Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Page Sixteen—What have I done? Why are the dragons lost?

M y mama's laugh echoes loud enough for the entire apartment block to hear, and I turn to watch as my papa's face lights up at the sound. Many people mistake my mama for my sister because she stopped aging only ten years older than what I am now, and my papa is the same. They both have dark hair the same shade as mine, but I often wish I inherited my papa's gold eyes. They shine brightly as he watches mama continue to giggle at whatever joke he must have told her. When she calms, she smiles at him in a way that sometimes makes me feel jealous. Do I want that? Yes. The simple answer is yes. I've read a thousand romance books in the library, lost myself in the heat and passion of strangers on paper, but I just know it wouldn't compare to something real. Someone real. Is that even possible for someone like me to have that? I'm not beautiful, not in the way my mother is, and I'm not funny like my father to make up for my too many curves.

Story sighs. "Five hundred years stuck in here, and they are still love-sick puppies. I really love coming to lunch with your parents." She looks away and to me. "All the laughter reminds me of my mother and the meals we used to have. She believed laughter and unhealthy foods are key to happiness."

"Maybe I'll say the same to you in, like, fifty years about Ziven." She blushes like a teenager in love.

I smile at her, bumping her shoulder with mine. "I'm happy for you. But in all seriousness, are you okay? We haven't had much time alone to just talk." She told me about everything, everything that's happened, but usually there is a Moon Dynasty guard a few feet away or our dragons are waiting for us to fly. Learning to be a dragon rider has no doubt been the most rewarding part of my life, and I don't ever want to stop riding through the skies. I know war is coming, I know the vampyres are going to come after us, but when I'm on my dragon, I feel invincible. For a girl who has always had every one of her weaknesses written across her body, I feel like I'm let out of my cage on my dragon when we are flying. I'm grateful to Story; if it wasn't for her and the Moon Dynasty, I wouldn't have had any instruction on how to ride. The Sun Dynasty is a mess, and our king…well, he is licking his wounds and not ruling like he should be.

"When I'm with Ziven, I am. I can see us having a future, but then I see someone from the Sun Dynasty, and it stings. I trusted him." Daegan. She means him.

"That was the bond, not just your judgment, and you shouldn't doubt yourself. Entwined mates are literally bonds between souls, a deep connection that cannot be felt by anyone but each other. King Daegan made the choice to betray the deities' wishes and you." I rest my head on her shoulder, my long hair falling down her arm. She rests her head on top of mine. "There is a reason most fae here fear entwined mates as much as they desire to have one as their own. Entwined mates are power, and they are destructive with love."

"You're very poetic sometimes, Catherine. Maybe you should write a book about all of us." She lifts her head. "Any chance we can escape before your parents ask me any more questions?"

I wince. They have asked her a lot. "I'm sorry, they?—"

"Don't apologise. It's not them, I'm just tired. My monthlies have been especially hard," she whispers. "I need to rest."

I wish I could magically heal her, make it better. I suspected she wasn't feeling well this morning because she looked so pale, but she waved me off, and she is very good at pretending to be okay when she is not. I'm her best friend and I have to get better at seeing the signs. I watch her climb to her feet and go to hug my parents goodbye. I know the deities have a plan for us all, but what is mine? Why is hers so complicated? She has been through hell, and she told me everything that happened to her, from the professor to the evil prince who kept her captured. If anyone deserves an easy life, it's her.

I always suspected the kings were her mates. I've read so many books on the history of entwined mates. Most are love stories, but also there were warnings of the most devastating tales too. It doesn't always mean a happy ending just because they are mates. The impact on your life will always be gigantic when you find an entwined mate. You don't walk away from them, and Daegan will regret what he has done. With how depressed he is seeming at the moment, maybe he already does.

After I say bye to my parents and promise to be back for dinner later, we leave the apartment. The corridor is surprisingly quiet, and I wonder if it has something to do with the Moon Dynasty twins standing by the doors waiting for Story. "Can you ever forgive Daegan?"

Her eyes sharpen. "I will never forgive him. Not ever for what he did, but I've decided I can't be the one to kill him. I won't let him die in front of me, but I won't be the one to take his life, and neither will Ziven unless he comes for me. The deities put this bond here between us, but he ruined it. He ruined everything I ever felt for him."

"Did you ever love him?" I genuinely question.

She shakes her head, her answer instant. "No. I loved Ziven, and he was all I saw. I claimed to everyone that I hated him and he was a monster, but my heart shouted another word. I should have listened to my instincts."

"I'm sorry for all the questions. I live through you." I tuck my hair behind my ears as we get to the twins. They open the doors as Story says hello and thanks them for waiting for her.

Her eyes sparkle with life. It's one of the reasons she is my best friend, that sparkle that never dies even with the life she has been given. She finds the strength to continue, and I admire her for it. We stop at the conjunction of the apartments. "I think my mum would like your parents. Thank you for inviting me over. It helps me feel like there is a chance I'll see my mother again."

"I hope I get to meet her one day. Wherever she is." My brow furrows. If her mother loved her so much, why didn't she come after her? I guess I don't think there isn't anything I wouldn't do for my child.

