“Princess Rayva! Princess Rayva!” tiny little voices shrieked. “Axron! You came! You came!”
Okay, Reece, onto your princess shit.Because Rayva was a warrior princess. She wasn’t overflowing with good graces. She could be kind, in her own way.
Offering a slight grin, I nodded. “Well, of course I came. I wouldn’t have missed it.”
Olive, a blonde little thing with gapped teeth, smiled so wide her cheeks might’ve torn. She waved a tiny hand for me to come closer; I leaned in. “Will… uh, can you come play with us?”
Standing up, I straightened my crown and spine. “Oh, I’d love to play.” I gently patted my dragon’s head. “Let’s go, Axron.”I could get used to this.
Axron, to my surprise, flapped his wings and followed obediently.
As I’d seen earlier, a table with paint was perched toward the back, on the opposite side of the adults. But the colors available were colors from the book, the same shades Rayva painted with. A dark, misty teal blue, olive green, mustard yellow, maroon, rusted orange, and black. Remembering I dressed as Rayva, I said to Olive, “These are my favorite colors; you must have good taste.”
Laken sat on one side of me, Olive on the other. The girl brightened, searching her party crowd. “Don’t tell, but my mom picked them out.”
My eyes too scanned for Freya, finding her watching from near the door with a look of contentment.
“Can dragons paint?” Laken whispered in my ear.
I shook my head.Everyone knows dragons don’t paint.
We painted while Laken and I entertained the children with stories from our adventures. Because we worked so well together, the tales fell into place much like a puzzle. Axroncouldtalk in the book, so he could speak freely.Unfortunately.
Sweat dripped under my breasts from the leather vest; it captured heat and did not permit much breathing. The wig felt itchy, but I endured. Strength must persevere after all.
“Axron!” A little boy shouted from the end of the table. “Can you give us rides?”
Laken’s head popped up from where he watched me paint. For whatever reason, presumably tapping into his inner child, excitement took over his body as he jumped from his seat.
“Princess Rayva, ride Axron! Ride Axron! Show us how to do it, please!” The voices chanted. “Please! Please! Please!”
Finally, a fantastic idea—if I weren’t in skin-tight leathers.
“What? You nervous?” Laken whispered as I came around his shoulder.
“No.” I shoved his shoulders down. “Not for you, but these pants are a bit snug.” Praying I didn’t give these children more of a show than I’d gotten paid for, I leapt. “Do your job, dragon. Fly.”
Of course, I took this job because I needed money; lives literally depended on it. But… using Laken as my personal pet had its advantages.
As if our lives depended on accurately portraying our characters—Laken and I flew. Around the yard. Around parents. Dodging tables, we were followed by an entourage of cheering children. Thrusting my fake sword into the air, we gave it every bit of our all and then some. If Laken could breathe fire, I truly believed he would have.
The children took turns riding on Laken’s back, the image of him in a dragon costume running around in the sun forever branded into my mind. I stood along the edge of the house, hiding happily in the shade and eating cake. It didn’t take long for Freya to find me.
“She’s going to be talking about this for months.” Her face beamed with something more I couldn’t name.
Glancing at the rest of the crowd, I laughed. “I don’t think she’ll be the only one talking about it.”
“You might be right about that one.” Freya paused. “Thank you for this. I don’t think the original people I hired could’ve done as well.”
The children leapt down and cheered over again. Laken showed no signs of being worn out. “Well, I think someone had as much fun as the children did.”
I left it unsaid, but I thought I might’ve had a better time than any of them.
Olive asked me to readThe Warrior Princessto end the party and I couldn’t say no, not that I wanted to, anyway. “Far away, in a land riddled with dark magic, a warrior princess awoke a sleeping dragon.”
Maybe it was Laken kneeling at my side, or the birthday girl watching me with smiling eyes, but despite everything, I begged the sun to shine for a moment longer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
