Page 37 of Dreams and Dragon Wings (Clean Fairytales for Adults #2)

Benevolence

I stare down at my now-empty lap, my fingers twitching as I recall the sensation of Aurelia’s hair spilling through them. I touched her. I held her.

Aurelia was here. She was truly here.

“How was that possible?” Brisa asks, looking between me and her sister, as if we might know something she does not.

Glorana purses her lips, her eyes shining. Even now, standing on the precipice of death, she is ever eager to solve a puzzling equation. “I have a few theories.”

I roll to my feet, weariness already seeping into my bones from that small movement alone. I feel myself fading. Weakening. Even my inner dragon grows quiet.

I do not know how much longer I have left in this world.

Again, helplessness washes over me. What can I do for Na’therya now other than pray for her success? I still have found no way to escape this prison. I cannot possibly help her from in here. And now Malice has Velda.

My heart aches to know that Aurelia feels so alone out there. But she’s not alone. She can never be truly alone.

The Aether is still with her. The Great Weaver still watches over all.

While Glorana launches into her various theories on how Aurelia came to find herself in this nightmare we all share, I stumble away, hunting for a quiet place.

I find it where the roses grow thicker and even more wild—the approximation of the spot where Aurelia and I hid all those years ago on the day we first met.

I try to empty my mind, to focus on what I need to pray, but it is difficult not to think about how boldly Aurelia just admitted to having dreams about me in which we were…

unchaperoned . Can it possibly be that she longs for me just as much as I long for her?

That perhaps she might even… want to be with me?

Not out of a sense of duty. Nor mere friendship.

But just… to be my wife? My beloved drakira ?

The dragon inside me rumbles his approval, but I squeeze my eyes shut tight. Naei . I can’t think about that right now. Even though I so desperately want to. Even though I very nearly confessed right alongside her that I dream of her, too.

Not that she would ever believe me. Aurelia has always thought me perfect . A paragon of chivalry. Gentlemanly. Kind and good. Not a single dark desire staining my soul.

But I am far from perfect.

I stumble.

Even before taking up the Corona Ignis and fulfilling the initial terms of my uncle’s curse, I would sometimes fall prey to the siren’s song of my Shade.

Na’Eruv , I pray, falling to my knees. Please, watch over Aurelia. Guide her. Show her the path You wish her to walk. Grant her Your strength, Your wisdom, and Your discernment. Help her not to despair now.

My body shudders as I draw in a deep breath and add a prayer for my uncle.

If there is any of Your goodness left in Malice, let him find it again. If there is a way for him to return to the light, I pray he will see it.

And myself.

And help me to be more like the man Aurelia has always thought me to be. Help me to be better for her sake and for mine. Grant me Your mercy. Help me to observe Your laws and… to not hate my uncle, despite all he has done.

… Despite all that he might yet do.