"I just want to see her again," Story admits, tugging on her bottom lip with her teeth. "She did everything for me, you know. I look back, and I realise that literally everything she did, even with a broken heart, was for me. She kept going. If I lost Ziven…" She pauses, her voice thick with emotion. It's like the thought of losing him can't be something that crosses her mind. To love like that—it's extraordinary. "I don't know how I'd keep going and fighting forever. But she did, after losing my father. She just kept going even when she told me she loved him so much. She told me I looked like him, and yet she smiled at me every single day. The breeding camp was cruel to her, and she took many, many lovers to try for another child. I remember staying at my mothers' friends and seeing how tired my mother was each morning. Sometimes there would be bruises all over her, too."

She shakes her head and my stomach sinks at what I am forced to imagine. Story doesn't speak about it, but I know she went through similar—if not worse.

"I want to thank her. Just once, I need her to know it wasn't all for nothing. That I'm here and a dragon rider she can be proud of."

"Story." I wrap my arms around her. "I might not have met her, but I know she was proud of you regardless of if you have a dragon or not. Just for being you. For surviving."

Her cheeks are wet with tears, and so are mine when we break away from each other. "Deities, I didn't plan on crying today. I'm going to go to the library with Mazzis. He is teaching me a new card game today, and he has baked a cake for us to eat. Are you coming?"

"No, but it is tempting," I chuckle. Mazzis knows more card games than anyone alive, I'd bet. He is also a brilliant cook. "I'm going to go out into the forest for my walk. I like to go out every day for at least half an hour just?—"

"To get out. Ziven goes flying once a day with me for the same thing," she offers. I nod. I know that she will understand the theory at least. I've been trapped in here my entire life, so many years, and it felt like an endless existence until Story arrived. I don't remember anything from when I was a child, only the after. The trap. The years all seem to have blurred into one endless mess. Yet, in all those years, I never called anyone my best friend. I've never had a lover, never had anyone to call mine. But I have my family and I have my best friend now. I consider myself extremely lucky for both.

She pulls me into a tight hug one more time. "Be careful out there. Do you want me to send a guard with you?"

"I'm okay and I like being alone with the forest," I tell her. Being alone is rare and I cherish the time I get. It's always quiet this time of day because the lunch is being given out at the front of the mansion, and the huge queues there take a while. The food will run out in a matter of weeks, and I don't know what anyone can do about it. There are always a lot of fae out there in the forest and many guards walking around too, but I get the false sense of being alone, anyway. Daegan has left some guards doing rotations of the forest, but I doubt they are doing a good job when their king is slacking at everything else.

Leaving Story with her guards, I head out of the apartments and into a pathway that is pretty silent. I will see Story later when I go to work. I love my shifts in the library, the quiet, the stillness that I find there. After I take the side door out, the brisk cold air slams hard into me and the wind whistles. The clouds are grey and thick. A storm is coming. I head out through the tents and the crowds of fae who are eating in silence. Some smile at me and others don't make eye contact. I've spoken to a few of them and heard their stories, enough of them that it makes me agree with what my parents have always said, that we were the lucky ones trapped in there.

So many of these fae are covered in bite marks. They are broken and trodden on like used and discarded dolls. I can see it in their eyes, whether they're powerborn or lessborn. Disgusting titles, and I hope the kings get rid of them when this war is over. The powerborn have slight powers that don't remotely compare to some of the powers I've seen in the mansion. They're all slaves and I hate that for them. The few babies that cry are the only ones that have a chance of knowing a world that the vampyres don't rule in. I saw how broken Story was when she first arrived, yet she ran with me into the Decidere.

She is so brave and I want to be like her.

I head down past the river, enjoying the soft sound of the water hitting the pebbles and the lap of the waves in the thicker parts. After I cross the old wooden bridge, I wind through the darker parts of the forest until the tents all but fade out, and I'm finally alone in the stillness of the forest. I don't know how long I'm walking, but when I see a bridge coming up and the sound of thunder slams across the sky, I jump. I've not seen this area before. I spin around, and I just see the mansion in the far distance, and the panic in my gut settles. It's quiet here, not a bird chirp or a bee buzz. Suddenly I hear something, something that shouldn't be there. A male groan. I swirl around and I hear it again, but this time I hear pain in the noise. Is someone hurt?

"Hello!" I shout out, wondering if someone's there. "If you're here, come out! I can help you!" Let's hope the fae is a nice one, or I'm going to have to start screaming. Someone will hear me. I'm not far enough away that they wouldn't. I'm not the best fighter, but my dragon will come for me if all else fails.

The groan echoes in my ears again, with a slightly whispered word. "Help me…"

My head turns towards the river where it's coming from, and I rush over, wondering if someone's fallen in. The heavy smell of blood slams into my nose as I get to the riverbank. I look down, my eyes widening and a shiver snaking down my spine. There's a vampyre man on the creek bed. There's a sword embedded straight through his stomach. A glistening gold sword that sliced through the thick black leathers he is wearing. He's barely conscious, muttering to himself as his red blood pours onto the pebbles and into the river.

