Slowly, seamlessly, their fear turned to wonder.
It was magic, this moment.
A return to the Gevra of old, and the beginning of a new era.
For now came the age of dragons.
CHAPTER 43
Alarik
Alarik slept deeply, dreaming of ancient dragons and crumbling mountains, and the woman he loved, soaring alongside him on a slip of wind.
When he woke in his bedchamber, she was there. Standing by the door to his balcony with her arms wrapped around her middle, Greta’s gaze flicked from the front lawn to the king’s bed. When she noticed him stirring, she rushed to his side.
‘You’re awake,’ she said, perching on the edge of his bed. Concern filled her blue-grey eyes as they swept over his face. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Confused.’ Alarik cleared the cobwebs from his throat, blinking her into focus. Bruises bloomed along her jaw and there was a nasty gash on her forehead. He reached for her, and flinched as pain seared his chest.
‘Careful,’ she said, laying a gentling hand on his shoulder. ‘Your ribs are cracked.’
Alarik frowned, piecing the fragments of his strange dream back together. The more he recalled, the realer it all seemed. And there was certainly nothing imaginary about the shrieking ache in his sides,or the dull throbbing in his head. He felt like he had been pummelled with a thousand rocks.
Wait a second. Hehadbeen pummelled by rocks.Mercilessly.
‘There was a dragon,’ he murmured.
She nodded encouragingly. ‘You remember?’
Alarik’s head spun. It was not a dream, but a memory. Elias luring Greta into the mountain. The rock caving in on them, her body trembling beneath his as boulders plummeted from above.
Anger rippled through him at the memory of his cousin’s betrayal. ‘Elias—’
‘Burnt and buried,’ said the wrangler, quietly. ‘I didn’t rescue him.’
‘Good,’ said Alarik, though the sting of his cousin’s betrayal lingered. ‘I thought I’d lost you.’
She shook her head. ‘You saved me,’ she whispered, smiling now.
‘You savedme, wildling.’
Somehow, they had survived. It was impossible. It was a miracle. He covered her hand with his own, pressing it to his chest to make sure she was real. That he hadn’t died in that cave with his arms around her.
‘How long have I been out?’
‘Hours,’ she said, a small dent appearing between her brows. ‘The physician examined you. I’ve been watching over you since he left.’ She gestured to the silver wolf curled up at the end of his bed. ‘I’m afraid Luna insisted.’
She was teasing him. Returning the excuse he had used when he watched over her after the Battle of the Blackspires.
‘Bossy little thing,’ he said, threading his fingers through hers.
She stared at their hands,her voice quieting. ‘You missed your wedding.’
‘I called off my wedding.’
He wondered if she knew the reason. He desperately wanted to tell her, his heart was thundering so fast, he was sure she could feel it rattling against her palm.
‘I went to your room this morning, but you weren’t there. I thought you had left me.’
