Starlight (The Dragonian Series Book 5) (23 page)

I laughed at Isaac’s words booming over the microphone.

Blake just shook his head. “That’s why you don’t write the songs, Isaak.”

“Not so bad!” I yelled back and they cheered. “Number one seller in the making.”

“That was pathetic!” Blake yelled, and this time Isaak flipped him off.

“She liked my song, bro,” he spoke over the microphone again, which made me laugh.

“Because she is nice.”

“Nice!” Ty yelled. “You know what they say about nice people, Blake?”

“Shut up!” Blake yelled back. “See you tomorrow, and Ty, don’t show up drunk.”

“Yes, mom,” Ty spoke over his mic.

The rest of the workers laughed along with me.

“No, seriously, sorry,” Blake apologized again.

“They are not so bad. What was that nice comment about?”

Blake chuckled. “Nope, that is way too disgusting.”

I laughed again.

We flew back to the Academy together.

It was fast but it wasn’t the speed I knew he could fly. I always felt so free in the sky. I knew nobody could hurt me while I was on Blake’s back. The fresh air flowing through my hair, the cold burning my skin, and the adrenaline pumping through my veins was intoxicating. This was where I belonged. I’d been a dragon rider from the minute I took my first breath.

It was everything I needed to top this amazing night off.

We reached the Academy past twelve and I slid off his back to see if the door was open.

It wasn’t, and Blake told me to get back on. He flew over the castle and took me to my window, the one that we kept open for George at night.

He put the tip of his wing on my window and I slid down his wing again, climbing through.

“Thanks for coming with tonight,” he whispered softly.

“Oh, thank you for taking me. I really enjoyed it.”

“See? Just as I thought. It was a good distraction.”

“So needed,” I spoke in a sleepy tone and yawned.

“Sleep tight, Princess,” he whispered once I was safely inside as he flew in the direction of the boys’ dormitories.

I quickly went to take a shower and pulled on my pj’s. As I crawled into bed, George’s figure appeared at my window, almost giving me a heart attack.

“Oh shit,” George cussed softly.

“Not the one with the problem, just be quiet,” I spoke as George entered and went over to Becky’s bed.

How he’d gotten into the room in his human form, I really didn’t want to know.

THE NEXT DAY, Blake left at two.

I didn’t go with as he had to work tonight. Besides, I wasn’t as pathetic as Tabitha, who just had to be around him every minute of her life. He needed some time away from me, and I needed some time away from him.

This was getting so intense so fast, and it scared me a lot.

I needed to be able to function normally without him.

Becky and Sammy decided to have a girl’s night in.

We did our toes, put facemasks on and just talked like we hadn’t spoken in a long time.

I even decided to tell Sammy about the missing ingredient. She didn’t take it so well.

“So either you or my brother is going to die if you don’t find it?” she asked and I nodded. “You knew about this?” She looked at Becky.

“Sammy, please don’t take this the wrong way.”

“He is my brother, you are my best friend.”

I got up and wrapped my arms around her. “This is why I didn’t want Becky to tell you. You are such a gentle dragon, Sammy. I’m sorry.”

“Elena, how does one choose?”

“You don’t have to, okay? We will find it, I promise.”

She nodded. “Please tell me you at least have an idea.”

“Sort of, but we need to find a way to make it work,” I lied through my teeth; telling her we didn’t would only put more fear in her.

The vibe really got thick after that. Sammy just wanted to go to bed, but Becky and I didn’t let her.

We watched a funny movie and just laughed, and around twelve, my Cammy rang.

It was Blake.

“Hey,” I answered.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Girl stuff, which is so not your department.”

He laughed.

“So how is tonight, are you enjoying it?”

“Is that really even a question? No, you are not here.”

“You have to say that.” I squinted playfully at him.

“No, I don’t. Pathetic, isn’t it?”

I laughed. And here I thought I was the pathetic one. “Till what time do you guys have to play?”

“Hi, Elena.” Isaak’s holograph popped in and Blake pushed him away. It made me laugh again.

“Till freakin’ two, can you believe that?”

“Yes, I can. They paid a lot of money for you guys to play. What, did you think it was only going to be till twelve? Why did you think I didn’t come? I need my beauty sleep,” I joked.

“Just sleep, you are beautiful enough.”

I smiled again. The old Blake would never have said that one.

“I’ve got to go. We only got a small break. I’m going to crash at Isaak’s place tonight, but I will see you tomorrow early, promise.”

“Okay, have fun.”

“You know I won’t.”

“Stop complaining, it’s supposed to be fun.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” He gave me a sarcastic smile and the connection was broken.

I received a text message from him. I opened it:

You Dragonians have it so easy. You have no idea how intense it is for us dragons to be this far away from you. Okay, I will stop with my whining and rock this roof off.

I smiled and texted him back.
That’s my guy.

He didn’t send me anything after that.

I struggled to fall asleep that night and tried to decipher what it was like for him. How he really felt. It was the second time he’d told me now how easy it was for us, that the riders had no idea how difficult any of this was for dragons.

They were such complicated creatures, and on top of that he just had to be of the opposite sex too.

