Rune cocked his head. “What’s wrong, my love?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
But Rune didn’t look like he believed me. Even without the Hugur sand, it often felt like he could read my emotions. And as much as I loved that he could understand me in a way that no one else could, I didn’t want him to dwell on my sadness. The last thing I wanted was for him to believe I regretted my decision to stay here.
Gently, he lowered me to the ground and started to say, “Is this about—”
But Helga sprang over to us before he could finish his thought. “Congratulations, Frida! I know you’ve been working with the poor beast for weeks, and look at him now!”
I smiled. “He’s done so well. I’m proud of him.”
“Well, listen. You know how we’ve been talking about getting the Dragon Festival up and running again?”
“Right.” I nodded. “Lilia mentioned it to me. She said you all were trying to sort it out for real this time.”
“I must admit, I already have.” She grinned at me sheepishly. “We want to throw it on Freyasday of this week, to celebrate Eldi’s first successful flight to Oakwater. But since he’s your dragon and a wee bit shy, I wanted to tell you before we got it all set up.”
“Oh!” I looked up at Rune, who wore a bemused expression. “Did you know about this?”
“No, they kept this quiet from me, too,” he said with a low chuckle.
“So.” Helga grasped my hands in hers. “What do you say?”
At the edge of the group, Eldi shifted. I gazed over at him, arching my brow in question. Now that we’d traded away the last of our Hugur sand, I could no longer hear his voice in my head, but we’d learned to communicate in other ways. Deep down, I expected him to rebuke this offer. Helga was right. Unlike Lilia’s dragon, Eldi wasn’t particularly fond of attention.
But slowly, he lowered his head, confirming his agreement to the festival.
With a grin, I turned back to Helga. “Well, it looks like you’re going to get your party. Eldi is happy for you to do it.”
“Oh, this is incredible!” Bouncing on her toes, Helga clapped and hopped away to inform the others. Rune slid his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in close. The warmth of him radiated through me.
“I don’t know what she would have done if you’d said no,” he said with a low chuckle.
I shook my head, watching her share the news with everyone else. “She might have knocked her house down again, just to make us rebuild it for her as a punishment.”
Rune laughed, a deep, throaty sound that warmed every inch of me, soothing away my earlier sadness. I nestled against him, relishing his love and the cheerful chatter of my new friends. Life did not have to be perfect to be good.
Shouts erupted from down the road. The bubbling conversation ceased as we all turned toward the noise. The shadow demon minstrel rushed down the road. His eyes were wide, fear painting his every feature.
Instantly, Rune went tense and took control of the situation. He pulled away from me, reaching the shadow demon in two quick strides. “What’s happening?”
“Some folk just came ashore,” he said quickly, rubbing his hands together in great agitation. “They asked where they could find you.” His eyes darted to me. “They said they’re Frida’s family. And that they’re from the Assassin’s Guild.”
28
FRIDA
Inearly fell to my knees, and the gasp that scraped its way from my throat left me breathless. Horror writhed in my stomach like a mass of snakes. All I could think was that I’d doomed them all. The guild had come here looking for me.No wait, that’s not right.They thought I was dead, so they must have come looking for Rune. Did they think he’d had something to do with it?
“Hey, love.” Helga was by my side in an instant. Gently, she took my arm and held me still. I realized I was shaking.
I shook my head wordlessly.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” she said with a calm certainty that defied logic. How could everything be all right?
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her. “I’ve brought this on all of you.”
“Don’t be silly.” She tightened her hold on my arm. “You’re one of us now, and we’re right here beside you, no matter what happens next. You hear me?”
