“Stop feeling so guilty about this,” Carina ordered as I stood in my old dormitory room at Dragon Rider Academy, trying not to fidget as Rhia and the stylist primped and prepped me for the big day. “You’re allowed to take time off to get married.”
“It’s not just about the time,” I complained as Rhia fussed over my hem. I’d intended to go with a simple gown initially, but Carina and Rhia had vetoed the idea. They’d wanted to stick me in a lavish monstrosity with a twenty-foot train, but I’d put my foot down, and we’d compromised. The dress I chose was elegant and form-fitting, with a sweetheart neckline and a short train. The shoulders and sleeves were made of sheer lace, and that same lace trailed all the way down my back, stitched in the shape of a dragon whose long tail disappeared into the ivory skirt. I’d thought about asking them to use red lace for the dragon, but ultimately decided to let it stand as-is. Dragons would always be part of our country’s identity, but they would no longer define us, and this dress would symbolize that.
“Yes, yes, we know.” Rhia rolled her eyes as she smoothed out my skirt. “You think it’s an inappropriate display of decadence. But the truth is, Zara, that the people need a reason to celebrate after months of turmoil. And what better way to do that than with the union of Elantia’s two greatest saviors?”
I cringed a little at that. I hated that Tavarian and I had been put on a pedestal like this—taking the country back had been a team effort, and it didn’t feel right to take so much credit. But Tavarian was the unofficial organizer of the new system, and I had spearheaded the war effort, so everyone was always looking to us to lead the way.
A knock saved Carina and Rhia from further protestations. “Zara?” Halldor called. “Can I come in?”
"We don't have time for this—" Carina started impatiently, but Rhia's eyes lit up, and she rushed to the door to let him in. My mouth dropped open as he filed in with an elderly man and middle-aged woman. Both had blue eyes and chins identical to mine, and while the old man's hair was pure white, the woman's was threaded with ginger. "I'd like you to meet someone."
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. “Are…are you Halldor’s relatives?,” I asked.
“My name is Ethedor Savin,” the old man said, “and this is my daughter, Sabina, Halldor’s mother. I’m his grandfather…and yours, too.”
I knew it was coming, but the information still rocked me back on my heels. Carina put an arm around my shoulder for support. “You…you were my mother’s father, then?”
They nodded. “And I was her sister,” Sabina said, her eyes shining with tears. “Her sister, and your aunt, though I never knew she had a daughter.”
“What happened between you?” I asked, desperate to fill in the gaps of my heritage. “Why did I never know about you?”
“Because your mother eloped,” my grandfather said gruffly. “She fell in love with a young merchant marine, Calton, and when I refused to approve the match they ran off to start a new life together.”
“Is it true that they died?” Sabina asked, clutching at my hand with both of hers. “We hired a private investigator to look for her, but he’s never been able to turn up anything. I had always assumed she and Calton had decided to start a new life in a different country, but I never thought…”
A lump swelled in my throat at the grief in her eyes. “Oh, you’re ruining your make up!” the stylist cried, fluttering her hands. She fussed over me, dabbing at the tear tracks on my face with a wet towel.
My aunt looked even more stricken. “I’m sorry,” she said, backing away. “We shouldn’t have come now—”
“But you’re here.” I batted the stylist away and gestured to the bed. “Come and sit down. I want to know everything.”
So they did, and my family members told me everything they knew about my mother. She had never paired up with a dragon, but she’d had a passion for adventure, and had been itching to travel. My father was a handsome young man, and as a merchant marine he traveled extensively. He’d been the perfect man for her—an adventurous soul who had given her a chance to see the world like she’d always wanted.
“It seems sad that despite her dream of traveling, they died in Zuar City, and so young,” Halldor remarked. “I wish I could have met her.”
“Well now we know where you got your wanderlust from,” Carina said fondly, trying to dispel some of the somber mood. The stylist slid a pearl-tipped pin in my hair, nearly finished now. “You obviously take after your mother, especially with the looks.”
“You certainly do,” my grandfather said, a wistful look in his eyes. A tear slid down his cheek, but quickly disappeared into his thick, snow-white beard. “I wish that I could have found her before she died—while I didn’t give her my blessing, I never wanted her to run away, and I always hoped we’d have the chance to reconcile.”
“We don’t want to make that mistake with you, though,” my aunt said, a pleading look on her face. “I feel terrible that you’ve been without family your whole life, and we would like to make up for it now, if we can.”
The stylist finally stepped back, finished. But instead of looking in the mirror, I rose from my chair and took my grandfather and aunt by the hand. "I'm delighted you came," I said, "and I would love to visit your estate after my honeymoon and get to know you better."
