Page 26 of Kingdom of Spirits
“What’s wrong?” Fara asked.
Tahlia reached out to smooth the top of the Seabreak’s cyan-blue snout. “Vodolija?”
The dragon met her gaze and dipped her head. Tahlia’s heart squeezed and she coughed, grasping at her vest. But the feeling subsided, and, oddly energized, she took a deep breath.
Vodolija stared at Tahlia, and together, their souls sang with victory.
The bond was complete.
Tahlia grinned and pressed herself against the dragon.
Fara whooped and raised a fist. “You found her name! The bond is whole!”
“I heard it in my head like she spoke it to me.”
Wonder hung on Tahlia like a second cloak. She took a plain pancake from her pocket and fed it to Vodolija. The dragon nibbled the treat, then licked Tahlia’s palm for the crumbs.
“I have no idea if there is a meaning behind it,” Tahlia said.
Fara hummed and tapped her pointy chin. “It sounds like a northern coastal name.”
“Agreed. I’ll ask Marius about it.” A weight settled on Tahlia’s chest.
Like he’d been summoned, the High Captain himself strode by and made her breath catch in her throat.
“High Captain!” Tahlia raised a hand, hoping he would act like his normal grouchy, stern self. She wished for that odd mood he’d been in to be gone.
Marius turned, his face only partially illuminated by the one sconce on the wall. His gaze was pinched and his lips moved like he was about to utter something important, but he just bowed his head briefly and greeted them. “Lady Tahlia. Lady Fara.”
Fara headed into the stall. “I’ll see to Vodolija’s wing.”
Tahlia stepped closer to Marius. “Are you all right?” He looked like he’d had two pounds of goblinbloom shoved down his gorgeous throat. “I’m here if you want to talk. Or to fly. We could just go for a bit and clear our heads?”
His eyes shut for a second. “I can’t. I have… I must leave.”
“Leave? Where to?”
“A personal mission.”
“I’d be happy to come along.”
“I wish that I could welcome you, but I can’t.”
He extended his hand, then recoiled in the same way he had before. What was going on with him? Was he angry with her in addition to feeling grief?
She looked left and right to be certain they were alone. “Marius, you can tell me anything. And if you want space, I’m completely fine with that. Just talk to me. You are hard to read on a good day. Now it’s like the greatest mystery in all the realms just trying to figure you out.”
“I’m sorry. I just can’t.” His throat moved in a disjointed swallow like he was holding back an unnamed emotion. “Stay here. Please keep this mission secret.”
An invisible fist gripped Tahlia’s heart and squeezed it mercilessly. The poor bastard. Gods, she wished she could fix this somehow. Make him laugh. Or at least give even a flicker of hope in his dreamy-as-hells eyes. “But, Marius, if you need help in some way…”
His eyes grew hazy and he turned his head, facing the wall to the side and behind her. He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, his focus then returning to her. “Keep on flying. You will be a legend someday.”
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but he quickly walked away into the dimly lit corridor, presumably heading for Ragewing.
Fara peeked her head out of the stall. “What was that all about?”
“Marius had tears in his eyes.”