Grasping the metal handle, I leaned my weight into the heavy door and slid it open. “In here,” I said as I led Myth inside.
Once we left the crowded, noisy aisle, it was like stepping into our own little world. The den was stone, and the sounds outside were muffled into almost complete silence. In the far corner was a platform, like the ones in the dens at the duke’s lair. There was even an enormous hammock hanging from the ceiling with heavy ropes. I smiled at it.
The skylight above lit the space, but there were also sconces protruding from the walls.Old-fashioned, I noted as I walked beside Myth, my hand on his warm side.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Myth sniffed the air, but he didn’t move.
“Different from the forest, I know. But better than that lair you’ve been in.” My heart ached briefly at the idea that his wildness had been taken from him when he’d bonded with me. It was stone walls and school schedules now.
His snout bumped against my arm, startling me. His eyes glowed in the sunlight streaming in from above, and the gold on his scales glinted. The heaviness in my chest lightened as if someone had removed a rock from my ribcage.
“Thank you,” I said, stroking his long face. I was eager to learn the ins and outs of our bond, and whether or not I’d ever be able to know for certain if he was happy with his choice. He’d sacrificed the skies to be here with me, to lift me from the shadows.
I could never repay him for that.
All I could do was fight to keep him alive when the time came that his flame was found out.
Once Myth was unsaddled, his tack put away, and I was fairly certain he wouldn’t light his hammock on fire, I left and headed to the reception.
In the Great Hall, Fairfax swept toward me, a whiskey in one hand, a broad smile on his face. “Arivelle,” he said, offering me a small bow.
“Lord Fairfax,” I replied.
“Uncle Merlon,please.” His tone was sharp, a reminder.
I nodded, embarrassed that I’d already messed up. “Thank you for the saddle,” I said, trying to make amends. But the memory of my abysmal job mounting Myth brought a fresh wave of blush up my neck.
Fairfax’s hand braced my shoulder in a familial way. “Chin up, my dear.” Then he leaned in, voice low. “They will not expect much from you now.” When he leaned back, his calculating smile said he considered this a boon.
A dark horse. That was what I was supposed to be. He had great faith in me if he assumed I could be a contender in the year-end race. At this rate, I expected everyone else to be months, if not years, ahead of me in training.
“Remember what I told you,” he said, tipping his head at me.
I couldn’t forget. But now that I was here, his words about succeeding felt further out of reach. But I swallowed and nodded.
“Good. Now, let me introduce you to my dear friend, Headmaster Vaughan.”
“I’ve met him.”
Fairfax chuckled and led me through the Great Hall, where each round table was decked with fresh flowers and finger foods stacked like pyramids. “You’ve met him. That is not the same as being introduced to him by me.”
Pinching my lips to keep from scoffing, I followed and smiled while being introduced to my headmaster. I nodded at all the right times while Fairfax monologued about his latest dragon trainer to arrive at his southern estate. Headmaster Vaughan, to his credit, listened intently, never once appearing bored.
“Miss Miro, you are very lucky indeed to have an uncle like Merlon,” said Vaughan. “It was indeed a pleasure to meet you again. And I am delighted you are settling in well here at Cardan Lott. Best of luck to you this year.”
The reception passed with smiles and handshakes and words of well-wishes to all the first years. Even Luther seemed less inclined to punish us today, not insisting we stand as he passed in the common room.
“I want to go check on Myth one more time,” I told Vanya as she turned to head up to bed later that evening.
“He’s fine, Ari.”
“I know, I just…miss him.”
Her smile said she understood, and for that I liked her even more. “Go on,” she said, “I might be asleep, though. I’m exhausted.”
The lair was dark, save for a few burning torches along the inner aisles. It felt like stepping back in time when flame was the only light.
