I clear my throat in an attempt not to laugh, but a chuckle still escapes. “I’m so hungry. Did you already eat?”
“We waited for you.” Daegan says it with complete nonchalance as he looks away, motioning for the innkeeper. I guess he’s hungry too.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.”
He shrugs. Raef sips his tea and looks around the room. He’s certainly less lively this early in the day. His face usually has a natural joyfulness to it, but it seems to be momentarily dulled this morning.
“Do you think everyone is going to be panicking? Searching everywhere for you?” Raef asks.
“Probably not.” I shrug. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’re kind of oblivious, naïve even, about anything nefarious happening.”
It’s almost as if we haven’t been threatened in a thousand years.
Daegan watches the room absently, so I turn my head sideways and take it in too. The lights inside are brighter than last night, and, naturally, the people are much quieter, enjoying a quick breakfast before they go about their business. Same as us.
It doesn’t take long for us to order, eat, gather our things and reconvene in the barn. Our horses are just as we left them.
I hand Daegan a container of water, which he thanks me for. As I smile politely and pull my arm back, the back of my arm brushes along his forearm for a beat too long. I almost mutter an apology, but then I stop myself. There’s nothing to be sorry for.
I turn and walk away, climbing onto my horse. But then my gaze falls on him, and I witness him absently rubbing his forearm. After a moment he drops his hand and mounts his own horse, then heads toward the door.
Raef opens the wide, black wooden doors, and I ride first, taking in a deep breath as I emerge into the cool, gray, hazy morning.
The ride back to the castle isn’t far, and we spend the first stretch riding in silence. Personally, being back out here in the wild is bringing back all the memories of yesterday, the most traumatic of them invading my mind and remaining there, haunting me.
When I can’t take anymore and decide I need a distraction, I fall back next to Raef.
I’ve been thinking about something that he said last night.
“You know, your people are kind of a mystery. Most people think you can’t shift at all anymore… but I think maybe you still can, at least on the ground? You just can’t fly?”
I carefully observe Raef’s face for a reaction. He doesn’t say anything, but he raises his eyebrows as his lip curls at the corner.
Daegan clears his throat up ahead.
I ignore it, deciding to press further. “So, how do you guys protect your young? I’m assuming they’re wildly uninhibited. Can they shift right from birth?”
His face falls.
I immediately feel like an ass for bringing up their young. I don’t know exactly how dire their situation is, but based off his reaction, and Daegan’s desperate determination, I’d now wager it’s quite dire.
He looks at me and nods. “I can’t tell you all of our secrets, but, when we’re infants, our parents take us… somewhere safe, somewhere mostly fireproof and away from the other infants.”
“Oh…”
“You might be surprised to hear that I took longer to be released to the wild than most…”
I let out a snort. The image of a young, wild Raef is so clear in my mind. I’ve seen many illustrations of the old dragons in books. They came in a multitude of different colors, and they were massive. Unfathomably massive. I picture Raef as a red one.
“So… did Daegan somehow rapidly shift and blow fire yesterday, or was that my imagination? How was there a full-sized dragon bigger than Maethrel’s cottage behind me and I didn’t even notice?”
Daegan glances back at that, then falls back with us, taking the position on my other side. “I’m right here, you know?”
“Yeah. I’m still sort of afraid of you, though. Raef is much more approachable.”
Raef croaks out a laugh. Daegan quirks a brow but says nothing in response.
“We need to get you practicing that elemental power of yours. If you’re going to be protecting such important… relics,” Daegan says, glancing at my satchel. “Not to mention, we have no idea where this quest will take us. More danger lies ahead. You can be sure of that.”