“We would love that,” my aunt gushed. “Your mother’s old room is intact, and all her old diaries and things are there if you want to see them.”
A chance to read my mother’s diaries, to learn more about her life? My vision blurred, and I rapidly blinked back tears before I could ruin my make up again.
I invited my relatives to stay for the wedding, and Rhia and Carina showed them out so they could go find their seats. “Are you ready?” Halldor asked, offering me his arm. As my only relative in attendance—or so I’d thought, before my grandfather and aunt showed up—we’d agreed to let him walk me down the aisle.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Our wedding was a grand affair at Dragon Rider Academy, hosted in the outdoor amphitheater so the dragons could watch from above. Carina and Rhia stood up for me as my bridesmaids, and over a hundred people were packed into the chapel-like room, which was usually used for the hatching ceremony where young dragon riders carefully handled dormant eggs, hoping that one would hatch for them. That ceremony would cease to exist, once the newly-freed dragons started laying new eggs—their offspring would hatch naturally, and be raised by their mothers and fathers.
Starting our marriage here was like saying goodbye to an old era, and marking the start of a new age.
Tavarian’s eyes shone as I walked up the aisle, and my heart swelled with love. He looked stunningly handsome in his dragon rider uniform. “You look incredible,” he whispered as Halldor handed him off to me at the dais.
“So do you.” I briefly brushed my hand along the braiding at his shoulder. “Fitting, that you’re wearing the same outfit you wore when we first met.”
He blinked, startled, but there was no time to say anything more as General Ragorin—formerly captain, and now the highest ranking officer and leader of the Elantian army—began the ceremony. Vows were spoken, rings slid on fingers, tears shed. It was all like a hazy dream, and through most of it, I was half convinced it wasn’t real. But when the captain finally gave us permission to kiss, and our lips touched, reality crashed back into me. The sensation of Tavarian’s mouth on mine was thrown into sharp relief, as well as the sounds of wild clapping and cheering around us. His strong arms circled me, grounding me, and as I kissed him back, I became aware of the gold band circling my finger.
“We did it.” He pulled away, smiling broadly at me.
“Hell yes we did.” I grabbed his face with both hands and, to the delight of the crowd, kissed him long and hard again.
The dragons trumpeted loudly above us, and I could feel Lessie’s amusement in the bond. “Get moving, lovebirds,” Lessie teased. “You’ve still got the reception before you get to mov
e on to the honeymoon phase.”
The reception was hosted on the grounds, and was open to the public, though the guards kept a heavily fortified perimeter around Tavarian and me, and vetted anyone who wanted to approach us. The first two hours were a whirlwind of laughing and dancing, of speeches and congratulations, but eventually I became overwhelmed by all the attention. While Tavarian was deep in conversation with Admiral Messei, I slipped off to a secluded bench in the kitchen gardens for some privacy.
Figuring that no one was watching, I kicked off my heels and nudged them beneath the bench, behind my skirts. “Ahhh.” I closed my eyes in contentment as my feet sank into the bare grass. This right here was bliss. All I needed was a glass of champagne in my hand.
“Coming right up,” Caor said. My eyes popped open to see a fluted glass dangling right in front of me, and I followed the hand holding it all the way up to Caor’s head. His eyes twinkled in amusement at the shock on my face. “What, you didn’t think I’d miss the big day, did you?”
I snatched the champagne out of his hand and took a long drink. “Please don’t tell me you’re here to give me bad news,” I said once I’d drained the glass. “I don’t think I can take any more.”
“Of course not. What kind of god do you take me for?” He actually looked offended. “I came to offer my congratulations. And to tell you that you’ve defeated the dragon god for good. Niaste, the goddess of divination, has looked into the future. She says it’ll be another thousand years before Zakyiar has the opportunity to manifest again, and even then it might not happen unless certain events align.”
Ugh. Seriously? “Well then that’s not a true defeat, is it? How can he come back if a piece of his heart has been destroyed?”
Caor shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Niaste isn’t known for giving details—she’s cryptic even on her best days. But as far as I’m concerned, your best defense against the dragon god’s return is to encourage people to begin worshipping us again.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m not the proselytizing type. If you guys want the people to start worshipping you, you might want to start performing miracles again. How else are humans going to believe in you if they don’t see any evidence of divinity?”
“Hmm.” Caor stroked his chin. “You have a point. I will discuss this with the others.”
