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For a while the two of them sat together, singing in a language no other creature in Verlanti could understand. The songs sounded odd away from the sea. Not wrong, but different. Wren became aware of how truly far away from home she was—and how dangerous it was for Trove to be so far from the water. Arrik had seen him, and no doubt his soldiers, too. They would be on the hunt for the dragon now.

They were rare and valuable.

“You have to go,” Wren urged the creature, hugging Trove’s head before standing up and brushing the soil from her aching legs. Slowly, the dragon uncurled to face her, but he made no move to fly away. “You cannot be here,” she urged, a few seconds of immobility later. “Leave, Trove.”

The dragon did not move.

“Go!” she cried at the beast. “Go and leave me here! You don’t belong at my side. It means death. Everyone close to me dies, don’t you understand?”

It was clear in Trove’s endlessly dark eyes that he understood, at least to some degree, what Wren was doing. He butted her in the chest and crooned once before pulling away. The dragon launched into the air, and she whooped as he gained altitude, his majestic wings taking him higher and higher.

She swallowed down more tears as he cut through the sky, leaving her behind. Once again she was alone. Wren wished he could have stayed, but it was too dangerous for everyone. If the dragon stayed around, protecting her, he would die. And what was a Dragon Princess if she was unable to save her dragon? Wren had already lost one, once.

She would not be so foolish as to make the same mistake again.

16

WREN

The camp was in an absolute frenzy by the time Wren forced herself to return, hazy-headed and numb from both her encounter with the prince and her hideous truths she’d bared to the light.

“What’s going on?” she asked Ever, who was trundling past with an armful of leather armor toward the weapons tent.

The older woman arched her eyebrows at Wren in disapproval. “I see you’ve returned. I trust you know your aunt isn’t happy with your disappearance.” When Wren didn’t reply, Ever dumped the armor into the arms of a passing woman and said, “Soldiers have been spotted in the forest, much too close. We have to ready for an attack and move the camp. Come, I’ll take you to Vienne.”

Guilt twisted Wren’s stomach.

Had they tracked her here?

Were they Arrik’s men coming for his revenge?

She exhaled slowly and tried not to let her fear cloud her thoughts.

He hid you from the soldiers. He didn’t want them to know you were here.

So what did it all mean? Was he just toying with them? Or was there something else going on?

Wren rubbed her temples and then dropped her hands when she noticed Ever studying her. It was not the time to dwell upon it. She’d no doubt hash it over during the sleepless night to come.

Nodding her head politely, she followed Ever to Vienne’s tent, knowing that in all likelihood Bram would be inside too. Stars, she disliked the man. He was as prickly as a porcupine and twice as mean as a bear. Wren doubted he even knew how to smile. But it was better for her if they were both there so she wouldn’t have to repeat her story twice. Better to tell them both about everything that had happened today, lest they lock her up for lying.

Well…not everything. She’d keep Trove’s visit a secret.

Wren thought of Trove, and how he’d wanted to come with her. To protect her. Not for the first time Wren wished she had left with the dragon instead, and flown all the way home.

Don’t be a ninny. Stand up straight and accept your lumps like a warrior.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth and entered the large canvas tent that housed her aunt and served as their war room.

The first thing Wren noted was that Leif had finally returned. He, at least, looked relieved to see her rather than furious, but when he made to walk toward her Bram thrust out an arm to stop him.

She schooled her expression and stared down at her aunt, who had yet to look up from the map on the table in the center of the room. Vienne slowly set down her quill and lifted her head, eyes snapping with anger.

“Did I, or did I not, tell you not to leave camp?”

Wren kept her mouth shut. It was not a rhetorical question.

Her aunt’s face turned red and she slapped a hand against the table, straightening to her full height. “No, Iorderedyou. And what did you do?”