Soon. You’ve created a monster.
Who is all mine as well. I enjoyed that very much.
Me too.
He’d unleashed something inside me, and I wasn’t going to pen that part of me up again.
We finished bathing and dressed for the journey, him donning pants and an unadorned tunic, me one of my simpler dresses.
“We might encounter almost anything along the way,” he said, passing me to collect the weapons he dropped onto the bed.
Sniffing them, Farris huffed.
“So happy I have my blades.” I strapped them around my waist. “I’ll leave my sword.” Daggers had always been my preferred weapon. “What else?” I asked when I’d finished arming myself.
“I can’t think of anything but in the worst case, we could flit here to grab it.”
“Youcould.” My flitting power still remained elusive much of the time. I’d resigned myself to the fact. I had other skills that I valued more. It was just irritating that this was something I couldn’t master.
We left our suite, finding Moira and Calista in the foyer, ready to travel with us. They’d journey in the second carriage behind ours. Outside, we approached the two vehicles with harnessed zephyls. I marveled all over again about how amazing these creatures were.
“Too bad we can’t fly on dragons,” I said. “That would save time.”
Lore stroked his hand down my spine. “And it would startle everyone already there. Dragons aren’t common here, not like they are where you come from.”
This was something I wanted to change when I could find the time. One day soon, I told myself. We’d break the curse and then we could look forward to a long future full of dragons.
I also wanted to set up times to train with Kian. I hadn’t forgotten my promise.
Lore leaned over to kiss my temple.
This bond made everything sharper, every risk more dangerous, and every goodbye more unthinkable. I’d only just found him. I wasn’t ready to lose him.
The zephyl stood motionless at the base of the palace steps, its massive, scaled shoulders rising above the carriage roof. Steam coiled from flared nostrils as it watched us approach with liquid-dark eyes that held dangerous intelligence.
I held its liquid-dark gaze and did not look away. No beast that intelligent should be tethered to a vehicle, no matter how elaborate the sigils binding it in place. A great mind moved behind those eyes.
Farris whined from behind me. We’d tried to leave him, but he’d somehow found his way out into the hall. After exchanging a long look and remembering how he’d joined us in the labyrinth, plus what he’d done for us while inside, we decided he should come. We’d keep him in our rooms as much as we could and find an excuse for why he was with us if someone asked.
Lore stepped forward and raised a hand, the motion smooth. The zephyl twitched one clawed foot in response and adjusted its weight with a low grunt. No reins, no bit, no harness but the one it allowed. It accepted Lore’s silent signal with a whip of its tail, the spiked end slicing the air behind it.
I’m still not fond of the smell,Lore said as we approached the carriage door.
Reminds me of a forge.
He gave me a dry smile, the kind he used when something wasbothering him, but he hadn’t named it yet. I recognized the tightness around his mouth, the slight twitch in the corner of his eye. He’d sensed it too, that weight in the air, the subtle wrongness that didn’t have a shape or a name.
Our trunks had been secured to the roof, strapped down with thick cords wound through polished loops.
While my ladies were assisted into the vehicle that would follow, Surren opened the door to ours, urging us inside. A small contingent of our guard would travel with us until we reached the place where we’d meet up with Dorion. After that, we’d travel alone and disguised. We’d explained this to Moira and Calista already, and they’d sworn they wouldn’t give us away.
It was dark inside the carriage, the windows only narrow slits. Lore followed me, and only once the door clicked shut behind him did the vehicle jolt forward, the zephyl’s claws scraping on the stones as it pulled us into motion.
I glanced back through the small rear window. Moira and Calista’s vehicle followed at an easy pace, guards riding in a wide arc around both. Per our request, they’d dressed like common riders in leathers worn smooth by training, their weapons and magic in reach. Eyes watching, hands loose at their sides.
It was still early yet, but the people moved about inside the city. Some waved as we passed. Others bowed low, remembering the borgons. Remembering who had protected them.
Beyond the city, trees thickened and shadows stretched. I should’ve felt safer now, but I kept my fingers curled around a dagger. Just in case.
