“I do,” I hedged.
The man nodded. “Then, when you see Fallon, tell her to find me.”
I frowned. “Okay, when I see Fallon,” I said sarcastically. Like I’d see her at lunch or something.
The man opened his mouth to speak again when a painful slap ripped across my cheek, and…
I was jolted awake.
My eyes snapped open to see Maze hovering over me. “Get up, pretty boy. You got another fight, and this time I bet a week of cleaning duty on you, so you have to win.”
I frowned. “I’m tempted to lose just so you will have to mop the floors.”
Another hard slap against my cheek, and I wondered if this was allowed in The Accords, beating me for no reason. I wanted to hit him back, to grind his face into the stone wall beside me, but I did my best to rein in the anger and the power that surged within me, begging to be unleashed.
My mind raced, trying to remember the dream. It had felt so important, I didn’t want to forget. Emmeric, the Ealdor Fae, saying something about Fallon.
I wondered what she was doing right now. Looking for me? Or maybe just moving on with her life? I wouldn’t blame her if she did, but I would miss those green eyes. One look from her and it felt like I’d been pulled up for air. Like I’d been drowning my entire life without her. I was drowning now, and I needed Fallon to breathe life back into me before I succumbed.
EIGHT
FALLON
The next morning, Yanric had to peck me awake. I’d stayed up nearly all night reading that book. It was full of amazing healing stories, but no more that involved a Maven. I still had one chapter left though, and I was holding out hope. Whoever was writing in the margins was the same person throughout, the Maven healer. When he commented on other healings, he surmised what the healer had done and how they could have done things differently. A critique of sorts. It was a great book, one I thought Ariyon would want to read one day.
If I ever got him back.
“You’re going to be late, hon!” my dad called from the kitchen.
‘What do you do all night when I sleep?’I looked at Yanric, who preened his feathers on my nightstand. He was always gone, in and out, but here by morning to fly to school with Eden and me.
He peered up at me.‘I watch you sleep and fly overhead to assess threats.’
‘Seriously?’That was one dedicated guardian. Did he not need sleep himself?
He cackled.‘No, I’m not serious. I need at least six hours of beauty sleep. When you sleep, I sleep, but I’m ready to fight if woken up.’
He flexed his wings for good measure, and I snickered.
I got ready quickly. There was a knock at the front door just as I pulled on my second glove.
“I’ll get it!” I told my dad, knowing he’d be in the kitchen cooking up breakfast.
Throwing the door wide, I stiffened when I saw the Royal Guard. He held two envelopes in his white-gloved hands.
This couldn’t be good. Another note from Queen Solana or her council? Maybe she was taking back her invite for me to join the brigade.
I pulled the envelopes from his hand and thanked him before shutting the door.
“What now?” My father came into the room holding out two steaming hand pies. My mouth watered at the sight, and I tore the first envelope open and read it aloud.
Citizen of The Gilded City,
You are hereby invited to a special Winter Solstice Ball at Queen Solana’s palace. There will be dancing and dinner followed by a unique commitment ceremony from guest of Honor Fallon Bane, the sole surviving Bane family heir.
I stopped reading and looked up at my father who was mid-bite into one of the pies, steam flowing out of his mouth, making him look like some mythical dragon.
“Wow,” my dad said between blowing on the food, “she went for it.”
