Page 11

A chirp sounds from the fireplace and I look over to find Ember rearranging herself on a log.

It's only been a couple of days since she hatched, but she's already bigger, and is definitely more confident.

Mostly because of the information in Arthur's book, and some tips that the Shengda delegation was able to give me on rearing a dragon.

Ambassador Zixin had been surprised to discover that Ember had already hatched, but he also seemed pleased.

Maybe there was something auspicious about returning to his Emperor and being able to tell him as much.

I head over to the fire and use the prongs to put another log on. Ember immediately sees the need to try and set it on fire, breathing in its direction but not managing much.

"You're going to have to wait until you're a bit bigger for that," I remind her.

She gives me an unimpressed look, but I'm sure she'll get over it.

Steps sound behind me, and I turn to find my lady's maid entering the room. She dips into a curtsy. "You have a visitor, Your Highness."

"Who is it, Betsy?" I ask.

"Master Matthews, from the kitchens."

My heart skips a beat in response. "Show him in."

She gives me an odd look, but disappears to do as she's asked.

Nate appears in the doorway a few moments later and I smile at him. "I didn't expect to see you here today."

"I needed to talk to you," he says.

I frown. "Why does that sound serious?"

"It is."

I swallow hard and gesture for the two of us to take a seat in the sitting area of my drawing room.

Ember seems to realise who has come to visit and uses her limited flying skills to float across the room with a couple of sparks floating behind her. She's lucky nothing has set on fire yet, because she's definitely a fire hazard.

She lands on the table in front of Nate and chirps at him.

He cracks a smile and leans in to scratch her behind the horns. "Hello, Ember."

She chirps again.

"She likes you."

"I suppose I was there when she hatched. Maybe she thinks we're her parents?" he asks.

I shrug. "According to the book, green oak dragons often hatch alone because their parents move on. So she just likes you. And me, I guess."

"Interesting." He takes a deep breath. "Father has sorted out my apprenticeship."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in, especially with the abrupt change of topic. I lean back in my chair. "Oh."

"I'm to go to Gaullesse. He wants me to stay there for at least a year, but he's already talking about me taking another job after that and moving on to Sovranetti, and maybe Karvellos."

"He wants you to go away for a few years?" I echo.

"Yes."

My whole body feels weird as I try to take in the news. "I see."

"Yes," he repeats, looking down at his knees.

I might not always be able to read situations right, but I can work out this one. He wants me to ask him to stay, and I want to ask him that, but we both know that I can't and that I shouldn't. "You'll learn a lot," I say instead, breaking my heart as I do.

His shoulders slump. "That's what my father says. He thinks I have the potential to be an even better pastry chef than he is."

"You're already a better pastry chef than your father," I say, meaning every word. I know that a lot of Mr Matthews' best creations in the past couple of years have actually been things that Nate came up with. He's just not allowed to tell anyone else that.

"That's a matter of debate," Nate says.

"I can't believe you're going to be gone for years," I whisper, my voice cracking as I do.

Nate looks up, a pained expression on his face, as if my reaction has told him something. I'm not sure what. He already knows he's my best friend and that I'm going to miss spending time with him. It isn't any kind of revelation to him.

"When do you leave?" I ask.

"Next week."

"Next week?" A strange squeak escapes from me. "Sorry."

"It's all right, my reaction was the same."

"That's so soon." I watch him continue to fuss Ember and think about all the time we're going to miss with one another.

"It's sooner than I'd like," he admits. "I thought maybe we could make some of our favourite bakes. You know, a good way to say goodbye."

A lump forms in my throat. "I would like that.

" I'd like it better if he wasn't going, but I'm not selfish enough to suggest that.

He could have an amazing career ahead of him as one of Falhaven's best pastry chefs, I'm not about to ruin that just because I might be a bit lonely.

"Do you know what you want to make?" I ask him instead of voicing any of my thoughts.

"Apple and blackberry pie."

"That's the first thing we made together."

He nods. "We overfilled the pie and it ended up overflowing in the oven."

I laugh as I remember the mess we made. "Your father wasn't happy."

"And he was amazed when you helped me clean it up. I think he expected you to run away at the first hint of getting your hands dirty." The smile on his face almost chases away the hurt.

"I wasn't going to abandon you when it was my mess too," I point out. "If I can make the mess, then I can tidy it up."

"I think he knows that now," Nate responds. "But then he wasn't so sure."

"I'm glad I proved him wrong."

"What do you think you want to bake?" he asks.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "We've made so many tasty things. And a couple of disasters."

He laughs. "The Eve's Pudding?"

"I don't know what went wrong, it was cooked in the middle when I tested it with the skewer," I protest. "It was only when I turned it out that it fell apart."

Ember decides she's bored with our conversation and makes her way back over to the fire, stretching her wings as she hops back into it.

"You know what, we should make Eve's Pudding," I say. "A do-over."

"All right, but only if we can also have a do-over for the cheese scones I burned."

"Absolutely." I meet his gaze and smile, sharing a moment that's just for us.

It's going to take a moment to work through the reality of him leaving, and I'm going to miss him every day, but I know that this is a good thing for him, and I can't stand in his way, even if it hurts me.

And I definitely shouldn't let any of that get in the way of making the most of the time we have left together, because it's going to run out sooner than I want it to.