes hold.”
Nyx shook his head and chuckled. “Faolan, take it from someone who spent a lifetime with a call that went unanswered, there is no fighting this, and the pain of not completing the bond when those connections have been sparked is unbearable. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. You can’t run from this.”
“I can try,” I countered. He didn’t know everything. There were potions on the black market you could take to numb that pain.
“For what? Because you don’t want to be tied down to the King and be put in the service of the kingdoms? Faolan, Irespected that choice while it was yours to make, but now things are different. I can’t let you fly away from a ryder. It will hurt you both too much.” His understanding riled me.
“That is not the reason,” I growled.
He folded his arms and tilted his head. “Then why? You see it as shackles to a cause you don't support, but it is the Goddess who controls our fates, and she has chosen you for this pairing. You have to believe in Her will.”
I finally snapped. “Fuck the Goddess!”
Nyx stepped back in complete shock at my words, but I hopped down and stalked towards him.
“She must be fucking with me if this is Her plan. Because bonding me to a ryder and tying me to your kingdom for the rest of my life is one thing, but what kind of sick joke is binding me to your future queen?” I jabbed my finger in his chest, seething with fury. I wanted to burn down the realm and make this all go away.
Nyx’s mouth fell open. “Calytrix?” he whispered.
“If that’s her name. The one betrothed to that fool of a prince who fucks and drinks his time away, while squandering enough gold a day, to see his kingdom always fed and healthy.”
“Goddess,” was all he could muster. He turned away from me then, pacing into my suite. Thinking. Attempting to problem solve. I could sense it. Jaxus was the same. Why could they not see that sometimes fleeing was best for all concerned?
“I can’t let this happen,” I told his back.
He turned. “The Goddess puts your ryder in front of you when the time is right.”
“That is nonsense. This isn’t the right time for me or her. There is no right time for this. I won’t let anything trap me into another life like the one I just escaped. You knew that.”
“It’s different now, you have a ryder.”
“Why now? I’ve been out of Kerani for nearly a year. And I’m suddenly called? It’s suspect. Why not right away, when I left the protection of the Wild Mountains?”
“You don’t get the call as soon as you are available. Not all are called as younglings. Some are called much later, look at Hazel. I can’t tell you the Goddess’ mind.”
“The time is not right for this. I can’t see a time it ever would be. You know who she is. I can’t have my ryder be the betrothed of the heir to the crown. Are you mad?”
“The King knows we need dragons on the front lines. He won’t care who your ryder is, you are valuable to him,”he insisted.
“I do not believe your judgment on this one. The prince will end me.” I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t see all the problems this would cause. He had to be delusional.
“I am the Dragon of the Night, head of the Dragon Council.”