Was it like this for brother and sisterhoods? Like, what was it like for my mom and Tanya? I wished I could’ve known her, to ask her how she’d felt when she didn’t just lose her dragon but her daughter all in one night. It couldn’t have been easy. I knew it wasn’t, as I knew my mom blamed my father and had become very depressed after that. She was a mess till the day she died.

That alone told me a lot: that time was too short to worry about stupid spells and whatnots. Enjoy every minute you have, because you never know what tomorrow could bring.

SUNDAY WAS A lazy day and we all went to the lake to wait for Blake to come back.

I was reading my mother’s journal again. I’d missed her journals while I was in Etan. It was the last one and I really didn’t want it to end.

She was such a remarkable woman.

“What are you doing?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin and my heart beat like crazy. I clutched my chest and Blake laughed.

“It’s not funny. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“I wasn’t sneaking up.”

“Yeah whatever, you don’t make a sound when you walk and I can’t even hear your heartbeat. To me that is sneaking up.”

He came to sit next to me on my blanket while all the others were splashing in the water and having fun on this beautiful day.

“What are you reading?” He grabbed my book and I just stared at him.

“‘Please’ is not a forbidden word.”

“Your mom wrote this?”

I nodded once as he turned the pages.

His eyebrows rose slightly. “This is about the time they fought the second dragon war.”

“Actually still the first, because the first war wasn’t really a war. They just signed a treaty when my grandfather took over with all the Metallic dragons. My grandfather fought the first war against the Chromatic dragons and the outlaws, my mom fought for his army because she thought a Chromatic, your dad actually, killed the crown prince and when she was captured by the enemy, she realized that my father was still alive and switched sides. So technically she fought on both sides. So one war, different sides.”

“My dad is in here?”

“Of course your dad is in there. He reminds me a lot of a hard-headed dragon I know,” I joked.

“Ha-ha.” He put the book down and crawled almost on top of me. “I guess that old saying ‘Like father like son’ is accurate.” He smiled down at me. “Is my dad’s claiming in there too?”

I shook my head and remembered the letter that had been left for him in the bag. “Did you get her letter?” I asked, and by the look on his face he knew exactly what letter I was speaking of.

“I did, but what is written in there is only meant for me.”

“Seriously?” I sounded disappointed and he rolled from on top of me and lay on his back with his arms tucked underneath his head.

“My name was on there, not Elena and Blake, just Blake.”

“Fine, be that way,” I mumbled and he laughed.

“It’s nothing special, Elena, she just asked me in her own way to look after you. It’s quite a sweet letter.”

“Then why can’t I read it?”

“I’ll see how you behave then one day I will let you read it, if you treat me better.”

“Treat you better?” I squinted. “I’m nobody’s slave, Blake. I’m the Princess of Paegeia. And I’m not a Snow dragon either, so I am not going to do your homework for you. You are smart enough.”

He roared with laughter. “I don’t even want to know how you know about all those things.”

“I’m a good observer.”

“Ah-huh,” he said, pushing himself up to sit. He took off his shirt. “I’m going to swim, you coming?”

“Go, I’ll be there in a minute,” I said and watched him leave.

I looked back at my mom’s journal and finished the page.

I sighed. This was seriously a beautiful fairy tale, a love made in heaven, about how King Albert had met his fierce and brave queen. I really didn’t want to part with them but the museum asked me so nicely if they could have them when I was done.

I put my mother’s journal in my bag and pulled off my summer dress and revealed a gorgeous two-piece swimsuit.

I went to the lake and watched all my friends taking turns on the swinging rope.

“C’mon, the water is just perfect!” Becky yelled as George held the rope for her. She ran, jumped onto the rope and swung over the water. Just as the rope began to swing back, she let go and fell into the water. “C’mon, Elena, it’s fun!” she yelled as she came up and George nodded for me to be next.

“Make sure you are around the middle of the lake before you let go, Princess,” George said and I smacked him hard in his gut.

“I told you not to call me that.”

He grunted and laughed. “Sorry,” he spoke. “Your damsel isn’t a damsel like I thought!” He yelled to who I assumed was Blake.

I just heard his laughter.

I jumped onto the rope and George pushed hard.

The wind rushed through my hair and I let go toward the middle.

I was like a cat in water and gasped as I came up. “This water isn’t perfect. It’s freezing,” I stuttered as it started to become warmer. I knew Blake was near, it could only be him creating the heat. His hand grabbed me first and I hugged him tight.

“This is freezing cold.”

“It’s perfect.”

I shook my head.

“Swim around, it will get warmer.”

“I don’t want to swim around, it’s freezing.”

He laughed. “Is this your way of not wanting to let go?” he whispered.

“I can climb out and get my towel.”

“Nope, this is fine.” He hugged me tighter and I laughed.

We swam a little while longer and eventually climbed out. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the blanket.

I told him about my mother’s journals and he actually wanted to read them. He told me everything he could about her, that she was always so kind but had become sad and alone in the last year of her life. He knew it was because she’d had to give me up.

We went back to the Academy around four and found Master Longwei in the lobby rushing down from the girls’ dormitories.

