Dylan was the first to meet my eye, a concerned, serious furrow to his brow. “Will they return?”
“I hope not, but I don’t know.”
An uncomfortable ripple rushed through the gathered crowd.
I owed them better.
“The reason the Destovians were here at all was that they had enough land of their own that invading ours would be unnecessary. Any conflict between us would be for its own sake, and I hope that Emperor Joseph is too wise to pursue it. I will ask the Summer and Wave Clans to fly our coastline every day,” I swore. “Your village won’t be alone in this, and we’ll work with the dragons to set beacons along the Mawrcraig Mountains. If war comes to Llangard, they will not find us easy to penetrate.”
Aderyn choked, and I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. His cheeks were pink.
I reached down and squeezed his hand.
“We’ll rely on each other,” I announced to the crowd, “as we have for the last ten years.”
“And as we’ll continue to do,” Aderyn said, “for the rest of...” He hesitated, glancing my way from the corners of his eyes. He rarely spoke up, and never took attention when he could avoid it, but having him stand beside me right then—well, it made me put my shoulders back and raise my chin a degree.
“Forever,” he finished, sending a tentative smile my way.
I held his eye, and the way he glanced through his fair lashes made me think we weren’t talking about relations between dragons and humans in Llangard.
I nodded and lowered my voice for only him. “Forever.”
Whatever came next, we’d manage it. All that mattered to me was Aderyn at my side, tomorrow and the day after that and every day for the rest of my life.
30
ADERYN
Half of the people in the Spires rushed out to meet us when we returned.
Well, many rushed out to see me, and then when the first person spotted Roland on my back, and a cry went up through the palace, everyone else came out.
Apparently, and not terribly surprisingly, Bet had been close to convincing Tristram to muster the army and invade Destovia. They were already building new ships on the coast just outside the city, and upon Roland’s return, they didn’t stop.
No, they continued to work on them, and followed through on plans to patrol the coast in the future, with ships of their own, and attack any Destovians who dared return to Llangard. They were already in discussions with the Wave Clan to do more of the same, and have dragons defending the coast of our land, right alongside humans.
It was what made Llangard truly the greatest nation I could imagine: the fact that we weren’t a single nation, a single people, but everyone working together. Helping each other rather than infighting like children who were determined to have the biggest share of pie they could.
Our arrival, though? It was the most incredible moment of my life, maybe ever. Better than escaping Vidar, better than getting my first feather. Even better than that night I’d spent with Roland, when we had...
Well.
We landed in the courtyard, and it was only a few seconds before shouting rang through the whole of the Spires, “Roland is returned! The King is back!” in a mad cacophony where it was hard to make out single words, but easy to hear the joy in them.
In moments, we were mobbed, people surrounding us, even though I hadn’t yet shifted back. Roland was always worried about people seeing my skin, so I tried not to do it where they would see me.
It was... cute, the way he fretted over a bit of skin.
This day, though. This day, he used his knees to lift himself higher on my back, so all in the courtyard could see him. He only had to shout for a second to have everyone in the area fall silent, listening to hear what he had to say.
“Destovia has been informed that they are no longer welcome on our shores,” he shouted, and the people around us nodded, grumbling quietly what I assumed were insults about a people who would accept hospitality with no intention of returning it in kind, but instead repaying our kindness by kidnapping our king.
Roland wasn’t finished, though.
No, he held his arms high in the air to quiet the people, and they immediately complied. “This problem was in part brought on by another, which I mean to see ended this very day. The Destovians thought they could press me into a marriage with their princess, a woman whom I have never met, and likely never will. What they did not understand is that there is only one person in all the world I will ever willingly marry.” My belly twisted, all of me going warm as Roland leaned forward and laid a hand on the side of my neck, much as he often did when I wasin my two-legged form. “If I am to marry, ever in all my days, it will only be to him. To Aderyn of the Wind Clan, my love. As I would have all Llangardians marry for love, rather than convenience or money.”
He leaned into me and pressed a kiss to the side of my head, as I leaned right back into him.
