She bent over and nodded with a smile, forming crow’s feet next to her eyes. “He said that you loved it then.”
I loved it? “Why did he stop?”
“Fear, I guess. It’s a lot of pressure to keep a secret when you are little. He said you started speaking about it around strangers and the looks they gave your father terrified him. So he stopped.”
Dad spoke again, and the queen listened.
“He said that it was one of the hardest things that you had to give up, Elena. You begged him to fly, but he couldn’t.”
I nodded. This wasn’t new to me. I loved it as a kid. I just couldn’t remember it.
We flew through the clouds. It was billows of smoke and when Dad finally broke free, a bed of cotton spread underneath us. The sun was glistening on the horizon and sparkled on the snow that laid on top of the dome mountains with the sharp peaks. Wild geese barked next to us.
My heart pounded, but it wasn’t from fear this time. I didn’t know if it was because it was Dad, or whether a part of my soul remembered how beautiful it was up here.
Tears blurred my eyes behind the goggles and pressed my eyes tight to dispel them. I didn’t want to miss any of the beauty.
The queen spoke to my father, and we descended through the clouds again. An enormous mountain came up ahead. Spiky tree lines showcased a beautiful aisle on the mountain top, and Dad landed. Trees whisked past us as Dad ran. The wind brushed against my cheeks, and Dad came to a slow stop.
The queen got up from her saddle and slid off Dad’s wing. I touched my father’s neck, and closed my eyes, thanking him for everything, before pushing myself from the saddle and slid off his wing as a yelp left my lips.
The queen laughed and helped me up at the bottom. “You’ll get the hang of it. I promise.”
Dad walked into the forest as my eyes followed him. “Where is he going?”
“To join us mere humans.”
I giggled and trees rumbling found my ears. Birds scattered through the branches and Dad walked out, wearing a black and copper robe.
I ran to him, and he hugged me. “See, that wasn’t so terrifying now, was it?”
“Thank you. It was twenty thousand times better than the last time.”
“Yeah, the idiots forgot to bring saddles,” he whispered, and I laughed.
I looked up at my dad. He touched my face softly and kissed me on the top of my head. “I think every day a flight will take away the fright.”
My lips curved. “I’m open to that.”
We walked on top of the flat surface of the mountain. In front of us, a snowy peak towered behind the trees. An icy wind kissed my cheeks and made me shiver, but I felt alive. The breeze elevated my spirit. Queen Maggie told me stories about my mother loving to fly with Tanya and she was a natural. The sky was her home. My real dad used to tease her she should’ve been a dragon.
Dad had a few stories about her, too. Especially about their wedding that my grandfather didn’t approve of because she was a commoner.
“Wait, my mother wasn’t royalty?”
“Nope, but it didn’t stop your father or Helmut from falling head over heels for us.” Queen Maggie hooked her arm in with mine. “Your mother might have had a dent with her dragon, Elena, but she was my best friend in the entire world.” Tears glistened. She patted them away. “Believe me, I still wanted to scold her for not telling me about you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. Your mother was a hard-headed woman and once she made her mind up, there was no changing it. I doubt it was her that sent you away. That’s why we lost her.”
“Lost her?” Tanya spoke about that at the hearing.
“After Tanya left, your mother went into a deep depression. I visited her regularly, but she just disappeared, leaving a shell of a human I once loved in her place. Rumors had it she sent her dragon away as your mother found her and your dad together.”
“What?” Dad asked.
The queen laughed. “She didn’t tell a soul the truth, Jako. What did you think was going to happen?”
