ELARA FELT AS IF SHE’D BEEN BLUDGEONED WITH THE WOODEN END of a machete.
The pain hit her body first and then consumed her heart until she was bent over trying not to cry. It was devastating, to live in a world where she and Faron were on opposite sides. It was shattering, to see Faron attacking her own cavalry to keep Iya safe—to keep herself and Reeve safe. It had broken her heart to leave Faron behind, so close yet so far, because her sister believed that she could do the most good by Iya’s side. Even if she was right, Elara couldn’t get over how worn down Faron had looked. That fire that lived inside her had been reduced to a single ember. There was no hope in her eyes, no confidence in her appearance.
Faron was destroying herself for other people. And she refused to let Elara help her.
Elara wasn’t even angry that Faron had taken control of her body. Maybe she should have been, but that was the least of her concerns. The hold that Iya had on her sister was almost complete, and Elara hadn’t gotten the chance to tell Faron that she loved her. If she had stayed any longer, Lightbringer would have reduced them all to ash.
Elara remained hunched over until her breath didn’t come out shaky. Then she assessed where she was. It was an infirmary of some kind, and she was in bed. Someone had changed her out of her riding leathers and into a nightgown, though she still wore her underclothes. A satin sleep cap protected her braids from the cotton pillow.
She was physically safe, but her emotions felt out of control. It had taken weeks. Weeks to set up the conference. Weeks to reach a resolution. Weeks to plan the offensive against Iya. She had sat through some of the most pointless arguments in the world, just in the hope of the leaders seeing reason and coming together for a greater good. She had been berated and mistrusted by the gods, she’d been miles away from her home and her parents, and she’d listened to accusations against her sister that made her want to vomit. And for what? For what?
They had recovered some of the towns in the Emerald Highlands, but the rest was still occupied and Faron, Reeve, Jesper, and Zephyra were still gone. Every time she tried to make a difference, Elara was forced to acknowledge that she was a failure. She couldn’t save the world. She couldn’t save her own family.
Maiden Empyrean? No. She was a child dressed as a saint, leaving nothing but wreckage in her wake.
Elara reached behind her for a pillow and buried her face in it. It smelled of mint and herbal soap. She screamed until her throat felt raw.
“You’re up,” said Signey.
She was standing in the doorway for the briefest second before Torrey pushed her farther into the room. Right behind Torrey were Professor Smithers and Barret Soto. Barret was carrying a folder that he kept checking, as if he’d been called from a meeting. Professor Smithers just looked relieved, though his suit implied that he, too, had been attending a meeting. Torrey’s eyes were hollowed, the shadows beneath too deep to have been caused by her kohl makeup; nonetheless, she smiled to see Elara awake.
It wasn’t Faron and Reeve, her parents and the queen, but Elara somehow felt as if she were surrounded by family anyway.
Then she remembered they’d all seen her scream into a pillow, and her face burned. She put back the pillow slowly, blushing even harder when Signey sped up to fluff it for her. Signey’s own cheeks looked redder than usual, as if she didn’t want an audience.
“Listen, before anything else, I want to apologize,” she said, her voice low. It wasn’t low enough for Torrey not to hear, but she made a show of looking at the walls to give the illusion of privacy. “What I said about your sister—”
“She manipulated my soul, too,” Elara said dully. “I understand why you were upset. It feels very invasive.”
“No. Well, yes. But no. The doctors caring for Professor Rowland have reported some interesting findings. Her soul is in tatters from having her bond ripped away, but mine isn’t. Why?” Signey stared her down, then made an impatient sound when Elara didn’t come up with an answer. “The only difference between what happened to Professor Rowland and what happened to me is your sister. Faron wasn’t trying to manipulate my soul. She was the only thing that held me together when I lost Zephyra.”
Elara blinked. “So, that means…”
“You were right. Iya is intentionally severing the bonds to cause as much damage as possible,” said Torrey, sitting on the edge of Elara’s bed. At least she didn’t pretend she hadn’t been listening. “If you think of our souls as pieces of fabric, Iya is tearing them, leaving them frayed and unusable. To save Signey, your sister turned it into more of a cut, all even lines and smooth recovery.”
Elara wanted to cry again. While Elara had been trapped at Hearthstone, Iya had taught Faron how to command living souls; Elara didn’t know if Iya was still training Faron, but it was clear that she had found another beneficial use for that power. That didn’t make Faron any less trapped, but it was still a relief to have a concrete way she had been resisting Iya’s influence.
“Wait.” She sat up straighter. “Did Cherry call while I was out? Before she—before we parted, Faron said that Iya took some of Jesper’s blood. Do you think—?”
