Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
They were bonding—I knew somehow they were becoming one in a very real and permanent way that was irreversible. They would never be parted…and neither would Ryse and I.
It seemed to go on forever, this shared, quadruple pinnacle of power and love and bonding. It was pure beauty—utterly right in every way possible.
When it finally began to ebb, I felt boneless—tears of overwhelming pleasure and love leaking from the corners of my eyes.
“Hey, sweetheart—it’s all right. You’re all right.”
Ryse pulled out of me carefully and gathered me against his heaving chest. He rubbed his cheek against mine, the scales on his high cheekbone cool against my overheated skin. Our dragons’ emotions slowly faded from a roaring inferno to a contented, humming glow in the back of our minds and I knew they were resting too.
I was panting too much to speak, but Ryse didn’t seem to mind. He pressed a sweet, impossibly tender kiss to my sweat-damp temple.
My brave, perfect girl,” he whispered, his voice raw with emotion. “My Auri.”
I nuzzled into him, too spent for words, every nerve singing with a profound, exhausted satisfaction. The trial, the banishment, the fear—it was all still there, waiting outside the door. But in this quiet, dusty room, wrapped in Ryse and the echoing afterglow of our dragons’ first Mating Flight, I had never felt more found, more claimed, or more loved.
EPILOGUE
AURORA
“And now, I would like to proceed with the sentencing,” the Head Master said, lifting his chin and staring ominously around the auditorium where all the cadets and the faculty of the Academy were once more assembled.
I couldn’t believe I was back here again, still on trial after everything that had happened. Surely the bond that I had formed with Ryse and that L’eesha had formed with M’alex should have changed something—right?
But after Ryse and I finally got dressed and left the small exercise room, we were caught almost at once by the guards who were looking for us. Well, mostly for me—I was the one the Head Master wanted to get rid of.
The Mating Flight had been intense but this time, thanks to the forethought of the Head Healer, Professor Zephyr, most of the cadets who didn’t want to participate had been spared. They had taken the calming tincture she’d handed out to anyone who asked for it at once. So the cadets and Professors who stared back at me from the audience, didn’t look nearly as bad off as everyone had been after the previous Mating Flight.
And now, here we all were again, and I was about to be banished for the second time. And this time, there was no Mating Flight to save me.
“As I was saying before we were all interrupted during Aurora Lysandra’s trial,” the Head Master continued, “the accused has been found guilty of acts of High Treason, and she will be banished from the Academy and separated from her dragon forever as punishment.”
“what? what’s that? did he say he would separate us?” I heard L’eesha demand in my head. She had been watching the proceedings through my eyes, since she was far too large by now to get into the lower halls of the Academy.
“Yes, that’s what he said,” I sent back, with a heavy heart. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“but he cannot separate us! HE CANNOT MAKE US PART!”
I felt a wash of agony sweep over me as L’eesha sent me her pain and terror at the idea of losing me.
“He’s the Head Master,” I sent back. “I’m afraid he can do whatever he wants.”
“NO HE CANNOT! I WILL NOT LET HIM!”
Suddenly the air outside the Academy was filled with the roaring of dragons. Enraged and filled with grief, it echoed through the stone halls and bounced off the walls and ceilings—a deafening wave of sound that made many of the cadets and professors clamp their hands over their ears.
“You can’t separate them!” someone shouted from the crowd. “My dragon says if you try to send Lysandra away, that the Queen will leave too!”
“Mine says the same!” another cadet yelled and a chorus of agreement followed.
“Order, order!” The Head Master banged on the podium angrily. “I have already said that they are to be separated, and Lysandra’s dragon will remain here at the Academy for breeding purposes.”
But more and more cadets were standing to shout their anger. Even some of the professors were protesting.
“You can’t keep L’eesha here if she doesn’t want to stay!” I shouted, raising my voice too. “You can’t separate us—it’s cruel!”
The Head Master gave me a dark look.
“If I say that she stays, she stays. I’ll chain her in the Caverns if I have to!”
But at this he had apparently gone too far.
The entire auditorium erupted as everyone rose to their feet.
The roaring of the dragons had become deafening, but I could still hear some of what the cadets were shouting.