Page 50 of Dreams and Dragon Wings (Clean Fairytales for Adults #2)

Benevolence

L avender strands of Air answer my call and swirl around us, keeping the blistering heat at bay. But still, tongues of heat lap against my back—dragonfire that dares to try to harm Na’therya .

Long-dormant rage awakens within me. Not the hot, mindless anger of a slighted hatchling. But the cold, crystallized fury of a dragon whose drakira has been threatened.

Aurelia . Aurelia is here. Trembling. Aglow like a candle’s flame—a beacon calling me home. A tired, courageous woman now in need of my protection.

Without a word, I gently gather her into my arms and bury my face in the curve of her neck, embracing her as if she is my last lifeline.

The moment I do, our previous bond snaps into place, stealing my breath all over again. Threads of Mind and Spirit seep from her soul into mine, securing me in a hold from which I never wish to be parted again.

I want to drown in her always.

I feel her. I hear her. I see what she sees. I know what she knows. Everything she has experienced over the past few days sweeps over me all at once in a tidal wave of emotion and flickering visions.

Malice. The goblins. The Great Weaver. Her gift.

… Her father.

Her tears soak my shoulder as I drink it all in. Her sobs wrack my form. She has endured so much since that night at the ball in Spindleton.

“I am here,” I rumble, pressing myself closer to shield her from the worst of the heat. “Rest now, Na’therya . I am here.”

“Bene,” my queen whispers. Her body presses to mine. Her fingers tangle in my hair, tightening. “ Bene .”

A desperate need suddenly radiates across the link binding us together, far too potent to ignore.

Hers? Mine?

Ours .

All sense leaves me. My inner dragon roars, desperate to rid my queen of my uncle’s stench that clings to her form. To kiss away her every tear. To soothe her of every horror she has had to suffer at his hands.

I lift my head from her neck just as her face tilts upward toward me, her lips gently parting, tears shimmering on her cheeks. A silent plea.

I crush my mouth to hers in answer.

And when I do, something inside me shifts. Something finally clicks into place. The piece of me that has always been missing— her . Her love.

Our love.

The key to everything.

Light floods my soul and explodes outward, filling the tower with a blinding light as if I have become a Jewel myself to match my glowing drakira . Even through my eyelids, I see it. I feel it. A luminescence beyond all others. A love that can chase away any darkness.

Even our curse.

Like shackles being ripped asunder, I sense the threads of Malice's initial weave unravel from around our hearts—the weave he placed on us when we were still mere babes.

I hardly dare to believe it. I am almost afraid to hope.

But I know it is true all the same—

At last, we are free .

And all because we are finally together as we were always meant to be. Trusting in ourselves and the Great Weaver. Leaning on each other for strength.

We are at our most powerful together, my queen and I.

Together, we can do anything.

Salt greets my tongue as our tears mingle into a shared joy. Years of desire, of longing, of love sweep through me, devouring all other thought. All save for one. The one that drifts from my mind to hers:

“There has only ever been you, Aurelia, since that first day in the garden. I hope you know how long I have loved you. I hope you understand that I have only ever wanted you for my drakira . It wasn’t the prophecy that made me love you. Nor your gift. It was you .”

Again, she trembles within my hold.

Again, I gently tighten my arms around her, holding her steady.

“Marry me, Na’therya,” I whisper across the link as we kiss beneath the threat of my uncle’s flames. “Be my drakira . Rule at my side.”

“Vaei, ” she breathes back without a single moment’s hesitation. “ Tir’anor. ”

With the next beat of her heart, her thoughts turn to her people. I see bodies littering the ground. Blood staining the grass. She does not need to voice her worries for me to feel them. She does not need to make the request for me to answer the call.

To be her champion. To save the Vale.

Duty pulls me from the warmth of my queen’s body, from the siren’s call of her mouth.

Just as the last of my uncle’s fire evaporates, I glance down to find all three of my aunties gazing up at us, embracing each other as they watch our reunion.

Velda smiles. Glorana sighs dreamily.

Brisa feigns annoyance. “Yes, we’re alive, too. Thank you for asking!”

“Guard each other well so that remains the case,” I implore the women most important to me—all four of them—before I launch myself backward through the shield of Air still encircling Na’therya , through the shards of broken glass circling the window like broken teeth, and out into the night.

To finally face Malice once and for all.