“Can I ride her if I am expecting?” I blurt out.
Liana laughs. “I don’t see why not. Especially with your mate.”
That comment centers me once more. So much happens at once, I almost missed the way he’s quietly been watching me.
When I meet his eyes, a somber feeling settles over me.
We need to speak.
“Very well,” I begin. “I will see you all back in Enduvida.”
I bid farewells, and then take Vann’s hand. He follows me out of the palace. Quiet.
He doesn’t speak for a long while. I don’t either. Instead, my hands cover my midsection.
“You are…”
“Pregnant with your child.”
I go a little dizzy with the thought.
His fists tighten. “Then we must get you back to Enduvida as soon as possible. You need your Fuegorra.”
His response is logical, practical even. It still unsettles me.
“Wait,” I say before he can run off. I peer up at him. This is the Vann I have come to know. Protective. Gruff, perhaps.
But I need more. I would need more moving forward.
“Are you…happy?”
He hesitates. “Are you? I know how much you have struggled. But I do not even know if you have fully forgiven me.”
I think on his words for a long moment. “I am shocked. Scared. But yes. I do think I am happy.”
His expression changes to something deeply emotional. His eyes rim with tears and he clears his throat. “Arlet, you know that they gave me my heart back. Once I was healed, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to make it back to your side. For however long you’d have me. ”
And though his words are spoken, I feel them in my soul. In my lower belly. I feel them like the tight wrap of his tail around my body. As if he could overwhelm me, the first night he’d ever awakened a passion in my soul.
“And if we are not only bound by divine right, but also by blood. The blood of our child? I never thought I would know this life. The joy you bring me is immeasurable.”
I let out a long breath.
We follow Mrath out, and I feel lighter. The corridor opens into sunlight spilling through broken arches. Warm wind carries the scent of ash and rain—and there, gleaming amid the ruin, stands a dragon.
Seraph’s scales shimmer gold, molten and alive, each breath scattering light like embers.
“Hello, my friend,” I breathe.
The dragon lowers her massive head, one bright eye focusing on me. It’s as if I can hear her voice, wry and affectionate, in my head. Like she’s telling me, “Hello again.”
“Thank you for bringing him. And thank you for helping us,” I whisper. “I am so grateful.”
She flaps her wings once, expressively. And I marvel athow she has not had to wither one moment since leaving Dragonsreach. She left the place grieving, yet now she looks like the picture of strength.
“Where were you hiding?” I ask, holding out my hand, that she might press her warm nose into it.
Vann moves to my side. “I left her in the mountains, north of here. I didn’t want her hurt before she had a chance to see you again. Hopefully, she returned there during the fight.”