Page 96 of The Dragon Queen
In truth, I hadn’t. “Much has come to pass these last few days.”
She looked ahead again.
“After what she’s done for the dragons, I’m sure any of them would offer to fuse with her. Inferno adores her. He would be the first volunteer.”
“You’re right.”
“Has Macabre returned to the Lands of Thalian?”
“He has—along with a few others.”
“Have you considered the same solution for Ezra?”
She stopped at the question, her eyes guarded in provocation.
“Macabre adores you. I’m sure he would grant you this wish.”
“I would never ask a dragon to grant such a tremendous boon.”
“I think it’s a fair request, considering they’re free for the first time in many years—because of you. Because of us. He knows you won’t abuse the connection that binds them together. He knows you do it simply to live with your beloved as long as you can.”
She looked away, as if ashamed she was considering the suggestion.
“He’s already ten or more years older than you.”
“His age does not bother me.”
“Now. But in another decade, it will. And then in another decade, he’ll begin his slow decline into old age—and you’ll watch him die.”
Her blue eyes soured in pain.
“How cruel is it for him to live his life knowing his presence will pass in the blink of an eye for you. That you will not mother his children when his mortality is so brief. That he will be replaced by a suitor who is worthy of your maternal investment. This solution fixes all of it.”
She looked away like the conversation suffocated her.
“You deserve to be happy, Your Majesty. And for more than a few decades.”
She continued to look away, breathing hard as the emotion gripped her tighter.
“Macabre will grant you this wish. All you have to do is ask.”
Chapter 28
Calista
Talon had had drifted off in bed, and while I took advantage of the opportunity to stare at his handsome face, I couldn’t do that forever. Especially when that horrible scar was a dark mass on his chest, a sign of the torture that he had endured for years.
We both suffered, but I had to admit that his pain was far worse than mine.
The sun was about to set, and the light passed through the trees in the most beautiful way. Fireflies were already out, their light faint when the forest still possessed some sunlight, but their appearance meant that dark would arrive soon.
I left the tree house and walked along the dirt path through the trees, knowing this was one of the last times I would get to experience the beauty and majesty of this incredible forest. It had been an asylum for me, but Talon had found me, using his abilities to be where I was—always. It was the place where I’d dropped the armor around my heart and loved him fully, trusted him without doubt, allowed myself to need someone other than myself.
I would miss it.
I knew I would return someday, but I didn’t know when.
I walked for minutes, listening to the faint music that came from the Great Tree, seeing the fireflies grow brighter as the light faded. There was no one else on the path, already in their tree houses ready for bed.