He made me do things. I’ll never forgive myself.
How did he control you?I asked.
With magic.
Ivenrail was incredibly powerful if he could force this magnificent beast to do things he hated.Can he still control you?
Our bond broke the ties he secured around me.
You’re free, then. I won’t hold you back. I’ll find a new way to reach Lydel.
It doesn’t work like that.
I feel like I removed the noose he placed around your neck only to replace it with my own,I said.
A bond goes both ways. You sought it even if you didn’t realize you were doing so, and I accepted it within my heart.
You can still have your freedom. I won’t make demands on you.None. Not one.
And that’s why I allowed the bond to form between us.
With Vexxion still lost to me, Reyla sullen, though she must know I couldn’t have kept Kerune from attacking, and no idea what our future held, I didn’t think my heart could be twisted any farther. But it gave way to my sadness, molding itself into yet another form that would leave lasting scars. How could I shove off the pain our dragons had lived with for multiple generations?
I stiffened my spine and added this burden to all the others.At Weldsbane, if you fly free . . .How could I name it? After what he told me, I couldn’t ask him to remain with me.
Allow us our freedom wherever you travel. We won’t go far. For too long, we’ve been creatures with clipped wings and suppressed wills.
Much like Nullens collared by the fae, only in this instance, I’d become one of the perpetrators of the crime.
Just as the time has come for the powerless to rise up and rip off their bindings,he said,so it is time for the dragons.
The powerless truly exist?Shock poured through my voice.
Of course they do.
Wow.What do you know about them?
Less than you.
Tell me.
He said nothing more.
As we traveled closer to the estate, I lifted my chin and pinched away the sting in my eyes.You don’t need to stay with me at all.My voice cratered with the words.
I didn’t mean that.He swooped lower, approaching the front of Weldsbane estate, lifting up in preparation to land on the lawn.Do you think I bonded with you only to flee your side when you need me most?
You don’t owe me anything. We’re not game pieces on a Wraithweave board.
In many ways we are. Who’s to say that there aren’t hands lifting us, putting us into play?
This isn’t a game?
Isn’t it?
It couldn’t be. This was my life and that of my friends.
Someone once told me thewraithhas the final say.Had Brodine said that? I believed so.
