“Because I need to be sure you’re all right, Princess. At least while I’m wearing the collar and you’re wearing the ring, I can feel it if you’re in trouble. I makes a connection between us—I don’t want to fucking lose that.”
I shake my head, tears burning behind my eyes.
“Valen, don’t do this. You need to be free—I don’t want to send you away still bound.”
“I don’t want you to send me away at all.”
His voice is hoarse now—raw.
“I want you to go give your mother that Healing Draught and then come right back to me so we can fly away together,” he says.
The words strike me like a blow and my chest aches—so sharp it almost hurts to breathe.
“You don’t know how much I wish I could,” I whisper. “But I need to stay and be sure she recovers—she’ll be weak for a while, I’m sure. And anyway… I don’t think I’d fit into your world. I don’t have a Drake inside me.”
“Only males of my people have Drakes,” he counters immediately. “You’d fit in just fine. You could live free in my land. Nobody would make you conform and behave and obey all the time!” His voice rises with passion. “Or we could go back to the Sorceress—you heard what she said—you’ve got so much magic she wants to train you.”
“I guess as long as we avoided the bathing flowers, we would be all right,” I say, letting out a sad, broken little laugh. “I wish I could go with you, Valen—I truly do. But I just can’t leave my people. My family needs me.”
“Why—so they can use you in a political marriage to some idiotic prince of another kingdom?” he demands, his eyes flashing. “Godsdamnit, Irena—I can’t stand the thought of that! You’re MINE!”
The last word isn’t just his—the Drake’s voice surges through it—a deep, inhuman rumble that shakes the earth beneath our feet and sends the birds scattering from the trees.
I gasp, my heart hammering.
“Quiet! Someone will surely hear you!”
As if summoned by my fear, a voice echoes through the forest.
“Who goes there? Name yourself if you intend to approach the castle!”
Panic grips me.
“I have to go—we can’t be caught together!” I exclaim. “Now give me the collar and fly away!”
I reach for it again—but Valen catches my wrists, twisting my hands gently but firmly behind my back. His eyes blaze as he leans down and claims my mouth in a breathless, searing kiss.
It steals the air from my lungs. His lips are hot and desperate, tasting of smoke and sorrow. For a heartbeat, I want to cling to him—to beg him to stay.
But when he pulls back, his gaze is fierce and heartbreakingly tender.
“Remember me, Princess,” he says. “Because I know I’ll never forget you.”
And then he Shifts.
The Drake explodes into being—wings already unfurling as he leaps skyward. The rush of air knocks me back a step as he rises, powerful and terrible and beautiful into the sky.
Gone.
I stare after him, heart pounding, tears blurring my vision.
For one aching second, I wish—more than I’ve ever wished for anything—that I had said yes.
But duty calls. I love my mother—I must save her.
Straightening my spine, I wipe the tears from my cheeks and summon the mask I’ve worn all my life—the mask of a Royal Princess—a proper lady of the Court.
“Coming—I’m coming. It’s me—Princess Irena,” I call.
