“Even with everything that happened? You wouldn’t go back and?—”
“No, Nya, love. Never. Some love is worth the pain that comes with it.”
An unwelcome flash of Morgen’s face flitted through her mind, and she didn’t know why. She didn’t love him. She had simply been infatuated with the first friend she ever had, and now, that person was gone, leaving behind only someone she hated.
“Would you like to talk about what’s happened?” her father asked.
She sighed, looking away. As usual, he was unnervingly good at reading her.
She didn’t want to talk about Morgen, not ever again. But perhaps that was childish; this problem was not going to just disappear, and the least she could do was try to help find a way to fix it.
“I have to go back,” she said, her fingers twitching. “I assume… What Thanatos said about the blood bond means staying here could mean war.”
Her father stiffened, and the dying flames in the hearth abruptly flared. “You don’t have to go anywhere. Not if you don’t want to.”
“He has an army, Papa,” she whispered. “Supposedly more than what I even saw, which wasn’t a small number, and they are all loyal to him, not to mention Varax.”
“Ah, the dragon?”
“Yes. She’s just as large as Thessilnn and Heles.”
He cleared his throat, eyes drifting from her and landing on the flames. “She’s bonded to both of you?”
Nya took a deep breath. “Yes, but I don’t think she would betray Morgen any more than she would betray me.”
“So that is his name?”
She shut her eyes briefly, steeling herself. And though she hated defending him in any way, she needed to explain.
“It’s wrong, what he’s doing, but his life has not been easy.”
Her father didn’t immediately react with anger or protectiveness as she expected. Instead, he sighed heavily and patted her hand before resting it atop hers. He was warm and steady, just as he’d always been, but still, she shivered when he said, “No, with Kronos as a father…I cannot imagine his life has been anything but cruel to the extreme.”
Her gaze wandered back to the dying hearth, watching the flame spark midnight for half a second as she whispered, “You have no idea.”
Chapter 7
Two Years Prior
Certain days hold weight. I can feel Fate pressing in on me from all sides. For the first time in one-hundred-and-four years, my friend is alive. I fear her heart will not beat long, and this time, I do not think Vane will allow himself to live once she is gone.
—Lady Anabeth, Royal Scribe’s Apprentice, Royal Rider’s Training Camp
Summer had returnedin full swing, bringing with it wave after wave of oppressive heat. Nya had slipped out of the house early this morning to try and avoid walking in the worst of it, having told her parents she was going on another ‘hike’ last night at dinner. They hadn’t questioned it, even as she’d started to go more often, and she was grateful for it, even if she felt a bit guilty for lying to them.
Down creek, Varax was splashing in the clear water, terrifying small fish and creating waves as she slapped her enormous tail. Morgen was laying on his back next to Nya, a broad arm slung over his eyes. She could see the smile he wastrying to suppress as Varax made a noise Nya had once quietly penned as ‘excited crowing.’
Earlier, they’d all flown together for the second time, and though it was exhilarating for more than one reason, it had left Nya overheated and sticky. They were lounging halfway in the shade, but it did little to keep the heat of the sun from reaching them.
She turned her head to face Morgen, squinting against the sunlight filtering in through the branches. “We should go for a swim.”
He lifted his arm, glancing at her. “A swim?”
“Yes, a swim. In the water. Is that a foreign concept to you?”
He snorted and flicked her nose lightly. “No. I know how to swim. Why, though?”
She scowled, batting his hand away. “It’s hot out. It will help cool us down, and it can be fun, if you can find it in yourself to conceptualize that.”
