IBET YOU WOULD NOT MIND THE PRINCE’S HELP RIGHT NOW. POOF, AND YOU WOULD BE BACK IN YOUR ROOM.
She glares at him. She’s really trying not to think about that man, not after what she promised herself at the execution. She will onlyengage with Zryan when she has to or needs to, and she does need to speak with him about the Heart, purely in a professional capacity. That’s if she can trust him. He’ll be in the banquet hall—he is most nights—but it’ll be too exposed to question him there. If he can’t provide answers, well, she’s going to make the most of her trip back to the king’s office; she didn’t have time to search properly yesterday, and anyway, she has a new focus. It’s not just about needing information on the Heart now. She needs to actuallyfindthe Heart. And she needs to figure out what the Hel is wrong with it.
24Skylar
Skylar keeps her head high as she walks with the royal family to the end of the docks. She doesn’t want to let on how scared she is, doesn’t want to look behind her at the small crowd that has gathered and see their expressions of—what? Awe? Support? Anger? It depends who has come out to watch, she supposes—and whose side they are on. She wonders briefly if Izzo might have come to catch a glimpse of her. But thinking of her troupe and her life before—with Cam—hurts, so she stops.
There is no formal ceremony to send her off to the island—unlike when Zryan went. She’d been eighteen at the time, and she remembers the stories of how the whole city had waved him on his way. With her, however, they are keeping it deliberately low-key—the small crowd are only those smart enough to realize something is up, while a line of Dreki and the queen’s menagerie guard the end of the docks.
Ziva and Bruma fly high above, occasional flashes of bright white light searing the blue sky, while Mjolnir perches on a nearby stone ledge. No doubt it was the dragons who drew the people here in the first place.
The king, queen, and Zryan stop at the end of the harbor, and Skylar turns to face them. Axel is coming up behind them—sent to escort her, despite her insistence that she didn’t want company on the boat ride. He moves past, giving them space for some grand goodbye, and heads for the boat.
Ottilie steps forward, drawing Skylar’s attention. Without her menagerie at her side, she looks somehow smaller, less intimidating. Andthough her eyes are guarded, she offers a hint of a smile. “For the sake of all Vatra, I wish you well, Skylar de Veras.”
Skylar raises her eyebrows as the king steps forward, too. “May the dragons deem you worthy.”
Then Zryan, so that they are all standing in a line. “Try not to die, won’t you?” She sees a shadow of a grin, as the king gives him a disapproving look.
The three of them bow their heads—a gesture that makes her balk.
“For the glory of Vatra,” they murmur.
Skylar says nothing, but something twists in her stomach. Because she doesn’t want to die—but she doesn’t want Vatra to have its glory, either.
Zryan lifts his head first. “You can do this.” There is no doubt on his face—but then, he could be hiding it. She wonders if he definitely wants her to succeed. If any of them actually want her to come back—or if they’re hoping for the opposite. She thinks of the Covenant, forbidding them from killing her. But that doesn’t forbid the dragons, does it?
Axel moves to stand next to her, gestures to the metal boat and the Air Bringer waiting on board. “Shall we?”
Dimly, she thinks she hears a call from someone in the crowd. She can’t make out the words, and it’s stifled soon enough by a Dreki. But for a moment, she feels sure it was someone wishing her luck.
It’s only then that she hears it, that voice of thunder.
Find the dragon whose mind sings to yours.She looks over to where Mjolnir is perched, his silver scales glinting in the sunlight.
And if I don’t?she asks back.
You will. Show them your strength, and you cannot fail. And remember—we do not choose our humans randomly. We choose one whose essence matches our own. Zryan has a warrior’s heart and that is what I saw. Bruma felt the king’s cold ambition, which spoke to his own. So find the one who calls to you, because of who you are.
He meets her gaze head-on, sending something warm and bright right through her.And no matter what happens on the island, remember that I already deemed your life worthy.
She isn’t sure if it’s seasickness or nerves that is making her nauseous. She tries to breathe through her nose, keeping her gaze fixed on the horizon. Thanks to the Air Bringer, they are moving with speed, and the wind feels almost cool on her face. Axel sits next to her, staring out at the ocean.
“Have you been to the island before?” she asks him.
“Yes.”
“With Zryan?”
He considers her. His eyes are even more brightly green than usual, out here on the water. “My mother went with him, as his bodyguard. They invited me to come along.”
“But she couldn’t go on the island with him, right? Even as his bodyguard?”
“No,” he agrees. “Anyone who steps foot on the island without the intention of making a bond is fair game for the dragons.”
She can see it now, the first glimpse of the cliff she’s going to have to climb. There is no shoreline. A few rocks at its foot, but the cliff rises straight from the water. She’ll be wet. What if she slips?
She swallows. “What happened to her? Your mother?”
