I shoot him a look. Poor Meela looks very, very confused. She’s actually speechless.
Silence falls over the carriage.
“What?” she finally mutters.
“The three of us have been working together secretly to break the curse,” I say.
She stares at us, dumbfounded, and for a moment, I think she’s going to burst out in laughter, but after a strange, strangled chortle, her face turns serious as she asks, “How?”
“A few years back, I found a passage in an old book that detailed how the curse was cast. I started to feel this strange calling, like it was meant to find me. Like it was finally time for this unnatural curse on our land to be broken once and for all. It was stupid and ridiculous of me. I was only a child. But I researched more. I became obsessed. For years, I looked for a clue on how to break it. I had an idea, but it wasn’t until very recently that I found something that confirmed my suspicions.”
“And then you trusted these idiots, out of everyone? Two dragon shifters you just met?”
She doesn’t doubt us, like I thought she might. She’s simply confused about my ally situation.
“It’s kind of a long story…” I say. “It all just sort of… happened. Like everything lined up perfectly for all of us to find each other at the right time.”
Her eyes dance between us again, and silence falls over the carriage.
“I want in.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” she says, looking straight at me. It’s not hurt in her eyes, exactly, but something else.
“You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you? For years?”
“You’re not the only one who kept secrets. I’m starting to realize… we probably could have been a little more open with each other. Things might have been a lot different…” she trails off, her voice going softer, her eyes growing distant.
I nod in agreement.
“Well, welcome to the group,” Raef says, wrapping his arm around her in an awkward side hug.
She shrugs out of it. “Tell me everything.”
So we fill her in on everything that’s happened since the day Daegan threatened me. I tell most of it, but they fill in pieces here and there, parts of our adventure in the forest I left out, or the parts about their homeland slowly dying. The shock on her face is evident as we go into detail about the day that we went to Wraithmere Forest, not just the inn.
By the time we’ve finished, we’re arriving in town, and Meela’s eyes are full of more determination and emotions than I’ve seen from her in a long time.
“So… are you still in? You don’t have to help us, but…if you could keep this a secret…” I trail off.
“I’m in,” she says. “Fully in.”
“Okay,” I say, smiling with relief. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, but selfishly, I’m happy to have a friend in this at last. It feels like so much weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
“And now to get Gaethri and Rhydra on board,” Daegan adds.
“Imagine. Two dragon shifters, two elves, a Dothronite, and a Skeldaryn. An unlikely bunch of allies. We’re becoming a real…” Raef stops, tilting his chin up as he thinks. “A real tribe of misfits? No. A troop of unlikely allies?”
We all make similar faces at him. “What? I’m onto something. I’ll come up with the perfect name. Just wait. Fuckers.” He rises and exits the carriage first.
I laugh as Meela follows. Daegan makes what sounds suspiciously like a fake cough, then gestures for me to go before him. I pass him, being extra careful not to brush against his knees. I sense him watching me the entire time.
We head to the tavern we told Rhydra and Gaethri to meet us at and find them already at a table in a corner waiting. Only Gaethri has a large tankard of ale in front of him.
“Thanks for meeting us,” I say as we approach, taking the lead. We all take seats around the table, which perfectly seats six. I sit on Rhydra and Gaehtri’s side, right next to him.
It’s packed enough in here that the noise should drown out our conversation to anyone who isn’t sitting directly next to us. But still, I keep my voice as low as possible, just loud enough that everyone at the table can hear me.