He has short, curly silver hair that touches his forehead, and his silver fangs are tipped red, but they shine. His skin is pale, so pale. It's probably from all the blood pouring out of his stomach or the fact he is a vampyre. I've only seen dead ones brought in to be burnt from the city and only from a distance in the crowds. My eyes drift to the wound. He must be from the city, where the river starts, and I'd bet he got dragged up here by the current. The river is high from all the rain we have had recently. I steel my shoulders as I look down at him, wondering what to do. If I shout for help, someone will come and they will kill him.

Why does that thought make me feel sick?

Deities, what do I do? I can't help him. He's a vampyre and my natural enemy. His eyes open like he can hear my thoughts, and his eyes are so pale blue as he stares right up at me. "Help me."

Something in my gut makes me stop. Makes me not turn and run away. I should. I absolutely should. But if I go back to the mansion and tell them there's a vampyre out here—he's dead. That's it. He could very well kill me too. Anyone else would run away for help, but I can't make my feet turn. I can't make myself actually leave. What am I doing? I reach for my dragon in my mind, seeking his advice. Ululia chose me in a Decidere, and so far, as long as I've known him, he helps me…the few, very few, times he's chosen to speak to me. "What do I do?"

His grumble echoes in my mind. "We help the weak and look to the deities to judge us. You know what you must do."

My jaw drops and I look at the sky above, the thick swirling clouds. I'm shocked silent and I know Ululia isn't going to give me any more advice. My dragon, who would die to protect me like I would for him, just told me not to leave this vampyre. To help him.

I look down at the handsome vampyre, and my heart feels like it's clogged in my throat. He is handsome. At least six foot five with tall, long legs and too many muscles on show, even injured. He's covered in rippling muscles and quite a few scars that look old, like they never healed. I don't even know if he'll survive me helping him pull that sword out of his stomach. Then what? What do I do with him? I gulp before making my decision. A really stupid, reckless decision. But I've never been reckless in my life except for the Decidere, and I felt like that was the right thing for me to do. This is the right thing to do. I follow the rules. I do everything I'm told usually, but maybe I'm done with that.

I listen to my dragon. I always do and I always will. With my decision made, I slide down the embankment. Stones, pebbles and sand stick to my leggings as I make the descent before I can stand in the shallow water that seeps into my boot. Tugging my cloak off, I spend a few moments ripping the fabric with my teeth. I'm going to have to tie the fabric around him somehow to stop bleeding. I remember the wars in the mansion, and I know how to pack a wound. My mother, she's good with stuff like this, and she taught me.

The vampyre doesn't move when I nervously step closer. He's so pale and I wonder if he will die no matter what I do. My eyes catch on the bridge a little further down the river. If he survives this, I can take them there to hide him. "Hey, vampyre, nice to meet you, I'm Catherine, and I'm a dragon rider from the Sun Dynasty. You're my enemy, the villains we had been destroyed by, but I guess you're lucky I found you. I don't like murder, and I can't walk away from someone who is hurt and needs help. Please do not bite me." I wrap my shaky hands around the sword. "Brace yourself." I yank it out in one swift pull, and blood sprays across my leggings. He screams for a second, and I lean down, shoving my hand over his mouth, feeling the tips of his fangs press into my palm. He doesn't bite me though, his startling blue eyes widening right before he passes out again.

He will be lucky if no one heard that scream. I'm kind of glad at least he's unconscious now, though. I kneel down by his side, carefully putting the sword on the bank. I glance at the strange symbols on the very expensive sword that is heavy, and it might be pure gold for all I know. Where in the deities is he from? Carefully, I manage to shove bits of the cloak that I've ripped up into the gaping wound to stop the bleeding before I get a strip underneath him and tie it hard around his stomach to hold it in place. It's not hygienic or really any good, but I don't have another choice. I'm sure vampyres heal fast, but I wouldn't know.

He flinches in his sleep, but he's not strong enough to wake up. I glance around me to make sure no one's looking before grabbing his arms, and I pull. He is heavy and massive, and tugging him along proves to be one hell of a workout. I'm sweating after even a minute of pulling him across the sandy, pebbly beach. I grunt and tug until I finally get him underneath the bridge and collapse at his side, breathless. "You're too muscular for your own good, vamp."

I push back to my feet with a groan. I get what's left of my cloak and the stupidly heavy sword before kicking sand over the blood marks to hide them. The bridge is big enough that no one is going to see him unless they come down here. Thunder crackles loud above, and the second I step out from under the bridge, the rain comes down. The river might get higher, but I can't move him anymore. I'm not left with a choice but to leave him on the edge of the stone path under the bridge. I throw the cloak over his shoulders and leave the sword pressed against the wall.

"I don't know if you can hear me or if you're remotely with it, but I hope you live. I will come back tomorrow with animal blood for you, but don't you fucking dare attack anyone. I think you're safe here to recover. It's far enough away from the mansion for them not to find you. Please don't make me regret this."

Just when I turn to walk away, his gravelly voice hits my ears. He has a perfect voice. "I owe you my life and my thanks, fae."

I can't make myself look back at him, as my stomach turns with my decision to help this stranger. Did I really just save a vampyre's life?