“As a matter of fact, Lance Corporal McKay did fire call us,” said Barret, leaning against the doorjamb. “With the additional samples we provided to her, including from our remaining dragons, she was able to confirm that Signey can, in fact, break dragon bonds. When Signey’s blood was added to that of bonded dragons and their Riders, it consistently resulted in the two samples losing any similarities. Or, put another way, the dragon blood retained its magic while the human blood, well, did not.”
Elara looked at Signey. Signey stared back, allowing Elara to see the flicker of fear in her eyes.
“I’ve been reading your books for any clues about how it works,” Signey whispered, “but no one seems to have written down any instructions about blood magic. But I’m still willing. Especially since Jesper is still…”
The mood in the room dropped as Barret and Torrey looked away. Elara felt the guilt of her failure all over again, but for once she let it motivate her instead of paralyze her. The rescue mission may have been a failure, but they had dealt the first blow against Iya and established themselves as a threat. Even better, they had enough information to start piecing together his ultimate goal—and use Signey as a weapon against him.
The time for brooding was over. She cleared her throat until everyone’s attention was on her again.
“Faron also said we should follow the blood,” she said. “Is it possible to track the vial of Jesper’s blood somehow?”
“If we use a dragon relic for tracking, maybe…,” Torrey murmured. “We might be able to figure out what he’s done with it and why.”
“I’ll get some relics from the lab,” Barret said.
“I think it’s better if we use some scales from Azeal,” Elara pointed out. “Jesper’s connection to Azeal hasn’t been severed yet, right? Which means that’s the closest we can get to using his blood ourselves.”
Professor Smithers nodded. “A sound idea. In the meantime, we’ll have the scientists look further into the kind of magic that blood could be used for, beyond severing bonds.” He gave Elara a small smile. “I’m glad to see you’re all right, Miss Vincent. I know you’re quite used to risking your life, but that life means far more to us than you can imagine.”
The three of them went off to their assigned tasks, leaving Signey and Elara alone in the infirmary room.
“Do not cry,” Signey said.
“A teacher likes me,” Elara said wetly. “I’ll cry whenever I want. You’re not my mother.”
Signey rolled her eyes and moved toward one of the tables. She returned with a bandage, which she handed to Elara to use as a handkerchief.
“Your sister isn’t the only thing I want to apologize for,” Signey blurted. Elara, who was usually the one blurting out things, found this unspeakably endearing. “Zephyra didn’t recognize me at all. I didn’t realize that part of me expected her to, until she dropped me in the ocean, but I had a lot of time to think while I was falling. I’m fine—I healed more quickly than you.”
Elara dragged her eyes up from Signey’s body to her face. She realized she’d lifted the bandage, as if Signey could still use it with her snot in it, and dropped her hand.
“Anyway, I had a lot of time to think, and what I thought about was how much time I’ve wasted. I could have died. You could have died. And instead of spending any time together, I’ve been avoiding you. Avoiding this.” She gestured between them. “At first, I thought it was better not to risk disappointing you when there was a war going on. And then I thought that with Zephyra and Jesper gone, why did I deserve to be happy? But in those two seconds I thought I was going to die, all I could think about was you.”
Elara had no idea what to say to that, so she just said nothing. Hope beat like a bird’s wings through her chest.
“I’m going to be more than a bit crap at this,” said Signey, drawing closer step-by-bashful-step. “I’m never going to be good at the feelings and the opening up. But I don’t want to risk losing you before we can see what this could be. Because I think… I think we could be something pretty amazing.”
“I think so, too,” Elara said weakly. “Stop talking about your feelings and kiss me.”
Signey leaned over to kiss her, and Elara melted into it. She poured everything she had been feeling into that kiss, and she felt Signey give her the same right back. More, perhaps. Signey’s hand held her cheek so gently, her mouth a furnace, and Elara simply allowed herself to be cherished and kissed within an inch of her life.
At some point, they fell backward, and Elara was trapped between her girlfriend’s lithe body and the soft bed. She could think of nowhere else she’d rather be.
Signey pulled away, breathing as if it were optional. “Thanks for giving me a second chance.”
“You kiss me like that again, and I’ll give you a third one.”
Signey sat up with a laugh, leaving the front of Elara’s body cold. She realized her fingers were still tangled in her girlfriend’s curls and slowly extracted herself, even though it was the last thing she wanted to be doing. With Signey on top of her, kissing her, holding her, everything that had led her to this infirmary bed felt a little more manageable.
She hadn’t wanted to become a drake pilot because she enjoyed working alone, after all.
“No strenuous activity until you’re fully recovered,” Signey said, smoothing down her curls as she stood. “We need you for something important, and you’ll want to be in peak health for this one.”
Elara tipped her head back with a groan. “Please, no more blood.”
“I can’t promise that. We’re at war.” Signey’s eyes burned like kindling. “But there are some people it’s time for you to meet.”