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“It suits you. Bold just like you, and it’s lucky, too.”

Wren rolled her eyes. “For our people, the color of red is lucky, but it hasn’t brought me any good luck. Just a lot of punishment.”

Her mum snickered and cupped her cheek. “Now that, Daughter, had nothing to do with your hair and everything to do with your actions. You just can’t keep yourself out of trouble.” She wiggled her brows. “But you are almost no longer my responsibility. Soon, your husband will have to deal with your mischief and antics.”

The nervous jitters in Wren’s stomach tumbled about at the reminder.

Husband.

In just a short time, she’d be married. Be someone’s wife.

“Love?”

She focused back on Anneke.

Her mum studied Wren, pulled her hand from Wren’s cheek, and pushed back her own hair, securing it behind her slightly pointed ear. An elven ear. Her mother hailed from the northern kingdom of Verlanti and possessed the prominently pointed ears of the elves. Anneke had once told Wren that her sire had not been native to Verlanti. Instead, he had belonged to the kingdom of Vadon, which lay well to the south of Lorne, the sand kingdom so hot you could taste spices on the air. It was hard to imagine.

Anneke fiddled with her simple earring, pulling Wren’s attention back to her mum.

“You know some of my history,” her mother stated softly, her gaze becoming distant.

Wren swallowed hard. Her mum’s origins were a dark tale. Stolen from her family’s farm, she’d been taken to a high lord to be his concubine. Anneke had fought, but it hadn’t been enough. The lord brutally took her innocence, and when he was through, he gave her to his men. Even thinking about it made Wren sick. She was a product of force, of ravishment.

“I know what it is to feel trapped. To feel like there is no other way out.” Her mother focused back on Wren, her expression grave. “We’ve made a good life here in the isles, with your father.”

“Papa is a good man,” Wren said. He loved her mother fiercely and had raised Wren as his own.

“He is, but I would spirit you away right now, if you wished it.”

Wren’s eyes rounded as she gaped at her mother. “What?”

Anneke held her gaze. “You and your sister are the most precious gifts I’ve been given in this life. I know you’ve made promises to Rowen, and that your father has certain expectations for your future, but they mean nothing if you want out.”

“Do you think I don’t want to get married?”

Her mother sat up and picked a leaf from Wren’s dress. “No. I believe you love the boy. I just want you to know you will always come first, and, that if you have any doubts, I have a ship in the harbor we can board now.”

Wren sat up and pushed her hair from her face. “You would leave Papa?”

“I love your father dearly, but it will never surpass the love a mother has for her child. I will do what I must to protect you.”

Wren reached for Anneke’s hands and squeezed them. To anyone else, her mother’s offer would seem extreme, but, to Wren, it meant everything. Her mum had a dragon heart. No one and nothing would break the bond that they had.

“I truly want this,” Wren murmured. “Any nervousness you see on my part is just normal marriage jitters. I’ve never lived alone with a man. It will be an adventure, to be sure.”

Her mother’s seriousness melted away. “I’m happy to hear it. I just wanted to be sure.”

“Would you have really run away with me?” Wren asked.

“To the ends of the earth, Daughter.”

“Papa would have searched for you.”

Anneke quirked a smile. “He would have tried.”

That put a grin on Wren’s face. Her mother’s skills at hiding her tracks were unparalleled. If she didn’t want to be found, no one found her.

“Now we have got that discussion out of the way, I believe it’s time to return.” Her mum climbed to her feet, pulling Wren with her. “Our clothes will get wet if we lie here much longer,” she told her daughter, lifting the damp hem of her dress to prove her point.