“I will, Your Majesty! I will!”
I nodded and led Aras toward the exit. It was crowded in the foyer, but everyone parted for us. The royal carriage waited at the bottom of the theater steps, my driver already opening the door. He wasn't any of my usual drivers, but Mossemas was always hiring new staff, so I didn't think much of it.
I let Aras climb in first, then went in after him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my knights head to their positions—one beside the driver and the other on the standing ledge in the back. The one on the back ledge was Alfain, and there was something odd about his expression, but I didn't linger on that either. He often gave me odd looks.
I was too happy for such trivialities to register. That was the problem. I didn't notice when the carriage headed in the wrong direction. Not at first. I was too focused on my mate. Aras had nuzzled in against me as soon as I sat down, and he was warm. And silky. And smelled good. I would need him sexually soon. But at that moment, the mating magic remained at a level I could control. It felt liberating after those five days of burning, thrusting need. So, I basked in it instead of paying attention to the view from the window.
It wasn't until we left the city that I realized something was wrong. That's when all those little details came together and sent a warning into my thick brain.
I sat up abruptly and leaned across Aras to push the curtains aside. It had been the lights, or lack thereof, that alertedme. It was dark outside, and Renris was never dark, not even in the middle of the night.
With dread unfurling in my stomach, I sat back and looked up at the ceiling, as if I could see what was happening through the wood and steel.
“What is it?” Aras looked out the window. “Where are we going? Have we left the city?”
“Shh,” I whispered.
“Ly?” he whispered back.
I cracked my neck and slid out of my coat. “I want you to stay in the carriage no matter what you hear, Aras.”
“Ly.”
I took off my shoes next. The boots were my favorites. “I will handle this.”
“Ly.”
I summoned my dragon but only into a half-shift—a half-shift most Dragons couldn't manage. It had been this ability that convinced my father that I could win the crown tourney. A full transformation into a dragon wasn't allowed, but you could summon parts of your beast as long as you remained on two legs. After seeing my half-form, my father began to help me train. And yet, I didn't use that skill in the tourney. I decided it was better to hold back my greatest strength unless I absolutely needed to reveal it. And I never reached that point. I won without shifting. Now I knew why I had held back. Something in me knew that this day would come.
I was grateful that the traitors outside our carriage wouldn't know to prepare for what I could do. Because it's special. There are powerful Dragons who can manage a partial shift—summoning claws, wings, or horns. And then there are Dragons like me.
Crimson scales covered my skin even as I continued to undress. I had to hurry, and not just because I didn't know when the attack would come. I also needed to get out of my clothes before my muscles grew. I pushed down my pants just in time to save them. Meanwhile, horns emerged from my skull, sweeping back into deadly points, and claws extended from my fingertips. Wings came next, then a tail, and with them, my transformation was complete.
“Lyrandir!” Aras hissed.
I snarled as I turned to face him. I was crouched on the floor of the carriage, too large for any other position. As it was, parts of me pressed into him.
Aras's eyes were wide, but his expression was steady. “Wewill handle this together.”
“No,” I said.
“They've betrayed you, haven't they? Your knights.”
“Yes. I assume so, since I heard no fighting.”
“I will not, Ly.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “You don't need to fight alone. I will stand with you.”
In that beast form, the softer emotions were dulled. Usually. But my mate's words called forth a rolling tide of emotion so strong that I was grateful for my crouched position. I betrayed nothing when I went to my knees under the force of it.Not alone. How long had it been since I hadn't felt alone? Those two words completed the fall. They were the final click of the key that opened my heart.
That was the precise moment that I fell in love with my mate.
“Do you hear me, Lyrandir?” Aras growled as he ducked below a wing. “You will not do this alone.”
My need to protect my mate battled with my pride in him. I may be the alpha in our relationship, but I didn't want to unman Aras. He would be good in a fight. A normal fight. But this wouldn't be a normal fight. I assumed we'd be fighting Dragons.
“Listen to me,” I said. “I will be facing at least two Dragons—knights who are trained to kill. They are likely taking us to a location where more soldiers are waiting. And they are likely Dragons too. I don't doubt your fighting skills, Aras. But you will not win against them.”
“Not alone, I won't,” he said. “But with you, I will.”
