“He’ll listen to you,” she said softly.
“He better,” I muttered.
Zander’s hand shifted to my knee. “I promise to be more careful,” he said, the words quiet but sincere. “We’ll increaseprecautions. Triple patrols. Now that we know the wards are compromised?—”
“They’re not down permanently,” Elara interrupted, sitting up straighter. “Not yet.”
Zander and I both looked at her.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Her throat worked around the truth before she said it. “Someone sabotaged them.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Who?”
Elara shook her head slowly, eyes wide and haunted. “I don’t know. But I can feel it. Like something twisted the magic. It wasn’t time for them to fall.”
Zander swore under his breath.
My hand found hers and I squeezed it gently.
Because if the wards hadn’t failed on their own?—
That meant someone wanted them to.
Zander brushed a hand over Elara’s hair, his voice low. “How do you feel the magic like that, Elara? How can you tell the wards were sabotaged?”
Elara hesitated, chewing her bottom lip as her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her tunic. “I don’t know… exactly. It’s just… there. Like it hums around me when something’s wrong. Like the wind before a storm.”
Before either of us could press further, a new voice slid into our minds, crisp and calm.
Siergen.
Her power is undeveloped,he said.I am unsure exactly what it is, but it feels… elemental. Not like fire or water. Something deeper. Older.
Zander let out a slow breath and kissed Elara’s cheek. “Come on. Let me take you back to your room.”
But Elara pulled away gently and turned toward Siergen, her eyes soft but steady. “Siergen can take me. You need to rest. You’re a mess.”
I let out a short grunt at her bluntness, and to my surprise, Siergen’s lips curled into what could only be described as a smile—small, rare, and vaguely terrifying.
It is always my honor to escort you, Princess,he said solemnly.
Elara stepped forward without hesitation, wrapping her arms around his long neck. Before anyone could stop her, she pressed a kiss to the ridge of his jaw.
Zander stiffened slightly.
And then Siergen turned with a fluid grace, escorting her toward the castle like a shadow given form.
I blinked after them. “She just kissed a dragon. I’m not sure I’d attempt that now, let alone at her age.”
Zander rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Kaelith would incinerate you.”
I didn’t argue.
“But Siergen…” he said quietly, his eyes still following the pair. “He has always been what me or Elara needed.”
I glanced at him. “What does that mean?”