He disappeared, and I shook my head at his antics. “You know,” Lessie said, obviously having listened in on the conversation, “for all their ancient wisdom, the gods seem just as childish and dense as humans are. It’s no wonder they’re not idolized anymore.”
My lips twitched. “Don’t let Caor hear you say that.” I stood up, intending to seek out Tavarian, but my treasure sense pinged.
“Zara?” Lessie asked as I followed the signal. “Aren’t you going to get your dress dirty?”
“I’ll have Tavarian fix it for me,” I said distractedly, my mind focused on the hunt. Or maybe I could fix it without help, if I ever figured out how to control my blasted magic…
Ten minutes later, Tavarian poked his head over the rosebushes, his brow furrowed. “Zara? What are you doing?”
“Huh?” I glanced up at him—I was on my hands and knees, digging eagerly in the dirt. “Oh, sorry. I was on my way back, but my treasure sense went off, and…” I trailed off at the growing smile on his face, my cheeks heating. “What?”
“Nothing.” He walked around the rose bush and knelt in the dirt so he could cup my chin in one hand. “It’s just that you’re digging up the garden in your wedding dress, tossing propriety aside for the thrill of treasure. It’s adorable, and so completely you.” He kissed me, a quick peck on the lips that nevertheless heated my blood, then pulled away to study the hole. “How much more digging do we have to do?”
He helped me widen the hole, and after a few minutes, we unearthed an antique jar full of ancient gold coins. “Ohhhh,” I gushed as I spilled a few of them into my hand. They sparkled in the sunlight, and I stared at them for a moment, dazzled. As a student I’d had no cause to wander the kitchen gardens, which explained why I’d never found these before. “Carina is going to love these!”
“You can give them to her later,” Lessie said. I glanced up at the sky to see her and Muza land in the field a hundred yards away, all saddled up. “It’s time to leave now.”
“Already?” I looked back at the reception, which was still in full swing. “Aren’t we supposed to give a speech or something before we leave?”
"If we do that, we'll be here for another hour." Tavarian took the urn from me and dropped it back into the hole, then used magic to tidy up the area. "It's better to sneak off while we can, before someone notices."
“Okay.” Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that a few people were already coming toward us. Tavarian took my hand, and I giggled as we sprinted toward the dragons. I was barefoot, with grass stains on my dress, and dirt on my skin, but I didn’t care.
“Are you sure you want to go like this?” Lessie asked as I vaulted into the saddle. “You can change if you want—”
“Commandant!” someone shouted, and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone running toward us.
"Nope! Let's go!" I kicked at her side, and the two dragons shot into the air, leaving our pursuers far behind. I whooped as the wind ripped out all the pins in my hair, leaving it to stream like a wild red banner behind me. Exhilaration rushed through my blood, and I grinned at Tavarian, who was next to me astride Muza.
He grinned back, looking a little sheepish. “It’s unlike me to run away like this,” he shouted over the wind. “What if they needed something important?”
“Then they’ll just have to go to someone else,” Lessie huffed. “It’s your honeymoon. Don’t you think that defeating the dragon god, winning the war, and coming back from the land of the dead has earned us a break?”
We laughed. “You’re damn right it does,” I said, patting Lessie’s neck. Jallis could handle whatever it was, or Rhia, or any of the other people we’d left in charge. We’d accomplished some amazing things together, and when we came back, we would accomplish more. Our work was far from over, and I couldn’t wait to see what we would do next.
THE END
Zara and Lessie’s journey may be over, but there are still many more adventures to read about! To learn about Jessica’s other books, which are written under Jasmine Walt, turn the page and check out the bibliography at the back of this book!
About the Author
JESSICA DRAKE is the epic fantasy pen name of NYT bestseller Jasmine Walt. When she’s not binge-watching Lord of the Rings or jet-setting around the world, she can be found chained to her computer, feverishly working on her next project. She loves to hear from her readers, so feel free to drop her a line at [email protected].
Also by Jessica Drake
The Baine Chronicles Series
Burned by Magic
Bound by Magic
Hunted by Magic
Marked by Magic
Betrayed by Magic
Deceived by Magic
Scorched by Magic
Taken by Magic
The Gatekeeper Chronicles
Marked by Sin
Hunted by Sin
Claimed by Sin
The Nia Rivers Adventures
Dragon Bones
Demeter’s Tablet
Templar Scrolls
Serpent Mound
Eden’s Garden
The Dragon’s Gift Trilogy
Dragon’s Gift
Dragon’s Blood
Dragon’s Curse
Her Dark Protectors
Cursed by Night
Kissed by Night
Hidden by Night
Broken by Night
nds
Secret of the Dragon Page 17