“Elena, Blake, can I please see you in my office, a.s.a.p.?”

We said goodbye to the others and followed Master Longwei into his office.

“Everything okay?” Blake asked.

Master Longwei didn’t answer him and Blake gave me raised eyebrows, as if we were in trouble again.

Blake closed the door behind him and I went to sit in one of the seats in front of Master Longwei’s desk.

“So, what is with the urgency?” I asked as Blake sat down in the chair next to me.

“You will both be leaving soon for Areeth,” he spoke without looking up. “You need to consult with King Helmut and his men. Elena, you need to take in more troops. Something about a Feast that is happening earlier than expected.”

Blake sighed. I could see the fear in his eyes, but it vanished just as fast as it appeared. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow. Ten o’clock. He wants you in Areeth in the afternoon.”

“Fine, I’ll leave tomorrow, early,” he said and looked at Master Longwei. “Will that be all?”

“That will be all.”

We both got up and left.

“Why did they move up the feast? You think they know something?”

“I don’t know Elena, I’ll phone Emanual to find out.”

I really didn’t like that part; he wasn’t ready to go back into Etan. We weren’t nearly ready for a war.

My Cammy rang an hour later. It was Blake.

“And?”

“Emanual said that the ninety we got out all confirmed they moved the fest up this month. It’s in a couple of days, Elena.”

“Can’t we wait for next month’s then?”

“No, we have to do this.”

“Blake,” I sighed. “You hardly…”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll have a chick who is tough as nails with me.”

The corner of my lips curved slightly.

“That was meant to make you smile, Elena.”

“I don’t like this.”

“We have no choice. Sleep tight.”

The connection broke.

Sammy and Becky’s eyes were on me.

“You guys really going in so soon?” Sammy shared my look, my worries, and my confidence about this trip.

“We have no choice.”

“Can we come with?” Becky asked.

“No, under no circumstance….”

“Elena, we want to help.”

“And when the right time comes you will. Please just stay put, okay?”

She nodded. I went into the bathroom and took a long shower, hoping that the water would calm my negative thoughts about everything that could go wrong with going to the feast.

I crawled into bed around ten, and struggled to sleep. My Cammy buzzed and a text appeared on my phone.

It will be okay, promise.
His text read.

I know. It’s not that. I just hate Etan at the moment.

Don’t, it’s your home, Elena. Both our homes.

I know.

I’m going to leave tomorrow early. So won’t be seeing you.

Okay.

Sleep tight, Princess.

You too.

I put my Cammy on the nightstand. I really hated this trip, but at least if he was going to disappear, I’d be there.

Around ten, Master Longwei took me to the Port of Elm. There weren’t reporters waiting but a couple of the travelers wanted to pose with me for pictures.

I finally got into a private elevator after listening to so many people talk about my eyes being the same as my father’s, and how much I reminded them of my mother. When the elevator stopped, I found King Helmut waiting for me.

The trip to the lodge was fast. To be honest, I wasn’t happy about being back there. It held a couple of bad memories now. Especially after the last time.

When I reached the lodge, I wasn’t surprised to find that Blake wasn’t there yet.

But I found something better: Emanual teaching Annie to shift into her form. It was strange to see her wearing a robe, but dragon was what she was and I was dying to know what sort of progress she was making.

A couple of bystanders watched this process. Constance was one of them along with Charles, Gertrude and Marcus.

Annie shook her head. She was breathing hard, and I could see that she was struggling.

“This is hopeless,” she said to Emanual.

“You are pushing yourself too hard. Just relax, clear your mind and try to imagine your dragon form!” I yelled.

Her head turned my way and the furrows between her eyebrows softened. “Elle,” she said and smiled.

Emanual looked in my direction too. His lips curved into a huge grin. Why was I the one that had to put that smile on his face every time I was near? It made me feel guilty and the worst part was that nothing had happened between us. He was such a gentleman, but I was scared that he would never find anyone.

“Hey,” I hugged Annie. I pulled away to look at her.

“I can’t do this. I can’t seem to get her to wake up.”

“She is you, Annie, not some entity,” I spoke.

“I know.” She gave me an awkward smile. “So where is Plucky?”

I laughed. “Please tell me how the hell you came up with that name?”

She laughed too and hooked her arm into mine. “A small recess.” Annie looked at Emanual.

He nodded.

“Thanks. See you later.”

“Later Annie,” he said as he went over to Constance.

“He’s not too hard on you, is he?”

“Nope, he is actually very patient which doesn’t suit Sun-Blasts.”

“You are a Sun-Blast.”

“A suppressed Sun-Blast, huge difference.”

“You try too hard. It will come.”

She nodded but didn’t share my confidence.

“So Plucky?”

“Oh,” she smiled. “Yes, he got that name ‘cause he always had this pout that reminded me of a duck when he used to sulk as a baby dragon.” She laughed. “We used to watch this kiddies program about a duck and dragon, and you can just guess the duck’s name.”

“Plucky?”

She laughed and nodded her head. “So where is he? I refuse to believe that he’s going to let you go alone into Etan.”

“He doesn’t like the elevators.”